Full text of "Current discussions in theology"

See other formats

SsSssSssssssSsssss&cSisKSSss^^

^MM$£

t 'A

< I

of^ Jf,

0t i\« W»<%t«af ^

PRINCETON, N. J.

Shelf.

BT 10 .C87 v. 6

Current discussions in
theology

■

Current Discussion
in Theology,

— BY —

THE PROFESSORS

— OF

CHICAGO THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.

VOLUME VI.

. BOSTON AND CHICAGO:
Congregational Sunday-School and Publishing Society

PREFACE.

The aim of these discussions is to answer the ques-
tion, which every earnest student of theology and ecclesi-
astical subjects may well be supposed to ask at the end of
each year, viz. : What has been done in the different fields
of sacred learning during the past twelve months, and
what are the latest results of such studies?

In preparing this Report of Progress, critical reference
has been made to the most recent literature, as a help to
those who wish to prosecute their studies further along the
lines indicated, while enough of the fruits of the latest
investigation is given to make the work immediately pro-
fitable to the student.

In summing up the labors of theologians and critics,
the natural drift of the literature leads the reviewer, in
most departments, to dwell upon works that deviate
somewhat from the beaten path, and in such writings to
notice principally what is new and claims to be better
than what we already know ; for any adequate account of
generally accepted views is precluded by the limits of the
work and by the supposition that they are already familiar
to the reader. Such considerations, and not any particu-
lar sympathy with theological novelties, explain the
complexion of these discussions, which may appear to
some as giving undue prominence to radical teachings and
criticisms. Such considerations account, also, for the

PREFACE.

many references to works of foreign origin, especially
German, which appear in these pages ; if, in some depart-
ments, Anglo-Saxon writers are in the minority, the
simple reason is that they produce a much smaller number
of books, and naturally less that is new, than do foreign
authors.

Several leading publishers have already shown their
readiness to send new works to us for notice in our
Annual Review ; we would call the attention of others to
this matter and request their cooperation. We should be
gratified, also, to receive from authors copies of their
writings, especially of monographs or other essays, which
cannot be easily obtained through the regular channels.

This Volume of our work, though it appears within a
year after the publication of Vol. V., has still been
delayed somewhat by the unavoidable pressure of other
duties. In general, it reports research to the early Autumn
of 1888, in a few cases the literary notices extending into

1889- The Faculty.

Chicago Theological Seminary.
Chicago, March 31, 1889.

CONTENTS.

PART FIRST— EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

I. OLD TESTAMENT.
Present State of Old Testament Studies.

PAGE.

Introductory Remarks 3-4

CHAPTER I.

The Hebrew Language and Hebrew Grammar . 5-9

CHAPTER II.

Textual Criticism 10-12

CHAPTER III.

Old Testament Introduction 13-29

Genesis 15-16

The Pentateuch 16-20

Deuteronomy 20-23

Psalms 23-24

Chokma Literature 24-26

Song of Songs 26-29

CHAPTER IV.

Histories of Israel 30-40

Monographs 40-46

Geography . . . . • 46-52

Archaeology 52-55

CHAPTER V.

Old Testament Exegesis 56-71

Genesis 57-61

Psalms 61-69

Isaiah 70-71

Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther 71

CHAPTER VI.

Old Testament Theology 72-75

CONTENTS.

EXEGETIC AL THEOLOGY- -Concluded.

II. NEW TESTAMENT.

Present State of New Testament Studies.

CHAPTER I.

New Testament Introduction 79-93

Adrian's Introduction 79-80

The Synoptists 81~83

John's Gospel . . ■ 83~84

The Acts 84~85

The Letters of Paul 86~89

The Catholic Epistles and Hebrews .... 89-92

The Apocalypse 92-93

CHAPTER II.

The New Testament Text 94-96

CHAPTER III.

New Testament History 97-101

CHAPTER IV.

New Testament Exegesis 102-131

The Gospels 102-112

The Acts 112-113

Paul's Epistles 113-128

Epistles of Peter 128-129

Epistle to the Hebrews 129-130

The Apocalypse 130-131

CHAPTER V.

New Testament Theology 132-145

CONTENTS.

PART SECOND— HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

Present State of Studies in Church History.

Introduction, Historic Methods and Origin of the
Early Church

CHAPTER I.

The Early Church

I. Relation of Church and Empire
II. History of Doctrine

III. Organization of the Early Church

IV. Christian Life — Monasticism
V. Christian Worship

VI. Art in the Early Church

CHAPTER II.

The Church of the Middle Ages .
I. History of the Papacy .

The Catholic Church of Scotland
History of Doctrine and Sects
Monastic Orders ....

II.

III.

IV.

Movements leading towards the Reformation

CHAPTER III.

The Modern Church

I. The Reformation

II. The Huguenots ......

III. Church Life in Holland ....

IV. The Roman Catholic Church

V. Recent Theological Discussions in Germany

VI. The Churches of Great Britain .

VII. The American Churches ....

149-156

157-205
157-166
166-183
183-191
191-196
196-199
199-205

206-233
206-213
213-217
217-220

221-227
227-233

234-276
234-246

247-248
249-252
252-256
257-269
269-272
272-276

Vlll

CONTENTS.

PART THIRD— SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

Present State of Studies in Natural and Revealed Theology.
Introductory Remarks 279-283

III.

I. Treatises on Theology as a System
Dogmatik, Bohl
Dogmatic Theology, Sliedd
Theology of Ritschl .
Principles of Christianity, Stuart
Non-Biblical Systems of Religion
Rational Theology, Williams .
Christian Belief, Ziegler .

II. Treatises on Specific Doctrines

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Apologetics

Inspiration ....

Christology and the Trinity

The Atonement .

Eschatology

Church Polity

Ethics

Freedom of the Will, Meyer .

Hegel's Philosophy of the State and of History,

Morris

Fairbairn's Doctrine of Morality
Philosophy and Religion, Strong .
Study of Philosophy, Stuckenberg

284-311
284-286
287-295
295-297
297-305
305-307
307-309
309-311

311-351
311-327
327-330
331-336
336-344
344-346
347-351

351-360
351-352

352-355
355-357

357-358
358-360

CONTENTS.

. PART FOUETH— PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

I. Present State of Studies in Homiletics.

CHAPTER I.

Theoretical Homiletics — Preaching.

The German Pulpit, Stuckenberg . . . . 364-366

The Scottish Pulpit, Taylor . . . . . . 366-370

English in the Pulpit, Hill 370-372

Story Telling in the Pulpit, Hale 372-375

The Value of Historical Studies to the Pulpit, Murray 375-376
The Men, the Training and the Preparation for the

Pulpit, Ormiston . 376-382

Woman in the Pulpit, Willard 383-387

The Pulpit and Modern Skepticism, several authors . 387-398
Yale Lectures on Preaching and other Writings,

Burton ' . . 398-404

The Vocation of the Preacher, Hood .... 404-407

John Ward, Preacher, Deland 407-408

Evangelistic Work, Pierson 409-412

Modern Cities and their Religious Problems, Loomis 412-413

CHAPTER II.

Practical Homiletics — Sermons.

Eternal Atonement, Hitchcock 414-416

Fifteen years in the Chapel of Yale College, Porter . 416-419

Gospel Sermons, McCosh 419-422

Expositions, Cox 422-423

Sermons preached in St. George's, Rainsford . . 423-425

Sermons for Children, Ross 425-426

Spirit and Life, Bradford 427-428

The Victory of the Cross, Westcott .... 429-433

The World to Come, Wright 433-435

CONTENTS.

II. Present State of Studies in Pastoral Theology.

The Churches and the Workingmen, Abbott

Legal Rights and Responsibilities of Clergymen, Hull

The Problem of the Country Church, Tunis

Ynlr Lectures on the Sunday School, Trumbull

Terms of ( Ihristian Union

Christian Beneficence

The Weekly Offering .

Free Scats in Churches, Pierson

Deaconnesses in Europe, Mead

Shall Women Preach ? Willard

439-440
441-443
443-447
447-451
451-457
457-458
458-459
459-462
462-463
463-466

EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

OLD TESTAMENT.

PRESENT STATE

OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES.

REV. SAMUEL IVES CURTISS,
Professor of Old Testament Literature and Interpretation

Chicago Theological Seminary.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

The're probably never was a time in the history of theo-
logical study in America, when such an interest was taken in
Old Testament investigations, as in recent years. There
has been a wonderful advance, as has been intimated before,
in the study of Hebrew. The attainments of the average
American theological student in this language have been
painfully meagre, and are still entirely inadequate. It is,
therefore, of special interest to us, as well as to German
theologians, to have the fact brought before us that during
the first years of this century, until 1817, Hebrew occu-
pied an honorable place in the commencement exercises of
Harvard College. Professor Moore of Andover is giving
an interesting survey of Old Testament studies in America
from the very beginning, in Stade's Zeitschrift fur die
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft.1 He tells us that there was
a time in the history of Harvard and Yale colleges, during
the eighteenth century, when Hebrew, was made a part of
the literary course. In this respect these institutions re-
sembled the German Gvmnasia. But such studies, lack-
ing the impulse in any scientific investigation of the text,
fell into disuse. We may suppose that they are now put
on a settled basis, for exegesis has become a scientific
study as never before. Those who may seem to some to

1 Giessen, 1888, pp. 1-42.

4 INTR OD UCTOR Y REMARKS.

be over-turning the foundations of our faith through these
critical studies really subserve an important end in pro-
moting Biblical researches. The love which men have for
God's Word leads them to explore the mysteries of its
language, history, and archaeology.

CHAPTER I.

THE HEBREW LANGUAGE AND HEBREW GRAMMAR.

One of the greatest needs of modern Old Testament
scholars is that some one should prepare a history of the
Hebrew language. This was admirably done by Gesenius J
in the early part of the present century, but a new work
should now be provided by some competent man.

Meanwhile, we are grateful for Baumgartner's Introduc-
tion to the Study of the Hebrew Language,2 which, as the
author says, is not designed for specialists, but for begin-
ners. He considers that it ought to be the prolegomena
to the Hebrew grammar of Strack, which he has translated
into French.

He seeks to afford the student of the Hebrew language
the information most needed regarding the relative posi-
tion which the Hebrew occupies among the other Semitic
languages, and the development which this language has
undergone during its different literary periods.

The term Semitic, which was invented by Schlozer, and
first introduced by Eichhorn, is inexact. The Elamites,
who were the descendants of Shem, did not speak a Semitic
language, while the Phoenicians and Arabians, who spoke
Semitic dialects, were regarded as descendants of Ham.

1 Geschichte der hebrdischen Sprache und Schrift. Leipzig, 1815.

2 Introduction a V Etude de la Langue Hebruique, Paris.

6 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

America has had an honorable record in the production
of Hebrew grammars. Stuart, Nordheimer l and Green
have secured a prominent place among those who have
devoted themselves to grammatical studies. They have
not been excelled by any English scholars who have sought
to prepare works on Hebrew grammar. It is only in Ger-
many, where men are content with small incomes, and
where university education sets a premium on scientific
training, that two luminaries of a higher order have ap-
peared in the persons of Gesenius and Ewald. Professor
Green, whose grammar has been known twenty-seven
years, has made a valuable contribution to Hebrew learn-
ing in the production of a new edition.2 The treatment
remains essentiallv the same, although the syntax has been
enlarged from forty-seven pages to one hundred and
twenty-seven. The grammar was originally based on care-
ful and exhaustive treatises, both ancient and modern.
Professor Green's conservatism has led him to retain the
unfortunate terminology, as we think, of future and pre-
terite, which, as we have shown elsewhere,3 has been
rejected by almost all Semitic scholars of any eminence,
because in the Semitic languages the verb does not indicate
distinctions of time, but rather of action as complete or
incomplete.

The work by Professor Harper, which he modestly
entitles, Elements of Hebrew Syntax f is constructed, like his

1 A critical Grammar of the Hebrew Language. Vols. i-ii. New
York, 1838-1841.

2 A Grammar of the Hebrew Language. New York, 1888.

3 Curr nt Discussions in Theology Boston and Chicago. Vol. v,
1888, pp. 3-4.

4 New York, 1888.

HEBBE W LANG UA OE AND EEBBE W OBAMMAB. 7

other works, on the inductive method. A large number
of examples are gathered together, and the principles are
deduced from them, so that the-student can see how certain
results are derived from given processes.

As the product of one of the most successful teachers in
Hebrew, it will be gladly welcomed by all who are em-
ploying the inductive method in the instruction of their
students.

One of the most important sections in Hebrew grammar
is that regarding nominal sentences. A noun* represents
an idea in a state of rest, a verb represents it in a state of
motion. Albrecht has contributed an important investiga-
tion on the "nominal sentence.'" While the distinction
between nominal and verbal sentences has recently been
introduced from the Arabic grammars, it has been demon-
strated that it is not an artificial one. According to his
definition, ''the nominal sentence gives to the subject
an abiding attribute or condition."1 It is essential to a
nominal sentence that it should have an independent sub-
ject, either a noun or a pronoun, and that the predicate
should be either a substantive, an adjective, a participle,
an adverbial or prepositional expression. Albrecht illus-
trates these cases by a multitude of classified citations from
the Old Testament.2

Dr. Wickes has produced a treatise of epoch-making
significance on the Accentuation of the twenty-one so called
prose hooks of the Old Testament* Familiarizing himself

i The first article is translated in H> braica, New York, 1888,
pp. 95-98.

2 Zeitschrift fur die aUtestamentliche Wissenschaft, Giessen, 1888,
pp. 249-263.

3 Oxford, 1887.

OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

with all that has been written on the subject, he has
devoted about fifteen years to this difficult theme, learn-
ing all that he could from the eminent Jewish scholar,
Baer, and then pushing his investigations through the use
of the best Hebrew manuscripts far beyond those of any
other scholar. He has found it necessary to propose a
correction of the Massoretic textus receptus. He has, how-
ever, proved to be an iconoclast. The two most famous
recensions of the Massoretic text are found in the manu-
scripts of Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali. Their readings
have been handed down by tradition. It is claimed that
the codex of Ben Asher is preserved in a Jewish svagogue
at Aleppo. Graetz, Sapphir, and Strack have maintained
the genuineness of this codex, but Wickes seems to have
proved conclusively that the epigraph, assigning it to Ben
Asher, is a fabrication. Dr. Wickes is worthy of all recog-
nition for this valuable monograph.

Little attention has been given to the subject of Hebrew
poetry, until recent years, since the time of the classic
works by Lowth and Herder. Not to mention Bickell's
treatise on this subject, which was issued some years ago,
Ley has prepared a work on Hebrew metrical poetry to-
gether with the text of the first book of Psalms.1 It is
founded on a much larger book, published in 1875. He
considers the metre very important for text criticism, and
claims that the Massoretic division of the text into verses
must be changed in many places when it is contrary to
the sense, the parallelism, and consequently to the metre,
since all three stand in the most intimate organic connec-

l Lfitftiden der Metrik der Hebraischen Poesie nebst dvm ersten
Buche der Psalmen. Halle a. S. 1887.

HEBREW LANGUAGE AND HEBREW GRAMMAR. 9

tion. Professor Briggs has given a practical discussion
of this subject in Hebrmca.1 He finds examples of tetra-
meters, trimeters, pentameters, and even hexameters in
Hebrew poetry, but he finds more examples of trimeters
and pentameters than of any other kind of metre, though
he says the greater portion of Hebrew poetry is the tri-
meter movement.

1 The Hebrew Tetrameter, New York, 1888, pp. 65-74 ; The Hebrew
Pentameter, Ibid. pp. 129-139 ; The Hebrew Hexameter, Ibid. pp.
201-205.

CHAPTER II.

TEXTUAL CRITICISM.

New Testament scholars have made wonderful progress,
in the present century, toward determining what was the
original text of the New Testament writings. The ques-
tion of the primitive text of the Old Testament, as has
been intimated before,1 constitutes a far more difficult pro-
blem. The text that has been handed down to us by the
Massoretes with such scrupulous exactness was not based
on a critical text. The Talmudists knew nothing about
criticism. So far as we can learn, three manuscripts were
chosen and the agreement of two against one on a certain
reading was considered decisive.2 As ancient Hebrew
manuscripts were not valued, but rather became unclean
through age. and there was no inducement for their preser-
vation as an authoritative text, they have perished. There
is not much chance, therefore, for text criticism in the Old
Testament, except as we can reproduce the Hebrew text,
which underlies the ancient versions. By a cautious
translation of the Alexandrian version back into Hebrew
we may be able to reproduce, with some degree of cer-
tainty, the ancient Hebrew text from which it was derived.

i Current Discussions in Theology, Chicago, 1885, Vol. iii., pp.
18—27.

2 Eichhorn, Einleitunq in das Alte Testament, Gottingren, 1823,
pp. 347-348. . 8

TEXTUAL CRITICISM. 11

Until the text of the Septuagint shall be fixed through the
reproduction and critical combination of the texts of Hesy-
chius, Lucian, Pamphilus and Eusebius tke apparatus for
revising the Massoretic text through the use of the Alex-
andrian must necessarily be imperfect.

The best that can now be done, before the labors of
such scholars as Lagarde are complete, is to secure as cor-
rect a text as possible on the basis of the great uncial
manuscripts.

Even this is not entirely possible, because the exact
readings of the great Vatican manuscript have not been
accessible to the learned world by reason of the partial in-
competence, at least, of those who have sought to present
a facsimile1 copy of it, and the seemingly illiberal policy
of the curators of the Vatican library, who have not per-
mitted even the most distinguished scholars to make any
considerable use of it. The Syndics of the Cambridge
University Press were so impressed with the importance
of the critical edition of the Septuagint, that they ap-
pointed a committee to secure the preparation of such a
text based on that found in the Vatican manuscript,2 The
work is edited by Dr. Swete. Where the Vatican manu-
script is wanting, the deficiency is supplied from the
Alexandrian manuscript, and, where both of these fail, "from
the uncial manuscript, which occupies the next place in
point of age and importance.'' It is proposed to issue a
larger work which will be provided with Prolegomena, but

1 Cf. Nestle in the Theoiogische literaturzeit/mg, Leipzig, 1882,
cols. 119-124.

2 The Old Testament in Greek according to the Septuagint. Vol.
i, Genesis to iv Kings. Cambridge, 1887.

12 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY

many years will be required for its preparation. At pre-
sent, however, this volume, which contains the text from
Genesis to IV Jvings, seems to be best adapted to the wants
of ordinary students.

The Syriac text as found in the Peshitto, although the
most ancient of the Aramaic versions, at least in its
written form, has not received any such attention as that
of the Septuagint, nor does it promise any such rewards to
the critic. It was not prepared until after the Hebrew
text had taken on a fixed form as some modern critics
claim through the labors of Rabbi Akiba.1

A Jewish scholar, Dr. Seboek, has compared the read-
ings of the Peshitto with those of the Massoretic text in
the Twelve Minor Prophets.2 In general he considers that
this version was prepared by a Jewish Christian from the
Hebrew original. He finds many points of contact with
the common Jewish Targums, in the Pentateuch, the
Prophets and the Hagiographa. He does not find that
there is any radical difference between the readings of this
version and those of the Massoretic text. Even in the
interpretation of difficult passages the Syriac translator has
failed to give us any light.

i Current Discussions in Theology. Chicago, 1885, Vol. iii, p. 21.

2 Die syrische Uebtrsetzung der zwo'f khinen Propheten und ihr
Verhdltniss zu ckm massoretischen Text unci zu den dlteren Ueber-
setzungen, namentlich den LXX. und dem Tar gum. Breslau, 1887.

CHAPTER III.

OLD TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION.

Critical questions regarding the composition of the Pen-
tateuch and the age of its various documents still continue
to occupy the attention of specialists. Of works designed
to cover the entire subject only three have appeared dur-
ing the past year. The first is the eighth edition of
Weber's Short Introduction to the Sacred Scriptures of the
Old and New Testament^ designed especially for students
in the German Gymnasia. It does not enter into the dis-
cussion of critical questions to any extent, and is clearly
conservative.

Martin,2 who is already known by his contribution to
the criticism of the New Testament, is issuing a volum-
inous work on the Old. ■ His standpoint is pre-cletermined
by his ecclesiastical connection as a Roman Catholic. The
two volumes, which have already appeared, betray a pretty
accurate acquaintance with the theories of the critics,
chiefly through the medium of the English and French
languages. He firmly holds the Mosaic authorship of the
Pentateuch, but says in the introduction: "I willingly

1 Kurzgefasste Einleitung in die heiligen Schriften Alien unci
Neuen Testamentes. Nordlingeu, 1887.

2 Introduction a la Critique Generate de VAncien Testament, de
Vorigine du Pentaleuque, Tom. i-ii, Paris, 1887-1888.

14 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

admit that the Pentateuch has been subjected to numerous
alterations in detail, and that it has been the object of
much re-touching ; but I deny that it has been the product
of that gradual and successive elaboration, which modern
authors describe I refuse to allow one point in par-
ticular to pass, that Deuteronomy is anterior to the pre-
ceding books of the Pentateuch, taken as a whole, and that
it should not be the work of a single spirit and of a single
writer. The unity of plan is such, the connection of parts
is so profound, and so minute, that it is impossible, as it
seems to me, that a single intelligence should not at once
have conceived and executed the plan of this book."1

Revel, recently deceased, late a professor of the Wal-
densian Institute at Florence, treats the subject under the
title of Hebrew Literature.2 in a dainty little hand-book in
two volumes. With admirable clearness and conciseness
he discusses the origin of the Hebrew people, Hebraism
and Judaism ; the Hebrew language and literature ; his-
toriography; lyric and gnomic poetry; the prophets of the
Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian periods; and finally, the
legislation : the Decalogue, the First Code, Deuteronomy,
the Code of Ezekiel, and the Sacerdotal Code. This work
is based on a partial knowledge of English, French and
German Old Testament literature, but does not add any-
thing to our information regarding the subject.

Some of the most valuable discussions bearing on intro-
duction are found in the commentaries as well as in other
works on the Old Testament.

1 Ibid. pp. viii, ix.

2 Letteratura Ebraica, Milauo, 1888.

OLD TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 15

•

Genesis. — Professor Delitzsch has issued a new edition
of his Commentary on Genesis.1 The fourth edition ap-
peared in 1872. This has been so thoroughly revised that
he calls it a new Commentary. It is now made accessible
to English readers by means of a translation. **

It is of especial importance, as it gives Delizsch's views
regarding the origin of the Pentateuch in a connected
form. Delitzsch has never been a destructive critic. He
has never wavered in his sympathies with the conservative
school. He has been interested in encouraging investiga-
tions, which he hoped would be favorable to a conservative
position with reference to the origin of the Pentateuch.
He has gradually felt compelled in the interests of truth,
as he says, to accept the views of the modern critical
school with reference to the origin and succession of the
documents, although with important modifications, and
with entirely different conclusions.

He holds firmly, that the Israelites were in Egypt, the
university of ancient culture, that they were possessed of
the art of writing at the time of the exodus, that Moses
left certain memorials that have been incorporated in the
Pentateuch, and that the Deuteronomico-Jehovistic style
found in the Ten Commandments is that of Moses. He
considers that, while the Priests' Code received its present
form after the exile, at least some of its enactments are
presupposed by the book of Deuteronomy. Indeed he
sees a close connection between regulations regarding
leprosy and purifications and the residence in Egypt. He
does not consider that there was any design on the part of

i Nuer Comm- ntar ubrr die Hew sis Leipzig, 1887.

2 A New Commentary on Genesis. Vol i, New York, 1889,

16 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGET1CAL THEOLOGY.

Christ and New Testament writers to bear witness as to
the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. When they
speak of Moses, as if he were the author of the Pentateuch,
they merely give expression to the common belief of their
contemporaries, which certainly had a foundation in the
mediatorship of the Law through Moses. They simply
use popular instead of scientific language regarding the
Pentateuch, as we to-day speak of Gesenius' Hebrew gram-
mar, although, ever since 1842, it has been re-edited several
times by two generations of scholars, as represented by
Eoedigcr and Kautzsch. In a popular sense it is still
spoken of as Gesenius' Grammar, although in an exact
scientific sense great changes and additions have been made
by the editors.

Twelve of our American scholars, under the leadership
of Dr. Chambers, have sought to raise a bulwark in de-
fense of the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. The
work consists of a little volume of twelve essays,1 which
furnishes a valuable statement of the subject for those
who have not time for more extended examination of it,
and who wish to approach it from a strictly conservative
standpoint.

Dr. Chambers ofives a brief sketch of the course of cri-
ticism, drawn from various sources. Professor Gardiner
shows that the religion of Israel was a revelation and not
merely a human development. We must believe, however,
that it was a progressive revelation conditioned by human
development, and that it tolerated certain views, which the
fuller revelation in the New Testament shows to have been

i Essays on Pentateuchal Criticism, by various writers. New York,
1887, 1888.

OLD TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 17

temporary or even erroneous, as, for instance, the repre-
sentations of Old Testament writers regarding the state of
the dead in Sheol.

Professor Bissell treats of the Codes. He says, "No
one claims that Moses actually penned the whole Penta-
teuch. Under his general direction a number of hands
may have been, and in all probability were employed on
it." But he thinks that all divergencies, which can be
proved to exist in the Code, may have arisen during the
time that Israel were in the wilderness.

Professor Green subjects the analysis of the first eleven
chapters of Exodus to a searching criticism, and concludes,
as the result of his investigation, that the division of these
chapters into three documents by the critics is not justi-
fied. He thinks, however, that it would not be prejudicial
to the doctrine of inspiration to admit the composite char-
acter of Genesis.

Professor Schodde in his essay on Pentateuchal Testi-
mony makes greater concessions than either of the other
essayists. He says: uThe Pentateuch may have been
Mosaic, and yet Moses need not, sua manu, have written
a single word in it, nor the Pentateuch in its present shape
date from him." He further affirms : "We do not...
think that we have any direct testimony of the Pentateuch
to prove that Moses himself wrote or caused to be written
the whole of the five books ;" and in another place :
" There yet remain in the pages of the Pentateuch suffi-.
cient evidences, philological and material to make it prob-
able that, as at present shaped, the five books are a com-
pilation from a number of sources." Nevertheless, he says
"these books claim in essence and substance to be Mosaic."

18 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

Professor Beecher takes up the Testimony of the His-
torical Books, save Chronicles, and finds it on the whole
favorable to the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. He
argues that Ezra and Nehemiah use a language which is
clearly late Hebrew, while that employed in the Hexa-
teuch is ancient Hebrew. If, then, the Hcxateuch was
written and edited during the generations in which the
books of Ezra and Nehemiah were produced, he claims
that it ought to exhibit the peculiarities of language that
appear in these books.

The testimony of Chronicles in regard to the author-
ship of the Pentateuch is commonly thrown out by the
critics of the modern school, because the writer is thought
to present the history of Israel almost entirely from a sub-
jective standpoint. But, as Professor Terry shows, there
is no writer wdio quotes so many authorities, seventeen
documents in all. There is no question, that it is the in-
tention of the Chronicler to s:ive a truthful account of the
course of Israelitish history. But it may be a question,
whether in the sources which are connected with the names
of David and Solomon he finds references to that exact
observance of the Levitical ritual which he so fully des-
cribes. The critics claim that his entire narrative has
been colored by the condition of worship at the time in
which he lived ; hence that his testimony as to the author-
ship of the Pentateuch, and to the antiquity of the ritual-
• istic observance, described in the middle books of the Pen-
tateuch, is of doubtful value.

It is very difficult to find clear and satisfactory testi-
mony in the most ancient prophets, to the existence of the
Priests' Code at the time when they wrote. It is easy

OLD TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 19

enough to see that Jeremiah was familiar with Deutero-
nomv, and that there is a close connection between Ezekiel
and Leviticus. Now, while there may be special reasons
for the neglect of the older prophets to quote fully and
freely from the Priests" Code, the fact that their refer-
ences to the Code are few and uncertain removes an im-
portant support in the argument for the antiquity of the
laws of the Priests' Code in their written form.

While the Psalms may be quoted, yet decisive proof in
respect to their age, which we must consider independently
of their superscriptions, renders this line of argument of
uncertain value.

Such testimon}^, however, has been gathered by Professor
Harmon, but not with sufficient discrimination. It is not
enough to prove that there are references in the prophets
to the Pentateuch as a whole, but it must be proved that
there are explicit references to the Priests' Code alone.
These, as has been intimated, are difficult to establish.

It is easy to point out the dangers of criticism, but the
question as to the authorship of the Pentateuch must be
determined, as we have remarked in previous volumes, not
on dogmatic grounds, but on literary principles. It seems
to us that the essay by Professor Dwinell on Higher Cri-
ticism, and a Spent Bible is too dogmatic. The following
arraignment of the critical theory is made by Professor
Streibert in his essay on TJie Difficulties of the New
Hypothesis : "A theory which . . . would make the Pen-
tateuch largely a tissue of fictions and perversions of
history, deny the credibility or trustworthiness of every
statement in the books of Samuel and Kings, which does
not fall in with it, and call Chronicles a string of inventions

20 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

not worth}' a serious examination — a theory which for the
sake of consistency must deny not only all laws and history
to Moses, but also all Psalms to David and all Proverbs to
Solomon — such a theory seems to us not only to offer no
satisfactory solution of the problem of the Pentateuch,
but to make many more difficulties than are removed.''

The evidences are abundant that Christ and the Apostles,
as well as Philo and Josephus, considered Moses the
author of the Pentateuch. These testimonies are gath-
ered by Dr. Hemphill in his essay on the Validity
and Bearing of the Testimony of Christ and His Apostles.
If we accept such testimonj" as inspired teaching regarding
the authorship of these books, there is no room to discuss
the question further with regard to the Mosaic authorship
of the Pentateuch. But many like Professor Delitzsch
hold that Christ and His Apostles merely present the
popular view of their time, without intending to give any
definite teaching in regard to this subject.

The most interesting confirmation of the antiquity of
the Pentateuch, at least so far as the origin of some of its
laws are concerned and the early date of the art of writing
among the Hebrews, is found in the Essay by Professor
Osgood on A Reasonable Hypothesis of the Origin of the
PentateucJi. He concludes, "that historical criticism on
the broadest lines, guided by the numerous monuments as
interpreted by the most able investigators of the present
day, must place the composition of the Pentateuch con-
temporaneous with events of the last four books, and must
ascribe its composition to one master hand."

Deuteronomy. — As is well known it is considered
among critics that Deuteronomy arose either during the

OLD TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 21

time of Manasseh or Josiah, and that it was first brought
to light in the year 621 B. C. This theory has been con-
sidered firmly established.

Recently Horst, who has written a book in regard to the
authorship of Leviticus 1 xvii-xxvi, has set forth a new
theory in regard to the origin of Deuteronomy. It has been
almost unanimously held by critics that the book is a unity,
and that if it has not been written by one author, it has at
least been conceived in one spirit.

Horst 2 holds that the book is made up of fragments, and
seems to maintain that it was not composed in its present
form until after the Babylonian exile. He does not be-
lieve that 2 Kings, xxii-xxiii, furnish any certain data
for the age of Deuteronomy. He speaks of this account
as a dramatic fiction, which was written after the exile, and
considers the prophetess Huldah a fictitious person. It
will thus be seen that Horst belongs to the school of
destructive critics, and that in regard to Deuteronomy he
is an adherent of the fragmentary hypothesis.

Kittel, in his history of the Hebrews, which we shall
notice later on, occupies a far more conservative position
with reference to the origin of Deuteronomy. He says,
uthe process of its composition may be represented more
simply in the following maimer : A prophetic man, a true
follower of Yahweh, wrote the book under Manasseh, in-
duced through Hezekiaivs attempt at reform, and Manas-
seh's idolatry. On account of the stress of the time, and

i Leviticus xvii-xxvi und Hezekiel, Ein Beitr tg zur Pentateuch-
kritik, Colmar, 1881.

2 Etudes sur le Deuteronome in the Revue de Vhistoire des R<. ligions,
Paris, 1887, pp. 28-65 ; Paris, 1888, pp. 1-22.

22 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETIGAL THEOLOGY.

the inimical disposition of the king, he did not dare to
publish it. He did not wish to imperil himself and the
working of his book. Hoping for better times, he hid it
in the temple. Perhaps the author did not survive the
long reign of Manasseh, otherwise, soon after the corona-
tion of Josiah, he probably would soon have stepped into
publicity. It seems, therefore, to have been forgotten, and
lirst to have been found through a happy accident in the
eighteenth year of Josiah.

"All disinofenuousness is thus removed from Hilkiah
and Shaphan. But this reproach, often made, cannot
really touch the author of Deuteronomy. He was con-
scious of presenting Mosaic thoughts, and Mosaic law only
in a new dress and with a new application to his people.
Furthermore, this prophetic man undoubtedly knew that
he was called to a special mission, and had received a
revelation from God, when he freshly emphasized the
"old" Mosaic law, and transformed much that had orig-
inated from Moses or in his spirit, and which had been
added under his name in the course of time, according to
the needs of a much advanced and in many respects cor-
rupt age. Have we to-day, who with our modern concep-
tions can transport ourselves only with difficulty and inade-
quately into the spiritual life of that ancient time, a right
to censure a man who so unmistakeably bears the stamp
of a divinely inspired prophet \ Have we a right to re-
proach him with pious or impious fraud, and to doubt his
divine commission by means of which he raises before a
generation sunk in idolatry and the false service of Yah-
weh the heroic form of the theocratic law-giver, and by
means of his words and spirit presents to the new period

OLD TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 23

a new and at the same time old Mosaic law ? Moses, if
he had foreseen the age in which the author lived, could
not have spoken otherwise than as he causes him to speak.
He therefore summons Moses himself in prophetic investi-
ture to speak to the past generation but with a view to a
remote future. But the investiture through a half-poetic
character has been designedly made almost transparent, so
that we can perceive the true state of the case."1

This is certainly the most satisfactory application of the
modern critical theory with reference to the origin of
Deuteronomy, which has yet appeared from the hands of
a conservative scholar, and if we felt compelled to give up
the Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy, we might well feel
constrained to adopt the theory of Kittel as the least objec-
tionable statement regarding the subject.

It certainly is not necessary, in any case, and is not con-
sistent with the historical account of the origin of the Old
Testament books, that we should suppose Deuteronomy
is merely a pious fraud prepared as a programme by de-
vout priests and prophets to secure certain reforms, and
that this book was deliberately hid away in order that it
might be found.

Psalms. — A learned monograph on Psalm 68 (pp. 1-159)
has been written by Dr. J. W. Pont, a Dutch scholar.
The work was first prepared as a prize essay, and was duly
recognized by the theological faculty of Utrecht, in 1885.
The purpose of the treatise in its present form, was to
secure the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Univer-
sity of Amsterdam. After an introduction, he treats in

l Oeschichte der Htbrder, Gotha*, 1888, pp. 58-59.

24 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

the first part of the criticism and exegesis of the Psalm,
of the text and of its division. The second part is devoted
to the discussion of the time when it was written.' He
comes to the conclusion that it must have been composed
after the captivity, in the time when the Ptolemies were in
conflict with the Seleuciclee in regard to the possession of
Palestine.

He says that the author is unknown, that perhaps he
was a scribe who had buried himself in the study of
Israel's prophets, and who observed the tremendous
contrast between the prophetic ideal and the actual state
of things in his own time.1

The Chokma Literature. — Many valuable contribu-
tions to scientific theology are made by young men who
are seeking degrees from German universities. Treatises
hardly less valuable and sometimes much more elaborate
are produced by young Swiss theologians who seek similar
honors.

Henri Bois, son of a professor of the same name of the
Faculty of Protestant Theology of Montauban, has pro-
duced a valuable work on Gnomic Poetry among the
Hebrews and the Greeks.*

Bois makes the following distinction between lyric and

lPsalm Ixviii. Eene Exegetisch-Kritische Studie. Academisch
Proefschrift der verkrijging van den Graad van Doctor in de Ood-
geleerdheid, aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam . . . inhet openbaar
te verdedigen . . . door Johannes Wilhelm Pont, Leiden, 1887.

%La Poesie Gnomique chez les Eebreux et chez les Grecs Salomon et
Theognis. Thhse publiquement soutenue devant la Faculte de Theologie
Protestante de Montauban par Henri Bois de Montauban Bachelier es
Sciences, Licencie es Lettres aspirant au Grade de Bachelier en
Theologie, Toulouse, 1886.

OLD TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 25

gnomic poetry : "Lyric poetry is an inspiration, a kind
of enthusiasm ; gnomic poetry is a work of art and reflec-
tion. The lyric author puts all his soul into his songs.
The gnomic author gives expression to his thought in his
verses . . . The first triumphs, mourns, or praises ; the
second instructs, amuses, or pleases." 1

He says : i l Neither the rhyme, nor the measure of the
syllables distinguishes gnomic poetry from prose, but the
parallelism." 2 He maintains that in the course of the
ninth or eighth century B. C, a wise man gathered the
chief maxims attributed to Solomon and joined to them
later two appendices containing the maxims of unknown
sages.3

The book of Proverbs in his view is eminently practical,
and transports us to realms far removed from philosophy. 4

He finds a flagrant antinomy in this book, which the
authors do not suspect. "The liberty of man is every-
where pre-supposed in Proverbs. He is always considered
able to form projects and to execute them . . . but, on the
other hand, absolute fore-ordination by God is very clearly
affirmed."5

He says, wisdom is knowledge and employs many ways
for arriving at the end proposed. There are two points of
view, theoretical and practical.6 The end of wisdom in-
dicated by the Hebrew sages is happiness. It comprehends
first and foremost the elements of the ancient doctrine of
rewards . . . such as a long life, a numerous and happy
posterity. It always embraces riches, of which Prov rbs
make a great deal, and usually celebrates their advantages.7

i Ibid. p. 9. 2 Jbid. p. 14. 3 ibid. p. 40. 4 ibid. p. 4!
5 Ibid, p 53. 6 ibid. p. 59. 7 Ibid. p. 65.

26 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

The idea of wisdom (chokma) is joined with a second
idea of Proverbs, that of chastisement (musar), discipline 1*
. . . the discipline exercised by God seems to contain the
same elements as the discipline exercised by parents upon
their children.2

He concludes that the result of his investigations is to
"show that wisdom and discipline are essentially one.'"

The Song of Songs has received much attention from
modern critics. Two works have appeared within the
past year, one by Stickel,3 the other by Daland.4 Stickel
presents the following views in regard to the book : 1.
" Only the sense of the words as indicated by the idiom,
and the connection, is to be regarded. Since there is not
the slightest indication that it is to be understood in any
other way than according to the literal sense, every figu-
rative interpretation is to be disregarded, whether alle-
gorical, or mystico-spiritual, or typico-messianic, or histo-
rico-political. 2. The contents is love, human love from
beginning to end (Herder). 3. The Song of Songs is
throughout a moral book ... a heroic book of a true
woman's love. If this be something ethical, and ethics
belongs in our Sacred Scriptures, then Canticles belongs
in our Bible (Herder). 4. It was composed in northern
Palestine, while Tirzah was the capital of the Israelitish
state 920 B.C. 5. Canticles is a drama, in the full and

i Ibid. p. 90. 2 ma p. 130.

3 Stickel Das Hohelied in seiner Einhcit und dramntischen dliede-
rung mit Cebcrsetzung und Beigaben Berlin. 1888. 4 The Song of
Songs, translated from the Hebrew with occasional notes, by the Rev.
William C. Daland. A M., Pastor of the First Seventh- Day Baptist
Church, Leonardsville, N. Y., 1888.

OLD TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 27

strict sense of this term with acts and scenes. 6. It was
intended by the poet for representation through living
persons."

Stickel holds that it has to do, not only with the love of
the Shulamite, but also with the love of a shepherd and
shepherdess, who are distinct from the other characters.

Daland, an American scholar, considers it a product of
the Chokma literature, and a companion piece of the Book
of Job. He says the Book of u Job depicts the expe-
rience of a man who, though in the midst of fiery trials
and afflictions, has the divine gift of wisdom, the fear and
perfect trust of Yahweh, which enables him to withstand
them all, and to come forth as the pure gold from the fur-
nace. The Song of Songs shows us a woman who, by
virtue of the same grace, is victorious over the tempta-
tions peculiar to a woman in the time of Solomon, and
who remains true to her plighted troth and to her virtue,
against the allurements of the most luxurious court in
history."1

He considers that both of these books have an ethical
purpose, which would be subserved, even if the basis of
the narratives were fictitious.

He says : " The treasures of divine wisdom in the Pro-
verbs need exemplification. In Ecclesiastes, we have the
picture of a life conflict ; the deepest struggles of a noble
soul are there portrayed, its alternations of light and dark-
ness, hope, belief, and skepticism made vivid and personal,
but issuing in the grand conclusion • Fear God.' In Job
wre have a mighty spirit wrestling amidst darkness and
uncertainty, with that most terrible of problems, the mys-

i Ibid. p. 8.

28 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

terious providence of God. With every human influence
adverse, and smitten as was no man save the Man of Sor-
rows, Job stands upon the firm rock of Yahweh's inte-
grity, and proves the reality of that wisdom which is his fear.
The Song of Songs is needed to complete the series. The
most personal of all, the most simple and natural, it has for
that very reason been misunderstood. Types, symbols, pro-
phecies, and allegories have been imagined in this book, to
give it some wonderful significance, and every attempt is
full of inconsistencies and necessary perversions of the true
meaning of the words of the poet. In this book there is as
noble a soul, engaged in a struggle as momentous, with a
foe as subtle and terrible as ever sacred poet has celebrated
in song, and the victory is as glorious, and peradventure
lies nearer the sympathy of the true human heart, than
that of the upright man of Uz, or of Qoheleth him-
self. If any, however, choose to find in the Shulamite a
typical reference to the church, the shepherd must be con-
sidered the type of Christ. Solomon had better be regarded
as the type of the evil world with its allurements and
snares.

"The book is divided into five parts, or 'acts,' by the
four-times recurring refrain, * I adjure you, daughters of
Jerusalem,' etc. Twice it is as follows :

' I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the hinds

of the Held,
That ye stir not up, nor awake love till it please.'

The third time, at the end of the third act, in which is
seen the climax of feeling on the part of the Shulamite,
it is :

OLD TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 29

' I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem !

Oh ! that ye would fiud my love !

Oh ! that ye would tell him that I am sick with love !'

At the close of the fourth act it is abbreviated by the
omission of the words - by the gazelles or the hinds of the
field.'"1

l Ibid. pp. 11-12.

CHAPTER IV.

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL.

During- the past year the contributions to the history
of Israel have been important. The work prepared by
Stade in Chicken's Series of Universal Histories has been
completed. The general characteristics of this work have
already been indicated.1 Stade belongs to the most ad-
vanced wing of Old Testament critics, represented by the
school of Graf and Wellhausen. He holds, as has been
stated in a previous volume, that the Israelites were never
in Egypt ; that they were simply a Semitic tribe, like the
modern Arabs, who crossed the Jordan, thus receiving
their name as Hebrews, and who gradually conquered
Western Palestine. According to Stade, the oldest monu-
ment that we have of Hebrew literature is the song of
Deborah. His view, as to the origin and succession of the
Pentateuchal documents, is essentially the same as that of
the school of critics to which he belongs. In his history
he gives much space to the discussion of th,e sources of
Israelitish history, as well as to the religious views of the
Israelites. His work, therefore, is more particularly a
historv of Israelitish literature and Israelitish theology

than of Israelitish government.

l Current Discussions in Theology, Chicago, 1884, vol. ii.pp.33ff.;
1888, vol. v. pp. 59 ff.

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL. 31

In the second part of his work he treats the history of
Israel from the time of the exile to that of Ezra. He in-
sists, with apparent justice, that the carrying away of the
Judseans was in no true sense an exile or a captivity. It
was not an exile because they were permitted to go as
families and communities, and it was not a captivity, for
with the exception of certain leaders all had their freedom.
They were permitted to have their homes and were in a
position to be highly prosperous. The Juda^ans who went
to Babylonia seemed to have been in better circumstances
than those who were carried away from the Northern
Kingdom to Assyria.

The depression from which the people suffered did not
arise from lack of the comforts of life, but from the fact
that they were separated from Yahweh's land and from
the worship of His house, and the bread even which they
ate was polluted because the fruits could not be offered to
the Lord in a strange land.

Stade claims that it was about this period that the His-
tory of Israel, from Judges to Kings inclusive, was treated
from a Deuteronomistic standpoint. The facts of the his-
torv were thus made to subserve certain moral lessons.

Both in Jeremiah and Ezekiel we find Messianic promises
of the reunion and restoration of those who had been
carried away from the Northern and Southern Kingdom to
their own lands. Ezekiel, however, lays special stress
upon the fact that each man must suffer for the conse-
quences of his own sin. He sets forth the thought that
the banishment of the Judaeans from their own land is not
due to the sins of their fathers, but to their own trans-
gressions. Ezekiel has a vision of a new temple far ex-

32 OLD TESTAMENT EXEOETIGAL THEOLOGY.

ceeding in extent and magnificence that of Solomon. He
evidently expects there will be miraculous changes in the
character of the land.

It is needless to mention that Stade considers that the
last twenty-seven chapters of Isaiah are from the hand of
another prophet, whom with other critics he calls Deutero-
Isaiah. He holds that this prophet forms a transition to
the post-exilian writers. He says that Deutero-Isaiah is
completely wanting in that which is characteristic of the
pre-exilian prophets, namely, that he is seized by God's
Spirit in order to announce to Israel their sins. He is
completely wanting in the consciousness of mediating be-
tween Israel and Yahweh. His prophecies are rather of a
reflective character. The addresses, which can certainly
be referred to him, belong to the period which elapsed be-
tween Croesus' fall and Cyrus' attack upon him in the time
of the conflict of the Persians against the cities of Asia
Minor. 1

He recognizes two great truths, which stand in reci-
procal relation to each other. Israel is no longer one of
the peoples and Yahweh is no more a national God. The
God of Israel's salvation and Israel take a central position
in the world's history. Yahweh is exalted above this
earth and above that which is worshipped in it as super-
natural. And Yahweh's people have in their history a
calling laid upon them by Yahweh for the benefit of all
nations. Yahweh has become the only God, and all deities
who have been recognized beside Him are emptied of their
activity and power and sink together into nothingness.

i Geschichte des Volkes Lsrael, Berlin, 1888, zweiter Theil, p. 73.

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL. 33

We, therefore, first find in Deutero-Isaiah the monotheistic
representation of Judaism and the fact that other gods do
not exist.

He maintains the same theory regarding the Servant of
Yahweh, which is held by the advanced critics of the modern
school. As is well known, the last twenty-seven chapters
of Isaiah contain the teaching regarding the servant of
Yahweh. It is a favorite theory of Professor Delitzsch, as
well as of some other conservative scholars, that while in
some chapters the servant of Yahweh is co-extensive with
all Israel, in others he is to be limited to the martyr con-
gregation in Israel, and in still others, to an individual who
is indicated in Is. liii.

While Stade considers the interpretation with reference
to the pious congregation and to an individual as natural
enough, he thinks that the servant of Yahweh never in-
dicates anything but the whole historical people of Israel.

Like Ezekiel, Deutero-Isaiah expects a wonderful trans-
formation of the earth in connection with the establish-
ment of the Messianic Kingdom. Jerusalem is to be re-
built and the expectations for the future are of -an earthly
character.

There is no place in Deutero-Isaiah for the Messianic
King. In this respect he marks an advance upon Ezekiel.
In the Book of Ezekiel, the Messianic King occupies only
the shadowy form of a prince. In Deutero-Isaiah Yahweh
is Israel's king. Stade claims, therefore, that the Messianic
hopes of Deutero-Isaiah are closely connected with those of
Ezekiel and are a further development of them.

The monotheistic representation of God in Judaism and
the expectation that the heathen would accept this mono-

34 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETIGAL THEOLOGY.

theistic representation of God and obey the precepts of the
moral law without becoming Jews, go back, as Stade
thinks, to Deutero-Isaiah.

Stade says the significance of the period from the return
under Cyrus until the reform of Ezra is not commonly ap-
prehended. "It signifies an attempt to arrange the wor-
ship and existence of the state on the territory of the
fathers . . . under the pre-supposition that in this way the
fulfillment of the Messianic hopes had begun, and to carry
through this arrangement by means of the Deuteronomic
codex, which had been essentially enlarged through the
incitation of Ezekiel and Deutero-Isaiah."

The pre-supposition that the return to Palestine meant
the beginning of the Messianic Kingdom predicted by the
prophets led to bitter disappointment. The Holy Land
did not become a land of marked fruitfulness. The king
in David's line did not appear. The congregation re-
mained under the dominion of the heathen. It Avas ex-
posed to great danger through the infusion of old Israelitish
elements. This was thwarted only by two immigrations
under the lead of Ezra and of Nehemiah.

Stade says it is commonly supposed that the return from
the exile took place under the leadership of a descendant
of David, Zerubbabel, as secular, and of the High Priest,
Joshua, as the spiritual head of the people. He says that
this view in all essential points is incorrect, and that the
Chronicler has misunderstood his sources.

Stacle's contribution to the History of the People of
Israel in Oncken's Series ends with the history of pre-
Christian Judaism until the Grecian period. The part
which treat of the history from the end of the Jewish State

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL. 35

until the origin of Christianity, by Oscar Holtzmann, be-
longs to the New Testament department.

Renan has issued the first volume of the eighth edition
of his Histoire du Pewple d? Israel,1 which has been trans-
lated into English and published in America.2 It is need-
less to say that this is the Avork of an unbelieving critic,
and yet it is an interesting and suggestive book. Instead
of exhibiting the process of preparing the stones and lay-
ing the foundations of the building of history, he presents
us with a completed edifice. His work is based rather on
a philosophy of history than a critical induction of sources.

He says, "For a philosophical spirit, three histories are
of pre-eminent interest, that of Greece, that of Israel and
that of Rome. These three histories combined constitute
what may be called a history of civilization; since civiliza-
tion is the result of the alternate contributions of Greece
Judea and Rome. Greece took a leading part, for she
founded in the fullest sense of the term rational and pro-
gressive humanity. Our science, our art, our literature,
our philosophy, our ethics, our politics, our strategy, our
diplomacy, our maritime and international laws are of
Greek origin . . .

Greece had in the circle of her intellectual and moral
activity only one blank, but that blank was considerable.
She despised the lowly and did not feel the need of a just
God. Her philosophers . . . were tolerant of the iniquities
of this world . . . the idea of a universal religion had never
come to them. Israel furnished what Avas lacking in the
Hellenistic spirit.

l Paris, 1887. 2 History of the People of Israel, Boston, 1888.

36 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETIGAL THEOLOGY.

The errand creations of Greece and Judea could not alone

have conquered the world. Rome occupied this extra-
ordinary role; by prodigies of civic virtue she created a
force in the world, and this force in reality served to pro-
pagate the Greek and Jewish work, that is to say, civiliza-
tion." 1

In distinction from Stade and Wellhausen, he lays down
an important principle with reference to the fundamental
character of the Patriarchal age, and in this respect shows
that he has a true conception of the philosophy of Israelit-
ish history. He says in his first volume, "The grand
movement of the religion of Israel which has drawn the
world into its whirlpool has hardly commenced. The
vocation of Israel is not evident ... At first blush, it
might be taken for a little Syrio-Arabic people like the
others . . . The period of the greatest importance in the
life of great men is their youth ... It is in the patriarchal
age that the destiny of Israel began to be determined.
Nothing in the history of Israel is explicable without the
patriarchal age." . . . He says, " that according to a certain
class of French critics, the history of Israel should be a
blank before David." In his view such a method is a
negation of history. He considers the legendary materials
which the modern critics claim to find especially in the
Hexateuch of greatest value in writing history.-

In one respect Kenan differs radically from the modern
schools of critics. The ordinary theory of Israelitish
history, as well as of Israelitish religion, is that it presents

1 Cf. the French edition, pp. i-v, and the English translation, pp.
vi-x.

2 French edition, pp. x-xiv.

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL. 37

certain stages in a development which may be determined
or not, according to the standpoint of critics, by the pre-
sence of the Divine Spirit in history, at least from a
pantheistic point of view.

Kenan excludes the supernatural element in Israelitish
history. He seems to be an adherent of the principle of
evolution in his theory of the origin of the human race.
He says, uThe passage from the animal state to humanity
did not take place upon a single part of the globe, or by
a single spontaneous effort . . . The family was formed by
the most atrocious means ; millions of women stoned to
death, paved the way to conjugal fidelity.'" 1

The following quotation shows how he eliminates the
supernatural : uNo signs have been discovered in nature
of any intelligent agent superior to man . . . Prayer never
encountered any being that it can turn from its purpose.
No prayer or aspiration has ever healed a disease or won a
battle. . . .2

The belief in the spiritual nature of the soul and in im-
mortality, far from being an outcome of refined reflection,
is in fact a remnant of the childish conceptions of men in-
capable of making a serious analysis of their ideas.'13

While he shows that he is an adherent of the principle
of development in his theory of the origin of mankind, his
view of the doctrine of a Divine Being does not seem to
, indicate this principle.

It is a favorite theory of the critics of the modern school

i History of the People of Israel till the Time of King David, Boston,
1888, pp. 1-5.

2 Ibid. 23.

3 Histoire du Peuple d1 Israel, Paris, 1887, p. 41.

38 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETIGAL THEOLOGY.

that monotheism is a product of the Israelitish prophets of
the eighth century. Renan, however, says, and rightly as
we think, if the statement be limited to Israel, "The
march toward monotheism, which is the whole circulus of
the life of these peoples, is in reality nothing more than a
return to the intuitions of their lirst days." 1

Kenan does not claim anywhere, as formerly, that the
Semitic peoples had a genius for monotheism, since this
has clearly been disproved by historical investigation. But
he is certainly inconsistent with himself when he maintains
that the Israelites at the earliest period of their history
were adherents of monotheism. While this view is un-
doubtedly correct, the question is how he can explain it on
the basis of his theory of history.

He considers that the patriarchal Elohism ought to be
considered anterior and superior to Yahwism, or Chemosh-
ism ... It was an advance . . . when these elohim were
unified in a single Elohim as one being. But it was a
decadence when they received a proper name, Chemosh,
Yahweh, Rimmon, and constituted for each people a
jealous, egotistical, personal god. Only the people of Is-
rael corrected these faults of their national gods.

Yahweh is a particular god, the god of a human family
and of a country. Elohim is the universal god, the god
of the human race . . . Neither Christianity nor Islam
recognizes Yahweh.2 In another place he says, that Yah-'
wism was an obliteration of the primitive Elohism. The
prophets, and especially Jesus, expelled Yahweh, the ex-

i Ibid. p. 62.

2 French edition, pp. 85-86 ; English edition, pp. 71-72.

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL 39

elusive £od of Israel. At that remote a^e, Yalrvveh did
not differ much from Moloch. "The good of the nation
which he protects is the supreme good, all the rest is sub-
ordinated . . . Yahweh is a national god, that is to say, a
very bad god . . . The basis of Elohism remained living
and strong until Yahweh lost all his peculiar characteristics,
until he came to be replaced by the equivalent Elohim, the
inoffensive Adhonai."1

This theory of Kenan's in regard to the application of
Yahweh to the God of Israel as a national deity is correct.
Yahweh, in the Old Testament, is as much a proper name
as Jesus in the New Testament. But the name Yahweh
among the Israelitish prophets does not indicate what is
termed by the critics monolatry, but rather the God of
redemption and revelation. •

His view regarding the character of Yahweh as a cruel
and bloodthirsty tyrant is not based on an induction from
Old Testament passages, but is the result of a pre-conceived
theory derived partly from unbelieving critics and from
his studies in classical mythology.

The History of the Hebrews* by Kittel, belongs to the
series of universal histories, published by Perthes of
Gotha. Kittel is a conservative German theologian, but
he has adopted essentially the position of the modern cri-
tical school with reference to the origin and composition of
the Pentateuch. He differs, however, from the adherents
of this school in maintaining firmly the value of ancient
tradition, and considers it a great weakness in the treat-
ment of Israelitish history by Meyer and Stade that they

i Ibid. pp. 173-175 ; 148-150.

2 Geschichte der Hebrcier, Gotha, 1888.

40 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

undervalue tradition. After an introduction, in which he
considers the importance of the subject, various works on
Hebrew history, the land, climate, animals, inhabitants
and neighbors of the Israelites, he discusses in the first
book the period until the conquest of Canaan. The first
half of the first volume is Largely taken up with the dis-
cussion of the sources of this period as found in the Hexa-
teuch. He treats of tradition and its proper place, the
history of criticism, Deuteronomy and the time of its
composition, the Deuteronomic parts of the book of
Joshua, sources of the Yahwistic and Elohistic documents,
their relations to one another and to Deuteronomy, the

priesthood and reasons for the post-exilian composition of
the Priests' Code. He next gives a history of this period.
In the first chapter he presents the age of the patriarchs
and the traditions as they are found in various sources, as
given by the Elohist, the Yah wist and in the Priests' Code.
He then gives the historical contents of these accounts
of the patriarchs, after testing and arranging the sources.
In the second chapter he follows the same order with regard
to Mo$s and the journey through the wilderness. He
first treats of the various traditions and then of the his-
torical form of the account concerning Moses. In the
third chapter he presents the conquest of Canaan, first
giving a critical analysis of the sources, including Judges,
i, ii, 1-5, and then discusses the progress of the conquest
in detail.

Monographs.- -The excellent scries on the Men of the
Bible, noticed in our last issue, has been continued and is
republished in this country. The volume on Samuel and

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL. 41

Saul, their Lives and Times,1 by Deane, requires no
special notice. The author's treatment of the subject is
conservative and will be found instructive.

Solomon, His Life and Times, by Canon Farrar,2 is a
tine example of word painting. In connection with the
accession of Solomon he presents a well-known theory in
regard to the conspiracy of Adonijah to secure the throne.
According to this theory, Adonijah's request presented
through Bathsheba to Solomon for the hand of the beauti-
ful Abishag, his father's concubine, was simply a part of
this conspiracy, as it was customary for the successor in
the royal line to inherit the women of the court.

He maintains that the book of Ecclesiastes was due to
the general influence given to Jewish thought by Solomon,
although it cannot have been written by him.

The volume on Elijah, Ills Life and Times, by Milli-
gan,3 is from a competent hand. It is also written from a
strictly conservative standpoint, and in this respect differs
from the volume by Cheyne, on Utr Hallowing of Critic-
ism,* which is made up of nine discourses on the Life of
Elijah, together with an appendix which seeks to answer
the question : iw To what extent should results of historical
and scientific criticism, especially of the Old Testament, be
recognized in sermons and teaching % ' He takes the bull
by the horns, when he says : " Let critical scholars open
their mouths, in the pulpit and out of the pulpit, in season
and out of season, and have the courage to be dogmatic. It

i New York (without date.)

2 London (without date.)

3 New York (without date.)

4 London, 1888.

42 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

is both useless and needless for them to meet non-Christian
assaults on the Old Testament Scriptures by counter-
arguments ; change the point of view, and the arguments
of scientific critics vanish into thin air."

He illustrates his position as follows: "The so-called
cosmogony ' found in Genesis i. |, which ends with the
middle of Genesis ii, 4, "was not meant to be taken as an
account of what we call w facts;' it is not a specimen of rudi-
mentary science or pseudo-science ... A pious Hebrew
writer takes a semi-mythical narrative, current either in his
own or some neighboring nation, and moulds it into a
vehicle of spiritual truth. Can we be surprised at this,
remembering the numerous undoubtedly mythic phrases in
the language of the Old Testament I ... It is useless then
for the experts in other subjects to depreciate this docu-
ment on scientific grounds ; it is the underlying spiritual
truth against which alone with due seriousness it is admis-
sible to argue."

While he thinks the "weak brethren' should be con-
sidered, he holds that the results of criticism should not be
hidden from them. He divides the "weak brethren'
into two classes, "those who are weak by nature and
those who have become so through the fault of their
teachers." He says that "those who are weak by nature
will feed on those precious truths of heart theology, some
of which should be conspicuous in every sermon, and will
leave the rest ; those who are weak by education will at
least see that you personally have your feet planted on a
rock, and will ask how it is that what would make them
stumble only seems to give you a bolder and more rejoicing
faith . . . He who said, l Destroy not the weak brethren '

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL. 43

(Romans xiv, 15) was himself unweariedly active in en-
lighting the conscience and enlarging the point of view of
his spiritual children." l

It will be seen from this that Canon Cheyne's position
with reference to the use which clergymen should make
of the facts of criticism is quite different from that of
Professor Delitzsch. Professor Delitzsch maintains that
critical theories are for scholars only, and the church at
large is liable to suffer detriment from the popular discus-
sion of such theories. The position of Cheyne seems to
be more consistent, but those who feel constrained to
adopt certain critical views as to the origin of Old Testa-
ment books and as to the materials of Which they are com-
posed should be careful how they shock the prejudices of
the laity. Greatest care should be used in the adoption
of new theories until the consensus of Christian scholarship
has fullv established them. It is certain that the Old Test-
anient has nothing to fear from the discoveries of modern
science and criticism. We may be called upon to revise
our views as to the human side of Scripture, but God's
truth will remain unchanged. The position of a reverent
investigator is more likely to be useful to the church.

The last two volumes which we shall mention are fully
abreast of the most scientific scholarship of the present
day. The volume on Isaiah : His Life and Times, and
the Writings which hear His Name, by Canon Driver,
known amongst scholars as the author of T7te Hebrew
Tenses, and to our American public by his lessons in the
Sunday School Times, is based on the modern critical the-
ory with reference to the authorship of Isaiah.2

i Ibid. pp. 188-196. 2 London (without date.)

44 OLD TESTAMENT EXEdETIGAL THEOLOGY.

He classes among " prophecies unrelated to Isaiah's
age" xxiv-xxvii; xiii, 1-xiv, 23; xxxiv-xxxv; xl-lxvi.
He gives special attention to these last chapters, devoting
nearly the latter half of the book to their discussion, under
the headings, " The Great Prophecy of Israel's Restora-
tion,1' " Theology and literary style of chapters xl-lxvi."
In chapter v, he discusses the authorship of the last part
of Isaiah, considering the internal evidence, that of lan-
guage and style, and that of theology and thought; and
maintains that the author must have written for the exiles
in Babylonia and must have worked among them.

Chey ne's treatise on Jeremiah: His Life and Times,1
is of especial interest on account of the discussion which
he gives in regard to the origin and publication of Deute-
ronomy, in chapters vi and vii. He considers that Deute-
ronomy was the " ancient law transformed." He raises
the question whether the preparation of this book involved
fraud or needful illusion. He emphatically rejects the
idea of fraud, but he adopts the saying of Novalis, "All
transition begins with illusion." Cheyne says, "Both
historically and educationally it is clear that at certain
stages of development, men cannot receive the pure truth
which must therefore be enclosed for a time in a husk of
harmless error. The history of the Prophets shows us,
that, as a matter of fact, Providence employed much illu-
sion in training its instruments. Jeremiah himself at length
became aware of this in his own case, and not without a
momentary disappointment at the discovery. "Thou hast
deceived me, Jehovah," he exclaims, "and I was deceived '

i London, 1888.

HI 8 TOBIES OF ISRAEL. 45

(or 'enticed'; Jcr. xx, 7, B. V). . . The illusion respecting
the authorship of Deuteronomy lasted for centuries, and
produced, as we may reverently suppose, no injurious
effect upon the Church. But in modern times and espe-
cially now, ... to ask men to believe that Deuteronomy
was written by Moses, or that its substance was spoken
though not written by Moses and supernaturally commu-
nicated to Hilkiah would be to impose a burden upon the
Church which it is not able to bear."

Cheyne says, "The object of the Deuteronomist was to
keep up the historical continuity of the "Mosaic'' school
of legalists, the orthodox school, one may eall it, in opposi-
tion to those k lying pens1 of which Jeremiah speaks (Jer.
viii, 8). The object of Hilkiah was to terminate the pain-
ful hesitancy of the believers in a spiritual religion by
producing the joint work of some well trained priest and
prophet as the only suitable and divinely appointed law of
the state. To abolish polytheism and the dangerous . local
shrines a new prophecy and a new law book of a more effi-
cacious character than any that had yet been seen was
really necessary. These were provided in the original
book of Deuteronomv/'1

Cheyne does not attempt to determine who was the
author of Deuteronomy, but he gives an interesting quota-
tion from Maspero, who says, "It was a common prac-
tice of Egyptian scribes to insert in their transcripts of
great religious or scientific works a statement that the
writing in question had been ' found ' in a temple. For
example, chapter Ixiv of the ' Book of the Dead ' . . . was

i Ibid. pp. 78-80.

46 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGET1CAL THEOLOGY.

declared in certain documents to have been found by an
Egyptian prince, in the reign of Mencheres, beneath the
feet of the god Thoth." He also mentions other books in
which the same formula is used and says, "may there not
then (considering the other traces of an acquaintance with
Egypt in the book) be an imitation of this custom when
Deuteronomy xxxi, 26, makes ' Moses' say, Take this book
of ' Tor ah, and put it by the side of the Ark of the Cove-
nant f The position assigned to the law book beside the
Ark . . . corresponds to that of the ' coffer of books at the
feet of Anup.' ... Is it not possible that the book was —
not lost by accident, nor yet placed in the sanctuary with
the intention to deceive — but simply taken to the temple
and formally placed there as authoritative Scripture, and
then communicated to Josiah with the view of its promul-
gation Vn

Pinnock has produced a work'2 which is designed to
combine the Bible and contemporary history, covering the
ground of the Old Testament. It is entirely uncritical
and the two large volumes contain less valuable and trust-
worthy matter than Sayce's little book entitled Fresh Light
from the Ancient Monuments*

Geography. — There is a most important connection
between the geography and history of a country. There
can be no question that physical and moral traits are

i Ibid. p. 85.

2 The Bible and Contemporary History, an Epitome of the History
of the World from the Creation to the end of the Old Testament, based
on the inspired Record, and elucidated by means of the latest scien-
tific and historical Researches. London, 188"

3 London (without date).

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL. 47

greatly dependent upon peculiarities of land and climate,
hence the study of the geography of Palestine is closely
related to the history and theology of Israel.

We call Palestine the Holy Land. In this designation,
the term holy corresponds to the meaning of the Hebrew
word qadhash -'to he separate." Perhaps there is no other
country in the world, which is so separated from other
countries, and so well adapted to be the residence of a
separated or holy people, as the domain of ancient Israel.

It is certain that no other territory has received such
attention from learned travelers and explorers, a's Pales-
tine. The science of sacred geography is a product of the
present century, speaking from a scientific standpoint.
While Barckhardt, Buckingham, Schubert, Russeggcr
have made important contributions to the science of sacred
geography, our own countryman, Dr. Edward Robinson,
according to the testimony of a recent German scholar,
Ankel, introduced a new epoch for the geography of
Palestine; but it was reserved for Ritter to gather all the
scattered materials, in regard to this country, into one
scientific treatise. Van De Velde, Seetzen, Tobler, de
Luynes have made important contributions to this science.

But the crowning work has been accomplished by vari-
ous exploration societies sent out from different coun-
tries, especially by " The English Palestine Exploration
Fund." whose labors began in the year 1865. and which
have been continued to the present time. As has been men-
tioned in a previous volume,1 "The Palestine Exploration
Society of America" was founded in 1870, but after issu-

Current Discussions in Theology, Chicago, 1884, Vol. ii, p. 47.

48 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETIGAL THEOLOGY.

ing four statements, the last of which appeared Jan. 1887,
it was discontinued for lack of funds. In the same year,
the German Palestine Society was formed. As its means
have been limited, it has been content with subsidiary
investigations. Ankel says, that while the English Society
has been more concerned to promote the interests of Bib-
lical study, the German Society has devoted more atten-
tion to the scientific aspects of investigation. It should
also be mentioned, that in the year 1882 an ''Orthodox
Palestine Society ' was formed in Russia, which has three
aims in" view : Learned contributions and investigations ;
aid for orthodox pilgrims; and the cultivation of the ortho-
dox faith in the Holv Land.

We have now reached a point where it is exceedingly
desirable, that some one should subject the facts collected
to a scientific arrangement in a manner, similar to that of
Ritter.

This work has been performed on a small scale by the
scholar, alread}^ mentioned. Dr. Otto Ankel, who has writ-
ten a monograph entitled, Outlines of the Geogritpley of
the Land West of the Jordan.1 This little work, which
covers 131 pages, embraces the most important informa-
tion in regard to this country, and seems to come from
the hand of a competent scholar. He acknowledges his
obligations to Professors Baudissin, Kayser and YVell-
hausen in Marburg, and to Professor Guthe of Leipzig.
He treats of the present condition of investigations in
Palestine, of' the position of the land west of the Jordan,

i Grundzilge der Landesnatur <lcs Westjordanlandes. Entwurf
einer Monographic des Westjordanischen Palastina, von Otto Ankel.
Frankfurt a. M., 1887.

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL. 49

with reference to the rest of the world, its physicial fea-
tures, its climate, its vegetation, and fhe history of agri-
culture, together with that of the climate of this land. Be-
sides, there is an appendix giving tables of the climatic
changes in Jerusalem.

The following quotation, gives his view of the peculiar
situation of the Holy Land: "In spite of its apparently
favorable position between the ancient states of civiliza-
tion, the land of the Jews took no part in the great com-
merce of the world. The billows arising from the con-
flicts of these peoples, sometimes reached the boundaries
of this land; the heart of it remained untouched. It was
separated from Egypt by land and water. It lay on the
periphery of the great Asiatic kingdoms, and o tiered . . .
no allurement to conquerors.

Its participation in an inland and carrying trade was
small. No main artery of travel passed through this out-
of-the-way-land . . . The path of the caravans from Damas-
cus to Petra led along through the land east of the Jordan
on the edge of the wilderness, and was especially suited for.
the use of camels ; the one to Egypt passed over upper
Jordan and crossed South Galilee.'' He shows that the
way through the land east of the Jordan and then over the
Jordan to Jerusalem and Hebron and southward, was im-
passable for camels. Hence, although the land west of the
Jordan was surrounded by roads for commerce, it was,
nevertheless, cut oil' from communication with other na-
tions. He says, "According to the divine plan, the idea
of monotheism was to be developed undisturbed, and then
carried further by ways already in existence."1

i Ibid. p. 25.

50 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

In his chapter on the "History of the cultivation of the
ground and of the climate of the land west of the Jordan ,"
he si lows that for about four thousand years there has
not been any considerable change in the number of the
trees west of the Jordan, and essentially no change in the
climate.1

He quotes with emphasis, in opposition to Voltaire and
the superficial skeptics of the present day, the testimony
of classic and other writers regarding the wonderful,
natural fertility of the land, and adopts the language of
one of the special papers in "The Survey of Western
Palestine." "It is no idle dream to suppose that Palestine
might in a few years become a land flowing with milk and
honey ; even with the present inhabitants under an upright
government the land would in a short time change its ap-
pearance, and, as it is, the country has changed in parts to
a small extent, due to the alteration in the government,
brought about by the influence of public opinion of the
West, asserting itself even in Syria ... At present, how-
ever. Palestine-Philistia in particular has not a tithe of the
population that it would support ; its fruit trees are left to
take care of themselves, its waters allowed to run under
ground instead of on the surface." 2

He says that, " in presence of this competent judgment,
mistrustful skepticism must be dumb, and that it is a fixed
fact that the natural condition of the lands west of the
Jordan, with the active co-operation of man, permits a re-
juvenation, a regeneration of the land ; it can again become,
what it was once, a land flowing with milk and honey, it

i Ibid. ]>. 1-21.

* Ibid. ])]). 123 121).

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL. 51

can again have a high significance for the civilized world,
and a prosperity similar to that of David and Solomon."

GeiMe's Holy Land and the Bible, 1 in two volumes, does
not add anything to our scientific knowledge of Palestine,
but is valuable as the work of a diligent Bible student for
ministers and Sunday School teachers. The treatment is
popular, and describes the most important places in the
Holy Land, with reference to the ancient and modern
literature of the subject.

The religious Tract Society has published a new edition
of Dawson's Egypt and Syria, their physical features in
relation to Bible Id story,2 in its series of By-paths of Bible
Knowledge. The work is the result of personal observa-
tions, made during the winter of 1883-4, when the
writer devoted some attention to the less known features
of the geology of portions of Egypt and Palestine,
with a special reference to the bearing of facts of this kind
on Bible history. In seven chapters he discusses the Delta,
the Valley of the Nile, the Geography of the Exodus,
Judea and Jerusalem, the Jordan and the Dead Sea, pre-
historic and historic men, past present and future. In
this treatise he takes into account the recent investigations
in Egypt.

The " Fourth Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund,"
entitled Tanis, part second, has just appeared.3 It contains
much minute information, without any extended reference

1 London, Paris, New York and Melbourne, 1887.

2 The Religious Tract Society, 1887.

3 Tanis, Part ii, Nebesheh, (A. M.) and Defcnneh (Tahpanhes), by
W. M. Flinders Petrie, with chapters by A. S. Murray and F. L. L.
Griffith, London, 1888.

52 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

to Bible history. There are, however, some interesting
illustrations, especially of the book of Jeremiah.

Akch^eology. — Hardly less important in the study of
the history of a people than their geography, is an account
of their manners and customs, which are described in
works on Archaeology. The past year has been fruitful
in such work. Schegg's Biblical Archaeology r,* by a late
Roman-Catholic Professor in the University of Munich,
divides the subject as follows :

First, land and people ; second, worship ; third, politi-
cal institutions.

The well known work of the late Professor Keil,2 has
recently been translated into English, and published by T.
& T. Clark, of Edinburgh. Its merits have loiw been re-
cognized by the learned world. The main divisions of the
first and second volumes are : I. The scene of the biblical
history. II. First Part of Biblical Archaeology, the
religious relations of the Israelites. 1. The Israelitish
places of worship. 2. Sacred officials. 3. The various
acts of worship. 4-. Worship in relation to the times
fixed for its observance. III. Second Part of Biblical
Archaeology. Social Relations of the Israelites. 1. The
domestic relations of the Israelites. 2. The every day oc-
cupations of the Israelites. 3. State relations.

This work contains an extended and learned discussion
of the subjects treated, from a strictly conservative stand-
point, and with scarcely any reference to the points now
under debate among" critics.

i Biblische Archaologie. Freiburg im Breisgau, 1886-7.
2 Manual of Biblical Archaeology, Edinburgh, 1887-1888.

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL. 53

Dr. Bissell, under the auspices of the American Sunday
School Union, has produced an admirable work on the
same subject,1 which is divided as follows: 1. Domestic
antiquities, II. Civil antiquities, III. Sacred antiquities.

Conder's Syrian Stone LqtS is a book which has been
severely criticised, and which in its discussion of the Caana-
nites, the Phoenicians, the Hebrews, the Jews and the
Samaritans, does not add greatly to our information.
Where Conder alludes to points of criticism, as for instance
in the philological indications of the antiquity of the Pen-
tateuch, he displays an inadequate acquaintance with the
subject and a dilettante treatment of it.

During the year 1887, two works appeared on the
Temple of Solomon, one on that of Ezekiel, and one on the
Temple in the Time of Christ.

The treatise on the Temple of Solomon is by E. C. Rob-
ins,3 F. S. A., a practical architect, who gives a review of
the various theories respecting the form and style of archi-
tecture of the Temple of Solomon, which he groups under
three classes : 1. the African, which assumes that the
Temple was designed on the model of Egyptian edifices, or
in the Egyptian style ; 2. the European, which assumes
that it partook of the forms and design peculiar to Grecian
architecture ; 3. the Asiatic, which asserts that it is to
Phoenicia, Assyria, Babylonia and Persia that we must
look for the style of architecture employed.

1 Biblical Antiquities ; a hand-booh for use in Seminaries, Sab-
balh Schools, families and by all students of the Bible. Philadelphia,

1888.

2 London, 1886.

3 The Temple of Solomon, a review of the various theories respect-
ing its form and style of architecture. London, 1887,

54 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

Robins says he thinks it is to Asia, and not to Africa,
that we must look for the true architectural type. Not
indeed for the form and arrangement of the plan, (this
was emphatically Jewish), but«for the form and styles of
art adopted in details and accessories.

He thinks that as a Tyrian architect, and Tyrian arti-
sans were employed in the designs and construction of the
buildings at Solomon's own request, the style of art pre-
vailing at the period in the capital of Phoenicia would
doubtless be stamped on every part.

Friedrich,1 also argues that the temple of Solomon was
a monument of Phoenician art, and he considers that Stade
is right in the assumption, that Solomon's palace was the
chief building, and that the Temple was simply a royal
sanctuary designed for the personal worship of the splen-
dor-loving kins:.

Sully's work on the temple of EzekielV2 prophecy, seems
to be an example of literalism run mad. He expects that
the temple of Ezekiel will be erected in Jerusalem. An
architect by profession, -he has expended ten years in the
study of the subject. The work is elaborate, and contains
110 large quarto pages.

i Tempel /aid Palast Salomons, Denkmaler Phdnikischer Kunst.
Rekonstruktion, Exegese der Baubericht mit Grundrissen und Per-
spective^ von Dr. Thomas Friedrich, Innsbruck, 1887.

3 The Temple of EzekieVs Prophecy; or, an exhibition of tlie na-
ture, character, and extent of the building fepresented in the last nine
chapter ^ of Ezekiel, and whir// is shortly to be erected in the land of
Israel, as " A house of prayer for all people'". (Isaiah Ivi, 7;
Mark xi-17) with plates, drawn from the specification of the in-
spired testimony, by Henry Sully, Nottingham, 1887 .

HISTORIES OF ISRAEL. 55

The volume by Woolf,1 treats of the tabernacle, the
temple of Solomon, that of Zerubbabel and of Herod, and
seems to be a work of considerable merit.

i Der Tempel von Jerusalem unci seine Maasse. Von P. O. Woolf
O. S. V., Mitglied der Beuroner Benedictiner-Congregation. Graz,

1887.

CHAPTER V..

EXEGESIS.

In America, we have made but limited progress in the
scientific interpretation of the Old Testament. There are
no recent commentaries known to the writer, which fulfill
the demands of scientific scholarship. With the excep-
tion of Alexander's commentary on Isaiah, published
many years ago, which shows what American scholarship
can do, we have nothing which can be compared with the
better class of English, and especially German comment-
aries.

The writers in these volumes have been sharply criti-
cised, at various times, for giving so much space to German
theological works, and so little, comparatively, to Amer-
ican and English productions. But any one, who examines
the subject, will see^how dependent we have been, and still
are on Germany for Old Testament commentaries.

The excellent works of the late Albert Barnes were an
American production — not to speak of others more or le.^s
meritorious — but they cannot be compared for a moment
with such series of commentaries, as those of Rosenmiiller,
or the Kwzgefasstes exegetisches Handbuch zum Alten Tes-
tament, or Lange's commentaries, or Keil and Delitzsch's,
not to mention the so-called Speaker's Commentary, and
others which are from time to time appearing in England.

EXEGESIS. 57

We have lacked the first prerequisite to such critical
commentaries in the comparative absence of Hebrew schol-
arship. It is to be hoped that during the next twenty
years America may produce commentaries, which will
rank with such productions as those of Alexander and
Cheyne.

It is almost impossible for one, who is not familiar with
the subject, to realize how much of our knowledge of the
Old Testament is derived from German sources. Our
American scholars have drunk almost exclusively at Ger-
man fountains, from the time of Moses Stuart to the
present. The reason for this, is that while Germany has
been raising up at its universities generations of Old Testa-
ment scholars, our American theologians not only lack the
requisite training, but have also been occupied in the solu-
tion of the practical questions which have been forced
upon us. No critic, therefore, who has an intelligent
view of the whole range of Old Testament literature, can
be justified in finding fault with the writers in this book,
for giving too exeat attention to foreign works.

COO O

Genesis — The commentary of Spurrell, entitled Notes
<>n The Hebrew Text of the Book of Genesis,1 is prepared
from a strictly philological, grammatical and critical
standpoint. It is likely to be found of especial value by
Hebrew students of the Old Testament. In the append-
ices, he briefly discusses the origin and succession of the
documents, in which he follows the views of the critical
school as set forth by his friend Professor Driver. He also
treats briefly of the names EL Elohim, Yahweh.

1 Oxford, 1887.

58 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

The common explanation given of the word El, is that
it comes from the root id, and signifies the strong one.
Fleischer, whom Delitzsch and others follow, considers
Elohim as the plural of Eloah. They derive it from a root
found in the Arabic, which signifies " to wander about, to
go hither and thither in perplexity or fear," and they ex-
plain Eloah as signifying the object of fear. Spurrell
gives Ewald's view, who holds that both El and Eloah
come from a root signifying to be strong, that of Lagarde
who maintains that El signifies the one whom men strive
after, that of Noldeke, who explains El as meaning the
leader, Lord, of Dillman, wrho regards El and Eloah as
inseparable and as having the meaning of might. In view
of so many different opinions, Spurrell thinks it is im-
possible to decide.

As is well known, the Jews whenever they find the let-
ters Yhwh, always say Adhonai, but, when the word
Adhonai precedes Yhwh, they say Elohim. Spurrell con-
siders it an established fact that the pronunciation of the
letters Yhwh suggested by the critics, Yahweh, is the cor-
rect one, and that it is either the imperfect of the Qal or of
the Hifil of the verb hawah, wdiich is an archaic form of the
verb hayah. This theory seems to be established by the
testimony of Theodoret, that the Samaritans pronounced
it I ABE, and that Epiphanius gives the same spelling as
one of the names of God, and refers, by way of explana-
tion, to Exodus iii, 14. If the form Yahweh is consid-
ered the imperfect of the Qal, it may mean, " He that is ; "
if it be the imperfect of Hifil, it can be translated, ' ' He
that causes to be."

1 Ibid. pp. 871-378.

EXEGESIS. 59

The new commentary by Professor Delitzsch, already
mentioned in another connection, is perhaps the most im-
portant which has been produced on this subject, by any
pen, whether English or German, for the general scholar.
It is not so exact and searching' in its analysis as that by
Professor Dillmann, mentioned in a previous volume ; l
but it is more suggestive and helpful for the ordinary
Biblical student.

With regard to the account of creation, Delitzsch says:
"It is no visionary revelation which he commits to writ-
ing. . . No, the author is reproducing what has been
handed down. We meet, in his account, the same key-
note which, ' resounds from the Ganges to the Nile' (Tuch).
The cosmogonic legend is the common property of the
most ancient of cultured peoples, and even beyond the
ancient regions of culture strikingly similar notions have
been found by those who have set foot among the hitherto
unknown nations e.g. northern India, and interior Africa.

The cosmogonic legend has experienced the most vari-
ous mythological transformations; we have it here in its
simplest and purest form, in which, no human being
having been a spectator of the creation (Job xxxviii, 4), it
points back to Divine information as its source. It is part
of that primitive revelation, which resounds throughout
all heathendom, in reminiscences of every kind. It is
God who disclosed to man what we here read.

The true greatness ... of this narrative of creation con-
sists in its proclaiming, at a period of universally prevail-
ing idolatry, the true idea of God, which is to this very

2 Current Discussions in Theology ^Chicago, Vol. iii, p. 36.

60 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

day the basis of all genuine piety and culture. This
monotheism is specifically Israelitish; and the fact that the
natural heathen disposition of Israel unceasingly reacted
against it, shows that it was no product of nature, but a
gift of grace.

They are truths of infinite importance, which are ex-
pressed in this account of creation, not as dogmas, but as
facts which speak for themselves. These truths are : 1.
There is one God, who, as the One Elohim, unites in him-
self all the Divine, which was by the heathen world shat-
tered to pieces and dispersed among their many elohim.
2. The world is not the necessary and natural emanation
of His being, but the free appointment of His will, and
brought to pass by His word. 3. The world originated
in an ascendino' gradation of creative acts, and this sue-
cessive nature of its origin, is the foundation of those laws
of development, according to which, its existence conti-
nues. 4. The object of creation was man, who is on the
one hand the climax of the earthly world, on the other the
synthesis of nature and spirit, the image of God himself,
and hy His appointment the king of the earthly world.
These are the oTeat truths with which we are confronted
in the tradition of creation, as Ave have it, free from myth-
ological deformity. " 1

Delitzsch does not try to establish the connection
between the days of creation and the geologic periods.
He evidently does not hold the theory that the cosmogony
of Genesis contains ultimate science, or is designed to teach
religious truth in scientific forms. But, rather in a popular

1 A New Commentary on Genesis, New York, 1889, Vol. i, pp. 61-62.

EXEGESIS. 61

and impressive way to set forth the great truths which
he has stated.

Psalms. — The commentaries on this book produced dur-
ing the past year have been important. Dr. Forbes. Eme-
ritus-Professor of Oriental languages. Aberdeen, has pub-
lished a work entitled "Studies on the Book of Psalms."
The structural connection of the book of Psalms, loth in
single Psalms and in the Psalter as <<n organic whole. 1

He claims that the Psalms are not to be regarded merely
" as isolated productions, but in that order in which we
now possess them. They have been arranged and con-
nected together with very great care, so as to bring out
and enforce certain important truths with a clearness and
distinctness not to be mistaken. So long as each Psalm is
viewed as a separate and unconnected composition, it is
vu±y to explain away its meaning, and to put upon its lan-
guage very diverse and conflicting interpretations, accord-
ing to the author, the occasion, and the age to which each
critic may refer it. But when the Psalms are seen, in the
form in which we now possess them, to have been grouped
together as parts of a connected series, in order to bring
out and give expression to some definite idea or important
truth, we gain a certainty not otherwise to be attained of
the meaning to be put upon the whole series, as well as
upon individual expressions in each Psalm, which might
otherwise be ambiguous."

From this point of view, he comes to the conclusion, that
while the Psalms as isolated might refer to certain kings
in the Davidic line, viewed as a connected whole they

l Edinburgh, 1888.

62 OLD TESTAMEN1 EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY

clearly refer to the Messiah, and must have been designed
to excite in Jewish worshippers the expectation of his
coming.

In the first hook, he finds the keynote of the first three
hooks, not to say of the whole Psalter, in the second Psalm
where the inauguration of a king is described whom
Jehovah stvles His son and sets on His Holy Hill, Zion.

After explaining the Messianic characteristics of this
Psalm, he says, "that the Messianic character of the book
was still further signalized, to those familiarly acquainted
with the principles of parallelistic arrangement, by the
trilogy of Psalms (xx, xxi-xxii) placed in the middle of
the book, (with nineteen on either side) to mark the central
thought around which the whole book revolves. The three
Psalms set forth the great conflict in which the king is to
be engaged in behalf of his people, nay, of the whole
world. Psalm xx is the people's prayer for the successful
issue of the contest . . . Psalm xxi expresses their thanks-
giving for the anticipated victory . . . Psalm xxii sums up
both the preceding Psalms."1

u As book one began with the inauguration on his throne
of the Lord's Anointed King and Son, and the predicted
conquest of. all His opposing foes, which David's warlike
reign imperfectly prefigured, so book two closes with the
companion picture1 (in Psalm lxxii), of the final establish-
ment of Messiah's empire, as a kingdom of w peace and
righteousness,' of which Solomon's peaceful reign was a
faint adumbration. "

He further continues to find in book three (lxxiii-

1 Ibid. pp. 2-5.

EXEGESIS. 63

lxxxix) a strong confirmation that all three books are so
arranged as to create an earnest expectation and longing
for the coming of the Messianic king. He regards Psalm
lxxxix as intended to conclude a series of earthly represent-
atives of David's roval race, and as thus bringing us down
to the commencement of the Babylonish captivity. Hence,
in book four (xc-cvi) he finds a counterpart to the pro-
phetical book Isaiah xl-lxvi with its consolatory purpose,
c Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God ' (cf .
Psalm xcvi, 1 with Isaiah xlii, 10; Psalm xcviii, 4, 8, with
Isaiah xlix, 13 and lv, 12). He says one whole line in
Psalm xcviii, 3, 4 all ends of the earth have seeii the salva-
tion of our God,' is identical in Hebrew with Isaiah lii, 10.

He further establishes his theory, as to the arrangement
of the Psalms, by the claim that book five begins with the
return from the Babylonish captivity, and quotes in con-
firmation Psalm cvii, 1-3. 1

He holds, in contradistinction to most modern critics,
that the Psalms quoted as Messianic in the New Testament
were primarily intented by the writers as Messianic and so
understood by those who assigned them their place in the
Psalter.

Hence, he argues, that "the idea of the Messiah as a
wholly distinct person thus stands out clearly from the
very first, and dissipates at once the mistaken notion of
Dr. Delitzsch, that David 'regarded himself as the Anointed
sub specie ChristiJ to the extent at least that he ever
so identified himself with the Messiah as to imagine that

i Ibid. pp. 6-9.

64 OLD TESTAMENT EXEOETIGAL THEOLOGY.

he could never die, but 'considered himself immortal.'
Psalm xvi.1

He holds that the same principle applies to Delitzsch's
view with reference to Solomon. Dr. Delitzsch says.
"In the time of David and Solomon, the hope of believers,
which was attached to the kingship of David, had not yet
fully broken with the present. At that time, with few ex-
ceptions, nothing was known of any other Messiah than
the Anointed one of God, who was David or Solomon him-
self."2

We are inclined to the view that Old Testament saints
had less clear views of the Messiah than is commonly sup-
posed. We are in great danger of supposing that Abra-
ham, Moses, David and Isaiah had almost as clear views of
the Messiah as the Apostle Paul ; but this is undoubtedly
not the case, as we see from the views which the dis-
ciples held in regard to the nature of Jesus* Messiahship.
Like their contemporaries, they thought that His death
ended the hope of the Messianic kingdom.

We are not to suppose that each worshipper who came
to the Tabernacle with his offering had a clear view of the
lire at atonement which was to be wrought out on the cross,
as set forth by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrew s.
The faithful Israelite was simply walking in the way of
God's commandments by faith and not by sight, and was
blessed in his obedience. Nor are we to suppose that there
was a clearly defined view of the Messiah in the times of

1 Messianic Prophecies. Lectures by Franz Delitzsch, Professor
of Theolog}^, Leipzig. Translated from the manuscript by Samuel
Ives Curtiss. Edinburgh, 1880, pp. 46-47.

2 Ibid. p. 51.

EXEGESIS. 65

David, Solomon, Hezekiah or Josiah, as of a divine person,
who was to sit upon the throne of Israel. The Old Testa-
ment saints show that they have glimpses of the Messiah.
We might call their views photographs taken of him
now as prophet, now as priest, and now as king. And
when all human helpers failed, and the Messianic hope
seems to be lost, the faith of these Old Testament saints
rises to Jehovah Himself. It is only in the New Testa-
ment that these different photographs are united together
and we see the image of the God-man. We do not lose
anything by recognizing the progressive, the educational
and the historic elements in the Old Testament representa-
tions of Messiah. No amount of historic criticism can
banish Messianic prophecies from the Old Testament,
although our point of view regarding them may be essen-
tially changed.

Dr. Forbes' theory with reference to the careful editing
of the Psalms under grand divisions, whatever may be true
in regard to it, illustrates an important principle regard-
ing the composition and arrangement of Old Testament
books. The Old Testament as w^e have it, is an organism
which has been the product of ages of growth under the
guidance of the Divine Spirit. It is not a book in the
skies, and so separated from human thought and history,
but addressed to men and women in the course of a histo-
rical development. It is the product of many pens, but
of one Spirit. Doubtless all the books, as we may infer
even from tradition, have passed under a careful editorial
supervision, which is not less inspired or authoritative than
the original hands which wrote it. It is doubtless true, that
it is no more necessary to prove that Moses was the author

66 OLD TESTAMENT EXE0ET1CAL THEOLOGY.

of the entire Pentateuch, or Isaiah of the prophecies which
appear under his name, in order to establish their inspired
character, than it would be to prove that all the Psalms
were written by David to the same end. The results of
established criticism in reverent hands should not be feared.

Professor Cheyne, to whom American and English the-
ologians are so much indebted for his admirable volumes
on Isaiah, Jeremiah and Hosea, not to mention his other
writings, has produced an excellent commentary on the
Book of Psalms,1 or the praises of Israel. Some years
ago he issued a translation of the book of Psalms in the
Parchment Library Series, which is well known to our
American scholars.

In regard to the authorship of the Psalms, he says :
' ' At an earlier day much labor was rather unprofitably
spent in defending the Davidic authorship of Psalms trans-
parently non-Davidic. An opposite tendency now pre-
vails. Of the three most distinguished recent critics,
Ewald, acknowledges only eleven entire Psalms and some
fragments of Psalms as Davidic, Hitzig fourteen, and De-
litzsch forty-four; all of these agree to the Davidic author-
ship of Psalms iii, iv, vii, viii, xi, xviii, xix, 1-7, and two
out of three as to that of Psalms ix, x, xii, xiii, xv-xvii,
xix, 8-14, xxiv, xxix, xxxiii and ci. Kuenen, however,
will admit no Davidic Psalms, though Davidic passages
may perhaps have been inserted. In any case, it is quite
certain that there are none in the last three books, and the
probability is that Ewald's is the most conservative view
of the headings at present tenable.

i London, 1888.

EXEGESIS. 67

Cheyne does not hesitate to amend readings where they
are difficult, or where the text is hopelessly corrupt to in-
dicate the fact by asterisks. For example, in Psalm ii,
12, he has marked the first line of the much disputed pas-
sage translated in our version, * kiss the son ' with aster-
isks. He says it is very doubtful whether the title i Son
of God ' was applied to the Messiah in the time of Christ.

In Psalm xxii he renders the seventeenth verse, trans
lated in the margin of the Revised Version in accord-
ance with the pointing of the Hebrew text ' like a lion my
hands and my feet, ' as follows : k w For dogs have come
about me, the crew of evil-doers have closed me round;
they have digged into my hands and feet." He says in
regard to the rendering ' like a lion at my hands and my
feet," which he characterizes as an alternative reading of
inferior authority, and which he says few now maintain.
• • the genuineness of the text, as represented by the former
reading, seems beyond reasonable doubt. We have here
a subordinate detail in the behaviour of this troop of half-
wild dogs. It is a feature true to life, as Tristram and
others have pointed out. The pariah dogs which crawl
about in packs in Eastern cities are in general cowardly,
but if provoked might rush at a man's hands or feet, and
wound them."1

In Psalm xlv he renders the seventh verse.

u As for thy throne, [firm is its foundation, |
God [has established it] forever and ever. "

This, as is well known, is a much disputed passage.
Some hold that Elohim may be the title of a king. In

l Ibid. pp. 15-16. 2 J bid. pp. 124-127. 3 Ibid. pp. 61-64.

68 OLD TESTAMENT EXEOETICAL THEOLOGY.

support of this Cheyne quotes a Temanite inscription, dis-
covered by Dr. Euting, where Alkn is used for princes.
He says this use of the word was therefore a Semitic idiom,
but rejects this interpretation because Elohim was used
with a distinct reference to Jehovah in the next verse. He
concludes that ' ' the sum of the matter is that the only
natural rendering of the received text is that of the ver-
sions ' Thy throne, O God ', and the only natural interpre-
tation that of the Targum, " thy throne, O Jehovah." But
is such an abrupt transition to Jehovah conceivable ? Must
not the poet's idea be this: That the king's success is
assured, because his throne, (not Jehovah's) is founded in
righteousness Vn

Perhaps no Old Testament commentator now living has
been more industrious in revising his commentaries than
the Nestor of Old Testament Exegesis, Professor Delitzsch.
After the publication of each of them, probably hardly a
day has passed without his recording in each volume some
new discovery of scientific scholarship, which has brought
the subject discussed down to date. It is true of his com-
mentaries, more than those of any other writer, that each
edition possesses a distinctive value of its own. For
instance, in connection with the first edition of his work on
the Psalms, we have a valuable treatise on the accents of
the poetical books which has not appeared in any of the
subsequent editions. There has just been published in
connection with the Foreign Biblical Library, edited by
Robertson Nicoll, a translation from the inter-leaved copy
of Delitzsch's fourth edition of the Psalms. This trans*

i Ibid. pp. 124-127.

EXEGESIS. 69

lation should be in the hands of every Old Testament
scholar, who wishes to enter into the spirit of the Hebrew
Psalter. Perhaps no modern commentator possesses by
nature such a sympathy with the poetical writers of ancient
Israel as Professor Belitzsch. 1

Hupfeld's Commentary on the Psalms, edited by Dr.
Wilhelm Nowack, is a good illustration of the German
theory of the composition of the Pentateuch. The first
edition, written by Hupfeld, was published in 1855. The
second, edited by Riehm, in 1867. The third, by Nowack,
in 1888. As has been remarked in a previous volume, it
has become customary in Germany to issue new editions
of valuable works under the editorship of new generations
of scholars, and thus to keep them abreast of the latest
investigations in Exegesis.

While there may be a reason for issuing new editions
of lexicons, encyclopedias and grammars, it seems as if it
would be better that German scholars should publish en-
tirely new books under their own names, than new editions
of old ones, which sometimes become so completely their
own, as in the case of Dillmann's Genesis, that the name
of the original author is set aside.

Nowack has abridged Hupfeld's Commentary, especially
by cutting out those passages which were directed against
Hengstenberg. The critical point of view remains essen-
tially the same as in the previous edition, which may be
characterized as historic-critical.

London, 1887 ; New York (no date.)

70 OLD TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

Isaiah. — The commentary on Isaiah, by Bredenkamp, 1
which was briefly noticed a year ago,2 has been completed.
As is known, Bredenkamp belongs to the conservative
wins: of German Theologians. As such, he was called to
succeed Professor Wellhausen at Greifswald. His views
as to the authorship of Isaiah approach those of the critics
of the modern school. He claims that Isaiah is not the
author of chapters xxxvi-xxxix nor of xl-lxvi. He says that
its authorship by some one else than by Isaiah, is now con~
sidered by most critics as established.3 Even such theo-
logians as Delitzsch, Oehler and Orelli renounce the
genuineness of these chapters. He says there are three
main reasons against the genuineness : 1 . the circle of
thought in the second part is different from that in the
first; 2. the language is smoother and more flowing; 3.
the author does not prophesy the Babylonian exile", but he
everywhere pre-supposes it ; he speaks of Cyrus and the
circumstances of the exiles as if they were contemporaries.

He says, ' ' the question concerning the genuineness of
the second part is not a dogmatic one, but an exegetico-his-
torical one. Unbiased investigation has led me to the re-
sult, that it can have arisen in its present form only in the
exile."

He considers that the difficulties regarding the author-
ship are not overcome by pre-supposing the person of a

i Der Prophet Jesaia, erlautert, von C. J. Bredenkamp, Professor
der Theologie in Greifswald. Erlangen, 1887.

2 Current Discussions in Theology, Boston and Chicago, vol. v,
p. 24.

3 Bredenkamp says the great majority of critics reject the follow- j
ing passages as not genuine: xiii-xiv, 23; xxi, 1-10; xxiv-xxvii ; I
xxxiv, xxxv ; xxxvi-xxxix (exclusive of xxxvii, 21-35) ; xl-lxvi.

EXEGESIS. 71

Deutero-Isaiah, who lived with the exiles, since he nowhere
betrays an immediate knowledge of the localities and of
the worship in Babylonia. He thinks that the author has
intentionally withdrawn himself, since otherwise it would
be strange that his name should not be known. He main-
tains that the lost part of Isaiah contains passages that are
undoubtedly pre-exilian. He thinks, if it is established,
that in the second part of Isaiah, exilian and pre-exilian
passages are intermingled, the solution of this riddle is to
be found in the assumption that old Isaianic prophetic ma-
terials were reproduced and molded by later scholars of
Isaiah in the time of the exile.

He says that the second part of the prophecy, regarded
as a whole, is the most glorious book of comfort in the Old
Testament Scriptures, the gospel uttering the deepest
thoughts of divine redemption with new tongues and in the
most beautiful language, and which has rightly been com-
pared by Hengstenberg to the Johannean addresses of
Jesus.

Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. — Professor Eyssel of
Leipsic, has prepared the second edition of the comment-
ary on these books in the series known as the Kurzgefass-
tes Exegetisches Handbuch zum Alien Testament. The
first edition was issued bv Bertheau, Professor at Gottin-
gen. But on account of his advanced years, the sec-
ond edition has been prepared with his approval by
Professor Eyssel. As is well known, Ezra and Nehemiah
are one book. The author holds that they were composed
about the year 300 B. C.

CHAPTER VI.

OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY.

Modern Semitic studies shed great light on Old Testa-
ment theology. Not only the history of Israel, and the
prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel have received new
interest in the light of Assyrian and Babylonian research,
but also the department of Old Testament theology.

This is true, not because the religion of Israel has been
evolved from other Semitic religions, but because the di-
vine revelation, made to Israel, is in certain aspects condi-
tioned by the previous history and by the surroundings of
Israel.

As has been shown by George Smith and other Assyri-
olosrists, the ancient traditions of the race outside of the
Old Testament have been preserved in their greatest purity
by the ancient Babylonians.

We find in the theolosrv of ancient Israel the divine
revelation not only contained in earthen vessels, but also,
as we have observed before, on account of its temporal
and educational character, containing incomplete and even
erroneous statements as to certain forms of religious
thought. That is, the revelation which has come from
God is allowed to stand in juxtaposition with some forms
of human error. There is a striking analogy between the
doctrine held among the Hebrews as regards the future

OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 73

state and that which was current among the ancient Baby-
lonians. These views, which we find presented in the Old
Testament, are not revealed from God, but are the remains
of what might be called a natural theology.

It is certain that when we read about Sheol and the
shadowy existence of departed spirits after death, we are
not to see in these representations the teaching of the
Divine Spirit, for they are inconsistent with the declara-
tions of Him who came to bring life and immortality to
light through the gospel.

From this point of view, it is legitimate for us to trace
the correspondence between the views of ancient Israelites
in regard to fetichism, monolatry and the state of the
dead with views found among other Semitic peoples. It
is not incumbent upon us to justify such views as divinely
revealed, or to try to harmonize them with inspired state-
ments which we find in the Old Testament.

Two important works have appeared regarding the the-
ology of the ancient Babylonians. One by Sayce, entitled
Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as illus-
trated by the Religion of the ancient Babylonians,1 the
other by Jeremias on The Babylonio- Assyrian Views of
the Life after Death?

It is clear from Sayce's treatise, that monotheism never
existed among the Babylonians or Assyrians. We find at
the best monolatry, and yet, the chief divinity does not
stand alone. The god almost always has a goddess asso-
ciated with him as wife, although, originally, the Accadian
goddess stood in the relation of mother, rather than wife,

l London, 1888. 2 Die Babylonisch- Assy rischen Vorsfellungen vom
Leben nach dem Tode, Leipzig, 1887.

74 OLD TESTAMENT EXEOETICAL THEOLOGY.

to the primitive Merodach.1 It has been abundantly
proved, as has been elsewhere stated, that Kenan's assump-
tion that the Semites had a genius for monotheism, is
utterly without foundation.

Nor can we account for monotheism among the Israelites
as a creation of the prophets of the eighth century. It
rather came as a truth originally revealed by God through
Moses, oftentimes misunderstood and lost sight of because
of the syncretism of the people, until at last, through the
preaching of the prophets and the Babylonian exile, it was
burned into the consciousness of Israel, never more to be
removed.

The most interesting point of contact between the
theology of ancient Babylonia and Assyria on the one
hand, and of Israel on the other, is in the doctrine of the
state after death. The representations of Babylonio-As-
syrian and Old Testament theology, regarding the rewards
of virtue, are essentially the same : long life, riches, honors
and happiness are promised by both. Hence the empha-
sis in both is laid on this life.

The doctrine regarding the future state is essentially
the same ; good and bad alike are gathered in Hades, which
receives among the Babylonians various designations as
avals the etymology of which is obscure, tmdshualu, which
comes from the same Semitic root, as the Hebrew sheol,
and which is explained as derived from a root shoal "to
summon for decision." There are nine other designations
for Hades in the Assyrian, which do not concern us.2

i Ibid. pp. 110, 111.
2 Ibid. pp. 59-65.

OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 75

The fields of the blessed are described by the Babylo-
nio-Assyrians, but Jeremias says that the removal of some
to the land of the blessed is as great an exception as in the
Old Testament. l

It seems also, that the doctrine of the resurrection was
held among the ancient Babylonians, and Sayce quotes the
opinion of Bishop Warburton with evident approval, that
the doctrine of the resurrection was first learned by the
Jews in Babylonia. 2 However this may be, there was no
full teaching regarding it, until Christ came, although we
have the germs of the doctrine in the Old Testament, and
one or two passages, which indisputably teach the doctrine
of a personal resurrection.

i Ibid. pp. 81-82.

2 Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion. London, 1888,

}). 40.

EXEGETIOAL THEOLOGY

NEW TESTAMENT.

PRESENT STATE

NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES.

REV. GEORGE H. GILBERT,
Professor of New Testament Literature and Interpretation

Chicago Theological Seminary.

CHAPTER I.

NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION.

An opportunity to compare the work of the nineteenth
century with that of the fourth, in the department of
Biblical Introduction, is afforded by the publication of the
oldest extant text-book on the subject, Adrian's Eiaayooy?)
sit ra$ deiaZ ypacpaS.1 The hypothesis of Fabricius, that
Adrian was a monk, is confirmed by Gossling. He is regarded
as a Greek-speaking Syrian, like Theodore of Mopsuestia and
Theodoret, and as a probable contemporary of these Chris-
tian fathers. His work is interesting as a product of the
grammatic-historical school of Antioch. Adrian's work,
though called by him Isagogics, is chiefly concerned with
principles of interpretation, which fact illustrates the
changed meaning of the term 'introduction.' Among
Protestant writers, the science is now more narrowly defined
than ever before. The laws of interpretation are no
longer considered a part of Introduction.

Adrian's work is based more largely on the Old Testa-
ment than on the New, his citations being chiefly from the
former. He speaks at length of the anthropomorphic ele-
ment in the Bible, rejecting all allegorizing explanations

i Adrian's 'Eiaayooyrf eiS raS deia? ypacpaS aus neu aufge-
denen Handschriften herausgegeben, ubersetzt und erlautert. Dr.
Friedrich Gossling. Berlin, 1887.

80 NEW TESTAMENT EXEOETICAL THEOLOGY.

and interpreting in the sober manner that characterized
the Antiochian school. The Scriptures call the opposition
of the Divine Will to evil "anger" and " wrath," because
amongst us men hostility arises toward that which is opposed
to us. In speaking of the manifestation of God's counsels,
the Scriptures use the words "speech" and "mouth," be-
cause among us men the thoughts of the heart are made
known by means of the mouth and words. In the second
part of his work Adrian speaks of word-figures, and recent
discussions of the word aioov may give interest to his re-
mark upon it. The Scriptures use the word, he says, in a
threefold sense. It signifies either the life of each indi-
vidual man, as when Paul says, "I will eat no flesh for-
evermore ; ' or it signifies time in general, as when Joel
says, "Judah shall be inhabited forever ; ' or it denotes
eternity, as when Jesus says, "I give unto them eternal
life." "

In the third part of his work Adrian treats chiefly of
tropes, giving illustrations of no less than twenty-two
varieties.

It seems that there were people in Adrian's day, as there
are in our own, who thought to arrive at the teaching of
Scripture by some short route. He says that those who
wish to fly and not to advance step by step, regard such
principles as he has laid down as superfluous and useless.
He refers here especially to the necessity of giving atten-
tion to the course of thought, to an exact translation and
to an acquaintance with the figures of the Bible. We
learn incidentally from this writing of Adrian that the
theological students at Antioch in the fourth centurv
studied the Old Testament in the original.

NEW TES TAME NT INTR OD UGTION. 81

The Synoptists. — The synoptic problem, uthe most
wonderful of all literary problems, " has received no new
solution, and the numbers of those seem to be increasing
who do not regard a new solution as at all necessary.
That a purely oral tradition cannot be accepted as the one
source of our Gospels is pretty generally admitted, at least
by those who do not hold an interdependence of the synop-
tic Gospels. A conclusive argument against a purely oral
source is sought1 from the words : * * Let him that readeth
understand (Mark xiii, 14; Matt. xxiv,. 15-16). It is
argued that these words cannot have been spoken by Jesus,
since He made no reference to a written document. They
must, then, have been inserted into the Lord's discourse by
another ; and in view of the fact that they are the same in
Matthew and Mark, and in exactly the same place, the
inference is justified that Matthew and Mark rest here upon
a common document. It is assumed that neither one
was dependent upon tjie other. Thus our documents
themselves point to an older document. There were
probably two main sources of the synoptic Gospels, oral
and written, and a third element comes in from the per-
sonal reflection of the author, or is due to his linguistic
or other peculiarities.2

The date at which our synoptic Gospels were composed
can hardly be brought down beyond the destruction of
Jerusalem, and certainly not beyond the limit of the first
century. Yet attempts are not wanting to establish a
later date. .The Apologies of Justin Martyr and the

i Cf. The Expositer, Sept. 1887. Article by T. E. Page, M. A.
i Cf. " What is the Bible'?" By Geo. T. Lacld, D.D. Charles

Scribner's Sons, 1888.

82 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

Dialogue with Trypho have been investigated with the aim
of showing that this writer was not acquainted with any one
of the Synoptists.1 He was acquainted with the original of
our Gospel according to Mark, which he referred to as the
Gospel of Peter, since Mark had his facts from Peter ; he
was also acquainted with a writing which must have been
preserved, in whole or in part, in our canonical Luke.
Since Justin speaks of Memorabilia of Apostles, he must
have had at least two writings in mind which bore the
names of Apostles, and one of these had a close relation-
ship with our present Matthew. All this is admitted. But
Justin's citations from the apostolic Memorabilia differ so
noticeably both in expression and thought from their
parallels in our canonical Gospels that these cannot be re-
garded as Justin's source. He must have had different
narratives before him. And if he did not quote from our
canonical Gospels, the inference is fair that they were not
then extant, for Justin Martyr was a learned man and well
acquainted with the church of his time.

Now it will be admitted by all that Justin's citations
from the Gospels differ from the corresponding passages in
our canonical writings, but these divergences do not force us
to accept the view that our Gospels postdate Justin Martyr.
For the freedom which early Christian writers exercised in
quoting Scripture, regarding the substance rather than the
form, and the absence, in the first half of the second cent-
ury, of that deep feeling of the canonic dignity of our New
Testament writings, which we find in the latter part of the
century, and also the existence of other Christian waitings

1 Die Abfassungszeit tier Synoj)tischen Evangelien. Em Nachweis
aus J. Martyr, von Luclwig Paul. Leipzig, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 88

of importance, which had not yet been definitely marked off
from our canonic New Testament, may be held to account
for the form in which Gospel statements appear in Justin
Martyr and his contemporaries.

John. — The literary history of the Fourth Gospel is
still discussed along the usual lines, while the experience
of an increasing number of believers corroborates its in-
spiration. Other writers1 are added to the ranks of those
who defend the genuineness and historical character of the
Fourth Gospel, and another2 also is added to the school
of Baur. To one class, the Gospel of John is self-accre-
diting, as the work of an eye-witness, of a sympathetic and
profound believer in Jesus; to the other, it seems a book
that is occupied to the end with the anti-Jewish struggle
of a post-apostolic age, a book in regard to which the idea
can not be entertained that it had an immediate disciple
of Jesus as its author. One believes it to be truly historic,
the other regards it as manipulating history for a special
end, taking up into itself various legends and freely chang-
ing the synoptic tradition. One finds the Christ of the
three older Gospels in the Gospel of John as well, a Christ
whose impress upon the world is evidence of a historic
existence; the other finds in the Fourth Gospel a Christ
who points quite as plainly toward the Jewish philosoph-

i Das Evangelium nach Johannes, ausgelegt von Dr. Gustav Fr.
Wahle. Friedrich Andreas Perthes. Gotha, 1888.

The Pulpit Commentary. The Oosj)el of Saint John. Introduction
and Exposition by Rev. H. P. Reynolds, D.D. Homiletics, by Prof.

T. Crosbery, D.D. 2 Vols., London, 1888.

2 Das Johannesevangelium untersncht imd erklart von Oscar
Holtzmann. Darmstadt, 1887.

84 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

ical schools of* Alexandria as He does toward the humble
walks of Galilee. To one, the author of the Fourth Gospel
wishes to sketch the life-line where Jesus met him, to pre-
sent the personality of Jesus Christ as that which gives
life, and to present it, not in words mechanically reported,
but in the language of a heart which consciously possesses
the very Saviour whom the eyes once beheld; to the other,
the author, writing in the second century, wished to furnish
a book for the education of the Church, and wrote under
manifold influences of heathen surroundings and Alexan-
drian philosophy. This latter influence is manifest in the
conception of Christ as the incarnate Logos, in the em-
phasis laid upon truth as the goal of the Christian life, in
the mention of scattered children of God, living in the
world before the appearance of Christ, and finally in the
distinction of a super-sensuous and a sensuous world. The
negative critic in question thinks that the greatest loss in
the Johannean conception of Christianity is its lack of pro-
mises and summons in regard to the moral condition of
humanity, and that its greatest merit is the presentation
of the blessed experiences of the individual, which are
connected with the thought of redemption.

The spiritually receptive student of the Fourth Gospel,
who is in quest of life, because conscious of sin, who alone
is qualified to judge of the content of a spiritual writing,
will ever protest against this sort of hard critical interpre-
tation.

Acts. — The genesis of our fifth New Testament writing,
long, but wrongly regarded as a historical narrative writ-

NE W TESTAMENT INTR 01) UCTIOK. 85

ten by the author of the third Gospel, was, according to
the most recent investigations,1 as follows:

Soon after the death of Paul, about the year 65 A.D.,
an unnamed companion composed a history of the apostle.
This history appears in our Acts, in the passages where
the narrative is in the first person, that is, from chapter
xvi, 10 to the close of the book. At the beginning of the
second century, a Paulinist, who has been called Luke
since about 180 A.D., took this ancient document and
reconstructed it in the interest of peace. For there had
been a long and disastrous conflict in the Church between
the Petrine and Pauline factions, a conflict which broke
out on the memorable day in Antioch in 53 A.D., when
Paul openly rebuked Peter for his inconsistent conduct in
the matter of eating with the Gentiles. In reconstructing
the original journal, the editor of the second century sup-
pressed and altered the material before him as seemed best
for the accomplishment of rhe desired end. His book was
to neutralize the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians. It is
to be noticed that the hand which so ruthlessly dissects the
Acts, is not raised against the Epistle to the Galatians, but
this Letter is regarded as the oldest and, historically, the
clearest of all the New Testament writings. Thus, while
we must see some of our canonical books buried beneath
the waves of hostile criticism (or incur the contempt of
some who know that their method is the only scientific
one), there are others, which even the strongest-hearted of
the negative critics do not attack, and these unassailed
writings (Galatians, Romans, First and Second Corinthians)
contain the entire Gospel.

1 Paulus von Damascus bis zutn Galatcr brief, Gustav Volkmar,
Zurich, 1887.

86 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

The Letters oe Paul.- -The latest writers1 agree that
there were four parties in the Corinthian Church. The
watchword: l'And I of Christ," was not the confession of
Paul himself, as the Reformers and some in later times
have thought, but belonged to a distinct party, which, as
well as the other three, falls under the Apostle's condem-
nation. But here agreement ends. Was the Christ party
called out by the existing divisions, a protest, at first,
against sectarianism, but becoming, in the sequel, the most
intolerant of all (Ellicott); or did it consist of proud, free-
spirited Gentiles, who threw off allegiance to any human
teacher (Gobel) ; or did it consist of ultra-Judaizers whose
aim was to impose the Mosaic law upon the Gentile con-
verts (Godet)? Such a party is met with in Jerusalem at
the time of the council, whom Paul calls "false brethren."
They were not satisfied with the imposition of the law
upon the Jewish converts; the Gentiles also must come
under the yoke. It would seem that, if the Christ party
were composed of such dangerous men, there would be
further references to it in the course of the Epistle.

With regard to the plan of the Epistle, there seems to
be sometimes (cf . Godet) too great a solicitude to find a
symmetrical structure in it. Kenan's slighting remark
that Paul did not possess the patience to make a book,
apparently leads one writer (Godet) to exaggerate the sys-

i St. Pauls First Epistle to the Corinthians: with a Critical and
Grammatical Commentary. By Charles J. Ellicott, D.D. London,
1887.

Commentary on St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. By F.
Godet, Edinburgh, 188G.

Der erste Brief Pauli an die Korinther, Von Siegfried Gobel, F.
A. Perthes in Gotha, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 87

tematic character of the Epistle. The questions discussed
are arranged in four classes — ecclesiastical, moral, liturgi-
cal, and doctrinal, and these arc said to "show a rational
gradation." But it would seem that this order might be
changed, and the moral questions be discussed before the
ecclesiastical as appropriately as after ; also that the divis-
ions are not very clear, for the New Testament has no
ethics that is separable from its religious doctrines. The
letters of Paul arc indeed letters, and not systematic treat-
ises ; and they are letters written by one who was pressed
by multitudinous cares and labors.

The latest writer1 on the Epistle to the Ephesians re-
jects the hypothesis that the epistle was designed as a cir-
cular letter, holding with Meyer that the ancient tradition,
as supported by Tertullian, Clement and Iremeus, is to be
allowed more weight than the absence of the words iv
'EcptGw in the oldest MSS. No clear explanation, how-
ever, is offered, to account for the blank in the ancient
documents. It is admitted that the epistle was probably
designed for other congregations as well as for that of
Ephesus. and that Tychicus was to deliver it to them.
While holding that the question as to the place of compo-
sition is not definitely closed, this writer thinks that the
arguments are for Rome rather then Csesarea. Colossians,
Philemon and Philippians 2 are also referred to the same
place.

Writers 3 of the past year agree in regarding the Pasto-

i Schnedermann, in the Kurzgefasster Kommentar. Vierte Al>-
theilung Neuen Testaments. Nordlingen, 1888.

- Cf. Godet, in The Expositor for August, 1887.

3 Of . Kiibel, in the Kurzgefasster Kommentar. Nordlingen,
L888. Kommentar zu den Pastor albrie fen. Erster Theil : Der

88 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETIGAL THEOLOGY.

ral Epistles as genuine. It is admitted that these writ-
ings differ in some marked particulars from the other let-
ters of Paul. An unwonted emphasis is laid on ecclesias-
tical offices, and the kind of false doctrine that is opposed
is other than that of the early epistles. Differences in
style and language are not regarded as furnishing a basis
for a valid argument against the genuineness. It is urged
(Kolling) that the existing peculiarities exactly correspond
to the fact that Paul wrote, not to Christians in general,
as in other epistles, but to a trained leader. The promi-
nence of ecclesiasticism is held to be in keeping with what
is known of the close of the Apostolic Age. "In propor-
tion as the extraordinary gifts of primitive times cease,
the offices in the church increase in importance and influ-
ence, and the principal gift — that of teaching — which sur-
vived all the rest, came to be more and more closely
identified with the office of the regular ministry" (Godet).
The errors against which the Apostle protests in these let-
ters are regarded (Kiibel, Godet,) as Jewish in character
rather than Gnostic, errors akin to those found in the Co-
lossian Church, but of a more advanced type. One writer
(Kiibel). though defending the genuineness of the Pastoral
Epistles, thinks it possible that, in their present form, they
come, not direct! v from Paul, but from one who was inti-
mately acquainted with Paul and Timothy and Titus. To
this editor may be ascribed the peculiar coloring of lan-
guage and style, and the tendency to episcopacy.

zweite Brief an Timotheus. Von Dr. Karl Knoke. Gottingen, 1887.
Godet, in The Expositor for January, 1888. Der erste Brief Pauli
an Timotheus. Von Heinrich Kolling. Zweiter Theil, Die Aus-
legung. Berlin, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 89

But with this agreement regarding genuineness there is
still a wide difference of opinion touching the later career
of the Apostle. The hypothesis of a release and second
imprisonment is strongly supported, and yet an attempt
has recently been made (Knoke) to demonstrate that Sec-
ond Timothy was written during the imprisonment from
61 to 63 A. D. It is held to be inherently improbable
that Paul would have ventured a second time into the
lion's mouth, and the historical evidence, that of the early
church, is discredited. The testimony of Clement would
prove too much ; the witness of Eusebius rests upon the
untrustworthy Dionysius, and upon a misinterpretation of
II Timothy iv, 16, while the testimony of the Muratorian
Canon is only proof that a legend was founded upon Rom.
iv, 24. It is then argued that the Acts, especially Paul's
address at Miletus (xx, 25-28) and the revelation made to
him at Jerusalem (xxiii, 11), make the impression that
their author knew nothing of a release and second impris-
onment.

The Catholic Epistles and Hebrews. — The theory
that the "brothers" of Jesus were not reallv brothers but
cidy cousins, on the mother's side, is represented in one of
the latest exegetical volumes from the German press, in
which the author of the Epistle of James is identified with
the son of Alphaeus, who belonged to the Twelve. The
writer holds that the Epistle was composed between 44 and
52 A. I)., and is consequently the earliest portion of the
New Testament. It must have been composed, it is said,

i Kurzgefasster Kbmrnentar. Vierte Abtheilung. Nordlingen,

1888.

i)0 NE ! ! ' TE S TA MEN T EXEGE Tl CAL THE OL 0 0 V.

before the great question arose which was discussed at the
Council of Jerusalem, since it contains no reference to it.
The investigation of the literary origin of the Epistles of
Peter is still far from arriving at satisfactory results. The
writers x of the past year agree that the First Epistle was
addressed to Gentile Christians, as against Weiss, who
holds that the readers were converts from the Jews. Both
put the composition of the letter between 60 and 70 A. D.
(Burger 03-64 A. D. Usteri 65-70 A. I).), while Weiss
puts it early in the sixth decade before Paul's great work
in Asia Minor. But it is not proven that Jewish-Christian
congregations were established in Asia Minor before Paul's
time. Against the hypothesis that the Epistle was written
in the second century are urged (Usteri | the expectation of
the Parousia, the simplicity of the charismatic life, and the
primitive character of ecclesiastical organization — the posi-
tion of the bishops being represented as one of unselfish
service rather than of especial dignity. The same writer
(Usteri), while holding the essential genuineness of the
Epistle, favors the view that it did not come directly from
the hand of Peter. The church tradition concerning Peter's
interpreter, and also the absence of personal references to
the Apostle's condition, are thought to be against a direct
composition by Peter. The actual writer of the letter is
found in Silvanus (v. 12). The words, "I have written
unto you by Silvanus," while they might refer to the bearer
of the letter, might refer equally well to Silvanus as the
composer. There is no objection to supposing that Sil-

i Burger, in the Ki<rz<j<'f<isstcr Kommentar. Wissenschaftlicher
a ml Praktischer Kommentar a her den Ersten Petrusbrief. Von
Joh. M. Usteri. Zurich, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. 91

\ anus wrote after Peter's death, which would account for
the absence of references to his condition. Silvanus, even
in this case, was legitimated as the authentic interpreter of
the Petrine spirit. While this view is attractive, it is ad-
mitted that conclusive arguments are wanting against
Peter's immediate authorship.

The -elect lady" of John's second letter has recently 1
been understood to refer to a church, not to an individual
woman. This is supported by the abrupt change from the
singular to the plural, as when John says in one sentence :

"I beseech thee, lady," and in another: uThis is the
commandment, even as ye heard from the beginning."
Kvpia corresponds to KvpwZ, as, in the Apocalypse, vv^cpr/
corresponds to vv/Acpw?. The common Biblical usage of
the word "wife" to denote the people of the Lord is also to
be noted. A parallel to the use of Kupia for a single
church is found 1 Peter v. 13: -She that is in Baby-
lon, elect together with you."

Recent studies2 of the origin of the Epistle to the
Hebrews show the old differences of view.. ' It is held, on
the one hand, that the Epistle was not addressed to Pales-
tinian Jewish-Christians (Kiibel). The title in and of
itself does not justify this narrow construction. The refer-
ences to the temple are as natural on the lips of Jews from
abroad as they are on the lips of the Palestinians. The
use of the Septuagint and of the Greek language points
rather to readers of the Dispersion than to the Jews of the

i Cf . Luthardt, in the Kurzgefasster Kommentar, 1888.

^ Cf. Kiibel, in the Kurzgefasster Kommentar. Prof. A. B. Bruce,
in The Exjwzitor for March, 1888. Prof. F. Godet, in The Expositor
for April, 1888.

02 NE W TES TA ME NT EXE GETICJ L THE OL 0 O Y.

Aramaic-speaking home-land. The references to persecu-
tions and to the falling away are also regarded as indicating
a circle of readers outside of Palestine. On the other
hand, it is argued (Godet) that the Epistle has in view
Jewish-Christian congregations only, and that there were
none such outside of Palestine. Also that the extreme
conservatism manifested among the readers points to their
close proximity to the temple, and that the personal and
specific notices of the Epistle (Bruce) exclude the view that
it was addressed to the Jewish-Christians in general.

The author is held to have been Silas (Godet) or Barnabas
(Ktibel.) In speaking of the author, attention is called to
the fact (Godet) that, while in the teaching of Paul the
redemptive work of Christ centers in the cross, in
the Epistle to the Hebrews it is carried on in the
heavenly Sanctuary. These are distinct points of view.
In rejecting the Pauline authorship the observation of
Thiersch is cited : "If it should be found that a noble pic-
ture, which had been attributed to Raphael, was not by
that artist, there would not be one masterpiece the less, but
one great master the more." With a good degree of una-
nimity the date of composition of the Epistle to the
Hebrews is put between 65 and TO A.D. The reference
to Timothy's release is used in this connection (Godet), as
pointing to the year 66 A.D., when, after the death of
Paul, lie is supposed to have been set at liberty.

The Apocalypse . The theory of the Apocaly se which was
criticized in vol. v of Current Discussions has not met with
much favor. 1 One recent writer 2 has apparently adopte* 1

1 Cf. Prof. C. A. Briggs, in The Presbyterian Review for January,
1888. a VOrigine de V 'Apocalypse ' de Saint Jean. Paris, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION 93

the principle of that theory, for while the Apocalypse as a
whole is regarded as a Christian production, written tow-
ard the close of the first century, possibly by John, certain
sections, four in all (xi, 1-13 ; xii, 1-9 ; xiii, 1-7, 11-18),
are assigned to the period 68-70 A,D., and are considered
as purely Jewish. In another quarter * the Johannean
authorship is defended, but at the same time it is thought
that the hand of a literary editor must be recognized either
in the Apocalypse, or in the other Johannean writings, or
in both, and this because of differences in language between
the Gospel and Epistles, on the one hand, and the Apoca-
lypse on the other.

With regard to the date of composition, the year 68 or
69 A.D. is fixed upon, but the testimony of the early
church is significantly passed over.

As to the construction of the book it is denied that it
must be regarded either as chronological or synchronistic.
Either method of interpretation, strictly carried out, in-
volves us in the greatest embarrassment. The construc-
tive principle of the book is telic. The visions are partly
chronological and partly synchronistic.

i Kiibel, in the Kurzgefasster Kommentar.

CHAPTER II.

THE NEW TESTAMENT TEXT.

A careful and interesting investigation * in this depart-
ment of study is that of the Leicester Codex of the New Tes-
tament, a cursive, No. 69. The history of this document is
constructed on the basis of its remarkable relation to a
MS. of the Greek Psalter, which is in the library of
Caius College, Cambridge. It is evident from the strik-
ing peculiarities which the two MSS. have in common
that the same hand wrote both. The history of the
Caius Psalter is ingeniously constructed. A double leaf
of vellum, which once formed part of a monk's account-
book and which is pasted over the board cover furnishes
valuable data. The water-mark in the paper of the Lei-
cester Codex is found to resemble the heraldic figure of
Ancona, where the earliest known Italian paper wras manu-
factured. The arrangement in quires and the handwriting
are also thought to point toward Italy. The conclusion
regarding the English history of the Caius Psalter is that
it received its present binding in the Franciscan convent
at Cambridge, and the presumption is that the companion
volume, the Leicester Codex, was the property of the
same convent. Prior to this, it is thought to have been

i The Origin of the Leicester Codex of the New Testament. By
J. Rendell Harris. London, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT TEXT. 95

in Italy, where, indeed, it was written, and whence it was
sent unbound to England.

An exceedingly interesting palimpsest in the Vatican
(Codex Vaticanus Graecus 2061) has been carefully investi-
gated1 for the first time. This MS. contains 316 leaves,
which are now occupied with the sermons of Gregory of
Nazianzen, copied about the beginning of the eleventh cent-
ury by a priest named Basil. Underneath these sermons
fragments of various writings are found some of which
are of great interest. Parts of the geography of
Strabo have been deciphered. These are in the uncial
letters, and are supposed to belong to the ninth cent-
ury. Fifty-six leaves once contained sermons some of
which were by Gregory of Nazianzen. These also belong
to the ninth century. It appears that, in this case, Basil
employed parchment which from one to two hundred years
earlier had been used for the sermons of the same illustri-
ous Gregory. Seven leaves contain a lectionary of the
eighth century in uncial letters. Thirty-nine leaves, also
from the eighth century, contain part of a lectionary of the
Gospels. Finally, there are twenty-one leaves of especi-
ally fine parchment, which contain fragments of the Acts,
II Peter, the Epistles of John, eleven of the Pauline Epis-
tles, and of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The original
writing of these leaves was without breathings and accents,
and had no marks of punctuation save the high point. The
titles of the books are the simplest, These twenty-one
leaves are thought to be as old as the fifth century, and

1 By Abbe Pierre Batiffol. Results not yet published. Above
data from Dr. C. R. Gregory's minute description in the Theologi-
sches Litter aturblatt, Sept. 23, 1887.

90 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETIGAL THEOLOGY.

possibly as old as the fourth (Dr. Gregory). They may be
fragments of one of the fifty MSS., which Constantine
ordered to be prepared for the churches of his new capital.
Thus they take their place among the most ancient MSS.
of the New Testament.

As preliminary to a study of the development of the
Latin Bible, critical attention has been ffiven1 to the Latin
versions that existed in the times prior to Jerome. Three
types of text are distinguished. The oldest is that of the
Latin Bible, of which we have clear traces in Tertullian and
Cyprian. The second is the text which was used by
Augustine, and by him called Itala. The third is the text
which Jerome called the Vulgata.

Attention2 is called to the fact that the text of the Apoca-
lypse, in spite of the small number of MSS. , and in spite of
the treatment which it has received in printed editions, espe-
ciallv in that of Erasmus, is nevertheless well established.
The three great editions of the Greek New Testament.
— Tregelles, Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort — are almost

agreed as to the text of the Apocalypse. There are one
hundred and thirty-eight passages in which one of these edi-
tions stands alone, but the differences of reading are in
most cases unimportant grammatical variations. Westcott
and Hort have but two peculiar words, Tischendorf five.

1 Der Galaterbriff im altlateinischen Text als Grundinge fur
einen textcritischen Apparat der Vetus Latina. Dr. Fr. Zimmer.
Konigsberg, 1887.

2 Cf . Dr. Caspar Rene Gregory in the- Theologisehes Eitteratur-
blatt for Nov. 4, 1888.

CHAPTER III.

New Testament History.

The undying interest of Christian nations in the land of
Palestine is manifest in the constant succession of books,
small and Great, which are devoted to its minute study.
The past forty-seven years, the period since the publication
of Dr. Robinson's Biblical Researches in Palestine, have
produced a literature treating of the Holy Land, which is
wholly without parallel among the writings that treat of
any other country. It is more copious, more exact, and
more sympathetic. In spite of the obstacles which have
been thrown in the way by a fanatical government and an
uncivilized people, the land has been studied from Moab
to the sea, and from Lebanon to the desert. Its ruins
have been photographed, its ancient boundaries traced, its
fauna and flora described, and its people have been closely
observed. Yet the theme is not exhausted. Of the last
investigations1 it can hardly be said that they are the best.
The finest talent for observation and the most graphic pen
can not give to the conclusions of a transient tourist
(Geikie) the value that belongs to the words of one who,
with all the time which could he desired at his disposal.

i The Holy Land and the Bible. By Cunningham Geikie. New
York, 1888.

Palestine in the Time of Christ. By Edmond Stapfer. Third
edition, carefully revised, 1887.

98 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

has studied every point from different sides. The bane
of most books of travel is premature generalization.

The French student of New Testament History (Stapfer)
draws his information chiefly from the Talmuds. They
furnish the most ample and circumstantial data regarding
the life of the Jews in the first century. But when they
are compared with the Gospels, as literature, it bewilders
the imagination to think that both were produced in Pales-
tine at about the same time. The best treatise of the Mish-
nah is separated by a deep gulf from the precepts of
Gospel morality. Having studied Judaism with full sym-
pathy, anxious to find that it approached the New Testa-
ment more nearly than is generally supposed, the writer
finds no historical confirmation for such statements as that
"the noble and gentle Hillel was the elder brother of
Jesus." He was a casuist like the other rabbis, and the
pleasant fiction of his liberalism must be abandoned. This
is also the view of a recent American scholar. 1 ' ' Hillel
never became a reformer. He changed nothing. All he
did was to carry out more fully the system of tradition
taught by the Pharisees, he gave himself no trouble as to
the religious state of the nation at large, and did nothing
whatever to awaken religious life." But while the French
writer mentioned above places the Talmuds at a vast
remove from the Gospels, regarded from a literary and
moral point of view, he uses the Gospel narrative in a
somewhat loose and arbitrary fashion. Because there was
a hamlet called Bethlehem near to Nazareth, it is asked
whether Jesus may not have been born in this very village,

l The Talmud. What it is. By Bernhard Pick, Ph.D. J. B.
Alden, Publisher, N. Y., 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY. 99

as He is styled "the Nazarene." In later times His birth-
place may have been confounded with Bethlehem Ephratah
in Judea, the cradle of the family of David, where accord-
ing to tradition, Messiah was to be born.

It seems also to require rather rough handling of the
Gospel narrative as history to bring out of it the conclu-
sion that the demoniacs, of whom it speaks, were poor mad-
men whose brain had been set on tire, who had taken the
hallucinations of their own visions as realities, and whose
heads had been turned by religious fanaticism. The land
of Palestine and the labors of other investigators are em-
ployed as sources in a most unsatisfactory wTay. Caper-
naum is found to be equi-distant from Gadara, Csesarea
Philippi, Tyre and Sidon. Jacob's well is identified with
a shallow pool *at Sichem. Jericho is on the banks of the
Jordan. The Samaritans, who thirty years ago numbered
one hundred and fifty, have now entirely disappeared.
The Sanhedrim had the legal right to sentence and exe-
cute Jesus, and they simply dealt in flattery when they
said to Pilate : "It is not lawful for us to put any one to
death."

The historical value of the Talmuds is overrated, as
compared with the historical value of the Gospel narrative.
The inferences from that source are not always sober. It
is argued that Jesus could not speak Greek because the
Talmud says : ' ' He who teaches his son Greek is accursed
like him who keeps pigs."

It seems to be taken for granted that all the common
people, even in those troublous times, lived their lives in
accordance with the multitudinous and bewildering re-
quirements of the rabbinical schools, and it is forgotten

100 NEW TESTAMENT EXEOETICAL THEOLOGY.

that the Man in question rejected most emphatically the
traditions and precepts of these schools.

With regard to the religious condition of the Jews of
the first century, it is doubtless truly said that the great
lack, even among earnest and thoughtful men, was con-
viction of sin. The Jews did not know what sin is. The
two ideas in the teaching of Jesus which were unquestion-
ably original, are said to be the idea of salvation through
faith and the idea of a spiritual kingdom of Messiah.
These ideas He derived, above all, from his own inner
consciousness, and we are led to say that the new thing in
the first century was not so much the teaching of Jesus, as
Jesus himself.

No important studies in the life of Christ claim atten-
tion in this sixth volume of Current Discussions. A
Catholic work J is approaching completion, but it can
hardly be said to add to the valuable literature of the sub-
ject. It is a ponderous, often fanciful, commentary on
the four Gospels, betraying little acquaintance with the
critical works of modern times and ignoring the an-
cient sources of illustration.

A recent study 2,of The Divine Man from the Nativity
to the Temptation emphasize, by antithesis, the import-
ance of critical method and soberness in exegesis.

The startling contrast between the utterances of holy
men, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,
and men who spake out of the imaginations of their own

1 Lebcn Jesu. Von Dr. Joseph Grimm. Vierter Baud. 1887.
Regensburg.

2 The Divine Man from the Nativity to the Temptation. By Geo.
Dana Boarclman. N. Y., 1887.

NE W TESTAMENT HIS TOR Y. 101

hearts, is again presented in a little volume of compilations
from the Apocryphal Gospels. 1 Enough of the whole
mass of apocryphal literature is given to afford a fair idea
of the scope of these thoroughly superstitious, and for the
greater part, puerile writings. Their only historical value
is to give a sad picture of how Christians (mostly heret-
ical), between the second and seventh centuries, could
think of Jesus and Mary and the spirit world. Their ideas
of the humanity and divinity of Jesus are wholly false.
Yet it may be profitable to read these ancient "Gospels "in
order the better to appreciate the words of the inspired
evangelists.

i The Life of Jesus according to extra- canonical Sources. By
Bernhard Pick, Ph. D. J. B. Alden, N. Y., 1887.

CHAPTER IV.

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS.

What has recently been said 1 of the gains of modern
English exegesis is equally true of modern exegesis in
general, not excluding that of the Roman Catholic Church,
though the advance here is notably less than among Prot-
estants. As compared with the exegesis of earlier centu-
ries, that of our own is more rigidly defined. The rele-
vant has been separated from the irrelevant, to the great
srain of the science and the edification of the reader.
Then the critical apparatus has been carried far toward
perfection, and the number of scholars who are able to
read the Bible languages and their cognates, critically, has
been greatly increased. The number of candidates for the
ministry who think they can dispense with the Hebrew and
the Greek seems to be diminishing. Many who have not
had a classical education are solicitous of gaining some
knowledge of the tongues in which the Old Testament and
the New were written. This is the case in England and
in our own country.

In consequence of this tendency various primers of New
Testament Greek have been prepared. 2 These will ren-

i Cf. F. W. Farrar, in The Expositor for Jan., 1888.
2 A Primer of New Testament Greek. By Edward Miller, M. A.
Oxford, 1888.

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 103

der good service, though sometimes in danger of foster-
ing the idea that a profitable acquaintance with New
Testament Greek, by which is meant a fair critical know-
ledge, is the acquisition of a few months.

With this growing interest in the study of the Bible
tongues, there has been developed an independence of
judgment not found in earlier exegesis. This is even more
conspicuous in America and in continental lands than in
England. The work of the American Eevision Commit-
tee, for instance, is the index of a more independent exege-
tical science than is that of the English Committee. Great
benefit has resulted to modern exegesis from a broader
study of the Bible as a whole. It may also be added that
the growth of a more rational theory of inspiration is one
of the gains of modern exegesis.

Our starting point in the survey of the last year's exe-
getical productions is the creditable work done in our own
land. 1 The cast of our work in this department is, and
has always been, decidedly practical and popular, but
some of it at least is well worthy to be called scientific.
The chief American contribution of the year (Broadus)
does not propose to be undenominational, and assuredly is
not, as may easily be seen in the space given to the sub-
ject of baptism. It is implied that there has been less sin-
cerity among those who have rejected immersion than
among Baptists. "Strongly biased and ingenious minds

i An American Commentary on the New Testament. Commentary
on the Gospel of Matthew. By John A. Broadus, D. D., LL. D.
Philadelphia. American Baptist Publ. Soc, 1420 Chestnut Street,
1887. People's Commentary on the Gospel according to Matthew.
By Edwin W. Rice, D. D. Philadelphia. The American Sunday
School Union, 1887.

104 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

can always cast some apparent doubt over the meaning
of the plainest words." twIn the course of time many
Protestants came to perceive that it was very awkward
to rest their practice in this respect on the authority of
the Church of Rome, and being accustomed and attached
to the practice they very naturally sought countenance for
it in Scripture." In the course of his argument the
writer refers to the "Didache" and assigns it, (with its
rather unpleasant testimony) to the latter half of the
second century. To this late date, however, many im-
portant critics are opposed. It is held that there are no pas-
sages in the New Testament in which the ordinary meaning
of pa7TTi^8iv is not both possible and appropriate. Even
in regard to those cases in which immersion would seem to
have been inconvenient and unlikely, we must say that kwa
due consideration of Jewish scrupulosity and known cus-
toms makes the rite not only possible but natural enough."
But how does a "due consideration of Jewish scrupulos-
ity and known customs" apply to the Gentile jailor of
Philippi (Acts xvi, 23)? Ic is hardly probable that he had
a tank in readiness, and certainly Paul was the last man
who would lay great emphasis on the particular method
of a purely symbolical act.

In both of the recent works referred to there is unex-
pected inconsistency and arbitrariness in the interpretation
of the narrative of our Lord's temptation. "In the three
signal and final temptations (Broadus) it seems to be dis-
tinctly declared that Satan appeared in bodily form and
with actually spoken words, and this fitted the scene for
distinct and impression descriptive. To make it a mere
vision is without the slightest warrant. And Avhile it is

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 105

possible to regard the history as merely a vivid descrip-
tion of a series of internal temptations, it does no small
violence to the language and the entire color of the nar-
rative." Of the third temptation it is said, "It is best to
understand a sort of vision. It may certainly be con-
ceived that Satan had the power, while Jesus looked round
from the mountain-top, to cause such a view to pass before
his eyes." It is said (Rice) that there may have been
either a voluntary or miraculous extension of vision, or
that Jesus may have seen a part of the kingdoms of the
world with the natural eye and the rest with the mind's
eye, as Satan described it to Him. But the view that the
temptation could be "in thought" is rejected with disdain.
" The devil is no fool; his suggested temptations are not
transparent absurdities." It is admitted (Broadus) that
during the forty days our Lord was tempted by sug-
gestions to His mind, as we are, and then, at the close of
the forty days, it is held that the temptation was from a
visible devil in audible words. But our narrative gives no
indication of two kinds of temptation.

While insisting upon the literal and objective character
of the first and second temptations, it is admitted by these
writers that in the third temptation there was " a sort of
vision." With the exception of an insignificant fraction
of the earth which could be seen with the eye of flesh, the
vision of the kingdoms of the world is admitted to have
been internal (Broadus). But if the vision from the mount-
ain top was internal, so may that on the temple have been
internal. The theory breaks down at this point. It is
said that it does no small violence to the lan^uasre and the
entire color of the narrative to regard the history as merely

106 NEW TESTAMENT EXEOETICAL THEOLOGY.

a vivid description of a series of internal temptations.
Attention is called to the correspondence of the two ex-
pressions, 'the devil leaves him — angels came and minis-
tered to him !' The second clause is taken literally, there-
fore the first should be. But Luke says, in the narrative
of the betrayal, that Satan entered into Judas, and in the
next sentence says that Judas went away. Now of course
Judas' going away was visible, therefore Satan's entering
into him must have been visible also. We shrink from
the results of such reasoning. It does not appear why so
much earnestness should be manifested in proving that the
Satan of the wilderness was visible and audible. From
that day to this the disciples of Jesus have been grievously
tempted, but not by a visible and audible Satan. Further,
it is declared that Jesus was tempted in all points as are
His followers.

The conception of a visible Satan walking with Jesus
through the streets of Jerusalem and with Him climbing to
the pinnacle of the temple ; the conception of a visible
Satan conducting Jesus across the country from Jerusalem
to Hermon, or to some other exceedingly high mountain,
and making the ascent with Him (unless, indeed, Satan is
supposed to have borne Jesus through the air in a wholly
magic fashion), seems to belong rather among the stories
of the Koran than in the spiritual Gospel of Jesus Christ.

One feature of this recent work (Broadus) is the frank
admission of discrepancies in details. For instance, Mat-
thew and Mark differ in their report of Christ's address to
the Twelve on sending them out. According to Matthew
they are not to procure a staff, according to Mark they
may carry one. It is not felt that such variations affect

NE W TES TAME NT &XE GESIS. 107

the inspired character of the book. In some points the
exegesis will not be regarded as satisf acton'. One or two
of these may be mentioned. It is said that Jesus pur-
posely employs harsh language which will develop the
faith and humility of the Tyro-Phcenician woman. The
language is apologized for by saying that the "Gentiles
around were accustomed to this ! " as though the fact that
they were accustomed to insults at all justified one in in-
sulting them. But it is not correct to say that calling a
person a dog Avas, in the time of Jesus, simply a " harsh
expression.1' It was a term of contempt and insult. It
is morally inconceivable that Jesus endorsed the bitter
feeling which the Jews cherished toward the Gentiles.
Nor is there ground for saying that He used harsh lan-
guage as a means of developing faith and humility. This
woman showed from the first a remarkable faith, and the
narrative gives no indication that there was in her a lack
of humility. Furthermore, it was not the way with Jesus
to seek to develop faith by the use of tk harsh" epithets,
not to apply a stronger designation than this to the lan-
guage in question. Justice is not done to the explanation
of Weiss, which, though not wholly satisfactory, con-
tains the best solution of the problem.

The most serious difficulty in the interpretation of the
Eschatological Discourse is the supposition that the events
of xxiv, 29-31, refer both to the destruction of Jerusalem
and to the end of the age. The troublesome word 'wim-
mediately" (Mt. xxiv, 29) is explained by a recent writer 1
as referring rather to the fact of fulfilment than to the

i Cf. Professor Charles A. Briggs, in The Presbyterian Revieiv for
Jan., 1888.

108 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

time of the same. The event is near in the prophetic sense,
that is, it is certain, but the time is uncertain. This in-
terpretation is based upon the Old Testament usage of the
word near.

Our American commentator on Matthew assumes an
informal session of the Sanhedrim, at which Jesus was
sentenced, and a formal session, at which He was tried
and by which He was sent to Pilate. This is treated as a
settled question. But if it is indeed settled, the settle-
ment is against two sessions and sentences rather than for
them. (Cf. Weiss' Leben Jesu, Band 2, Seite 558). The
passage in Mt. xxvii, 1-2, speaks of a morning session of
the chief priest and elders, but it contains no suggestion
of a trial or a sentence. They took counsel against Jesus,
to put Him to death. But taking counsel against a man
is not trying him. It is altogether probable that the morn-
ing1 counsel concerned the best method of securing from
the Roman power the execution of the sentence already
pronounced by the Sanhedrim.

The past year has not added to the literature on the
Gospel according to Mark, save in the way of semi-hom-
iletical study.1 This has been of a high order, full of keen
insight into human nature and pervaded by devout feel-
ing. In speaking of the temptation, attention is called to
the fact that the place of the temptation in the Gospel nar-
rative is psychologically confirmed. tkHigh places are
dizzy, and especially when one has just attained them; and
therefore it was when the voice of the herald and the Voice
from the heavens were blended in acclaim, that the Evil

i The Gosjycl (((-cording to St. Mark. By Rev. G. A. Chadwick,
Dean of Armagh, New York, 1888.

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 109

One tried all his arts.'" This is an incidental corroboration
of the historical value of the account of our Lord's tempta-
tion. The fact that Jesus did not experience hunger till
after forty days is regarded as a measure of the tc remorse-
less urgency of Satan." » The miracles of Christ seem to
be treated rather from a dogmatic than an exegetieal stand-
point. uThey are wrought," it is said, " without any
reference whatever to a superior will." "Christ's power
is inherent, it is self-possessed." This view is not sup-
ported by the narrative. Before Jesus called Lazarus
forth from the tomb, He said, "Father, I thank thee that
thou heardest me." In what? Naturally in the request
that Lazarus might be restored. The same attitude of
Jesus toward the Father is contained in the "sighing,"
with eyes turned toward heaven, on the occasion of the
healing of the deaf and dumb man. When Peter was
using his sword in Gethsemane, Jesus said, "Thinkest
thou that I cannot beseech my Father, and he shall even
now send me more than twelve legions of angels?" And
then, in a comprehensive passage, Jesus says, uIf I by
the linger of God cast out devils, etc." In all these cases
there is a plain reference to a superior will — an exegetieal
result which is supported by the New Testament teaching
in regard to the humanity of Jesus.

Recent exegetieal studies1 of the Gospel according to
John are more theological and philosophical than philo-

l Das Gesprdch Jesu mit der Samariterin. Von F. L. Steinmayer.
Berlin, 1887.

Das Evangelium nach Johannis ausgelegt. Von Dr. Gnstav Fr.
Wahle. Gotha, F. A. Perthes, 1888.

The Puljrit Commentary. The Gospel of St. John. Rev. H. R.
Reynolds, D.D. London, 1888.

110 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

logical. Neither the English nor the German work can be
regarded as reaching the highest level of excellence in the
department of exegesis. Neither is deserving of the high-
est praise for the grammatical accuracy of its interpreta-
tion, nor for the breadth of its Biblical knowledge. The
early pages of the English work furnish exegesis of the
following order. The two imperfect verses in John i, 4,
uIn him was life, and the life was the light of men," "as-
sert what was in the beginning and what can never cease
to be." But an imperfect tense, in and of itself, can never
make such an assertion as this. And, further, the context
is against the reference of the imperfect to the beginning
in eternity. "The life was the light of men'" implies the
existence of men. It is not said that it was designed to
fulfil that end in coming ages.

Again, the limits of the imperfect arc overstepped when
it is said that the statement, " The true light was coming
into the world" is equivalent to this, uThe light was ever
coming into the world." " Is become," or, " hath become"
(i, 15), is held equal to " hath been in mighty activity."

A thought is imported into the text when it is said that
John the Baptist is referred to (i, 6), in his representative
character rather than his historical position. But it was
the historical John the Baptist who was thought of for a
time as being possibly the expected Messiah, not John in
his "representative character."

The exegesis of the German work (Wahle) (perhaps its
lower level) may be seen in its explanation of John vi, 19.
The fear of the disciples, it is said, can only have come
from the fact that they saw the appearance wandering
hither and thither upon the shore, waiting for them, while

NE W TESTAMENT EXE GESIS. Ill

they in the mean time were unable to explain who it was.
We are asked to believe that nepinaTzlv means a walk-
ing back and forth, and that -zni rr\S OaXaffffjjS was a
natural expression for the author to use when he meant that
the appearance was upon the shore. It would seem, more-
over, as though the disciples would have rejoiced, had they
thought that the man was on the shore, for in that case
they would realize that their perilous voyage was nearly
over, and the fact that the man was apparently waiting for
them would be reassuring rather than terrifying. It is
admitted that the narratives of Matthew and Mark speak
plainly of a walking on the sea, but the narratives are sup-
posed to have suffered at the hands of men. This expla-
nation seems to be an unnecessary concession to the de-
mands of unbelieving critics.

The English and German writers differ as to the date of
the Last Supper, the former holding that it was on the
13th of Nisan, and bringing the language of the Synop-
tists into harmony with this by the hypothesis that when
they say uthe first day of unleavened bread" they use
these words in their popular, not their legal, sense; and the
latter holding that it was on the 14th of Nisan, according
to John as well as the Synoptists. A division is to be
made in the 13th chapter of John at the 32d verse, this
and the preceding verses belonging to the night of the 13th
of Nisan, and what follows belonging to the night of the
14th. The grounds of support for this view are (1) the
difficulty of putting all the events from John xiii, 1, into
a part of a single night; (2) the psychological improbabil-
ity that Judas, so soon after Jesus had unmasked him and
filled his heart with ansrer, would have chosen a kiss as the

112 NEW TESTAMENT EXEOETICAL THEOLOGY.

sign by which he would betray Jesus; (3) the ease with
which Judas makes the preparations for the arrest of Jesus,
and (4) the discourse concerning the vine (xv, 1), which
probably had its occasion in the Passover feast itself, and
so would belong to the night of the 14th of Msan.

It is worthy of remark in this connection that the latest
American writer on Matthew, and the latest German com-
mentator on John agree in adopting the view that Annas
and Caiaphas occupied the same palace. The German
writer finds support in the fact that, while Jesus was be-
fore Annas, the officers made a fire in the court, which
they would not have done, if they had expected to lead
Jesus away soon to another building.

The most important recent study in the Book of Acts is
an investigation1 of the thirteen addresses of Paul. Luke
is regarded as the author of the Acts, and the passages in
which the narrative proceeds in the first person are held to
be out of Luke's own experience as a companion of Paul.
Luke as an author combined conscientiousness in investiga-
tion, artististic perceptive power, and genius for portrayal.
The addresses of Paul are not free compositions by Luke,
neither are they verbatim reports. Their brevity, lan-
guage and style forbid this. But they are artistic repro-
ductions of Paul's discourses, faithfully historical in their
substance, but bearing, in their form, the impress of Luke's
mind. It is held that there are three constructive prin-
ciples in the Acts, being respectively, religious, theological,
and political. The religious motive is to show the

l Die Paulinischen Reden der Apostdgcschiclile. Historisch-gram-
matisch und biblisch-theologisch ausgelegt. Von Dr. Fr. Bethge.
Gottingen, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 113

guidance and protection of God in the spread of the Christian
religion from Jerusalem to Rome, and is most manifest in
the speech made during the storm at sea.

The theological motive is the demonstration of the
hardening of Israel in spite of missionary work, and the
formation of a specifically Gentile Church. This motive is
most manifest in the speech before Agrippa and in the
closing addresses in Rome, where reference is made to the
future of the Gentile Church. The political motive is seen
in the representation of Christianity as the true religion of
Israel in order to gain the protection of a religio licita
lief ore the Roman bar. It is manifest in the speeches be-
fore the Sanhedrim, before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa.

Anions recent suo^estive notes on the Acts x are those
on chapt, ii, 44-45 and 47. A very important modifica-
tion of the idea of community of goods is obtained by ob-
serving the force of the imperfect. The believers "kept
selling" their possessions and twkept distributing," ac-
cording as any man had need. Private property was re-
tained, but subject to the brothers need. The suggestion
is also made that the verb in chapt. ii, 47, in view of the
Apostle's words in ii, 40, be rendered as a middle. "The
Lord added to them day by day those who were saving
themselves."

Investigation of the Pauline Epistles occupies a relatively
large place in the exegesis of the past year.

The celebrated passage in IThessalonians, regarding the
man of sin and the power that restrains, has received an
explanation somewhat new.2 The lawlessness spoken of

i Cf. The Expositor, for May, 1888. 2 Cf . Neutcstam.entUch<>.

Schriften grieehiseh mit kurzer Erklarung. Heft I. Die Briefe Pauli
an die Thessalonicher. S. Gobel. Gotha, Fr. A. Perthes, 1887.

114 NEW TESTAMENT EXEOETICAL THEOLOGY.

is understood to be a designed enmity against all divinely
established law and order, such enmity as the Apostle
everywhere saw in the unbridled and unbelieving world of
the Roman Empire, like a glimmering iire beneath the
ashes. The restraining power is the moral regime of the
state, and "he that restrains ' is a personal bearer and
representative of the same, yet (and here the ordinary view
is abandoned) not an earthly person, as the reigning em-
peror Claudius, but a heavenly one, according to the an-
alogy of Daniel's prophecy (chapt. x), in which the passage
in Thessalonians has its roots. This heavenly person is
the angel-prince who resists and holds in check the spirit
of the world-kingdom which is hostile to God. To him
the moral order still prevailing in the Roman Kingdom is
traced.

The letters to the Corinthian Church occupy the place
of honor among recent exegetical works.1 They are still
" weighty and strong.'1 There is a decided difference of
opinion between the English and French writers regarding
the value of Westcott and Hort's text of the First Epistle.
The former (Ellicott) regards it as possessing the highest

i St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. By Charles J.
Ellicott, D.D. London, 1887.

Commentary on St. PauVs First Epistle to the Corinthians. By F.
Godet, Edinburgh, 1886-7.

Das zweite Sendschreiben des Ap. Paulus an die Korinther,
erklart von Dr. C. F. Georg Heinrici. Berlin, 1887.

Der erste Brief Pauli an die Korinther. Von S. Gobel. Gotha,
1887.

Der zweite Brief Pauli an die Korinther . Von S. Gobel. Gotha,
1887. Published by Fr. A. Perthes.

A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians. By Thomas
Charles Edwards. Sec. Ed., N. Y., 1886.

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 115

worth, while the latter (Goclet) concludes from the twenty-
seven most important variants, that the method of criti-
cism which attempts to decide between readings by means
of external authorities alone is absolutely erroneous, and
that it is erroneous to hold by any one of the three types
of text to the neglect of the other two. The English
writer gives great honor to the ancient Greek expositors,
generously saying that their interpretations form the back-
bone of his work, while the French writer moves rather
among the expositors of this century.

The question is still debated whether Paul included all
Christians in his salutation at the beo-inning- of the First
Epistle, or simply the Corinthian Church. Both English
writers take the former view with Chrysostom, while the
French critic refers the salutation to the Church at Corinth
alone. As to the origin of the words in chapter ii, 9,

" Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not,
And which entered not into the heart of man,
Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him,"

these four latest writers are agreed that Isaiah lxiv, 4, in
combination with one or more other passages, is the source
from which they are drawn. The citation is free from
memory. Thus the view of O'rigen, that the passage is
from the Apocalypse of Elias, and the view of Meyer and
Weiss, that it is from an apocryphal book but quoted as
from a canonical writing, are both abandoned. There is
the same disagreement as ever regarding the passage (ii,
13), which speaks of u combining spiritual things with
spiritual words " (Am. Rev.). One writer thinks of spi-
ritual truth expressed in spiritual form (Ellicott) ; another,
of a symmetrical presentation of Christian truth (Edwards) ;

116 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

and yet others regard the words as conveying the general
fact that Paul adapted or applied his spiritual truth only
to those who were fitted to receive it (Godet, Gobel). He
did not cast pearls before swine. The judgment of the
sinner who is delivered to Satan for destruction of the
flesh (I Cor. v, 5) is, in a measure, understood alike by
these recent writers. They agree that the apostolic act
gave the sinner over to physical suffering, the cases of
Ananias, Simon, Elymas and Job being analogous. But
they differ in regard to the termination of the suffering,
some holding that death was only a possible outcome
(Ell. Edw.), while others regard death as the manifest
judgment inflicted by Paul (Godet, Gobel). Yet they do
not think of death as sudden; time is left to the sinner for
repentance. The majority of these latest students agree
that the expression, "to deliver to Satan," means excom-
munication from the Church. The mysterious veiling of
women " on account of the angels " (I Cor. xi, 10) is not
yet satisfactorily explained. The strongest support, how-
ever, seems to be furnished for the view that Paul had in
mind the presence of angels at the worship of Christians.
(Ellicott, Godet). It is easy to go beyond what is needful
for the exegesis, in presenting this view, and to speculate
as one writer does (Godet), how the pain and shame felt
by these invisible witnesses would spread a sombre shade
over the serenity of the worship. Such speculations weaken
the view. Another writer (Gobel) thinks that the angels
are referred to as instruments of the divine working, and
that decorum on their account is not essentially different
from decorum on account of God himself. This has per-
haps better support than the view that the angels are men-

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 117

tioned as examples to the women of holy creatures that
keep their place of subordination (Edwards). Regarding
the divers kinds of tongues that were heard in the Corin-
thian Church (I Cor. xii, 10) and their relation to the Pen-
tecostal gift it would perhaps be unreasonable to expect
any perfectly satisfactory explanation. The latest writers
are certainly divided in opinion. On the one hand, it is
thought that we may clearly recognize in the New Test-
ament two general forms of the mysterious gift of tongues:
(1) the higher, that of speaking in languages known to the
hearers, but unknoAvn to the speakers, of which the only
certainly recorded instance is in the second chapter of
Acts, and (2) the lower and more common form, showing
itself probably in many different kinds of manifestations.
Such was the phenomenon in the Corinthian Church
(Ellicott). But by what right can we call the Pentecostal
gift "higher" than that enjoyed by the Corinthians, for
the possession of which Paul himself gave thanks ? There
would seem to be no inherent reason why the speaking in
foreign tonsrues should be " higher ': than ecstatic utter-
ance. It is noticeable that the Holy Spirit has not pre-
served for us a specimen of either kind of speech, if,
indeed, there were two distinct kinds. It is quite doubt-
ful also whether we ought to speak of the Pentecostal gift
as unique, for the speaking at Pentecost seems to have
been repeated in the house of Cornelius at Csesarea (Acts
x, 16 ; xi, 15). On the other hand, over against the
recognition of two kinds of tongues, it is held that the
New Testament knows of but one gift of tongues (Godet).
The Pentecostal speaking differed from the Corinthian
only in degree. But, what was the language in general \

118 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

The answer of Grodet is somewhat uncertain. "It was an
extraordinary language of which Ave can no longer form
an idea;' "it was a language spontaneously created by
the Holy Spirit, for the utterance of emotions, which no
natural tongue could express. " And further on the answer
becomes more explicit. "The speaking was doubtless a
something intermediate between singing and speech, analog-
ous to what we call a recitative, and the meaning of it was
more or less immediately comprehensible like that of
music.'' Every well-disposed hearer understood this lan-
guage at Pentecost. Neither there nor at Corinth was it
incoherent and aimless.

The interpretation of the Aramaic words in I Cor. xvi,
23, illustrates certain tendencies of these late writers. Two
of them (Ellicott and Gobel) regard the perfect, ada,
as having here a future force, and the clause equivalent to
that of Phil. iv,5 — '• the Lord is near." The Apostle
used the words in close connection with the foregoing,
meaning that the Lord, who was near, would ratify his
anathema. The Aramaic is explained by supposing that
the statement was a watchword in the early Church. It is
thought by another (Edwards) that while the words in
question refer to the future, they are also a ni}- stic utter-
ance. "The enthusiasm of the gift of tongues had taken
possession of Paul. His words from hallowed associations,
carry with them a meaning beyond what meets the ear.
The air is tilled with awe-inspiring voices premonitory of
the coming of the Lord." And according to the third view
(Grodet) by a different division of the Aramaic letters, the
words mean, "Come, O our Lord!" (Mapava 0a.)
This is analogous to the closing prayer of the Apocalypse,

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 119

"Come, Lord Jesus !' The objection to this is that da
would be a most unusual imperative form. The Aramaic
is explained by this writer in the following manner. Paul
had a seal with the device, Mapava 6a. This seal he used
at the close of the First Epistle to the Corinthians.
When the Epistle was copied, since the seal could not be
reproduced, the copyists preserved the device. This is
ingenious ; but if the words were the device on Paul's seal,
they ought to stand, where the seal doubtless stood, at the
very close of the Epistle.

Of the recent studies 1 in the Epistle to the Romans, one
(Gobel's) answers the question: Why did Paul send to
the congregation in Rome in particular such a thorough
presentation and defense of his doctrine of redemption, by
three considerations. First, the associated life of the
Christians at Rome was in an imperfect state, and the
Epistle aims to deepen the faith of all the members, as a
faith that is equally necessary for all, and that alone can
secure for all alike salvation, and thus to knit closely the
bonds binding the Jewish Christian groups with the great
Gentile Christian majority. Second, the Apostle wished
to guard the Roman Christians against the attacks of Ju-
daizers by establishing them in the conviction that, while
the law is powerless to renew, there are forces of moral
renewal in the grace in which they stand. Third, the
Apostle wished to give the Roman Christians an intelli-
gent conception of the principles of his missionary career.
He wished their support as he went to the far west, but

i Der BUmerbrief ilbersetzt unci kurz erklclrt. Von Fr. Zimmer.
Qnedlinbnrg, 1887. Der Brief Pauli an die Bonier. Von L. Gobel.
Fr. Andreas Perthes. Gotha, 1887. The Epistle of Paul the Apostle
to the Bomans. By Rev. Lyman Abbott. New York, 1888.

120 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

would not have them misunderstand his relation to his own
countrymen. With these three aims the three parts of the
doctrinal portion of the Epistle correspond.

The most elaborate and important of the recent studies
of the Epistle to the Romans is that by an American
scholar (Abbott). Very brief reference has been made in
another place to the author's conception of Paul's funda-
mental doctrine. In this connection mention may be
made, first, of a few points in his sketch of Paul's life and
character. His view of the Apostle is that he was an
idealist rather than a logician, a philanthropist rather than
a philosopher, a poet rather than a scholastic. He was
essentially a Christian mystic, and his teaching is, in its
essence, that of the Fourth Gospel. It is said that Paul's
Greek schooling was such as could be caught up in the
street. It may be said in regard to this point that, ac-
cording to late and reliable authority, the Jews of the
Greek-speaking Diaspora used the Greek version of the
law in their synagogues. This is a more adequate expla-
nation of Paul's Greek knowledge. The opinion of Au-
gustine, adopted by Godet in modern times but generally
rejected, that the conversion of Paul began at the martyr-
dom of Stephen, is accepted by this American writer, but
without producing any new grounds, or removing the ob-
jections which are presented by the writings of Paul.

The positivcness with which Paul's trouble with his eyes,
experienced once in Galatia, is attributed to the physical
impression of the heavenly vision does not seem to be sup-
ported by aught in the narratives. Neither can the marks
which Paul calls the " marks of Jesus," nor the fact — if it

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 121

be such — that he generally wrote by an amanuensis, be
traced with any special probability to that event.

The statement that Paul disregarded the regulations of
the Old Testament, and paid no greater respect to those of
the Christian Church at Jerusalem, hardly accords with
facts, and to say that the church of that day possessed no
creed, as is done several times, seems misleading. For,
though the Apostolic Church may have had no written
creed, it surely had as definite a creed and held it as tena-
ciously as the church has done at any period in its history.
Whether a creed is written or unwritten is an unimpor-
tant incident, The importance of the commentary proper
consists rather in its general exposition of the thought
than in detailed exegesis. Two or three fundamental pas-
sages may be referred to in partial illustration and criti-
cism of both these aspects of the work. First, as bearing
upon the author's conception of Paul's use of TttoriS, we
may take the verse which reads "For what if some were
without faith? shall their want of faith make of none ef-
fect the faithfulness of God \ " The interpretation of this is as
follows : "Shall the Jews1 failure to perceive and welcome
the spiritual life of God work against and make unfruit-
ful God's perception of spiritual qualities in his Gentile
children % " From this it would appear that the author
takes the word dnwria to signify "the Jews' failure to
perceive and welcome the spiritual life of God." In his
general statement at the be^innino- of the chapter the thought
is thus expressed : ' ' the Jews' inability to perceive repentance
and faith in a pagan." And the clause niariv tov 6eov he
understands as meaning "God's perception of spiritual
qualities in His Gentile children." These ideas seem to

122 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

be drawn legitimately from the text. God's perception
of spiritual qualities in his Gentile children hardly para-
phrases, we think, what Paul means by nioriv rov deov,
and the Jews' inability to perceive repentance and faith in
a pagan hardly paraphrases what Paul meant by disbelief.
It seems improbable that Paul thought of God as having
faith in man in the same sense in which he thought of
man's faith in God.

The author holds that iXaffT^pwv in chapter iii, 25,
denotes Mercy-Seat. We are led to this meaning, he
thinks, out of regard for "the fundamental principle of
interpretation, that in all difficult passages every doubtful
word is to be understood as the immediate readers would
have understood it, or at least not inconsistently with such
an understanding. "

But, who shall decide how the immediate readers under-
stood a particular word ? Just here lies a very great diffi-
culty. No one is quite in the position to say what the
immediate readers understood by certain words. What is
called a fundamental law of interpretation seems rather
one of the aims of interpretation. Further, in the case
before us, it may be fairly questioned whether the imme-
diate readers, being predominantly Gentile, would have
thought of the word iXaffrtjpiov as signifying Mercy-
Seat, a meaning which belongs to the Jewish ritual. The
presumption is that Gentiles acquainted with the Greek
language would have understood the word agreeably to
the general teaching of Paul in which they found it, and it
may surely be affirmed that Paul's thought does not move
in the sphere of the Levitical ritual. In speaking of Paul's
doctrine of the fall, the author takes the ground that the

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 123

Apostle's teaching is not inconsistent with the doctrine
that man was gradually evolved by long and slow pro-
cesses out of a lower and animal order. Paul's references
to the fall of Adam are indirect and parenthetic. He lays
no stress upon it, but puts all emphasis upon the perpetual
fall of every man who sins against God's law.

The author regards chapter seven as a picture from the
life, a description neither of a regenerate nor an unre-
generate man, but a portrayal of universal experience.
That there is a struggle in the hearts of disciples between
the higher nature and the impulses, which can only learn
obedience through strife and suffering, a conflict between
the old man and the new man, needs no other demonstra-
tion than is afforded by the common experience, but that
Paul has this struggle in mind no satisfactory evidence
seems to be afforded by this new work.

As characteristic of the author's position on one of the
theological questions of the day, we may quote his careful
remark on Israel's salvation as a race (p. 192). "Does
Paul merely mean that, as the result of the long processes
of history, a remnant of the Jewish people will at last
resume their primitive faith, see in the New Testament the
flower and fruit of the Old, and in Christ the fulfilment of
the hopes and the promises of Moses, David and Isaiah ?
Or does he mean that in some other sphere, some cycle
beyond this one in which we live, some future scene of the
great drama of redemption of which wTe see only a little
part, the Jewish race, as a race, will discover that a veil
has been over their faces, as they read Moses and the pro-
phets, that traditionalism has blinded their faith, that they
have not kept pace with the world's progress and the pro-

124 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

vidences of God, and will find what they did not find on
earth, the glory of the Father in the face of Jesus Christ,
his Son i If to affirm this with positiveness is more than
Paul's language will warrant, to deny the possibility of it
is to deny the possibility of a hope which his Avords justly
awn ken. I am content to do neither; but in the bewil-
derment of a hope too large to be defined, and yet too
vague to be a creed, say with the Apostle, u O, the depth
of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of
God ! "

Believing the word of Bacon that "the Scriptures have
infinite springs and streams of doctrine to water the Church
in every part," a recent writer seeks to point out some of
these springs and streams in the Epistle to the Philip-
pians.1 The work is, properly speaking, a homiletical
commentary. It is interesting to notice that the author
feels warranted in tracing the origin and character of the
Philippian Church to the influence of Lydia. It bears the
impress of an ardent and organizing woman, an impress
visible especially in activities of benevolence. The name
which is above every name is thought to be the name
kW Jesus," not "Lord Christ." This was the Saviour's
name by divine command before He was conceived in the
womb. It was His after the Ascension, for Peter, in his
Pentecostal sermon declared, uGod hath made that same
Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." And
the Saviour claimed this name in the very act of calling
Paul himself into His service, saying, "I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest."

i Lectures chiefly expository on St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians,
By John Hutchinson. Edinburgh, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 125

The bowing of every knee in the name of Jesus is under-
stood of universal worship of Him. Nothing is said of
the circumstances of time and place in which this worship
takes place. It is not harmonized with the doctrine of the
Apocalypse, that there will he conflict up to the very day
of judgment, or with the doctrine of the eternal rejection
of many who refuse to believe in the Son of God.

Of recent studies in the Epistles to the Colossians and
to Philemon the most important is an English volume,
homiletical rather than expository.1 It lavs down and
observes the distinction between the certainty of God's
word and the uncertainty of our inferences from that word.
It comes from a mind which regards pure Theism as little
better than a phantom, Agnosticism as a dreary proclama-
tion, Materialism as something which can never hush the
unconscious wail of many an Esau's heart — "My father,
my father !" and Socinianism as that which has no warmth
to thaw our frozen limbs. Its interpretation of difficult
passages may be illustrated by two cases. The "all
things " which are to be reconciled through Christ (Col. i,
20) are the material universe, which through the work of
Christ shall be restored to its primal obedience. The
reconciliation of things in the heavens is understood in a
broad sense, as the drawing of intelligent beings in the
heavens nearer to God. A^ain, "the afflictions of Christ,"
which the Apostle will fill up (Col. i, 24), are not afflic-
tions borne for Christ, or imposed by Him, or like His,
but afflictions which Christ bears with His folloAvers by
virtue of His mystical oneness with them and by virtue of

1 The Epistle of Saint Paul to the Colossians and Philemon. By
Alexander Maclaren, D.D. Armstrong & Son, New York.

126 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

His sympathy. "In all our afflictions He is afflicted/' It
is suggested that Paul learned this lesson when on the way
to Damascus, he heard the words, "Saul, Saul, why per-
secutest thou me?" He thought all the time that he was
persecuting the -followers of Jesus.

It has already been said that the investigators1 of the
past year hold the genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles,
and three of the writers are German. Reference may be
made here to some special points in the explanation of
these Epistles.

Paul's statement that he is the chief of sinners (Tim. i,
15), is understood as expressing his serious thought, and
as language which each individual ought to repeat con-
cerning himself (Rolling). The truth of the statement lies
in this, that each individual can see his own sin in its
depths and know it intimately, while he can know the sin
of others only superficially. The " childbearing " through
which woman shall be saved (I Tim. ii, 15,) can not be
understood as designating a particular way of salvation for
women. The}' no less than men are to be saved through
faith. The word which Paul uses for "childbearing" is
not the ordinary expression, but a peculiar and significant

i Der ersle Brief Pauli an Timotheus. Von Heinrich Rolling.
Zweiter Theil: Die Auslegung. Berlin, 1887.

Praktisch-theologischerKommentar zu den Pastoralbriefen des Apo-
stel Paulus. Von Dr. Knoke. Erster Theil: Der zweite Brief an
Timotheus. Gottingen, 1887.

The Epistles of St. Paul with notes. By James R. Boise, D.D.,
LL.D. D. Appleton & Co., N. Y., 1887.

Kurzgefasster Kommcntar. Vierte Abtheilung: Die Gefangen-
schaftsbriefe des Apostel Paulus, Pastoralbriefe, Hebraerbrief, die
katholischen Briefe und die Offenbarung Johannis. Nordlingen,
1888. C. H. Beck'sche Buchhandlung.

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 127

word. Its abstract ending takes it out of the sphere of
the concrete, and suggests a higher meaning. According
to the context it must denote that by which, in the New
Testament economy of salvation, souls are saved. The
word refers, then, to the birth of Jesus, to the Incarnation
of the Son of God. Through this, faith being of course
implied, woman shall be saved. This expression was used
by Paul in the interest of harmony. It was to prevent
pride on the part of man and bitterness in the heart of
woman. It involves an unparalleled exaltation of the
dignity of Christian women.

The charge that a candidate for the pastoral office must
be the husband of one wife (I Tim. iii, 2), is still variously
explained. The American contributor (Boise) says, "Hus-
band of one wife at a given time, as opposed to more than
one.'" The German commentator connects it closely with
the preceding injunction — "the bishop must be without
reproach,'- — and makes the blamelessness appertain to his
relation to his wife. The bishop must be wholly faithful
to his wife, without lightness in his manner of dealing
with other women. The charge can not be referred to
bigamy or polygamy, because the New Testament knows
nothing of these sins. Nor can the charge be directed
against a second marriage, since second marriage is repeat-
edly recognized as lawful.

The "angels" by whom Christ was seen, according to
the famous passage, "He who was manifested in the
flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among
the nations, believed on in the world, received up into
glory" (I Tim. iii, 16), are understood to have been the
apostles, unto whom the risen Lord appeared (Rolling).

128 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

It is held that a reference to heavenly angels would be
unimportant in this place, and that such an appearance
would be without historical support, since we can not think
that the reference is to the angels who appeared to Christ
while He was on earth, and since the word ayyeXoi
would not be applicable to the spirits to whom Christ
appeared in Hades. Plainly the words can not be referred
to the Ascension, as that is the theme of the last clause.
On the other hand, a reference to the apostles is eminently
appropriate, because the fact of Christ's resurrection, made
sure to the apostles by the actual appearance to them of
the risen One, was central in the Apostolic preaching.

The latest studies in First Peter1 accept a genuine pro-
clamation of the Gospel by the Lord Jesus Christ to spirits
in the spirit-world. The most important of these studies,
however, adds nothing upon this topic to the results pub-
lished in a different form, and noticed in the last volume
of Current Discussions. In the German work of the past
year the view is taken that the visit of Christ to the spirit-
world was made after the resurrection, hence was the des-
census ad inferos of which the ancient Church symbol
speaks. This view assumes that the words "quickened
in the spirit " refer to the resurrection. Both writers agree
in simplifying the difficult passage regarding tl- the interro-
gation of a good conscience toward God" (I Peter iii, 21).
The word enepoor^fia is taken in the sense of request or
prayer, and the thought of the whole clause is that the
candidate for baptism offers prayer to God for a good

i Wissenschqftlicher unci Praktischer Commentar iiber den crstcn
Petrusbrief. Von J. M. Usteri. Zwei Theile. Zurich, 1887.
Cf. Burger in tlie Kurzgefasster Commentar, 1888.

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 129

conscience, that is, a conscience purified by the forgive-
ness of sins. Such prayer is a necessary condition of the
reception of baptism.

In the conviction that the Epistle to the Hebrews is one
of the most difficult as well as one of the greatest of New
Testament books, a volume has recently been contributed 1
which adds to the valuable practical literature on this epis-
tle. The authors conception of the course of thought in
the Epistle is noticeable in some points. For instance, the
central idea in chapt, iii, 1-iv, 13, is the fundamental one-
ness of the Dispensations. Moses and Christ are equally
God's stewards, and the threatenings and promises of the
Old Testament are still in force in reference to apostasy
from Christ or faithfulness to Him.

But this conception seems hardly in keeping with the
manifest purpose of the Epistle to set forth the superiority
of Christ's mediation over that of the Old Testament econ-
omy. Again, it is said that in the eleventh chapter the
faith of Abraham is compared with that of Noah, Enoch
and Abel. It is difficult to see any suggestion of such a
comparison in the text, which mentions the heroes of faith
in simple chronological succession. Mention may be made
of one or two points in the interpretation. The question
with which the first chapter of the Epistle closes : "Are
they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service
for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation ? *? seems
to be regarded as implying uncertainty in the mind of the
writer of the Epistle.

What seems to be a better interpretation regards the

i The Epistle to the Hebrews. By Thomas Charles Edwards.' A.
C. Armstrong «fc Son, 1888.

130 NEW TESTAMENT EXE GE TICAL TEE OL 0 G Y.

question as rhetorical, expressing in the most certain man-
ner the fact, that all the angels, without exception, occu-
py, with reference to salvation, the subordinate position
of servants. The fact that God spake unto the fathers in
divers manners (i, 1) is regarded as signif}' ing that the Old
Testament revelation was not ^homogeneous." Now it
will be admitted that the Old Testament revelation was
fragmentary, but hardly that it was not homogeneous. For
it is all but the unfolding of the plan of redemption.
Christ found himself in all the Scriptures (Luke xxiv, 27),
and Paul says that the prophets spake concerning the Son,
(Romans, i, 2-3). "JVbvum testamentum in vetere latet."

Nothing of signal value has been added the past year to
the exposition of the Revelation. The theory of the two-
fold origin of the book, discussed in the last volume of
Current Discussions, has met with little favor. It is
thought that if the authors had retained it longer for crit-
ical examination, they would have abandoned it themselves
as unsatisfactory. 1

An attempt 2 has been made, in the interest of a better
understanding of the Revelation, to prove that the persons
who are called "saints" constituted an inner organization
within the Church, embracing only those who gave them-
selves wholly to the work of evangelization and of build-
ing up the churches. It is hardly needful to say that the
attempt is a failure.

i Cf. Professor C. A. Briggs in The Presbyterian Review for Jan.
1888.

2 Die Eeiligen. Von C. H. Manchot. Leipzig, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS. 131

The latest German commentator 1 recognizes the close
relation between Christ's eschatological discourse and the
Apocalypse. This is being more generally admitted, but
the significance of the connection for the interpretation of
the Apocalypse has not been duly considered. The latest
work supports the view that the angels of the churches are
their bishops. It regards the two beasts as symbolizing,
the first the world power that is hostile to God, and the sec-
ond, the false spiritual power. But the fulfillment of these
symbols is not found in any particular language or land.
So also with the symbol of Babylon. It is not to be limit-
ed to Rome, though Rome was the Babylon of John's
own time. Thus this recent study rejects the contempo-
rary theory of interpretation, and also the Church-History
theory.

i Kurzgcfassier Commentar. Vierte Abtheilimg. Die OJ/'en-
barung Johannis. Von Dr. Robert Kiibel. Nordlingen, 1888.

CHAPTER V.

NEAV TESTAMENT THEOLOGY.

Of the difficult problem of the self-consciousness of the
Lord Jesus only partially satisfactory solutions have been
given, or, perhaps, can be given. That self-consciousness
was unique, as the personality was unique, being human
and divine. But the problem, though difficult, is attract-
ive, and may properly be the object of reverent scientific
investigation. Such investigation has recently been given
to it. 1 There is special propriety in making such investi-
gations in this present time, because the great thought of
the Christian Church in our age is the Kingdom of Christ,
and questions concerning this Kingdom depend upon the
questions as to the character of Him in whom the King-
dom came (trrau). It is postulated that the self -conscious-
ness of Jesus, as presented in His unquestioned words, is
incomprehensible without admitting the miraculous ele-
ment. One important way into the self-consciousness of
Jesus is the study of His attitude toward the revelation of
God in the Old Testament and in Nature. Freedom and
authority are noticeable in His use of the Old Testament

i Das Selbstbewusstsein Jesu im Lichte der Messianischen Hoff-
nungen seiner- Zeit. Von W. Baldensperger. Strassburg, 1888.

Das Selbstbewusstsein Jesu. Von Rudolph Fr. Gran. Nord-
lingen, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 133

Scriptures. In His study of Nature He was one with
all healthy and perfect men, noticeably with the Greeks,
who were the most gifted of all the heathen nations of
that time. Jesus was a full citizen in the natural
world, and yet, at the same time, His language shows
that He was a stranger there. Nature was for Him a
parable of the spirit-world in which He lived. The
same author holds that Jesus forgave sin in a manner
that pre-supposed a special work and achievement. He
did not forgive sin as a Avholly independent, almighty
God, or as the representative of the almighty God who
dwells in heaven, a representative who has nothing else to
do than to utter the will of God. Jesus, in representing
Himself as the Shepherd and the Bridegroom and the
Judo-e, shows that He had the Jehovah-consciousness
(Grau). In all this, however, we find nothing of develop-
ment.

More satisfactory in this respect is the study of another
scholar (Baldensperger). The Messianic consciousness
was developed, it is said, through religious experience, not
by any process of reasoning. The appearance of Jesus as
the Messiah was not usurpation, but obedience, not free
choice, but divine necessity. It cost Him much to declare
Himself the Messiah, but He did it out of a feeling of
duty. The Messianic faith was not a hindrance to the free
development of Jesus ; on the contrary, it was the secret
spring of His life, of His speaking and acting. His high-
est spiritual utterances sprang from the Messianic certain-
ty. The facts regarded as most important in the develop-
ment of the self-consciousness of Jesus as the Messiah are
the ardent religious hopes of the time, the dead legalism

134 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

of the Jews, the baptism, and the temptation. It is
thought that the imshakeable Messianic certainty with
which Jesus ascended from the Jordan was not effected
without the exercise of the almighty power of God. It was
the result of a creative act, the only one in human history.
The author does not point out the necessity of a creative
act, nor does he say what it implies with regard to the per-
sonality of the Messiah. It is maintained that the Messi-
anic certainty connected with the baptism did not bring a
sudden transformation of all the views of Jesus. His con-
ceptions of the coming kingdom, which were essentially
those of the pious souls of His time, were gradually
changed. There was a period, extending to the confession
at Caesarea-Philippi, in which His religious Messianic cer-
tainty struggled with the traditional Messianic faith, which
was according; to the understanding. He never lost His
Messianic consciousness, but there was a time of intellec-
tual arrangement and spiritual deepening of His Messianic
faith. The second period, from Cresarea-Philippi onward,
was one of achieved clearness and perfect inner harmony.
In this period the way of suffering is plain.

It may be noticed that the writer, in speaking of the
Parousia, adopts the view that ^nearness" is only a more
concrete and intelligible expression for absolute certainty.
Before the ardent longing of the pious soul the perspective
of time and space is shortened. It seems hardly consistent
with this view when the author says, further on, that
Jesus actually erred in this reckoning. The error is re-
garded as only "formal," not springing out of a defective
religious or moral consciousness. It is regarded as a real
proof that religious perfection does not include omniscience.

NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 135

The circumstances which led to the decree at the council
of Jerusalem, the content of that decree, and the historical
working of it are matters which invite more careful dis-
cussion. They are of great importance for the history of
the Apostolic Church. We have now the first part of a
monograph, treating two of the points. * The position of
Paul was consistent with the teaching of the prophets and
with the law itself, and yet it was natural that there should
be opposition to the condition of the Church at Antioch.
The idea of a Church in which there should be no distinc-
tion between Jew and Gentile was not prominent in the
Old Testament. On the contrary, there are many passages
which seem to imply the perpetuity of the Israelitish
Church as a distinct body, and Avhich seem to imply also
that the Gentiles will receive a share in Israel's blessing-
only through incorporation with Israel. On these passages
the zealots laid all stress, but the council had a better
knowledge of Scripture. The norm of the Apostolic decree
is not the Noachic injunctions, as has been held by many
writers as far back as the Apostolic Constitutions, but
rather the commandments found in Lev. xvii-xviii, which
passage concerns the stranger who dwells in Israel. The
Noachic commandments were for the heathen who wished
to come into closer relation to Israel, but the council at
Jerusalem regarded the Gentile Christians as actually ac-
cepted of God. Again, the Noachic commandments are
reckoned as seven, while there are but four injunctions in
the Apostolic decree. It is held that the word nopveia
must be taken in a broad sense, as covering all illicit sex-

i Das Aposteldekret. Von Job. Georg Sommers. Konigsberg, 1887.

130 NEW TESTAMENT EXE GETIGAL THEOLOGY.

ual relations, such as inter marriage with near relatives.
One party of Christians could hardly insinuate that another
party needed such an injunction as is conveyed by the
literal meaning of the word. That is true from our
standpoint, but perhaps not from theirs. The sin of
nopvsia was so common that John in the Apocalypse
(xiv.4) speaks of the redeemed as those who have not com-
mitted it. and in whose mouth a lie is not found.

Recent Protestant discussions 1 of Paul's doctrine of
justification agree that the Old Testament use of the word
4 'justify' was the basis of Paul's usage, and agree also
that the term was used in the Old Testament in a forensic
sense. This is admitted even by a writer who holds that
Paul uses the word in far other than a forensic sense (Ab-
bott). This American writer argues that justification with
Paul, means neither a w* ri°*htenino; " of the soul's relations
with God, nor a c brightening' : of the soul in its own
nature, but that it means both of these things in one simple
indivisible process. The forensic element is however the
less important in this process. ' ' Sacrifice is not a means
to make it either possible or safe to remit penalty, but the
divinely ordered means for the purification of character."
It was a necessity of God's love, not of His justice.
' ' Paul's doctrine of j ustification is that God possesses a

1 Der Paulinische Grundbegriff der diKaioffv'r?] deov. Von Dr.
Gustav A. Fricke, Leipzig, 1888.

PauVs Theology. Andover Review for Nov. and Dec, 1887. By
Dr. Lyrnan Abbott.

Die Lehre von der Uechtfertigung aus dem Glanben nach dem
Neuen Testament. Von R. Triimpert. Darmstadt, 1888.

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Bomans. By Lyman Abbott.
New York, 1888.

NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 137

righteousness which forever goes out of himself that it
may righten those who open their hearts to its influence."
It restores the soul to itself, and restores the soul to God.
The distinction between Protestants and Catholics is a
distinction without a difference. When the Prodigal came

to himself, he went to his Father. The first steps in the
rectification of our souls and the first steps in the rectifica-
tion of our relations with God are absolutely the same.
Divine forgiveness is divine cleansing. The great cleanser
is sympathy expressed through suffering. In this lies the
significance of Christ's death. That death was not the con-
summation of sacrifice, but each suffering disciple becomes
in his own sphere a sacrifice for sin, as his Master was for
the whole world.

In sharp contrast with this view are the conclusions of
the German writers whose works have just been mentioned.
In the teaching of Paul, it is said (Triimpert), the act of
justification is, on God's part, none other than it was under
the Old Dispensation, it is a declaring righteous. But the
condition is no longer faithfulness to a covenant of works,
but firm confidence in the merit of Christ's work, especially
the atoning efficacy of His sufferings and death. On the
ground of this, even the ungodly is declared righteous.
A moral value is conceded to him which he does not have
by virtue of his relation to the divine moral law, and
hence justification is more than forgiveness of sins. Also
according to the monograph of the Leipzig theologian, the
SiKaioffv'v?/ dsov is a justitia forensis in contrast to
every justit la propria or infusa. The subjective and prin-
cipially ethical element in this dixaioGvvr] is faith. All
men are capable of receiving the righteousness, all need it

1 38 NE W TES TAME NT EXE GE Tl CA L THE OL 0 G Y.

alike, all see it offered to them, and of absolute predestina-
tion to receive or reject it the entire Bible knows nothing.
The atonement was required both by the human conscience
and the holiness of God. This statement is based upon
sound exegesis of Scripture, while that of the American
writer referred to above seems to be peculiarly weak at
this point.

Some material for a Biblical theology of the Pauline let-
ters is furnished by recent studies. These letters, it is
held,1 contain no doctrine that is wholly new. Paul was
not a second founder of Christianity. His teaching in all
its essential parts was founded upon the teaching of Jesus.
Even in eschatology, that which is new in his writings is
not of the essence of the doctrine, but is incidental.

In a study on prayer,2 according to the Pauline writ-
ings, it is well said that thanksgiving was the signature of
the New Testament age, in the thought of Paul. Upon
this form of prayer he lays great emphasis. It is held
that Christ is not thought of by Paul as the channel
through which the thanksgivings reach the Father. This
conception belongs rather to the Epistle to the Hebrews.
In the Pastoral Letters praise is directed to Christ, not to
God, and prayer at the table is regarded as prayer of con-
secration. Paul's words about striving in prayer unto God
imply that prayer is a. means of influencing God and it is
farther said that Paul in his message to the Colossian
Church, represents prayer as a means of ascetic discipline,
a struggle against the assaults of Satan.

i Die Briefe des Apostel Paulus und die Reden des Herm Jesus.
Von Fr. Roos. Luclwigsburg, 1887.

2 Das Gebet nach den Paulinischen Schriftoi. Von Fried. Zim-
mern. Konigsberg, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 189

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the writings of Paul 1
has been carefully studied the past year. Of the condi-
tion of man before the reception of the Spirit it is firmly
maintained against rationalistic writers, that Paul did not
regard sin as inseparably connected with the flesh. Deci-
sive against this are his reference to Christ's flesh, and his
account of Adam's transgression. The act of Adam was
not the coming forward of a slumbering principle, but the
entrance of a new principle, through the deception prac-
ticed by a power outside of humanity. Paul's conception
of the GapS, is wholly explicable on the basis of the Old
Testament, without bringing in any influence of Alexan-
drian philosophy.

The reception of the Spirit, according to Paul, is con-
ditioned upon the death of Christ, because through that
event fellowship is established between God and man. The
Holy Spirit is spoken of as the Spirit of Christ because the
Apostle regards the exalted Lord as having the fulness of
the Spirit. Fellowship with Christ in the Spirit is fellow-
ship of person with person. It is not a figurative expres-
sion, signifying only the memory of a historical picture,
and the influence of the motives connected therewith. Such
a felloAvship would not recognize, as a necessary presup-
position, the resurrection of Christ. The activity of the
Spirit may be summed up in the word ^quiekeneth.'' This
quickening is manifested in the certainty of God's love and
of future glory, in overcoming the flesh and communicat-
ing love, and in the importation of knowledge concerning
God and Christ and the moral problems of Christianity.

i Dcr Heilge Oeist in tier Heilsverkiindigung des Paulus. Von
Job. Gloel. Halle, 1888.

140 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

The conception of holiness in the New Testament is the
theme of a recent German study,1 which received the prize
from a Dutch society devoted to Christian Apologetics. It
is held that an essential modification of the content of
ayio? takes place on the basis of the new revelation in
Christ Jesus. The divine majesty and purity, which lie
in the conception of holiness, are freed from all representa-
tion of passion, jealousy or outer Levitical cleanness, and
are ethically transfigured to express God's perfection which
is exalted above everything sinful.

The New Testament modification is seen in the combina-
tion ''holy Father," which does not occur in the Old
Testament. "Holy* as applied to God expresses His
separation from man, "Father" brings Him near in love.
It is in keeping with this modification that the New Test-
ament speaks relatively seldom of the holiness of God, the
Old Testament relatively often. Holy, in the NeAV Test-
ament, is the predicate of the Spirit rather than of the
Father as in the Old. The fundamental conception of it,
as applied to man, is separation from everything profane,
to be God's possession, and its specific content is determ-
ined bv the character of God. Christians regarded them-
selves as holy on the basis of Christ's work and of the
equipment with the Holy Spirit. This was true of the
Gentiles no less than of the chosen people. The author
regards the sources as constraining us to the view that the
Spirit is the consciousness of God's grace. He is for the
believer the highest personal assurance. This position
does away at once with the personality of the Spirit,

i Ber Begriffder Heiligkeit im Neaen Testament. Eine von tier
Haager Gesellschaft zur Vertheidigimg der Christliehen Religion
gekronte Preisschrift, Von Ernst Issel. Leiden, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 141

In the department of New Testament eschatology little
original investigation has been made since our last volume
was published. The effort to make aioovios mean spir-
I itual and supersensuous, which never enjoyed the favor of
j many critics, is not in the way of gaining greater support.
It is said by a recent writer1 that the usage of aicoves in
the Gnostic philosophy of the second century is not a safe
guide to its meaning in the earlier New Testament writ-
ings. Further, aioovioi can not be said to signify spirit-
ual simply because the coming age of the Messiah is
spiritual, for the same word is used of the unspiritual
Jewish age. And, moreover, to render the word by
spiritual or supersensuous would destroy the sense of
scores of passages in the New Testament. What, for in-
stance, would it mean to say that t4God is blessed unto
the spiritualities," and that "glory is to be given to Him
unto all the spiritualities of the spiritualities?' It is ad-
mitted that the New Testament doctrine regarding the
last things is still obscure in not a few particulars. A late
volume2 that seeks to present this doctrine in a simple
manner for ordinary Christian readers, is in part an illus-
tration of this. It distinguishes spiritual death from eter-
nal death as clearly as it draws the line between death
spiritual and physical. It regards the New Testament
references to Hades as favorable to the doctrine of prayer
for departed saints, and, in speaking of the resurrection,
seems to identify body and flesh, thus adding greatly to
the embarrassments of the subject. It also holds that a

1 Cf. The Expositor for Oct., 1887. Article by Joseph Angus, D.D.

2 Five Last Things. Studies in Holy Scripture. J. A. Spencer,
S.T.D. Thomas Whittaker, New York, 1887 and 1888.

.142 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

man must have the identical body which he had before
death, in order to give an account of the things done in
the body.

The most noteworthy recent contribution on New Test-
ament Eschatolo2:v is an English work1 on the Parousia,
which should have been noticed in last year's ( 'urrent Dis-
cussions, but it was not received in season.

The theory is briefly this, that the Parousia of Christ,
with all its accompaniments — resurrection, judgment, and
consummation of the kingdom — took place at the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. A candid effort is
made to explain all the prophecies of the New Testament,
which relate to Christ's second coming on this basis. The
testimony of John the Baptist concerning the judgment of
the coming Messiah, the parables of the Tares and Drag-
net, the lament over Jerusalem, the entire eschatological
discourse with its preaching to all nations, the judgment
of the sheep and the goats, the apostolic commission to go
into all the earth, the Johannean references to "the last
day," "the resurrection' and " the last judgment," the
descent of the Lord and the rapture of the saints men-
tioned in Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, the des-
truction of death, and the entire prophecy of the Apoca-
lypse find their fulfillment prior to the destruction of Jeru-
salem or in that event. The only New Testament pro-
phecies whose fulfillment lies on this side of the fall of
Jerusalem are those which refer to the Millennial Kingdom
and the loosing of Satan. This theory would indeed greatly

i The Parousia. A Critical Inquiry into the New Testament
Doctrine of our Lord's Second Coming. By J. Stuart Russell. New
Edition. London, 1887.

NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 143

simplify the doctrine of the Parousia, if it could be estab-
lished. This, however, has not yet been accomplished.

The theory breaks down whether examined exegetically
or historically. It is impossible, for instance, to justify
the exegesis which finds the utmost limit contemplated in
the parables of the Tares and the Drag-net in the destruction
of Jerusalem. Both parables are plainly Messianic. They
speak of the activity of the Son of Man, not of the activ-
ity of the Law. They speak of the kingdom of Heaven,
toward which the Jewish dispensation looked, and not of
the last chapter of that dispensation. To identify the
angel-reapers with the Roman legions is just the kind of
departure from the plain meaning of the text against
which the author frequently and energetically protests.
Another point at which the theory utterly fails, exegeti-
cally, is the interpretation of the word yrj. When Jesus
says " all the tribes of the earth,1' we are to understand by
"earth" only the land of Judea, says the author. It is
said that the restricted sense of the Greek word is common
in the New Testament, But what is the fact \ Out of
about two hundred and fifty passages in which the word is
used, there is not one single instance where, standing with-
out modifiers, it plainly refers to the land of Judea.
There are, at the most, but three or four passages with
their parallels where this limitation can be thought prob-
able. The term cpvXalby no means limits the word yi\ to
Palestine, for when the New Testament refers to the tribes
of Israel the standing expression is the " twelve tribes"
(Mt. xix, 28 ; L. xxii, 30; Jas. i, 1; Rev. xxi, 12.) Sim-
ilar violence is done to the language when the expression
"all nations," in the account of the judgment of the sheep

144 NEW TESTAMENT EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.

and the goats, is referred solely to Israel. This language
is absolutely general, and it is interpreted by the author as
narrowly specific. The plural is inapplicable to the one
people of Israel, and it is utterly without parallel that the
Jews should be called e&vtf (Mt. xxv, 32: narra ra edvrj).
Other examples of this sort need not be given. The exe-
getical foundation of the theory is wholly inadequate. If
it be regarded from a historical standpoint, this theory is
open to equally grave criticism. The destruction of Jeru-
salem was something negative ; the consummation of the
kingdom of Christ is positive. Further, the destruction
of Jerusalem seems to have had no very appreciable influ-
ence in the direction of a consummation of the kingdom of
heaven. It removed some of the bitterest enemies of that
kingdom, but in what other way did it render signal serv-
ice, to say nothing of its having led to the actual consum-
mation of the kingdom \

Another obstacle of this sort is the strong historical evi-
dence that the Apocalypse was composed long after the
destruction of Jerusalem — evidence which is completely
ignored by the work in question.

We are asked to believed that the events described by
Paul in the First Letter to the Thessalonians — the descent
of the Lord and the rapture of the living saints— could
have taken place and yet have left no discoverable trace on
the page of history. There is nothing unphilosophical, it
is said, nothing irrational, or impossible in the supposition
that the resurrection of the dead saints and the transform-
ation of the living ones should have taken place without
observation and without record. But if any of the living
saints were transformed, they were all transformed, for

NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 145

Paul's language admits of no exceptions. But if all were
transformed and caught up into heaven, if the whole mili-
tant Church was gathered into the skies, who estab-
lished the Church over again ? Whence came the thou-
sands of Christian believers whom we meet with at the
close of the first century I This fact may be accounted for.
But it is wholly incredible that the saints could have been
transformed without leaving any impression of the marvel-
ous fact upon history. It was not so in the case of Enoch,
or in the case of Elijah; much less is it conceivable, if a
great multitude, and among them Paul, were caught up
suddenly from their labors to meet the Lord in the air.
These examples may serve to show how weak is the his-
torical foundation of this theory of the Parousia.

HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

PRESENT STATE

STUDIES lis CHURCH HISTORY.

REV. HUGH M. SCOTT,
Professor of Ecclesiastical History

Chicago Theological Seminary.

INTRODUCTION.

HISTORIC METHODS AND ORIGIN OF THE EARLY CHURCH.

It has been remarked with truth, and that by a theologian
of the liberal school, that the New Testament is an ortho-
dox book. The observation is as applicable historically as
it is theologically, hence we are not altogether surprised
on opening a recent work upon the origin of Christianity 1
to be told that the true way to discover the original Gospel
is to set aside the New Testament sources, and see how it
appears in the Christian and profane literature of the first
two centuries. By such a method the author learns that
Christianity was at first a reform movement among the
Jews in opposition to Legalism.2 These Reformers in Is-
rael were called "the saints" ; a second stage of this reac-
tion gave rise to ozr jp?/o~ro'z, xPVGriaroh "the good;'
under the lead of the Gnostics, Simon Magus and Marcion,
these movements blended ; then came a further reaction
against too much spiritualizing and Gnosticism, which led
to Christianity with a bodily form, and the invention of a
semi-historic basis in the New Testament. Jesus, Peter,
Paul, and the rest are fictitious characters, a product of the

i Antiqua Mater. A Study of Christian Origins. Anonymous.
London. Triibner & Co., 1887.

2 Pick again refutes the view that Christianity was an outgrowth
ofEssenism. Christ and the ' Essenes, in The Lutheran Quarterly,
April, 1888.

150 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

latter part of the second century. Professor Loman
thinks * the tendency of this book is in the right direction,
but considers it questionable to make the Jesus and Paul
of the New Testament entirely unhistorical, and accept
Simon Magus and Marcion as their historic substitute.
How do we know, he asks, that Simon was the forerunner
of Marcion, or that he was the apostle of the spiritual
religion ? 2 To the rejection of the Bible here advocated
an American writer adds the rejection of the Church.3 uAs
students," he says, " we cannot do without the facts ; but
as earnest-minded men, we can do without the Church."
It is " at its best only an incidental phase of the social in-
stinct in religion." He finds two superstitions floating
down the ages, (1.) "worship of the Bible as a fetich," and
(2.) "the authority of the Church over conscience." The In-
fallible Book and the Infallible Church, he thinks, will die
together. Such utterances sometimes leave the impression
that earnest religious convictions are antagonistic to his-
toric verity. And yet love of poetry or love of music
does not unfit a man to write the history of these arts.
We are not commanded to worship truth, but to worship
God. And it is the men of most devout spirit who declare
themselves most anxious to "set down naught in malice,"
and to speak the whole truth in love. With such convic-

i Een engelsch anonymus over den oorsprong des Christendom*, in
Theolog. Tijdschrift, 1887, p. 597.

2 A similar, uncritical work is The Christ and the Fathers; or the
Reformers of the Roman Empire. By a historical Scientist. Lon-
don, Williams & Norgate, 1887.

3 Slicer, Study of Church History for its own sake, in The Uni-
tarian Review, Dec, 1887.

INTRODUCTION. 151

tions Coxe says 1 ' ' that in the search of historic truth, he
who begins not with the inspired narratives has no educa-
tion that prepares him for the task." He finds the secret
of history in the Word of God, which shows the unity of
the human race, a guiding Providence, and a single goal.
Secular history is but comparative history ; Christian his-
tory, however, "is the history of man as very man, the
image of his Maker." In the deepest sense Christianity is
civilization, and Christian history is the history of civiliza-
tion. To cut off the historic continuity of the " infallible '
Church of Rome, Coxe makes prominent the fact that the
Church of the first centuries was Greek in its great think-
ers, councils and monuments.

The solidarity of history, touched upon by Coxe, keeping
the man in his national surroundings in vital unity with
the Christian in his church frame-work, is also made
prominent by Fisher,3 especially in the relation of doctrinal
development to the general thought of the period. The
Manual of Jennings 3 ' ' aims to represent the facts from an
ethical rather than a religious standpoint, and to exclude
the influence of theological proclivity." Most suggest-
ive is the little book of Sohm,4 which also makes promi-
nent the relations of ecclesiastical and secular history. Out
of a rich fulness of suggestions we can select but a few
points. He observes that Early Christianity did not oc-

1 Institutes of Christian History, an Introduction to Historic Read-
ing and Study. Chicago, A. C. McClurg & Co., 1887. $1.50.

2 History of the Christian Church. New York. Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1887. $3.50.

3 Manual of Church History. New York. T. Whittaker, 1887.

4 Kirchengeschichte im Umriss. Leipzig. G. BSkme, 1888.

152 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

cupy a vacuum caused by decaying heathenism, but rather
4 ' in the first and second centuries of the Empire we find a
constantly growing development of the religious spirit,
whose steps can be traced in Seneca l and Marcus Aurelius. "
Stoic philosophy, influenced by Platonism, created a long-
ing for a divine revelation and for a redemption. The
heathen mysteries, too, were forerunners of Christianity,
washings looking towards baptism, festal meals, towards the
Lord's Supper, and the brotherhood of religious clubs,
towards Christian Churches. Pressense widens this
thought 2 into his favorite view, that all false religions
were designed by God to prepare the way for the Gospel,
by arousing a desire for the Revelation of Christ, and show-
ins: that man unaided could not work out his own salva-

tion.

But, Sohm continues, these points of resemblance must
not be carried too far, for the early Christians felt them-
selves so distinct from Rome that they were assured the
Caesars must fall to make room for Christ, and the King-
dom of God appear upon the ruins of the Empire. Here
was the treason of believers, here their "hatred of the
whole human race ' in Roman eyes. And yet, when the
persecutions burst upon the Church, "it conquered not
through the Christians, but in spite of the Christians,
through the power of the Gospel"; the mass of the Church
made terms with Rome rather than suffer martyrdom.3

i But Seneca was not under Christian influences. Cf. Ribbeck
Seneca der Philosojrfi und sein Verhdltniss zuEpikur, Plato unci clem
Christenthum . Hannover, Godel, 1887, M. 2.

2 The Ancient World and Christianity. London. Hodder &
Stougbton, 1888.

3 For the fullest embodiment of recent investigation, see Kurtz,

INTE OB UGTION. 153

Turning" now to the general classification of the materials
of Church History, the question arises as to secular and
religious influences in determining such a division. Wolfl
holds that some ecclesiastical event should be decisive in
marking periods, and proposes the following chronological
scheme.1

A. First Period : Church Antiquity, or the Period
of the "One" Church.

First Section : To the first General Council at Nicsea,

325, the time to the first public appearance of the

Church.
Second Section : From the Council of 'Mcaea to Pope

Nicholas I, 325-858, the time to the first Church

Schism.'

B. Second Period : The Ecclesiastical Middle Ages,
or the Period of the Papacy.

First Section : Nicholas I to Leo IX, 858-1048,
the growth of the Papacy, the time to the definite
separation of the Eastern and Western Churches.

Second Section : From Leo IX, to the Papal
Schism, 1048-1378, the flourishing period of the
Papacy.

C. Third Period : The Modern Church, or the Period
of the Evangelical Church.

First Section: From the Reformation to the
Peace of Westphalia, 1517-1648, the time to the

Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte, 10th ed. 1887, M. 16 ; byfarthemosl
complete book for the student. English translation. New York.
Funk &Wagnalls. Vol. I, 1889. $1.50.

i Zur Zeiteintheilung der Kirchengeschichte, in Zeitschrift f.
Kirch). Wissenschaft u. K. Lcben. 1887. H. 8.

154 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

definite separation of the Roman and Evangelical
Churches.

Second Section : From the Peace of Westphalia
to the Prussian Union, 1648-1817, the period of
the weakening of the Confessional Spirit.

Third Section : From the Prussian Union to the
present time, 1817-1888, the age of the re-awaken-
ing of Church faith.

This classification begins with the period of the " One '
Church, but lying back of that tk One" Church is the com-
plicated problem, how did the primitive, congregational,
undogmatic, Apostolic Church, with no written creed, and
no New Testament Canon, become the Early Catholic
Church of the middle of the Second Century, with out-
lined creed, Episcopal government, and regular New Tes-
tament ? Into this inquiry Professor Otto Pneiderer has
recently entered.1 He departs farther than ever from the
views of Baur, and says that the opposing tendencies of
Petrine and Pauline Christianity, which appeared in the
Apostolic period, were not the governing principles in the
post-Apostolic age ; for then the Gentile Church took
shape, and developed, from the beginning on, upon the
ground of Hellenism, which lay beyond such opposing
schools. Ritschl first pointed out this defect in Baur's
view ; now Pfleiderer cannot accept the theory which
Ritschl has substituted, for, he says, it is rather a return
to the dogmatic notions of early Protestant theologians,
who explained the doctrines of the early Church as a dete-
rioration of those of the Apostles. Harnack especially

i Das Urehristcnlhum, seine Schriften und Lelwen im Zusammen-
hang beschrieben. Berlin. G. Reimer, 1887. M. 14.

INTRODUCTION. 155

sets forth this view, making Hellenism thrust itself sud-
denly, by means of Gnosticism, into Christianity, and
secularize it. This " degradation theory," Pfleiderer
thinks, cannot find historic support ; for Hellenism was not
-unknown to Pauline theology, and it played a controlling
part in the deutero-Pauline and Johannine theology. ' 'If , "
he continues, "Hellenic modes of thought as such were to
he regarded as a perversion of Christian truth, as these the-
ologians seem to suppose, then we must come to the
strange conclusion, that Christian theology, already in the
New Testament beginnings, had fallen away from Christ-
ian truth. With the impossibility of this conclusion the
theory dissolves itself.'" Rejecting the theories of Baur
and Ritschl, Pfleiderer says but one other remains, and it is
so simple and natural, he wonders that it has not long ere
this received general acceptance. He states it thus:
tk Since the Gentile Universal Church was planted, through
the preaching of Christ, upon soil which had long been
prepared by pre-Christian Hellenism, it follows that this
Hellenism and that preaching of Christ were the two fac-
tors, from the union of which, the peculiar character of
Gentile Christianity can be naturally explained from the
beginning on, and from the reciprocal relation of which —
their penetration, or separation, the prevalence or deca-
dence of the one or the other factor — the different forms of
development of the primitive Christian and early Church
doctrinal modes of thought can be apprehended in a per-
fectly natural way." He holds that the Gentile Church,
from the very beginning, in the West, completely sepa-
rated from Judaism as a national religion, and openly an-
tagonized it. Jewish Christians were, consequently, very

156 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

little followed. It is true the Old Testament had great in-
fluence upon Early Christianity, but it was not as Jewish
law, but as a Christian revelation, to be received with
Christian freedom. It was taken in a Christian sense, just
as Judaism itself had in pre-Christian Hellenism been
spiritualized by Greek Hellenism. In this indirect form
of Hellenism, in which Judaism had stripped off all that
was local and national from monotheism, and breathed in
the spirit of Greek idealism, the Old Testament religion
had great influence on Christianity. Since Paul freed
Christianity from Palestinian narrowness, it took the form,
in the Greeco-Roman world, of Christianized Hellenism.
This deutero-Paulinism begins with the Epistle to the He-
brews, and the whole development of Christian thought,
he holds, from that Epistle on, is to be explained on this
theory. Hilgenfeld thinks this idea of a short-lived Jew-
ish Christianity and an all prevailing christianizing of Hel-
lenism, goes very little beyond the criticism of the old
Tubingen school.1

i PJleiderer's Urchristenthum, in Ztft. f. Wiss. Thcologie. 1888.
H. 4.

CHAPTER I.

THE EARLY CHURCH.

I. RELATION OF CHURCH AND EMPIRE.

Christ was born under the first Roman Emperor, and
thinking men soon began to see that here appeared two
o-reat forces in organized form, the visible Kingdom of God
and the pagan Empire of Rome, that could never dwell
together in harmony. A recent writer says, 1 "Cresarisrn
and Christianity clashed" in persecutions, because " the
first leading idea implanted by Christ in the minds of his
followers was the idea of a Kingdom. " When Christianity
appeared " the world had become Roman. But through
the rise of the Emperors the old Roman system had already
gone through an essential transformation : politically, the
city of Rome had become a world, and therefore the rule
of the many been replaced by the rule of the one ; socially,
the vanquished, by their numbers, their labor, and their
intelligence had taken the place of the victors, and conse-
quently the narrow and rigid laws of the Republic must
yield to the comprehensive and mild laws of the Empire ;

i See Carr, The Church and the Roman Empire, in Epochs of
Church History, edited by Creighton, London, Longmans, Green &
Co., 1887, 2s. 6d.;cf. also Plummer, The Church of the Early Fathers.
External history, same series; and Sketches of Church and State in
the first Eight Centuries. By W. Armitage, London : Rivington,
1887, 5s.

158 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

philosophically, a blending of schools had taken place,
looking toward one end, and therefore the study of morals,
which sets out from the unity of human nature, took the
place of metaphysical speculations ; religiously, the national
religion, which had put the worship of the divine Bom a
and the Emperors in the place of local cults, was over-
come by Christianity, which claimed to embrace not one
people or empire, but the whole human race/'1 The spread
of the Gospel was promoted by dark providences. The
bad harvests of A.D. 42-48, spread hunger through the
whole Empire. Sickness followed, and these things coming
upon the community of goods introduced in Jerusalem,
drove many believers away from the Holy City. "The
poor of Jerusalem ' spread through the cities of the
Empire, especially in Asia Minor and Greece ; this was
the beginning of the propagation of Christianity through
the Roman Empire. (Volz, p. 43). It is well known that
the first converts of these poor missionaries came chiefly
from the lower classes. The freedmen formed a fruitful
field for the newT religion. Hitherto, the prevalent opinion
drawn from writers like Tacitus, has been rather unfavor-
able to this class of the Roman people ; but a recent study
presents the matter in a more attractive light.2 Freedmen
formed about one quarter of the population of the Empire.
This class recruited their strength chiefly by manumission.
They were largely the working men in Rome, and had
well nigh a monopoly of some kinds of business. More

1 Cf. also Volz, Die Anfangedes Christenthiims im Rahmen Hirer
Zeit. Leipzig, 1888. An outline to the time of Constantine.

2 Lemounier, Etude historique sur la condition privee desaffranchis
mix trois ]>i'( miers siecles de V Empire Romtiin. Paris, 1887.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 159

than one-half of their names are found to be Greek, a fact
which Lemonnier traces to the great slave markets in the
Greek Orient. These were the < ' captive Greece that took
captive its fierce conqueror.'* In life and morals the f reed-
men were no better and no worse than were their Roman
patrons. They seem, however, to have been more sus-
ceptible to Gospel influences than many native Romans,
and from this class, including Jewish freedmen, doubtless
the larger part of the first Church in Rome arose. It
scarcely seems accidental that Paul, the great Apostle to
the Gentiles, sprang himself from a naturalized citizen of
Rome, perhaps even a former slave. This Roman Jew,
at all events, is the first great figure in Church History.
Setting out with him, Weingarten finds the thoughts of
his wonderful missionary career to have been, "The
world for Christ," and his work was accordingly two-fold,
(1) to deliver the Gentile Christian world from the Old
Testament law, and (2) the evangelization of Europe.1 It
is doubtful, he thinks, if Peter was ever in Rome ; if the
story of Paul and Peter laboring there is mythical, it did
not spring from a Judaistic, anti-Pauline tendency, but
was rather a product of the "Apostolic Successions r of
the rising Catholic, traditional theory. Under the Em-
perors, from Trajan to Marcus Aurelius, he finds no per-
secution except "sporadic outbursts of popular fanaticism,'1
for the rulers were tolerant and the organization of the
Christian Churches in the form of " clubs of the poor " or

1 Cf . his well-known Zeittafeln unci Ueberblicke zur Kirclien-
geschichte, the third and greatly improved edition. Hartung &
Sohn, Rudolstadt, 1888. M. 4.50. A hook of great value, espe-
cially to teachers.

160 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

' k funeral clubs ' ' brought them within the scope of legal
societies. The vast catacombs of the second and third
century in Rome, put this, he says, beyond all doubt.
Arnold, however, from a study of the persecution under
Trajan, comes to somewhat different results.2 He defends
the genuineness of the correspondence between Pliny and
Trajan, and finds it shed fresh light upon the relation of
the Early Church to the club system of the Empire. These
societies were at first social with a festal meal ; they then
became places for exchanging gifts ; and later political
bribery entered them, for the Provincial legislature of
Bithynia had considerable powers and chose the Chief
Priest of the province, who had control of the plays,
festivals, etc. Hence, Trajan opposed the club system in
Bithynia. Arnold thinks the Parthians inay have worked
for their interests in these organizations, and so made them
dreaded in Rome, where similar societies were encouraged.
The measures taken against them were very likely such
as Augustus and Tiberius put in force against the Druid
circles. Here, as against Christians, men were accused (1)
of treason, (2) of insult to the national gods, (3) of illegal
secret meetings, and (4) of magic, for all of which the pen-
alty was death. Both Druidism and Christianity were
charged with offering human sacrifices, and both protested
against the omnipotence of the Roman State. Pliny
was familiar with the persecution of Christians ; the
only question was respecting the extent to which it was
to be applied in Bithynia. We learn that Roman citizens
must be sent to Rome for trial, in cases involving capital

2 Studien zur Qeschichtc tier Plinianischen Chrislenverfolgung.
lvonigsberg, 1887.

THE EABLY CHURCH. 161

punishment, Such journeys of Christians — as in the case
of Ignatius — must have done much to spread the Gospel.
In inns and elsewhere many people would be met, and
spoken to. Thus Paul traveled towards Rome a prisoner,
preaching by the way ; and thus, doubtless, not a few of
those sent to the capital by Pliny, scattered the seeds of
the new faith by the wayside. Pliny speaks of the great
neglect of sacrifices because of the spread of Christianity ;
it is quite probable, Arnold thinks, that the informers
against the Christians in Bithynia were cattle dealers and
others whose interests suffered from the preaching that
Christ had by one sacrifice of Himself forever put an end
to the offering of bulls and goats. The governor knew
that Christians could never be brought to worship idols or
speak ill of Christ. Hence he tested them, when suspected,
by commanding them to pray before statues of the empe-
rors. Christians regarded such a thing as idolatry and an
appeal to demoniacal powers, and would not obey. Nei-
ther could they say a word against Christ, for He was the
center of all their faith and hope. This was the test in the
days of Paul ; (see I Cor. xii, 3) it continued to be the
test in the days of Pliny, and, later, of Polycarp. The
alternative presented so early, of Christ or the gods of the
Empire, points to the divinity of the Saviour, and the blas-
phemy implied in speaking lightly of Him. Even faith-
less Christians, who told the governor they had left the
Church twenty years before, did not venture to say that
Christianity was different later from what it was earlier,
when believers sang a hymn to Christ as God. Coming
to the question of the Church as a legal club, Arnold says
nothing would have been more foolish than for the

162 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

Christians of Bithynia to gather as a "club of the poor,"
in order to be safer financially, for all such societies were
forbidden. Besides, the Apostle had forbidden appeal to
the State against a dishonest official, (I Cor. i, 7), and
Christians would not collect church dues by the civil arm.
Christian congregations did not fall under the same cate-
gory as the heathen clubs with their festal meals (against
Heinrici). The Christians did not so regard their meet-
ings. Only some backsliders forsook the Agape, lest the
outward resemblance to the e'pavoi might get them into
danger. If the Christian gatherings were regarded as
"funeral clubs" it is very strange, he urges, that neither
the accused believers nor Pliny ever referred to that argu-
ment. Instead of any such reference, we find the weak
Christians afraid that their " love feasts " might lead to
their meetings being considered a collegium illicitum. So
Arnold holds, against Heinrici and others, that, in Bithynia
at least, congregations of Christians could not be regarded
without special permission, as entitled to exist on the
ground of being "burial societies." The heathen regarded
Christian meetings as clubs, hence they were persecuted
under Pliny just because the State had already made a
thorough clearing out of such societies. But, apart from
the Agapce, there is nothing in Pliny's letter to make us I
think that the Christian churches borrowed their organiza-
tion from heathenism. "Here, as in other matters, the J
new spirit of the Church created no doubt its own forms ;
the connection with anything already existing had but sec-
ondary importance throughout.'" The Agapce themselves,
it is held, did not arise in imitation of heathen feasts, but

in commemoration of Christ's love as seen the night of his
betrayal.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 163

Allard approaches the study of the persecutions from
the archaeological side.1 He rejects the view of Dodwell
and others, that Gallus did not declare war against the
Christian society. Blood flowed less freely under this
ruler than before, but we still hear of bishops exiled and
dying far from home, Christians in prison, and martyrs at
the stake. The persecution of Gallus formed a connecting
link between that of Decius and that of Valerian. Of this last
persecution under Valerian, Allard says, though it looks
on the surface very like that under Decius, it was really
very different. The two emperors were quite unlike ; the
stern Decius, full of ideas of Roman reform, persecuted
the Church to work social and religious improvement ; the
fickle Valerian was at first a friend of the Christians, then
turned against them, following foreign influences, and with
a bad conscience attacked the Church. He sought to
crush it as a rich society and confiscate its goods. He was
greedy, he was superstitious, he was hesitating, he was
cruel. Decius did what he thought was right, and by a
sharp, sword-like edict forbade the new religion. A con-
soling element in this contrast of persecutions is that, while
under Decius the Church was so surprised after long peace,
that Christians in masses forsook the faith, under Valerian,
we hear of only individual apostasies. Both persecutions,
however, had this in common, the growing apathy of the
populace, once so fierce against the Christians. Under the
Antonines, informers were active, and the emperors must
sometimes restrain the fury of the people ; but, in the third
century a radical change appears, an imperial edict must

i Les dernieres persecutions du troisieme siecle. (Gallus, Vale-
rieu, Aurelien.) Paris. Lecoffre, 1887. '

164 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

start the persecution and declare Christians enemies of the
State. Magistrates must now do the work of informers,
for the populace had become indifferent. "The Jews still
insulted the martyrs ; the true^Roman people protested by
their silence." The battle against Christians was left to
the official authorities, assisted by some philosophers.

This Christian problem, Allard continued, had two
sides; first there was a "body of Christians," assembling,
holding property, and appearing perfectly legitimate ; then
there was the brotherhood, the secret fellowship, the sepa-
ration, which pointed to danger and caution. With the
corporation Rome could deal, but what of the religion \
This seems to have been largely ignored, where the Empire
dealt leniently with the Church. Regarding it as a burial
club or some sort of society, the State kept an illogical
peace with it. ' ' The science of government consists some-
times in wishing to see only the half of things." It was so
in the third century, when the Church enjoyed long inter-
vals of peace. Then, circumstances came which destroyed
this fiction in the mind of the emperor, and it was de-
manded of Christians, "What are you plotting against the
princes under pretext of religion V Members of a "fu-
neral society" became all at once enemies of the State.
This change took place under Decius and Valerian. Then
Gallienus came, and ended this ambiguity ; he not only re-
stored the Church to its former doubtful position— the
common view — but granted Christians all the rights of
recognized religions. His edict, Allard says, was a true
treaty of peace between the Church and State. It turned
Roman policy into a new channel, which, after some lesser
persecutions, it finally occupied full and free after the
edict of Milan by Constantine.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 165

How well the father of Constantine had learned this
broader lesson, of monotheism, respect for Christian morals,
and toleration of this purer faith, has been fully set forth for
the first time by Gbrres.1 So strong was this current of
State policy in post-Mcene days that even Julian the Apostate
did not venture to depart far from it. He betook himself
largely to literary attacks upon Christianity. His aim, he
said, was to show "all the world, by what reason he was
convinced, that the sect of the Galileans was a mischiev-
ous, trumped-up, petty human sin, that there was nothing
divine about it, but that it followed fabulous and senseless
childish methods of thought, and brought forward belief
in miracles as proof of truth." 2 It was, he held, a hash
of Hellenistic and Hebrew elements, the bad out of each,
made up of the denial of the gods, which it borrowed from
the Hebrews, and an immoral life, which it got from the
Greeks. There is no positive revelation, for that is unnec-
essary ; all men know of God, who is over all, and to whom
all can pray. Thus Julian repeats the old objections, es-
pecially those of Celsus. His attack had an important in-
fluence in arousing Christian apologists to fresh activity,
so that we can speak, in the Greek Church, of a Julian pe-
riod of Apologetics. Especially Cyrill of Jerusalem (d. 444)
did for Julian what Origen had done in replying to Cel-
sus.3

i Die Religionspolitik des Kaisers Constantins /., in Ztft. f. wiss.
Theologie. 1887, H. 1.

2 Cf . Zockler, Julianus u. seine christlichen Geg?ier, in Beweis des
Glaubens. Feb. and March, 1888.

3 See two opposing accounts of Julian, Julian the Emperor con-
taining Gregory Nazianzen's two Invectives andLibianius' Monody,
with Julian's Extant Theosophical Works. Translated by C. W.
King. London. G. Bell & Sons. 1885. 5s.

166 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

Beyond the Roman Empire, the relation of Church and
State seems to have been still more unfavorable to the form-
er than under the proud sway of the Caesars. Gorres gives
an interesting account of the Church in Persia,1 distin-
gnishing (1) the period of its origin, (2) the age of conflict
with the Pagan State in the fourth and first half of the
fifth century, then (3) the Church becoming Nestorian and
reconciled to the State, a period lasting from about A. 1).
450 to the fall of Persia before the Arabs, A. D. 651.
The Persian persecutions were much worse than the Ro-
man; "the systematic persecutions of Decius, Valerian,
Diocletian wrere harmless in comparison with the attack
upon Christianity by the State of the Sassaniden." The
periods of martyrdom were longer in Persia than in Rome.
In the West, apostates were spared , in the East, all were
cut down ; lapsed Persian Christians must even act as exe-
cutioners of their faithful brethren, to show their contempt
of them. In one respect, however, there was an advan-
tage in Persia ; there the machinery for punishment was
not so rigid and complete as in Rome, for all depended
upon the ruling Persian king. When the Church in the
East became Nestorian (450), and separated from the impe-
rial Church, persecutions ceased, for then political suspi-
cion of friendship for Rome also ceased.

II. HISTORY OF DOCTRINE.2

The various parties in the Apostolic Church, according
to Weingarten (1. c), were (1) the Pharisaic-Judaistic, to

1 Das Christenthum im Sassa?iide?ireich, in Ztft.f. wiss. Theologie,
1888. H. 4.

2 For a very valuable hand-books see Schmid's Lehrbuch der Dog-
mengeschichte, fourth edition by Hauck, in which the extracts from

THE EARLY^GHURGH. 167

which he assigns the Christ party in Corinth, (2) the party
of the "pillar" Apostles (Gal. ii, 9), with which he iden-
tifies the Peter-party in Corinth, and (3) Pauline Christians,
who included the Apollos party in Corinth, in which Paul-
ine teaching had a coloring from Alexandrian philosophy.
Respecting the Jewish Church, Weingarten agrees with
Harnack, that "Jewish Christianity had, after the de-
struction of Jerusalem and by the close of the first century,
sunk to an insignificant sect," called usually Ebionites.
It was no longer of importance for the Graeco-Rcman
world. The Church passed to the Gentiles, and, ii at 3ad
of Judaizing legalism, Pagan philosophy was to be the
foremost foe. Sohm (1. c.) calls the heathen thought, that
entered Christianity, Gnosticism, "the monotheistic phi-
losophy of the Roman Empire making its first great at-
tempt to conquer practically the world of those days." It
was the treaty of peace, which the culture of the second
century presented to Christianity. Weingarten thinks
Christian Gnosticism was rather an ecclesiastical religious
development than a philosophic movement. "Its esoteric
Christianity, mystery terminology and cultus, its mystic
baptism of the Spirituals, its references to Homer and the
Eleusinian mysteries," all point to a transformation of
Christianity after the plan of the ancient mysteries. He
considers the Simon Magus of the Clementine writings as
a representative of philosophical heathenism, rather than a
caricature of the Apostle Paul. Harnack, however, finds x

the sources, quadrupled by Hauck, make this book for History of
Doctrine what Gieseler's History is in general. Nordlingen. C. H.
Beck, 1887, pp. 414. M. 4.

1 Encyclopedia Brittanica. Vol. xxii, 1887. Article Simon
MaguS.

168 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

three pictures of Simon in documents of the first three cent-
uries. He is (1) a Samaritan Messiah, seeking to estab-
lish a new religion by means of Christianity ; (2) he is
founder of a school of Gnostics and the father of heresies ;
(3) he is a caricature of Paul. This last view, that of the
Tubingen school, Harnack says, shows how untenable their
whole theory is, for it must invert the order of the original
documents to reach such a result. The account in the Acts
is correct. Simonian Gnosis was related to Simon as the
Christian Gnosis to Christ. Harnack continues: "The
fusing together of Simon and Christ, a Syncretistic-Gnostic
conception of the world and its creation, and an ethical
antinomianism are the distinctive features of this new uni-
versal religion.' ? Simonism was, therefore, " a rival sys-
tem to Christianity,1' and borrowed largely from it. From
a similar Palestinian source does King derive Gnosticism. 1
He says the deepest mysteries of the Egyptian Mysteries,
found in the Gnostic Gospel called Pistis-Sophia, were
identical with those of the Rabbinical Kabbala, simply
putting the teachings into the mouth of Scripture person-
ages. The seeds of the original Gnosis, King says, were
of Indian growth ; they were borne westward by Budd-
hist influences into Asia Minor and Egypt, two centuries
before Christ, and, colored by the Mysteries of Mithras
and Serapis worship, they blossomed into all the heresies
of Christian Gnosticism. In this mystic worship a fol-
lower of Zoroaster " might continue a Mithraicist and yet
accept all the doctrines of Christianity." So pervasive
were these Gnostic speculations that they appeared in the

i The Qnostics and their Remains, a new edition. New York: G.
P. Putnam's Sons, 1887. $6.00. With plates.

TEE EARLY CHVRCH. 169

oppositions of false science against which Paul spoke — they
were familiar long before to the Kabbalists, who dabbled
in the views of Zoroaster — and centuries later they culmi-
nated in Manichaeism. Just because of the blending of
heathen and Christian elements in Gnosticism it drew upon
itself the attacks of both pagan philosophers and Church
theologians. For the first eight centuries, nearly every
Christian apologist refers to this heresy. Then came
silence respecting it until the sixteenth century, when
Erasmus, Grabe and others revived the study of Gnosti-
cism.1 The first modern attempt at study was to confirm
what the fathers had written. Finally, Amelineau says,
it is admitted that Gnosticism was neither Oriental in origin,
nor a product of Greek philosophy, nor a blending of
Christianity and Judaism, but a vast Syncretism. It
appeared in a time of great mental activity, an activity
stimulated also by the Gospel. The Egyptian form of
Gnosis, our author traces from Simon Magus to Valentine.
Arianism and Manichaeism were also outgrowths of Gnos-
tic thought. He finds the system of Basilides had little
originality ; he borrowed from other Eastern teachings,
and had much in common with Simon Magus and Menan-
cler. Both the systems of Basilides and Valentine, accord-
ing to Amelineau, are a development of that of Simon
Magus, and Simon got his doctrines from the Kabbala and
the Zendavesta. This writer coincides further with King
in finding much of the Valentinian terminology in the
teachings of the priests of Thebes and Memphis. Foreign
thought is there ; but that of Egypt is always uppermost.

l Cf. Amelineau, Essai stir le gnosticisme Egyptien, ses clevelop-
pements et sou origiue Egyptienne. Paris, Leroux, 1887.

170 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

Somewat similar is the law of Lipsius.1 He thinks the
theory of emanations is of Eastern origin. Its dualistic
I >asis was thrust aside by Platonic pantheism, yet at every
turn it can be recognized. Lipsius corrects the common
statements about Valentine in some points. This teacher
went to Cyprus before he went to Rome. He became
head of a school in this city, while still a member of the
Church. There were two divisions of his school, an East-
ern and a Western. The first ideas made prominent in
this system were those of the higher origin of the Spirit-
uals among men, and of the Demiurge. Docetic Christ-
ology was at first not exclusively held by Gnostics. The
anthropological and ethical sides of the system were made
prominent earliest. Jesus, it was taught, by his steadfast-
ness and self-control wrought out for himself divinity.
Valentine held a monistic view of the world : the flesh
depends on the soul of the Demiurge, the Demiurge on
the spirit without the Pleroma, that is the Sophia, the
Sophia, on Horos and Pleroma, the Pleroma of aeons, on
the Father, the Source of all.

Meyboom thinks that the Gnostic movement under Mar-
cion was of little importance.2 "So much is certain, the
'Lord,' and the ' Apostle ' Avere chief figures in Marcion's
theology." Jesus, the ideal man, the apotheosis of the true
God, and Paul, the apostle of liberty, dominated the teach-
ing. It is doubtful if Marcion was a docetic. He denied
the resurrection of Christ's body. He spoke of three or

1 Article Valentine, in Smith & Wace Dictionary of Christian
Biography, Literature and Doctrines during the first eight centuries.
Vol. iv. N— Z. London, 1887.

2 Marcion en de Mar cioniten. Leiden. P. Engels& Zoon. 1888.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 171

four abstract principles as God, good, and bad, and Satan
being among them. His followers were strict ascetics.

Judaistic error exalted the humanity of Christ till his
divinity was lost ; then followed Gnosticism, exalting his
divinity until nothing was left but a transcendental Saviour.
Out of all the controversy the question must be raised
anew, Where is Christ, and what is He ? Wcingarten
says, (1. c.) that the hypostatic doctrine of the Logos, before
Athanasius, rested on a Platonic-Philonic base ; and it
was essential for this idea that Christ should be regarded
from the point of view of divine activity in creation. The
Logos was the hypostatic medium of creation. That was
Subordinationism ; and Arianism was the close of jthis
earlier, Philonic, metaphysical, cosmological apprehension
of the Logos as a creative divine potency. A change came
with Athanasius. Weingarten points out that now the
religious form of the doctrine of the Logos took the place
of the old metaphysical view. The Logos was presented
as the principle of salvation, the consubstantial Son of
God, through whose incarnation mankind is redeemed, and
regains the divine likeness. Athanasius rejected the
heathen half God of Arianism in behalf of the absolute
dignity of Christianity. The true life of piety springs from
full communion with God, not through a creature, but
through the Divine Mediator.1 Philosophical speculation
in theology was here broken through, but it was not fully
overthrown. Especially in the high places of the doctrine

l For a practical application of the Nicene creed, see the new
edition of the Didascalia CCCXV111 patmm pseudejngrapha, by
Hyvernat, Paris, Leronx, 1887. The present Greek text came
through a Coptic translation from the work of Athanasius, Syn~
tagma doctrince ad monachos.

172 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

of the Godhead and the origin of evil can traces of Greek
philosophy be seen. Weingarten even thinks that "the
proper ground of Augustine's unconditioned predestination
and his philosophical determinism, was his Neo-Platonic
conception of God." And yet Paul held some pretty high
views on these subjects, long before Neo-Platonism saw
the light. In Lactantius, too, the heathen idea of dualism
is found cropping out in the midst of his Apology for
Christianity. Martens rejects the ordinary view, that this
was a remnant of his previous pagan education ;x he finds
it rising naturally in the Christian contrast of Church and
State, the kingdom of God and the God of this world,
wit]i the ideas of ascetic separation from the human to
attain unto the divine. Heathen dualism took Christian
form. Lactantius setting out from, ethical dualism, that sin
is necessary as a foil to virtue, comes in his ethico-teleolo-
gical view of the world tophi/steal dualism, as the neces-
sary condition for the realization of the ethical world-ideal.
But this world arose through the creative will of God,
hence God willed and created evil. Lactantius shrank from
this consequence, but landed in metaphysical dualism. At
this point the charge of ManichaBism was fastened upon
him.

The course of these remarks indicates largely the drift
of historic study ; from Arianism in the East the student
moves naturally to Augustine and Pelagianism in the
West. This current of thought has left the Greek Church
of the sixth century and later much neglected by the cri-
tical historian. Into this dark region Loos has entered

i Das dualistische System des Lactanz, in Beweis des Glaubens.
Jan.— May, 1888.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 173

and come forth with a study of Leontius of Byzantium,
one of the eighty-nine churchmen of that name mentioned
in Smith's Dictionary of Christian Biography, belonging
for the most part to the Post-Nicene Greek Church.1 He
finds this theologian to have been a leader in the sixth
century, under Justinian, in helping bring the Cyrill type
of orthodoxy to victory, and encouraging the growing
Aristotelic thought, which was working over Greek the-
ology into Scholasticism. He was also one of the Scythian
monks, who came to Constantinople and Rome A.D. 519,
respecting the theopaschite controversy, that is, that one of
the trinity had suffered in the flesh. He was present, repre-
senting Jerusalem monks, at the conference in 531, ordered
by Justinian with the Severians, in Constantinople. He
was also the Origenist Leontius of the Life of Saba. The
work of another Leontius, bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus,
of less importance, has also just been published for the
first time by Rose.2

We now come to the most important work of the year
on the History of Doctrine, that by Harnack.3

He considers the History of Doctrine to be, side by side
with the study of the New Testament, in the present con-
dition of Protestantism, the most important branch of re-
search for every man, who wishes really to study theology.

1 Leontius von Byzanz und die gleichnamigen Schriftsteller der
griechischen Kirche. I. Buch. Das Leben n. die polem. Werke des
Leontius von Byzanz. Leipzig. Hinrichs. 1887. M. 10.

2 Leben des heiligen David von Thessalo?iike, griechisch nach der
einzigen bisher aufgefundenen Handschrift. Berlin. Asher & Co.
1887. M. 1.

3 Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte, Bd. II. Die Entwickelung des
kirchlicben Dogmas. Freiburg, i. B., 1887.

174 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

He treats first of "the development of dogma as the doc-
trine of the God-Man on the ground of natural theology."
He sets out with his favorite idea, that "the first main
part of the History of Doctrine closed with the reception
of the doctrine of the Logos as the central dogma of the
Church, and, consequently, with the transformation of the
old formula? of faith by means of philosophic theology, in
the East. The Testament of primitive Christianity, the
Bible, and the Testament of the Antique, Neo-Platonic
speculation, by the end of the third century were blended,
and, as it appeared, inseparable in the great churches of
the East." Greek philosophy, he thinks, took the place
in the framework of the creeds, which the Roman civil
system took in the hierarchical structure ; in other words,
the Christian Church is largely the Gra?co-Roman Empire
of thought and government preserved under the garb of
Christianity. Of course Christianity Avas not completely Hel-
lenized ; the Bible, and early Christian writings prevented
that, and kept the Gospel from being lost in "Gnosis"
and the "new law." But, as the secularizing process went
on, the Bible was allegorically expanded to meet it, or
Apostolic tradition covered the heathen ritual that was in-
troduced. The early apologists set forth Christianity as
the religion of pure reason and strict morals, but through
the superstition that poured into the Church from A. D.
250 on, it became a religion of potent mysteries and rit-
ualistic sanctity. The union of Church and State attracted
to the former everything that seemed holy or venerable.
The Life of Christ and the Apostolic history became the
centre of a mass of legends, in which saints, martyrs, and
even heathen sages and gods were confounded. Until the

THE EARLY CHURCH. 175

middle of the third century, Harnack thinks, every Cath-
olic Christian was a monotheist ; but, in the fourth cent-
ury, polytheistic notions crept in with the numerous con-
verts. Emperor worship, demon worship, saint worship,
and a new heathenism threatened Christianity. Nine-
teenth century spiritualism was then vigorous among the
heathen, and it pressed, in the third, still more, in the
fourth century, into Christian circles. It had already
spread among Gnostics and Manichaeans. Christianity
threatened to go to pieces in a mass of local cults. The
imperial constitution with General Councils worked for
unity ; so did Monasticism, for now the Church had all
grades in her service, priests for mysteries, monks for con-
templative life, and laymen for ordinary existence. And
yet, on the other hand, great bishops helped disunion, and
monkish negative piety might undermine all historic re-
ligion. Even theology itself threatened to dissolve the
Church in the surrounding world. Harnack finds the im-
portance of Origen to have been, (1) in his sharp separation
of Faith and Knowledge, (2) in the rich material of his spec-
ulations, the conservative sense, with which he knew how
to incorporate all that was valuable, and the equipoise in
which he held the different factors of his system, (3) in
the Biblical stamp which he gave his theology by leaning
carefully upon texts of Scripture. But his followers in
the Church confounded these things, especially faith and
theology, and made scientific dogmatics one with Church
doctrines. This led to confusion and imperilled Church
unity. How now was harmony to be reached between
tradition and speculation, Pistis and Gnosis ? Already the
dogma of the Logos had come from the circumference to

176 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

the center of belief. Origen had recognized the full sig-
nificance of the historic Christ for the stage of Faith,
while he referred the Gnostic to the eternal Logos. Now
the danger arose that the historic Christ would disappear
altogether. Polytheistic ideas were creeping in respecting
God's nature. A Logos-Christ appeared more cosmolog-
ical than soteriological, of doubtful nature and origin.
Views arose of the incarnation and redemption as an en-
lightening of the human race, and so amid a cloud of phil-
osophical terms Christianity seemed ready to merge into
mere Deism. Harnack repeats, ' c that the Logos doctrine,
which took root in the Church, was the strongest means
in completely blotting out the image of the historic Christ,
and dissolving all in mist." Behind this Logos was the
idea of God as the npoari] ovaia, the 6V, an incapable and
actionless being. Along these lines drifted the thought of
Eusebius of Caesarea, and the conservative theologians,
who planted themselves on tradition. Like the Neo-Pla-
tonists, they next derived a second and third ovaia from
the first, and adorned the Logos, created from the will of
the Father, with the highest, yet variable attributes.
They taught his incarnation, and celebrated the results of
it, though in indefinite, saying little and much, Biblical
formulae. Finally they subordinated all that was inward
and moral to the idea of free will and human independence.
That was the conservative theology of the year A. D 320,
resting upon Origen. All phases of belief were tolerated,
provided they did not demand exclusiveness.

The second part of the History of Doctrine, the History
of its development, Harnack finds opened with Athana-
sius. Only Augustine excels him in importance ; ' ' for

THE EARLY CHURCH. 177

Augustine is an Origen and Athanasius in one person, nay
he is more."

The Church has produced two great systems of theol-
ogy, that of Origen and that of Augustine ; and the history
of theology in the East is the history of the setting aside
of Origen's system, while the history of theology in the
West is the history of the setting aside of the system of
Augustine ; in the one case more rapidly, and condemning
Origen, in the other, gradually, and honoring Augustine
as the greatest teacher of the Church. In both cases the
overthrow of the system brought the loss of a connected,
consistent cosmology. Harnack admits, however, that it
is a question for the future historian, whether the thoughts
of Augustine or Athanasius will last the longer ; the pref-
erence at present, he says, is for Athanasius. His impor-
tance lay in his making that view of God and Christ ex-
clusively accepted, in which the power of religion then
lay. He did a work of reduction. He gave Christianity
its own place upon the captured soil of Greek philosophy ;
and centered all upon the thought of man's redemption
through the God-Man.

He took the helm in this sea of speculation, and his
guiding thought was this : the divine, which appeared in
Jesus Christ, was of the nature of the Godhead, and for
that reason only was able to exalt us to divine life. The
certainty of that thought gave faith its power, gave life
its law, and theology its course. The most important ad-
vance in theology made by Athanasius was, that he no
longer regarded the Logos of the philosophers, the world,
idea, as the Logos whom he worshipped, the bringer of
salvation. "Nature and revelation are no longer identi-

178 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

cal ; the Logos-Son-Christ is essentially no longer a world
principle but a salvation principle." The order of thought
— Logos, Incarnation, God-man, God-likeness, Sons of
God — we find already in Irenseus ; it was the work of Atha-
nasius, as a reformer, to make this teaching exclusive
and effective in a time when everything was drifting. He
regarded the Christian faith as essentially summed up in
belief in the God-Man, the incarnation, and redemption to
a God-like life; for that reason he allowed freedom in
other opinions. The Eastern Church has added nothing
to this teaching of Athanasius ; the Western Church also has
preserved his faith as its basis. u Presupposing the the-
ology of the Apologists and Origen, he was the effective
means of warding off the full Hellenization and seculari-
zation of Christianity." Harnack continues, " The his-
tory of doctrine in the East, since the Mcene creed, shows
two interwoven courses of development. First, the idea
of the God-Man was defined on all sides, from the point
of view of the redemption of the human race to a divine
life ; that is the belief of Athanasius. " With this a sec-
ond development was closely connected ; it had to do with
the relation of do^ma to theolo^v — Harnack makes dogma
in the strict sense of the word belief in the God-Man —
and here the question was respecting theological science as
Origen had prosecuted it. When a theological principle
had become a doctrine of the Church, then it must always
have been held as part of Apostolic teaching, so the ortho-
dox reasoned, and very soon the men who framed it came
to be regarded as witnesses, not as producers, and the
honored men of earlier days, who knew nothing of such a
dogma, or may have contradicted it, must be ignored,

THE EARLY CHURCH. 179

their works dropped, or corrected by the substitution of
others.

During the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries we thus see
(1) a constant conflict against the free theology of Origen,
against the heterodoxy and speculations, which it included ;
and (2) we notice a rising traditionalism, which suspected
theological research in the work of the Church of that day,
and set authority in its place, putting "the old theolo-
gians partly in Heaven as saints, and partly in Hell as
heretics." The result was certain, and theologians shrank
more and more from their thankless labor. So, when a
certain body of dogma was formed, enough to occupy the
mind and admit of scholastic treatment, it grew restive,
and rejected further development, or new accretions.
Church belief overthrew free theology. In the Origen-
istic controversy, which lasted more than a few years, as
usually stated, and in the condemnation of the school of
Antioch, the movement went on. The gain of such a
process was, that the Church thereby shut out foreign in-
fluences and concentrated thought upon what was more
distinctively Christian. The speculations that tried to
adhere to theology were so weak, that they dropped off
naturally, and there remained, what the great majority of
the "conservatives" through the dogmatic controversy
desired, a mysterious, sacred dogma, which could be
accepted, and theologians might be free to become anti-
quarians or philosophers. The loss in this process was
that the Church no longer possessed a complete system of
theology. Rejecting the system of Origen, the Church
had left (me great dogma and a number of fragments of
doctrine, artificially held together by an appeal to Scrip-

180 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

ture and Tradition ; also by Aristotelic scholastics. At
the fifth General Council, in Constantinople, A. D. 553,
the theology of Chalcedon was assumed, and upon it as a
basis there grew up in this century an orthodox churchly
theology. It added the spirit of Cy rill's teaching to the
creed of Chalcedon, and made it more comprehensible.
To this system the Neo-Platonic mystical theology joined
itself, and an important development took place. Piety
and dogma embraced each other in this scholastic-mystic
theology, which arose on the ground of tradition and
authority. Henceforth theology was to be but a hand-
maid of the Chalcedon-Justinian tradition. And yet in
this movement Neo-Platonic thought and Aristotelic
methods did much more than is usually supposed.

Harnack reiterates again and again, that all the dogmatic
controversies in the East, from the fourth to the seventh
century, had for their theme Christology in the narrower
sense of the term, and the Incarnation. Here, it was felt,
was the center of Christianity ; hence the view of the sal-
vation that Christianity brought must be derived from the
formula? about which men then contended, and which
finally prevailed. Harnack finds, accordingly, that the
being of the Christian religion and, consequently, the con-
tents of belief in the East, in this period, can be summed
up in this : ' ' The salvation offered in Christianity consists
in the redemption of the human race from destruction, and
the sin connected therewith, to a divine life, that is to an
eternal vision of God. This has already taken place in
the incarnation of the Son of God, and comes to humanity
through the intimate connection with him. Christianity
is the religion, which delivers from death and leads to the

THE EARLY CHURCH. 181

vision of God." In other words, the highest good in
Christianity is the reception into divine sonship, which is
assured to believers, and is fulfilled in the participation in
the divine nature, in the deification [ Vergottwig] of man
through the gift of immortality, which includes the full
knowledge and permanent vision of God in perfect bless-
edness, but without removing the distinction [Abstcmd]
between Christ and believers. This thought of the deifi-
cation of believers was prominent among all these early
theologians. It rooted in the fact of Christ's incarnation.
The Divine had already appeared on the earth, and joined
himself indissolubly to human nature. So the Being of
Christ underlay all Christian hope, and the belief of the
Church embraced nothing else than the right knowledge of
the nature of the incarnate Logos, because this knowledge
included the certain hope of a change of human nature
analogous to that of the Godhead of Jesus Christ, and that
included all that man can desire. This is the line of
thought, which Harnack finds running, more or less clearly,
through all the dogmatic developments of these three
centuries. It was greatly modified by the Gospel accounts
of Christ, by Pauline teachings, and by other broadening
influences, so that the correct theological formula pre-
vailed in the fourth century ; and in the three followiug
centuries, when an incorrect formula prevailed, the current
theology knew how to treat it in an orthodox spirit. uThe
Evangelical view of Christ was preserved in higher degree
in the Byzantine and Nestorian churches, on the ground of
the doctrine of the two natures, than in the Monophysitc
churches." And yet the dogma of the God-Man, spring-
ing from the doctrine of redemption, kept a commanding

182 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

place, and was in the strict sense alone dogma. Of the
work of Christ, Harnack says, all we can state is, there
were different apprehensions of it, which stood in no fixed
relation to the dogma of the God-Man. The dogma was,
however, always interpreted eschatologically ; as was said
"the work of the Christian is nothing else but a thinking
upon death." In this life we have a foretaste and an
earnest of what we are to enjoy hereafter in its fullness.
From this great central dogma of the God-Man the doc-
trines of God, the world, free will, sin, etc., appear as
pre-suppositions, to be considered only so far as they are
involved in a full understanding of the Divine Incarnation.
So Harnack arranges his book according to the following
plan :

A. The presuppositions of the Doctrine of Redemption,

or Natural Theology, under which he puts (1) The
presuppositions of God the Creator as the Giver of
Redemption, and (2) The presuppositions of Man as
the receiver of Redemption. He here gives a large
place to the influence of Greek philosophy.

B. The Doctrine of Redemption in the Person of tin

God-Man in its historic development, which em-
braces, (1) The necessity and reality of Redemption
through the Incarnation of the Son of God, with an
appendix on the ideas of Redemption from the devil
and expiation through the work of the God-Man,
(2) The doctrine of the consubstantiality of the Son
of God with God himself, with an appendix on the
doctrine of the Holy Spirit and the Trinity, (3) The
doctrine of the human nature of the incarnate Son

THE EARLY CHURCH 183

of God, and (4=) The doctrine of the personal oneness
of the divine and human natures in the incarnate
Son of God.
C. The anticipatory enjoyment of Redemption, in the
Mysteries, Etc. Harnack puts in an introductory
chapter, Sources of Knowledge and Authorities,
that is, the Doctrine of Scripture, Tradition and the
Church.

This Greek theology, which is here set forth, is
very attractive, but Harnack finds it defective, (1)
in not making "the highest concepts, those of 'the
moral good,' and c blessedness,' an organic part of
the system ; (2) in making positive morality subor-
dinate to aceticism ; (3) through a complete carica-
turino- of the historic Christ,'" It looks as if Har-
nack would regard the Christ of the Fourth Gospel
as also a historic caricature, so afraid is he of
connecting any term, that looks toward philosophy,
with the Saviour.

III. ORGANIZATION OF THE EARLY CHURCH.

What the visible Church of God is, whose history man
can write, has been well set forth by Ross, from the Con-
gregational, and, as most patristic scholars now admit,
primitive point of view.1 He treats of the Roman Cath-
olic, the Episcopal, the Presbyterian, and the Congrega-
tional theories of the Church. The larger part of his
treatise is then devoted to the Doctrine of the Christia

i The Church- Kingdom. Lectures on Congregationalism. Con-
gregational S. School and Publishing Society. Chicago, 1887,

184 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

Church, under which he discusses its government, worship,
discipline, fellowship, creed and activities. The general
principles underlying all his treatment of the subject in
detail, Boss sums up more than once in the words of
Hatch, the Episcopalian : "All organizations, Avhether
ecclesiastical or civil, must be, as the early churches were,
more or less democratical ; and the most significant fact
of modern Church history is that, within the last hundred
years, many millions of our race and our Church, without
departing from the ancient faith, have slipped from be-
neath the inelastic framework of the ancient organization
and formed a group of new societies on the basis of a
closer Christian brotherhood and an almost absolute de-
mocracy." A similar general position is taken by Rigg,
who holds that all forms of Church government are mat-
ters of Christian expediency.1 The New Testament lays
doAvn a few general principles, and leaves the details of
application to the Church of each age for the needs of that
age. He rejects the High Church theory, as without sup-
port in the Apostolic Church. He says the first churches
formed were Congregational in government, but adds,
uThe apostolic history and letters prove that the Congre-
gational form represents, not an ideal model, but particu-
lar instances arising out of circumstances : that its limits
and its special features represent, not perfection of form
and full development, but defect of opportunity and arrest
of influence and extension arising from such defect, and
that its fundamental principles of negation, erected as they
are into dogmas of limitation, are in contradiction to the

i A Comparative View of Church Organizations. London. T.
Woolmer. 1887.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 185

spirit and vital tendency of Church development in the
apostolic age.'" He urges the same objections against
Presbyterianism ; it is not only ' ' contrary to the prece-
dents of the primitive Church and to the spirit which gov-
erned its development," but its " economy fixes as the
necessary and universal law of the Church some points of
usage which, so far as they obtained in the apostolic age,
were occasional and accidental." In the line of these re-
marks, most modern critics, whether rationalistic or evan-
gelical, proceed to trace the rise of the constitution of the
Early Church as a historic growth. Manchot sets out
from the idea that there was a sort of aristocracy, or
brotherhood within the Church until the beginning of the
persecutions under Trajan.1 It had its center in Asia
Minor, and extended its connections thence as far as Ju-
dea, on the one side, and to Italy, by way of Greece, on
the other. They were the "saints," a society that re-
garded its members as inspired, and to which there be-
longed, on the one hand, the active promoters of Christi-
anity, Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, and, on the other,
those who formed an inner circle about those leaders, and
provided the first outlines for the formation of local socie-
ties. Hence the "saints" in Early Church literature do
not mean all Church members, but a particular circle,
around which all others were to rally. These are the
"saints" of the Apocalypse, which he puts in the time of
Trajan, and these were the "clubs'1 that Pliny sought
to suppress. The model circle of this kind Manchot finds

l Cf. Die Heiligen. Em Beitrag zum Verstandniss der Often ba-
rung Johannis unci der altehristlichen Verfassung. Leipzig. Veit
& Co. M. 5.

186 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

in the Roman Church, where this form of activity took
shape in imitation of the stricter Roman club organization,
rather than of the more elastic and democratic constitu-
tions of the Greek committees. In this connection there
arose also in Rome the monarchical Episcopate.

Weingarten finds (1. c.) the officers of the original con-
gregation to have been "the seven" and the "pillar"
apostles (Gal. ii, 9). Presbyters appear first in the later
view (Acts xi, 30; xv, 22). The Pauline . churches were
free in their organization. First Cor. xii, 28 shows the
KvjSepvT/aeis reckoned to the charismata, and the Apostles,
Prophets, and Teachers of this passage (cf. Eph. iv, 11)
were not permanent officers, neither of the single congre-
gation nor of the rising Church Universal. We see in
Corinth that the congregation was the ruling body both in
discipline and government. He says the first Pauline or-
ganization consisted in subjection to the a7rapxoa (I Cor.
xvi, 15), a family patronship in connection with service of
the saints. (Rom. xii, 8; xvi, 2, of Phoebe; Phill. iv, 2,
of Euodia.) The office of elder did not arise in connection
with the synagogue system. Presbyter and bishop are
identical in the Pastoral Epistles. Through the band of
elders the charismatic gift was imparted to Timothy. The
Epistle of Clement shows a feeling of superiority in the
Roman Church. The letter opposes irregularities which
had arisen in Corinth through the desire to apply to the
Christian Church the democratic principles of the Greek
societies. He allows the "honorable men" in the Church
to nominate, but the "whole Church" should utter its
voice in the election of presbyters. Until Soter and Victor,
the leaders of the Roman conareofation were called elders,

THE EARLY CHURCH. 187

after that bishops. The work of turning the original con-
gregational churches into one Episcopal Church, Wein-
garten ascribes essentially to the churches of Asia Minor,
led by Polycarp, Serapion of Antioch and others. He
finds this change in the Church to be a reflection of a sim-
ilar change taking place in the State. The Empire suc-
ceeded the Republic, and c,the idea of all civil life as ex-
isting in the form of a society was replaced by that of a
permanent institution.'" So the Catholic Church arose
upon the ruins of the free Christian Brotherhood, and
clergy and laity began to be distinguished, just as ordo and
po-pulus collegii wTere distinguished in the heathen clubs.
And, as those wo represented these clubs wrere called an
Ordo, so the Church came to have its representation in the
clergy, as an Order. Imperial development in the State
and hierarchical development in the Church had many
points of analogy in the middle of the second century.
Thus the deification of the bishop was like the honor paid
to the summus sacerdos. An inscription describes a priest
as sacerdos sanctm regince judicio majestatis ejus electus.
Parallel, too, with the distinction of magistratus majores
et minores, in the State, there ran, during the third cent-
ury, the distinction of ordines majores, that is, bishops,
presbyters, and deacons, and ordines minores, that is sub-
deacons, acolytes, exorcists, ostiarii, lectors, in the Church.
Milligan thinks that the term presbyter in the Apostolic
Church did not describe an office at all ; it was, like
44 Reverend," a general title of honor applied to religious
officers.1 But if The Acts is a historic book such a title

i The Expositor, Nov., 1887.

188 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

must have indicated official rank. (See xi, 30 ; xiv, 23).
Heron, on the other hand, says,1 it is clear that the
writer of Acts considered the primary official title to be
that of elder; that of bishop Avas only secondary and des-
criptive of work. He holds, further, that the Jewish
elder k " was the original and archetype of the Christian
functionary." The important fact is, that, by whatever
name or names those officers may have been designated,
whether bishops or presbyters, or both, * c there was a plu-
rality of these office-bearers in each congregation, and they
were elected by the free choice of the Christian people."
They formed a council or committee, chosen by the con-
gregation, and constituted the free governing power of the
early churches. Heron thinks the apostles, other than
the Twelve, mentioned in the New Testament and the
Didache, were evangelists, or itinerant missionaries, like
Timothy and Titus, whose one business it was to preach
the Gospel, and start churches among the heathen ; then
depart to other regions to be evangelized. He considers
Hatch's theory of Early Church organization completely at
variance with the history which the Acts gives of the
development of the Primitive Church. If that book is
historic authority, Hatch's view is untenable. The term
"bishop" (Acts xx, 28), is a synonym for "presbyter,"
and there is no hint that his work was chiefly financial.
Acts xi, 30 shows the presbyters in charge of the offerings,
just as Clement of Rome and Polycarp represent them.
The Acts also contradicts Hatch's statement that the Jewish
term "elders," and the office meant by it, did not at once

i The Church of the Sub-Ajwstolic A</< . London. Hodder and
Stonghton. 1888.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 189

prevail among the Gentile churches, as indicated Actsxiii,
48 ; xiv, 1. Heinrici also admits this, if the Acts be
accepted as historic and authoritative. In reference to
the test case of Corinth, Heron holds there must have
been a regular organization here also, for Clement of Rome,
writing not forty years after Paul to this Church, speaks
of the Apostles having appointed " presbyters' there
"who had for a long time' been honored. There were
men then living in Corinth who could remember Paul, and
know if Clement was wrong. " Hatch's attempt to show
that the organization of the Gentile Church was an hide-
pendent and spontaneous growth," Heron calls " a com-
plete failure." Apostolic church government was not a
chance growth, he maintains ; the Apostles adopted the
plan of having a committee chosen by every congregation
to guide its affairs, because that method was best suited
to the free spirit of Christianity. Neither Jewish nor Gen-
tile models were slavishly followed. This plan can be
applied to the most varying circumstances. It is worthy
of the Lord, to whom it is referred by the Scriptures them-
selves (Eph. iv, 11 ; I Cor. xii, 28). Heron about proves
the identity of bishops and elders in the first century,
against Harnack, who holds that they were different officers
from the first.

A similar view of the growth of the Early Church is set
forth in a valuable series of articles by Seyerlen.1

He thinks the organization of the Early Church grew
up naturally to meet the peculiar needs of the Christian

i Die Entstehung des Episkopats in der christlichen Kirche, in
Zeitschrift f. prak. Theologie, Frankfurt, 1887 ; pp. 97-143 ; 201-244 :
297-333.

190 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

congregation. It was not deeply influenced either by the
synagogue or by heathen societies, by clubs or by munici-
palities. In the congregation in Jerusalem, there sprang
up about the Apostles and James, a council of presbyters.
The "seven," who cared for the poor, were analogous to
the deacons in the Pauline churches, in both cases the
product of felt needs. In the Gentile churches, there
developed from the diaxovia of the anapxai which,
at first included functions both higher and lower, the
two congregational offices of bishops and deacons, the
iirst being the same as the presbyters in the Jewish
churches. The names, however, soon became exchange-
able, and the officers meant were at first identical. He
rejects the theory, as groundless, that presbyters .formed
the general council, and bishops an official board within it.
The fact that the congregational offices were charismatic
opposes such views. Hence, after election by the people
came in, respect for the charisma remained and men were
officers for life. The work of this presbyter or bishop
council was, direction of public worship, pastoral oversight,
discipline, finance, and representation of the congregation
abroad. The diaconate was an office of service, executive,
especially to care for the poor. The work of teaching lay
outside all these offices ; the call to it was purely charis-
matic. We can see, however, the transfer of this office to
the bishop-presbyters already in the Epistle to the Ephe-
sians and the Shepherd ; to bishops and deacons in the
didache; and to one bishop in the Church Constitutions.
The germ of the monarchical bishop, he finds, even in the
Pastoral Epistles, especially in the duty of the bishop (sin-
gular) to represent sound teaching against error. " Those

THE EARLY CHURCH. 191

letters show at the same time, that the change of the mere
president, which the committee of presbyters must have
had already a long time, into a regular moderator of the
higher rank, had its roots in movements, which called forth
the Gnostic danger." The functions assigned Timothy
and Titus already outline the monarchical-congregational
bishop. These with the Episcopal name in the singular,
form the elements here, from the union of which arose the
Catholic idea of a bishop. These bishops could be mode-
rators of a congregation ; at the same time tfrey might
have a number of congregations, but with different con-
gregational presbyteries, not with monarchical bishops,
under them. These were the similarities and dissimilari-
ties, as compared with the later metropolitans. As soon
as the committee of elders saw in the bishop, not only a
moderator of itself, but also the head of the whole con ore-
gation, a change arose in the mode of election ; he must
be chosen as a well qualified official by the whole congrega-
tion, and now the choice was no longer limited to a par-
ticular circle, as the elders. A further result of the promi-
nence of the bishop was a closer connection of the deacons
or executive officers with him.

IV. CHRISTIAN LIFE MONASTICISM.

With the decline of the school of Baur, who made
primitive Christianity little more than an outgrowth of
Essenism, the reaction has gone so far, that it now looks
as if we may soon be told there was no such thing as an
Essene known, when the Gospel was first preached. Ohle
agrees with Lucius, that the Philonic writing De Vita Con-
temjplativa is spurious, and its Therapeutse were Christian

192 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

monks ; he then proceeds to show1 that the sections in
Philo's Quod Omnia Probus Liber (12-13), which speak of
Essenes, were interpolated by the fabricator of the De Vita,
and hence the Essenes uas representatives of pre-christian
heresy in Israel are to be struck out of Church History."
Like the supposed Therapeutge, they are simply fictitious
pictures of Christian hermits, given a fancied existence
among the Jews. He then turns to the "enigmatical
Essenes of Josephus," and finds that the sections of this
writer's works (Bell. Jud. ii, 8 and Antiq. xviii, 1), which
represent Neo-Pythagorean Essenism, are also spurious ;
and we have left in Josephus only a few scattered notices
of very simple Essenes. Hilgenfeld opposes this criti-
cism, in behalf of Quod Omnis, as a genuine work of Phil o,
and the Essenes in it* as historical personages. So does
Masse bieau, who defends also the De Vita as a work of
Pnilc.3 He thinks the Therapeutae were neither Christians,
nor Neo-Pythagoreans, nor Buddhists ; they were Jews,
or Jewish philosophers, who retired for study, and formed
a sort of brotherhood, which did not exist, however, much
later than the time of Philo.

But it is not to groups of Jewish recluses that we must
look for forecasts of Christian monasticism ; heathen asce-
ticism, especially in Egypt, forms a much nearer subject
of comparison. The more minute the study into early
monastic life, the more intimate the connection is found
to be between the pagan anchorite and the Christian her-
mit. Amelineau has shown this afresh in a recent study

i Jahrbilchcr f. Prot. Theologie, 1887. Hh. 2, 3; 1888, H. 2.
a Die Esscier Philo's, in Ztft.f. wiss. Theologie, 1888, H. 1.
3 Revue de Vhistoire des religions. T. xvi, No. 2 & 3.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 193

of Pachomius, the founder of the coenibite system in
Egypt.1 Returning as a conscript from the Roman army,
this young Egyptian, having learned something of the
Gospel, took possession of a ruined temple of Serapis on
the Nile, and became a Christian hermit, though not yet a
member of the Church. He had been won to the new
faith by seeing the kindness of Christians to the poor and
wretched. Finally some zealous believers took him to a
church and baptized him L ' without the new convert (adepte)
knowing what they did to him." After three years he
became a monk under an old ascetic, Palamon, with whom
he remained seven years, till his thirtieth year, when he
withdrew to Tabennisi, "the place of the palms of Isis,"
where, after the manner of Egyptian heathen hermits, he
became a Christian anchorite. Amelineau finds this
Egyptian love of solitude a fruitful soil for both the Jew-
ish Therapeutre and the first Christian monks. The three
stages of the ascetic life, (1) the spiritual recluse, though
still in the midst of men, (2) the solitary hermit, and (3)
hermits in groups, under rules, or monks, all appear in
Egyptian heathenism, before the tendency ran through the
same stages in Christian circles. Hermits, like Paul,
Antony,2 Macarius, and their followers, had already
formed communities in the latter part of the third cent-
ury ; that was an advance, but now Pachomius proceeded

1 Etude historique stir St. Pachome et le cenobitisme primitif dans
la Haute Egypte, d'apres les monuments Coptes, Paris, 1887.

2 For a handy edition of the supposed Life of St. Antony, as-
cribed to Athanasius (see against this Farrar, in Contemp. Review,
Nov. 1887, and Weingarten, 1. c. p. 22), see Vie de St. Antoine,
edited by Maunoury, Paris, Delagrave, 1887. Fr.l. Has Greek Text,
French notes, and Lexicon.

194 E1ST0BIC THEOLOGY.

to a higher and more rational view of monastic life.
Anions: the hermits that flocked about him, he established
a period of probation, he refused to accept brothers from
other monasteries, three were to occupy a cell together,
prayers were not to be numerous but sincere, certain gen-
eral rules were binding, but "in other respects, the great
principle governing the new institution was that of indi-
vidual liberty.'' A minimum of obligation was demanded
of every monk, and that must be kept. Beyond that, each
was free, provided general order was not disturbed. This
was a great advance on the mechanical system that had
spread among other Egyptian monks. Remembering his
army experience, Pachomius divided his monks into sec-
tions, with an officer over each. There were regular
classes for the instruction of the brothers, who numbered
two thousand five hundred. Branch monasteries also
arose, and the whole brotherhood soon included seven
thousand men. Now Mary, the sister of Pachomius, vis-
ited him, and a monastery for women was founded, under
the same rules as for men. Of the general character of
these monks, Amelineau says, they were "at heart, far
from true virtue," and from the nature of the case it could
not be otherwise. "The great majority of them were
simple fellah m, without education, or artisans of low class ;
all were by nature rude, gross, and of violent passions/'
"Almost all were eye-servers," who believed that their
salvation was secured by the fact of their becoming monks,
and the risks were great of merely formal piety. Jeal-
ousy arose between the Pachomian monks and those that
st retched along the Libyan chain, and Pachomius spent all
his time visiting among his monasteries to keep them pure.

THE EARL Y CHURCH. 195

The Coptic accounts give horrible details of the violence
and licentious habits of many monks.

Sodomy was the crime most frequent among the Pacho-
mian hermits ; among others, we hear of abortion, infanti-
cide, and insubordination. Amelineau makes prominent
the idea that Pachomius was Christian chiefly in name, so
far as doctrines were concerned ; it was just the same with
all Egypt, apart from Alexandria, where Greek culture
met the Gospel. The Copts gradually became Christians,
by means of monastic methods and ideals, hence bishops
were never held in great respect, or the hierarchy honored
as among the Greeks and Romans. "Even at the present
day, a monk, who becomes a bishop, seems to be
degraded." "The true heroes and the true teachers of
Christian Egypt were the martyrs and the monks, men
drawn most frequently from the common people.'' Theo-
logical questions never took hold of the native Egyptians.
"Never in the Coptic writings does a prayer occur
addressed to the Trinity, to Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
except from some scholar like Schnoudi." The name of
the Virgin Mary is not once mentioned in the lives of
Pachomius, Macarius and Antony. "The Copts of the
fourth century had only three sacraments, Baptism, the
Lord's Supper and Orders; the others were unknown."
Along simpler lines of practical life, the transition was
made from Pagan morals to Christian living. 4tOne of
the causes which hastened the Egyptian people into Chris-
tianity, was the horror, which the disciples of Christ had
of Greek polytheism, which was equally odious to the
children of the Nile valley." And, on the other hand, not
a little of the old Egyptian religion still lingered among

L96 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

these Coptic Christians. Amelineau goes so far as to
think that the common people in most cases did little more
than put Jesus in place of Osiris, and go on as before.1

V. CHEISTIAN WORSHIP.

Alexandria was the center of the Hellenistic influences,
which from the second century on, have left an abiding
impression upon the Christian Church. Not only did
Greek philosophy help mould the theology of the Early
Church, but the methods and spirit of the Greek religion
gave a perceptible coloring to the worship of the first
Gentile believers. Bratke has just illustrated this with
special reference to Clement of Alexandria and his relation
to the ancient mysteries.2 It is striking to see how very
often he refers to the Greek mysteries, compared with his
reference to the Old Testament and its mysteries. In
only one respect does he exalt Mosaism, that is when he
speaks of the wisdom of all other nations as drawn, directly
or indirectly, from the Old Testament. In the history of
religion, the Law and the Prophets held an important
place, but for the Christian thinker their peculiarities were
little more than matters of antiquarian interest. Clement
calls Christ the high priest only once, but he frequently
calls him a hierophant and mystagogue. Christianity, he
regards, as the religion of the future. In it alone are the

i For an interesting picture of the life of an Irish Monk, of a gen-
eration later than Pachomius, ef. The Writings of St. Patrick,
with Notes, etc. By Stokes and Wright. London : Nisbet & Co.
1887. Is.

2 Die Stellung des Clemens Alexandrinus zuiu Antiken Mysterien-
wese?i} in Studien und Ki'itiken, 1887. H. 1.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 197

true mysteries to be found ; all others are delusions and
vanity. This progressive faith must give, in its true
worship, that peace, which pagans sought in vain at their
own most secret shrines. So, to meet heathen gnosis and
heathen mysteries, Clement tried to set forth Christian
Gnosis and Christian Mysteries. From his knowledge of
the Eleusinian, Dionysian, and some Oriental mysteries,
which underlay the popular life of the time, both common
and educated, he endeavored to lead men to a syncretistic
theology and worship of truth and virtue. He accepts
two classes of men, those who wish to see the mysteries,
and those who have no such desire. Few attain to eso-
teric truth. Religion is the highest good, and can be
presented only allegorically, hence revelation must be alle-
gorical. This principle Clement held in common with the
mysteries. He also apprehended salvation, not as an act
of God, but as taking place through the place of the mys-
teries itself. The highest good presented in the ancient
rites was that of immortality ; so, Clement puts it first.
In both, too, is there the same way of appropriating sal-
vation. The grades in the catachumenate of Clement are
very similar also to those in the Eleusinian mysteries. The
1 Kiptism at entrance occurs in each. Referring to the pas-
sage in the Did(fc/ie on baptism, DeRossi says,1 that the
performance of this rite by pouring was by no means ex-
ceptional. The catacomb representations, he adds, agree
with the oldest form in this matter. Beyond baptism, the
third degree admitted to full membership in both Cle-
ment's plan and that of the mysteries. He regarded Chris-

l Cf. Romische Quartalschrift. Rome, 1888. H. 1.

198 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

tianity rather as a cult of mysteries than as theology. His
whole terminology is colored by terms of initiation and
esoteric suggestions, drawn from the mysteries. He knows
of a secret tradition from Christ, such as the mysteries
had from their founders. The Avhole life of the initiated
one is regarded as an advance through catechumenate
stages till at last the true gnostic reaches, as the goal,
immortality, and the inner, secret, mysterious knowledge
of God. Bratke sums up thus : " In his time appear the
roots of that unevangelical perversion of Christian worship,
which grew up, in the liturgy of the Greek and Roman
Churches into a fully developed service of Mysteries and
Sacrilices. In this respect a comparison shows, that all
the constituent factors of divine worship, in both the
Eastern and Western Churches, with exception of the hie-
rarchical, appear systematically represented already in
Clement of Alexandria, and that in conscious imitation of
the cult of the ancient mvsteries." Here, he thinks, is
the origin largely of the Arcana Discipline, which has
remained such a mystery until now.

A fragment of an Egyptian liturgy, dating from the
third century, has just been brought to light by Bickell. l
He translates it as follows: aHe that was born in Bethle-
hem and reared up in Nazareth, who dwelt in Galilee,
we have seen his si«ii from Heaven. When the star
appeared the shepherds watching in the fields were aston-
ished. Falling on their knees, they said, Glory be to the
Father, Alleluia, glory be to the Son and to the Holy

i Cf. Stokes, The FayiXm Manuscripts, in The Expositor, Juno,
1888. Gleanings from Mittheilungen aus <lcr Bam/mlung der Papy-
rus Erzherzog Bainer. Vienna, 1887.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 199

Ghost, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.'' Sueh praise was
accepted in those days, when there were no Arians to
object to equal glory paid to Father, Son and Spirit, and
no Athanasian party to oppose the insertion of u Alleluia"
between the name of the Father, and that of the Son.1

VI. ART IN THE EARLY CHURCH.

Bennett finds the study of early Christian art shed light
upon the mistakes of chronology, upon false ideas respect-
ing the first Christians, and their supposed aversion to art;
it improves patristic texts, it enlarges our knowledge of
early heresies — e. g. Gnostic teachings traced in illustra-
tions found on gems — and it gives much general uncon-
scious information on the life of the Church.2 The ref-
lation of Early Christianity to art, he finds influenced by
Judaism, which was not favorable to representative art ;
hence, only gradually did the love of art, which was strong
in the Gra?co-Roman world, press into the service of the
Church. Converts of education and refinement brought
their aesthetic tastes with them into the Church, and art
became more and more a handmaid of religion. The
heathen models were followed, but, Bennett says, "the
early employment of symbolism indicates the chariness of
the Church in the use of free statuary and painting.'' He

i For a valuable handbook, giving the History of Christian Wor-
ship, in the Early, the Mediaeval, the Modern Church, the Greek
Catholic, the Roman Catholic, the Lutheran and the Reformed
Churches, see Kostlin, Geschichte des c/tristh'chen Gottesdicnstcs,
Freiburg i. B., Mohr, 1887.

2 Christian Ardwology. Cincinnati. Cranston <Sr Stowe, 1888.
The first American book on this subject, and a- most useful work.

200 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

finds such symbolism as Jesus the Vine, or the Shepherd,
naturally preceding literal representations taken from the
Scriptures. The Church of the first three centuries took
pagan art into her service, just as she took heathen philos-
ophy to express her doctrines, and the Roman State to
build up her hierarchy.

He thinks the school represented by Hasenclever * ' 'errs
by its lacks," as that of De Rossi does by its excesses.
He takes a middle way, which recognizes the influence of
contemporary heathen art, but also sees the powerful in-
fluence of Biblical history and admits a measure of sym-
bolic art originated in the Early Church. This view he
applies to the origin of the first church structures. He
regards the oblong Christian basilica as a composite growth,
from the ordinary Roman dwelling, the triclinia of the
mansion, the ancient club room, and the more imposing
law basilica. These suggestive forms were used by the
new religion and fitted to its growing needs.

How wide a field of research is here opened up to the
student has been set forth afresh by Victor Schultze, in
an article on The present state of Eeclesiastical-archceolog i-
cal Research," in which he says there are about fifty an-
cient cemeteries in Rome, and the number of early Chris-
tian inscriptions found there now reaches fifteen thousand,
so that De Rossi has been able to found the new science of
Epigraphies. Most of the inscriptions come from ceme-
teries, which are also full of antique objects. In recent
years, at St. Agnese, near Rome, 5,735 graves have been
opened, and 283 glass and enamelled articles, 33 clay ves-

1 Cf. Current Discussions. Vol. v. p. 172. 1888.

2 In Ztft.f. Kirchl. Wiss. u. K. Leben. 1888, H. 6.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 201

sels, 131 lamps, 148 bone rings, 29 coins, and many other
things taken out. The work of excavation is going on
also in North Africa. Schultze praises a work by Franz, 1
but joins issue with Pohl,3 who holds the traditional view,
that art in the Church took only parts from antique deco-
rative painting ; ' ' from the beginning on decidedly Chris-
tian pieces appear." But Schultze maintains that, in the
first century, Christians used purely heathen art, and only
gradually on this basis did there grow up a proper Chris-
tian art. He notices Heinrici's theory, that the cycle of
representations in the catacombs was closely connected
with the New Testament circle of thought, which saw all
life and hope in Christ ; and admits its correctness in gen-
eral, but holds that it must be given more definiteness and
limitation to suit the particular case here, viz., that of life
in Christ continuing beyond the grave. Of Hasenclever's
view, that the symbolical came into Christian art as a sec-
ondary matter, and as a mere attachment to ornamental
figures, Schultze holds that would make Christian art
mere copying and a chapter of accidents. The work of
LielP opposes these views of Schultze, who had said4 "the
cultus of Mary, in the proper sense of the word, cannot
be proven from the monuments before the fifth century,"
and "the testimony of the catacombs shows more than all
else the enormous contrast between Early Christianity an* 1

i Oeschichte der christlicheu Malerei. Freiburg, 1887.

2 Die altchristliche Fresko unci Mosaik- Malerei. Leipzig, 1888.

3 Die Darstellungen der allerseUgsten Jungfrau und Gottesgebarerin
Maria; auf den Kuntsdenkmalern der Katakomben. Freiburg i. B.,
Herder, 1887. M. 10.50.

4 Archaologische Studien. 1880.

202 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

modern Romanism." Liell says Schultze's theological
prejudice makes him do violence to facts and monuments.
He admits, however, himself that the term "holy," so
common later, was not applied to Mary in the second cent-
ury, much less in the first, and the "worship' of the
Virgin then he only infers ; what he proves is what all be-
lieve, that Christ, the Son of God, was horn of a Virgin.
He begins his study with the pictures of Orants, which, he
holds, are neither ornamental figures, nor portraits, but
symbols, in some cases the portrait being also regarded.
Some of the forms, he thinks, must represent the Virgin
Mary. The key to explanations of Bible scenes depicted,
he finds in the liturgical prayers for death-beds and
funerals. He follows the usual Roman Catholic theory of
symbolism, and the ecclesiastical theological supervision
of the artists by the Early Church. He says "early
Christian art was something original,*' and differed in
every respect from all other art. Here the saying " un
art ne s Hrwprovise pas" has no application, so far as the
contents of the representation is concerned.

Turning to the Roman Quarterly far Christian Antiq-
uities and Clm reli History.1 a Roman Catholic publication,
we meet much valuable information, illustrated by some
very excellent photographic reproductions. In recent
numbers, Kirsch describes2 a seal of the sixth century, the
oldest lead seal known, which bears a picture of Christ's
baptism. The Saviour stands naked, apparently on the
edge of Jordan ; the Baptist is on the right of Jesus,
with his hand stretched out over the Lord's head ; an

i Rome, 1887-88. (German).
2 1887. H. 2.

7 HE EARLY CHURCH. 203

angel stands on the opposite side of Jordan ; while over
the Saviour's head is the dove.

Wilpert describes1 a recently discovered fresco of Abra-
ham offering Isaac, and proceeds, upon the Roman Cath-
olic theory, to explain it as a type of the offering of
Christ.

De Waal 2 treats the interesting subject of The Apocry-
phal Gospels in Early Christian Art. He defends the
use of them, partly, by holding that they contain some
matter of historic value. Their influence is seen, bethinks,
in the picture of Christ as a child a year old when the
Magi appeared, by other gifts than gold, frankincense and
myrrh, by the ox and the ass at the birth of Christ, the
Nativity in a cave, the Virgin making cloth when the angel
appeared, the boy Jesus always accompanied by four
angels, the virginity of Mary declared by the priests, the
coming of an astronomer to Jesus, the soldier who pierced
Jesus bein^ called Lono-inus. De Waal thinks the influ-
ence of such writings cannot be traced farther back than
the fourth century. He concludes with these words of
De Rossi: "The monuments of the first three or four
centuries, especially the Roman, bear testimony to the
Canonical Books, and not to the Apocryphal. But in the
fifth century, when, without danger to the authority of the
Four Gospels, artists could be allowed to follow certain
traditions, which are from the Apocrypha, the use of these
began in Christian art."3

We are learning also that the story in the Acts of the

i Ibid. 2 ibid.

3 For further general illustrations, cf. Stokes, Early Christian
Art in Ireland. Chapman & Hall. London, 1887.' 7s. 6d.

204 HI ST OBI G THEOLOGY.

Martyrs about a certain John and Paul dying in the time
of Julian the Apostate, their home having stood where the
church, later built in their honor, was erected ; that they
were put to death in their own house and buried there, is
all correct, for recent explorations have uncovered the
Roman house of the fourth century with part of it turned
into a church. Further digging has exposed the Tabli-
num,1 in which, besides the usual decorative frescoes.
Christian paintings appear, a female orant, Moses putting
off his shoes, etc. This discovery is of great interest, for
it is the first known example of representations of a posi-
tively Christian character in a Roman house. It confirms
the statement ascribed to Leo the Great, that the martyrs
John and Paul were the only ones, who, in spite of the
Roman law to the contrary, were buried in the heart of
the city. It is perhaps significant that not till the fourth
century do we find Christian houses decorated with fres-
coes ; it may reflect the fact that most Christians, before
that time, belonged to the poorer classes, whose homes
had very little decoration, either Christian or heathen.
From this point of view, at all events, does Marignan
say2 that the whole subject of early Christian Art should
be approached. He accuses Le Bland and Schultze of
interpreting primitive art from the pages of the Fathers,
and not, as they should, from the life of the common
people ; for there was a great variety of interpretation of
common symbols in ordinary life. AYe must, he says,
read the lessons of early art from a study of the general

i Cf. Germauo, Das Haas der h. Mdrlyrer Johannes u. Pa ////is, in
Horn. Quartalschrift. 1888, H. 2.
2 Lafoi chretienne au quatrieme sihcle. Paris. Pieard. 1887.

THE EARLY CHURCH. 205

Society that composed the Church, and not from the lim-
ited hints found in literary references. The art of the cat-
acombs was for the common man, not for the aristocracy
of thought ; so it must be looked at with the eyes of the
humble worshipper, not in the light of the rhetoric of
Ambrose or Jerome. Hence the miracles of Jesus in
painting cannot be interpreted symbolically ; they must be
taken naturally. Such scenes must be looked at as a
people still superstitious, still under Pagan influences
looked at them, both in making and admiring them.
Before A.D. 313, the Church consisted largely of Jews
and Orientals, and the simple Jewish ritual was followed.
The art was not doctrinal nor symbolical, neither of God
nor of the great Heaven. It was a deep reverence for the
dead and for them only. The catacombs, he says, were
no place for didactics. Christian art, he continues, was
not original, but was a continuation of that of the heathen.
Before A.D. 313, it was purely decorative, uNo dogma
has been found yet in the catacombs." The artists were
trained in great schools, and worked, very likely, for both
pagans and Christians.

CHAPTER II.

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES.l
I. HISTORY OF THE PAPACY.

The old view, that the Church, which entered the fifth
century with an ascetic renunciation of the world, as a
leading principle, gradually proceeded to claim rule over
the world, led by mere ambition and a hypocritical hie-
rarchy, is now pretty generally given up by scholars.
What, then, was the relation in the Middle Ages of the
asceticism, which ruled in monasticism, and the spirit of
world-rule that controlled the papacy \ Eicken points
put8 that these two tendencies were at heart one, and the
transition from one to the other followed the logic of the
religious system. The world might be under the feet of
the Church, both as sinful and as serving, A network of
Canon Law appeared, which was to embrace all the moral
relations of men both as Christians and as citizens. Allen
finds the key to the secrets of the whole Canonical system
to lie in this,3 "that deep in the consciousness or the con-

1 A good popular narrative, from a Quaker point of view, is \Yit-
nessesfor Christ and Memorials of Church Life, iv-xiii cent. By
Backhouse & Tylor. 2 Vols. London: Hamilton, Adams & Co.
1887. Adorned by beautiful illustrations.

2 Oeschichte und System cler mittelalterlichen Weltanschauung.
Stuttgart, 1887. M. 12.

3 Canon Law as a Factor in Christian Civilization^ in The Vnita-

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 207

science of the Early Church lay the conviction of its
divine mission to save the world by means of a new or
divine order of society ; as we should say at this day, by
a social reconstruction on the foundation laid in the gos-
pel/' Hence arose all those laws and systems of govern-
ment for individuals, society, and nations. Every power
on earth was to serve the will of God, as expressed in His
Church. Constantino called himself a bishop for the
Church in temporal affairs, so we can readily believe that
Pope Stephan II. might well invent the Donation of Con-
stantino, A.I). 753, when he entered into communication
with Pepin of France.1 Karl Miiller supports Weiland in
denying that this forgery in behalf of the Papacy was of
Prankish origin 2 It was, very likely, of Roman work-
manship, and simply sought to show that the increasing
power of the bishop of Rome, which was a result of the
removal of the emperor to Constantinople, was part of a
plan of the first Christian Caesar to secure the power and
independence of the Papacy. Such a removal of the seat
of empire had, however, an element of danger for the
Roman bishop in the great dignity and power given the
bishop of the new capital. Hence the well known objec-
tion of Greo-orv I. to the title of Universal Patriarch
ascribed to John the Faster. Gelzer has recently investi-
gated this question afresh,3 and finds that from the fifth

Han Review. Oct. 1887. Cf . The Elements of Canon Law. By O.
J. Reichel. London : Bosworth. 1887.

1 The view of Hanck, in Ztft. f Kirehl. Wiss. u. K. Leben, 1888.
H. 4.

2 See Ztft.f. Kirchengeschichte, 1887. H. 3.

3 Der Streit ilber den Tilel des okumenischen Patriarchen, in
Jahrbb.f. Protest. Theologie, 1887. H. 4.

208 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

to the eighth century every patriarch signed himself
simply Episcopos, so John introduced no novelty. It is
true he, like his predecessors, was called Ecumenical
Patriarch, and regarded himself as on an equality with the
Patriarch of Rome; but he did not use the title as an individ-
ual dignity, as the patriarchs of the Middle Ages did,
neither was he moved by hierarchic ambition. Roman
charges to the contrary rest on an Isidorian forgery.1

The chief points in the development of the Papacy in
Germany, Weingarten (1. c.) finds to be, (1) The founding
of the two great powers of the Middle Ages, the Carolin-
gian Empire, and the new civil place assumed by the
Papacy. (2) After the fall of the Carolingian power, A.D.
900 to 1046, the suppression of the idea of Church unity
through the opposition of different nations. The Papacy
in its ecclesiastical isolation was now on the way to become
a family possession of the Roman nobility. This seculari-
zation of the Papacy, introduced by Alberich, was inter-
rupted by the intervention, A.D. 963, of Otto of Ger-
many. (3) The regeneration of the Papacy which took
place through its connection with Cluny, the first nar-
rower concentration in the Benedictine Order. This Order
was, in the tenth and eleventh century, the chief represen-
tative of the idea of reform in the Church through subor-
dination to the Papacy. Hence the monks of Cluny were
defenders of the hierarchy of Gregory VII. , who fought
for. the supremacy of the Papacy over the Empire.
Fetzer shows2 that Nicholas II., made pope by Hilde-

1 For Gregory's views, see Epistola/rum tomi I, pars I, Qregorii I.
pjapae rcgistrum epistolarum, Liber i-iv. Ed. P. Ewald. Berlin.
1887. M. 9.

2 Voruntersuclmngcn zu einer Oeschichte des Pontijikats Alexan-
ders II. A Dissertation. 1887.

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 209

brand in opposition to Benedict, chosen by the Romans,
made an agreement with the emperor, before he was made
pope, by which he renewed the rights of Patrician to the
monarch as the price of his recognition. He shows fur-
ther that the decree of this pontiff, giving cardinal bishops
sole power of initiative and presidency at papal elections,
was aimed indirectly against imperial influence, though it
was not this edict, but the bestowal of Lower Italy on the
Normans that led to the breach between Nicholas and the
emperor.

Weingarten (1. c.) says that it was the Investiture con
troversy that brought the struggle for the independence
of the Church, and her worldly possessions, from the State
into prominence. With the Concordat of Worms, the
Church gained a victory in having her essential independ-
ence from the State formally fixed ; this emancipation was
a prerequisite to the battle of the Papacy for supremacy
over the Empire. With the reception of the ring and
staff the Papacy had received a right which it had never
before had in Germany. In the conflict that followed the
emperor was defeated by the pope, and then the scene of
battle was transferred to France. Here Boniface VIII.
took very high ground. His bull TJnam Sanctam declared
plainly1 that the State is to be subject to the Church. In
our days the popes have been declared infallible, and all
their bulls, past and present, must also be considered
infallible ; hence, Berchtold says, every good Catholic is
now called upon to accept the bull of Boniface as an arti-
cle of faith in the nineteenth century. This edict, he

1 Cf. Berchtold, Die Bulle TJnam Sanctam, Mimich, Kaiser. 1887,

210 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

shows, is through and through a dogmatic statement, and
hence all hope of a permanent peace between the Modern
State and the Vatican Catholic Church must be forever
given up. One or other must yield, for this bull closes
thus : "Therefore we declare . . . that it is absolutely nec-
essary to salvation, that every human creature [i. e. every
human government] shall be subject to the Roman Pope."
Such high claims to absolute authority over both Church
and State increased rather than diminished when the suc-
cessors of Boniface had their home for seventy years in
France, and, while satisfactory to the French king, could
exalt the claims of Christ's Vicar as high as they chose
over all the rest of Christendom. These seventy years of
papal assumption were followed by thirty years of papal
schism, two, sometimes three vicars of Christ infallibly
guiding the distracted Church. The Catholic idea of
Church unity, upon which mediaeval Christianity was
built, seemed about to be lost. The popes could offer no
help, so by common consent an appeal was made to a
General Council. It became the period of great councils,
Pisa, Constance, Basle, from 1414 to 1443. Upon the
history of this time and that, immediately succeeding, the
well-known work of Hefele, continued by Hergenrother,
continues to shed light from a Roman Catholic point of
view.1 The present volume embraces the period from the
conclusion of the Council of Basle till the imperial election
of 1519. Besides the General Councils of Pisa [2d.] and
the Fifth Lateran, it includes a large number of Provincial

i Konziliengeschichtc. Naeh den Quellen bearbeitet von Hefele ;
fortgesetzt von Kardinal Hergenrother. Vol. viii. Freiburg i. B.
Herder. 1887.

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 211

and Diocese synods. Nearly half the work is taken up
with the general history of the period. The writer admits
the sins of the popes, also the insufficiency of the measures
for reform, even at the Lateran Council ; but he cannot
utter a word in favor of the opponents of the Curia or the
Papacy, while with such movements as the Waldenses he
has no sympathy whatever. Valuable documents are
given from the papal archives relating to the dispute
between the bishops and the Orders at the Lateran Coun-
cil, the opposition of the university of Paris, and the
attempt at union with the Maronites. The fulness of
material respecting all the councils, great and small, of
the period treated makes the volume valuable for all stu-
dents of pre-Reformation Church history. These so-called
Reform Councils of the fifteenth century healed the schism
in the Church, and, though they did not work immediate
improvement, started and intensified free thought among
educated men, which led to an opposition, both official
and non-official, to papal wrong doing, which reached final
expression in the Revolution commonly called the Refor-
mation. It is significant that Erfurt, the University of
Luther, had the largest representation at the Council of
Basle. It is also important to find a large part of the
most earnest monastic order, the Franciscans, failing to
support the pope. The life of Matthias Doring illustrates
this.1 He was a young German. He studied in Oxford
under Wiclif, and learned the English ideas of independ-
ence. He returned to Germany where he met, especially
at Erfurt, Husite currents of thought. He became a the-
ological teacher in his Order, and, in 1431, was made com-

l Cf. an article by Gebhardt, in Hist. Zeitschrift, 1888. H. 2.

212 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

missioner to reform the "Bare Foot Monastery " in Eisen-
ach. He was also one of the Reform delegates from Erfurt
to the Council of Basle. His attack upon the despotism
of the pope1 shows how strong was the opposition of the
" Conventuals'1 among the Franciscans to the kiObser-
vants " and the pope. We learn also how sadly the Ger-
man monasteries had declined at the beginning of the four-
teenth century.2

We hear then, too, of a change for the better. Busch,
a pupil of Gerhard Groot, labored to make Windesheim a
model monastery. Besides pure living, the Bible was
revised, Church Fathers copied, and Latin works trans-
lated into German for the use of the people. Busch's book
on The Reform of Monasteries, which appeared 1475,
shows how many earnest souls in Germany were praying
for better things before Luther was born. These serious
Germans kept on thinking that it must be all right in
Rome ; and if the sins and crimes of the Church were
brought to the knowledge of the pope an improvement
must take place. But the Papacy grew worse instead of
better. When Luther was an infant, there reigned a pope
called Innocent VIII. , " who might well be named father
in Rome, for he had sixteen bastard children." After him
came Alexander VI., one of whose live children, Caesar
Borgia, is the subject of a recent study by Yriarti.3 Caesar
ktwas a fifteen year old prelate." A letter is here pub-

i Confutatio primatus pajice, written 1438.

2 See Des Augustiner-Probstes J. Busch Chronicon Windeshe-
mcnse, etc. von Grube. Halle : O. Hendel. 1887.

3 Ccesar Borgia I. The Cardinal of Valentia. Blackwood's Maga-
zine, Dec. 1887.

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 213

lished for the first time, from the cardinal father of Caesar,
supporting a bull of Innocent, which made the boy a
bishop. Twenty days after his father became pope, the lad
was made cardinal of Valentia. His income now was over
16,000 ducats. Besides this, he had 30,000 a year from
the Church of S. Michele, with income also from two other
Churches. He was now made legitimate, as an ambassa
dor said, u because he was born in the lifetime of his
mother's husband," though his mother's husband was not
his father. Csesar's crimes, Yriarti says, were not the
result of passion ; L c each is one link of a chain in a well
defined scheme. It is this element of premeditation which
makes the Duke of Valentinois a great historical character,
in spite of all that he had to leave unfinished." Lucretia,
his sister, was, " a docile instrument in the hands of the
Borgias." It was the anger of her first husband, Pesaro,
at her loss that led him to charge her father and brothers
with incestuous intercourse with her.

II. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

'We wish, in connection with a new work on this sub-
ject,1 to turn the attention of students and pastors to the
interesting and profitable field of instruction and illustra-
tion afforded by the history of the Scottish Church. The
full account of the Celtic Church in Ireland and its trans-
ference to Scotland as given by Bellesheim, a scholarly

i History of the Catholic Church of Scotland. From the Introduc-
tion of Christianity to the Present Day. By A. Bellesheim. Trans-
lated by D. O. Hunter Blair. Vols, i and ii. From the Dawn of
Christianity to the Suppression of the Catholic Religion, A.D. 1560.
W. Blackwood and Sons. Edinburgh. 1887.

214 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

and liberal German Catholic writer, and translated by a
Scotch monk of learning and good spirit, is a very instruc-
tive work, and gives the most complete history of the
Catholic Church of Scotland with which we are acquainted.
The author thinks that Christianity reached Britain as
early as the first century. It spread rapidly because there
was no persecution here until that under Diocletian. The
earliest missionary to Scotland was Ninian, whom our
author makes the pope send out ; this information he
derives from the unreliable life of the saint written by
Aelrecl in the twelfth century. Following Skene, he finds
it doubtful if Palladius was ever in Scotland, much less
the missionary successor there of Ninian. The Avork of
these early laborers came to an end, and the Scotch lapsed
again almost entirely into paganism. Then came the
Irish monks, who introduced the monastic period of Scot-
tish Church history, which lasted until the middle of the
ninth century, "when it gave way to the Culdees, who
were succeeded in their turn, about the eleventh century,
by the ordinary constitution of the Church, '' that is by the
Roman system. Bellesheim traces three periods in the
development of the Irish Church : (1) the time of the
secular clergy, that is non-monkish ministers, (2) that of
a regular or monastic clergy, and (3) that of an eremitical
clergy. In the first period, there was no such thing as a
diocesan bishop. Patrick put a bishop in every Church
that he founded. Bellesheim thinks that the great number
of bishops arose because every tribe wanted to have a
bishop of its own. He says there were several priests
under each bishop ; and yet we read of Patrick ordaining
" seven times fifty holy bishops, and three hundred priests,

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 215

as if there were as many bishops as priests. Angus the
Cuklee speaks further of one hundred and fifty-three groups
of seven bishops each. There is no trace of archbishops
in the Church of Patrick. Most of the Irish bishops were
of British or Frankish origin.

The monastic period followed the time of Patrick, mon-
achism coming from two sources, from St. Mnian's monas
tery at Whithern, in Galloway, and from Brittany and
Wales. This monastic movement revived the decayed
Church founded by Patrick, sent Columba to Scotland, and
led towards the regular mediaeval Church system. It was
succeeded by the Culdees, in the eighth century, who took
the place of the Columban monks, who were driven out of
the Pictish lands in TIT. These Culdees were hermits,
who were brought gradually under canonical rule, and gave
rise to a hermit clergy. This new order of priests arose
under the intlnence of the Roman Church, and gradually
superseded the Columban monks in Eastern and Southern
Scotland. This anchorite clergy appeared in Scotland
about the same time that we first hear of the secular clergy,
and both helped to change the monastic Celtic Church into
a Roman diocesan Church. It is admitted that the change
to the non-monastic and more Roman system led to con-
cubinage and immorality among the clergy. Skene says,
however, that clerical marriages were not unlawful before
1130.

The marriage of the clergy was soon followed by
hereditary succession to benefices in the families of the
clergy. This evil was wide-spread. The death of King
Macbeth, 1057, and the Norman Conquest were followed
by the end of the monastic period of the Scottish Church.

216 HISTORIC 'IHE0L0G1.

Parish churches appear under Edgar in Scotland [d. 1107 J.
His brother Alexander set himself to introduce into Scot-
land the Roman system of diocesan and parochial organ-
ization, as found in England, in place of the monastic
system, which had prevailed for centuries. Instead of
the Culdees there arose a host of monks from the regu-
lar orders, that soon took possession of the kingdom.
The history then moves on towards the Reformation in
Scotland. Our author says this movement spread because
of " the mechanical pressure of external force, aided by
the circumstances of time and place," and not because of
"the intrinsic vitality of the new doctrines." The mar-
tyrdom of Protestants is admitted, but, we are told, the
Church was not to blame. "It must be remembered that
these severe measures were not dictated by a spirit of
persecution. They were the logical carrying out of a
principle which had been recognized from the earliest
times in every country of Christendom — namely, the
right and duty of the secular arm to draw the sword in
defence of the Church." The causes assigned for the
spread of the Reformation in Scotland are : (1) the cor-
ruption and worldliness of many of the clergy ; (2) the
dense ignorance of the people in religious things, because
neglected by the priests ; (3) the greed of the nobles ready
to plunder the Church under the name of Reform ; (4) the
author lays stress upon the Revival of Letters among the
Scotch, to show that the Roman Church favors learning,
he miffht rather have classed it as a fourth cause of the
growth of Protestantism. Throughout the course of this
instructive work the writer seeks to leave the impression
that the Scottish people would have been much more

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 217

prosperous had they remained in the Roman Church. A
most significant comparison is near at hand. The Irish
people continued within the Roman communion ; will any
man say that Catholic Ireland can compare in all the ele-
ments of national prosperity with Protestant Scotland?
The contrast is the more striking inasmuch as until the
time of Knox the Irish were in most respects far in ad-
vance of their Scottish neighbors.

III. HISTORY OF DOCTRINE AND SECTS.

The Germanic apprehension of Christianity in the Mid-
dle Ages has 1 >een set forth recently by Seeberg. 1 Gregory
of Tours represents God as an active personality, and to do
wonders is most natural for him. A Germanic element
in his Nicene Christology appears in his opposing Arian-
ism by declaring Christ to be our end and aim, who, if
we turn to him, will in his gentle pity give us eternal life.
It is the position of the German king and his subjects.
Gregory knows of the death of Christ, but why did he
die? Gregory does not make his death a central doctrine;
he speaks of it from the point of view of the wickedness
of the Jews. Christ the kins:, and not Christ the crucified
one, was his prominent thought. He delivers us from
foes, gives us life, dwells in us, saves the saints and pun-
ishes the ungodly.

The Anglo-Saxons represent God also as a great king,
surrounded in Heaven by his armies ; the devil was a re-
bellious vassal, who through envy corrupted mankind.

1 Die Germanische Auffassnng des Christcnlhums indem frilheren
Mittelalter, in Ztft. f. Kirchl. Wiss. u. K. Leben. 1888. Hli. 2-3.

218 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

The son of the monarch, Christ, then delivered man from
the enemy. The crucifixion is set forth, but it is Christ
the Hero, not Christ, the Lamb, that is celebrated. He
died to show his love. The call to Christ is to enter the
army of the Lord, and obey his commands. Love must
be answered with gratitude. The lost perish, not because
of unbelief in the crucified Lord, but because of their in-
gratitude. Their great Captain died for his men ; their
duty was loving service to him. Besides delivering us,
Christ has taught us by word and example ; hence a Ger-
man poet summed up Christian life in living God's truth,
forsaking evil, and showing humility before pride.

The drift in the thought of the Church, in the Middle
Ages, was more and more a mystical and mysterious set-
ting forth of salvation as something received from God by
means of the Church and its peculiar rites and ceremonies.
The Lord's Supper, especially, became the center of this
mysterious communication of divine favors. All the early
Fathers spoke of it as in some sense a sacrifice ; Gregory I.
decided it was an expiatory sacrifice ; then Paschasius
Radbertus, in the ninth century, advanced the theory of
transubstantiation, that the bread and wine became the very
body and blood of Christ, and were offered in the mass as
Christ was offered on Calvary. Through much contro-
versy this view prevailed, though not till Berengar of
Tours made a second effort, in the eleventh centuay, to
restore the doctrines of Augustine and Jerome. The
quarrel, which now broke out, Schwabe finds,1 arose, not
from an earlier heresy of Berengar's, but from the dis-

l Studien zur Geschichte des zweiten Abendmahlstreits. Leipzig]

1887.

THE CHUBCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 219

pute between him and Lanfrank in 1050. The Papacy
desired neither to condemn nor justify Berengar, but the
enemies of Leo IX made use of the charge of heresy to
worry the pope. Hildebrand left the question of the Sup-
per open. Policy, not doctrine, was the chief thing.
Finally, at the Lateran Council, 1079, Gregory VII. uput
his conscience in his pocket and went over to the transub-
stantiation party, to be sure at least of a majority." He
was in this matter neither great nor powerful, but, like
other popes, a man of expediency. Thus the Church be-
came in many respects more priestly, more sacrament-
arian, more formal and scholastic in its theology, more
hierarchical and despotic in its government. As the Early
Church grew secular, from union with the classic Roman
Empire, so did the Church of the Middle Ages become
worldly and cold from too close fellowship with the Ger-
man Empire. A reaction showed itself, from the thir-
teenth century on, against this increasing corruption and
priestly system, and towards a pietism or mysticism which
sought in the prayers and communion of a few godly
brothers that peace which the formal Church could not
afford. A recent book presents x again the most promi-
nent manifestation of this tendency in the fourteenth cent-
ury, as connected with the names of Tauler, Nicholas of
Basle, and Henry Suso. In the extracts from the glowing,
ecstatic sermons of these men of God, here given, Ave can
see how just along the Ehine, and elsewhere in Germany,
the soil that afterwards most gladly received the seeds of
the Reformation was that which had been watered by the

1 Cf. Bevan. Ihree Friends of God, Etc. London. J. Nesbit &
Co., 1887. 5s.

220 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

tears of these so-called mystics. In their circles the priest-
hood of all believers, so much emphasized by Luther,
found practical illustration, for here men and women,
priests and monks, nuns and peasants met together, and
without altar or confessional, sacrament or sanctuary,
poured forth their prayers, and exhortations and blessings
as the Spirit of God moved each glad heart.

The circumstances which gave rise to Mysticism within
the Church led to the appearance of heretical sects beyond
her pale. The chief of these were the Albigences.1 We
now know that they were not the same as the Waldenses ;
neither were they good Protestants, as has been sometimes
stated. The Inquisition charged them with such black
crimes that it needed recent investigation to show the utter
groundlessness of the accusation of immorality and night
orgies among them.

Molinier has discovered a manuscript in the Vatican,
which contains the trials of 901 such heretics, between A.
D. 1318 and 1325, by Fournier, bishop of Paniers, after-
words Benedict XL In it we meet many a sad case of
men of pure life convicted of heresy by means of deceit
and treachery, and punished accordingly. The investiga-
tion of early Waldensian literature is still going on. Karl
Midler continues to hold 2 that we have no pre-Husite
Waldensian writings. He is opposed by Montet,3 Preger 4
and Comba.5

i Molinier. Etudes sur quelques Manuscrits des Bibliothequcs
aVItalie concernant V Inquisition et les Croyances heretiques du
XIII au XVII Steele. Paris, 1887. See, in general, Lea. History
of the Inquisition. 1887-88. New York. 2 vols.

2 Theol. Litercdurzeitnng. 1888. No. 16.

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE ACES. 221

IV. MONASTIC ORDERS.

The study of the Middle Ages continues with growing
activity, and the general tendency of investigators, we are
told,1 is to "translate this period from the monastic into
the Secular." And yet this widening research still leaves
the monasteries very near the heart of the religious life of
those days. Even worldly business received valuable
impulse from the intelligence and industry of the monks.
The German monasteries, in the early Middle Ages, as
has just been pointed out, took the place largely of the
modern bank.2 They supplied the need of money, and did
an unselfish and valuable service, until the church reforms
of the eleventh century stopped such loans as usury, and
the Jews became the bankers of Germany. The idea that
it was as right to hire money as anything else, could not
be entertained, because the Old Testament had forbidden
a Jew to take usury from his brother in his need. But
the German Israelite misrht take usury, according to the
Scriptures, from him that was not his brother, in this case
the Christian, and so the Jews became, and have continued
to be, the money lenders of Europe. Such a mechanical,
legalistic view of life must necessarily produce Pharisaism

3 La Noble Legon. Texte original d'apres le manuscrit de Cam-
bridge. Paris, 1888.

4 Abhandl. d. konigl. Bayer. Akademie der Wiss. 3. Kl. 18. Bd.
lAbth.

5 Histoire des Vaudois d'Ltalie, Etc. Vol. 1. Paris, 1887.

1 Cf. Mittheilungen aus der Mstorischen Litteratur. Herausgege-
ben von d. hist. Gesellschaft in Berlin. 1887. H. 4.

2 Zur Geschichte der Juden Deutschlands, in Ztft.f. die Gesch. der
Juden in Deutschland. I, 1.

222 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

in the Church ; and in monks and clergy, as prominent
professors of right living, such formality would naturally
reach its most characteristic manifestation. The impossi-
bility of keeping the law led to hypocrisy, and hypocrisy
was followed by open indulgence of sin ; then came a
reaction, and earnest men demanded reform. Men like
Waldo sought reform outside of the Church ; Francis of
Assisi tried to effect it within the Church. Weingarten
says (I. <?.), that the fundamental idea in his first rule, that
of 1209, was the perfect following of the poor life of
Christ. He founded a beggar Order, based on the exam-
ple of Christ, who 'k lived from alms himself, as did the
Blessed Virgin and his disciples." Every brother was
absolutely forbidden to receive or have more than the
means of subsistence. Joined to this idea of absolute fol-
lowing of Christ, was that of submission to the Church as
sole representative of the Divine on earth. The second
chief command of the Order Francis, like Waldo, drew
from the first ; it was the rule of apostolic preaching of
repentance and peace. From 1216 on, Franciscan mis-
sionaries went forth preaching among Mohammedans and
others. On this point Ehrle criticises1 Midler's date for
the beginning of Franciscan missions in Europe. He thinks
they began about 1217 or 1218. He also opposes the
view, that the formation of regular monasteries, instead
of the homeless, itinerant life of the first Franciscans, and
the regular organization of the Order was, as Midler holds,
a departure from the original aim of the Society. It was
rather, he maintains, a realization of the ideal followed by

i Controversen iiber die Anf tinge des Minor lienor dens, in Ztft.f.
Katholische Theologie, 1887. H. 11.

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 223

Francis himself. The struggle between the Community
and the Spirituals lasted for eight years, and then the lat-
ter were crushed, A.D. 1317-18, though a goodly number
remained, waiting for a chance to renew the conflict. The
two poles in the controversy, about the time of theVienne
council, were the writings of Olivi, and the reform of dis-
cipline in the Order.1 Of the Fraticelli, as the Spirituals
were usually called, Ehrle says :2 "In the oldest docu-
ments known to me the designation of Fraticelli is applied
to the group of Spirituals, which was led at first by Libe-
ratus, and later by Angelus of Clareno, and is not, as has
been held hitherto, a designation of an illegal formation,
a sect or sects, standing in no connection whatever with
the Franciscans proper. " The Spirituals of South France,
who left the Order after the controversy of 1317, were
not called Fraticelli. Neither was Pimcilori, nor Sega-
relli, whom Ehrle finds to have been the founder of the
Apostolic Brothers, who appeared after 1260, nor Dol-
cino, nor their followers called Fraticelli. The heretical
Fraticelli, he holds, were not actual members of the Order,
but had left it or been expelled. Various groups of such
Fraticelli appeared.

Ehrle sums up his results as follows : The name Fra-
ticelli meant (1) a sect which troubled the Church in Italy
in the fourteenth and fifteenth century. Its founders were
extreme Spirituals, who after the Council of Vienne, and
in the early years of the pontificate of John XXII. sepa-

1 Ehrle, Zur Vorgeschichte des Concils von Vienne, in Archivf. L.
u. Kirch. Gesch. des Mittelalters, 1887. Hh. 1, 2. See also his arti-
cle on Olivi, ibid. Vol. iii, Hh. 3, 4; 1887.

2 Die Spiritualen, ibid. Vol. iv, Hh. 1. 2. 1888.

224 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

rated from the Order and the Church, and formed inde-
pendent groups of pseudo-religious societies. They set
the absolute Minorite poverty on a level with the Evan-
gelical life of the Saviour and the Apostles, and put the
rules of Francis side by side with the Gospel ; hence they
regarded the decretals of pope John as heretical, and con-
sidered themselves the only true Franciscans. Full of the
prophetic dreams of Joachim, they looked for the election
of a Fraticelli pope, and through him the reform of the
Church 1)}" means of the Fraticelli.

(2) Orthodox members of Orders were also sometimes
called by this name, but more frequently pious people
were so designated, who lived as hermits, outside of the
monastic communities.

(3) Hence the heretical Fraticelli are to be distinguished
from the Apostolic Brothers, founded by Segarelli and
Dolcino, from the Bedtimes and Bernards of South France
and Germany, and also from the Spirituals, for these last
were the zealous advocates of poverty, who remained in
the Order. Only in South France was there an exception
to this. Weingarten (I. c.) also emphasizes the far-reach-
ing: influence of the Franciscan Order in the Middle Ages,
upon which Ehrle is shedding such continuous light. He
follows Denifle in finding the beginnings of German Mys-
ticism appearing under the influence of the early Fran-
ciscans. Its first home, he also admits, was in female
cloisters. Of Master Eckhart he says, "his speculative
system is much less peculiar and important than was his
psychological deepening of personal piety and making it
more inward" (p. 121). He points out that Tauler was a
pupil of Eckhart. Finally, he discovers, that German

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 225

Pietism and the principles of the Moravian Brethren are
* w the last fruit of that piety of the heart, proceeding from
inmost personal life communion with Christ, which sprang
from the original Franciscan System." If we understand
that modern Methodism is indirectly a result of the work
of the Moravian Brethren, a wonderful line of religious
movement opens up before ns — Wesley's work, German
Pietism, Catholic Mysticism, and, back of all, Francis
with his bands of workers seeking above all things to im-
prove the condition of the sick and the poor.1 Such
monastic communities were always a witness to the equal-
ity and brotherhood of all believers, for here prince and
peasant were on a level. It is not accidental, then, that we
now hear that Philip of France set himself to destroy the
Templar Order because it was a chief obstacle to his des-
potic ideas.2 These knight-monks were not heretics,
Schottmiiller asserts, and their death was " nothing but a
murder commanded by the king from motives of expedi-
ency." There was, however, something inconsistent in a
monk mounted upon a war horse, and, as can be seen from
a study of the Knights of Malta, the luxurious life of
peace soon led to corruption and immorality among them.
A collection of aniatory poems, in Greek, remains,
addressed by these knights to the ladies of Rhodes, and
by those fair dames to their monkish admirers.3 Chastity

1 Cf. further Monastic London, an Analytical Sketch of the Monks
and Monasteries, 1200 to 1600. By W. Stanhope. 5s. Also,
Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II, and Richa7\l 1. Ed.
hy R. Howlett, Vol. iii. Longmans & Co., London.

2 Schottmiiller, Der Untergang cles Tempter- Or dens. 2 Vols.
Berlin. Mittler & Sohn, 1887. M. 22.50.

3 Rhodes in Modem Times (from 3d century to Turkish occu-
pation). By Carr. Cambridge.

226 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

was nearlected and concubinage was common. Such a
state of morals was also an inevitable concomitant of the
celibacy of the clergy, which was finally firmly fastened
upon the Roman Church by Gregory VII. Lawful wed-
lock being impossible, every grade of illicit intercourse
crept in. A recent work shows how sunken morally were
the English priests of the Middle Ages.1 Bad men got
into the minor orders of clergy to escape the civil courts ;
beyond that, however, they did not usually go. We rend
here of clergy charged with murder, robbery, burglary,
adultery, and see the guilty ones degraded at the Church
door. The clergy were guilty of many crimes, and
ecclesiastical courts were too often very lenient to the
guilty ; but it must also be remembered that the clergy'
were still better than the average men of their times, and
church judges were somewhat superior to the civil judges,
who shared the jurisdiction with them. Monod illustrates!
these statements from an account of the times of Charle-
magne, given by the Visigoth bishop Theodulf.2 We heai!
at once that the civil judges were readily bribed. The
gifts are named — cloth, veils, gloves, horses, jewels,
Moorish gold money, Roman silver money, antique vasesJ
Oriental stuffs, etc. Favorable decisions could easily be
given, for the laws were very diverse, and judges ver)|
powerful. The Roman descendants had their own laws
so had the Goths, also the Franks and the Spaniards, wh(
were driven out of Spain by the Moors. What is told ui

i Memorials of the Church of SS. Peter and Wilfrid. Ripon. Vols
i and ii. Ed. by J. T. Fowler. London. B. Quaritch.

2 Cf. Les moeurs judicaires au VIII Sihcle, in Revue Historiqut
L887. No. 1.

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 227

by Theoclulf holds good essentially for the whole Empire,
and shows widespread disorders. The judges passed their
time largely in dissipation, came to court late, stayed but
three hours a day on the bench, and scarcely one bailiff in
a thousand employed by them was honest. Matters at
court went on to suit the strong and the rich. In their
interests laws against theft were particularly rigid. The
punishment for stealing an ox was greater than for killing-
a man. For a first theft an eye was put out ; for a sec-
ond, the nose was cut oft" ; for a third, the penalty was
death. Murder was rarely punished with loss of life
unless sacrilege were added to it.

V. MOVEMENTS LEADING TOWARDS THE REFORMATION.

The position of recent research into the pre-Beforcna-
tion period has been well set forth by Karl Mtiller.1 He
finds that our views of that age, as reflected for example
in the well-known book of Ullman, Reformers before the
Reformation, have been changed and corrected by new in-
formation, especially in seeing that the fifteenth century
was marked by a building up of ecclesiastical and religious
life, in contrast with the breaking down, which had pre-
ceded it in the close of the fourteenth century. This re-
vival went on in one direction till it reached the Reforma-
tion, which, consequently, did not appear in an age hostile
to the Church and religion, but rather in a time of very
great religious activity [Erregwrig], with which the Re-

i Bericht ilbcr den gegtnwartigeii Stand tier Forschung auf dem
Gebiet der vorreforrnatorischen Zeit, in Vortrage dertheol. Kon-
ferenz zu Giessen, 1887.

228 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

formation must enter into competition. The Reform
Councils sought to raise the Church by measures framed
for the whole Catholic Church. Another kind of measures
was introduced by Wiclif and Hus, who attempted reform
rather along the line of a close connection of Church life
with national life.

The view of Ullman, that there were Reformers before
the Reformation, Midler says, is groundless, although so
widespread ; for, as Ritschl has pointed out,1 these men
and the movements which they caused, all stood on the
ground of mediaeval religion and thought. Of the funda-
mental principles and forces which mark specific evangeli-
cal piety there is no trace. Wiclif arose, as Buddensieg
lias shown,2 when England was in transition. The op-
pressed Saxons were blending with their Norman lords,
national prosperity was growing fast, but chiefly to make
the nobles and the hierarchy richer by plundering the
poor. The lower classes were led to look upon the poor
as the godly ; through the Minorites the idea was spread-
ing of a terrible impending judgment of God upon the
worldly Church ; and the social war between capital and
Labor then took the garb of a struggle between the pious
laboring man and the godless capitalist, whether noble or
bishop. Such influences made Wiclif, and not any Refor-
mation ideas, such as appear in the sixteenth century. It
was especially the mediaeval ascetic, above all the ideals of
the Franciscans, through which the Church was then re-
formed. Another thought then made prominent was, that

i Geschichte ties Pietismus. Bd. I, 1884; cf. Current Discussions,
Vol. iii, 188.-), p. 183.
~ Wiclif und seine Zeit. Halle, 1885. (Quoted by MiUler.)

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 229

all mankind form a great complex life under God as su-
preme feudal lord, from whom every man receives in fee
his worldly possessions ; and these may rightly be lost by
a breach of vassal obligations. This thought is thoroughly
mediaeval. From it Wiclif argued that the hierarchy had
broken their oath to God, and the State might well as in-
strument of divine judgment, deprive it of its wrongfully
held possessions. The teaching also of Wiclif and Hus,
that church membership depends on keeping God's law,
and not on recognition of the hierarchy, and, that this law
is in the Bible, not in the pope, does not leave mediaeval
ground, for the Church as a means of grace with clergy
and sacraments is still recognized and honored. The prom-
inence given to God's law by Wiclif, shows that he was
far from the position of the Reformers. The same is true
of Hus. He presents but a new order of the elements of
mediaeval thought and piety. Hus did not stand closely
connected with the preachers of penitence, who preceded
him. He began a new line, Wiclifism. This, combined
with national Bohemianism, explains the whole Hus move-
ment, Hus was a leader of both. The Bohemian national
feeling took up Wiclifism, and they combined against
What was German and ecclesiastical. The later Husite
movement adopted much of the Franciscan and Joachim
teachings, worked them over, and spread them widely in
the second half of the fifteenth century, and thus prepared
the way for both the religious fanaticism, the Anabaptist
movement, as well as the social revolution of the sixteenth
century. The same peculiarities appear in both the Husite
and the Anabaptist movement, Out of both, too, after
the time of ferment was past, are found arising sober, quiet

230 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

churches bearing the mediaeval stamp, and showing the
best products of mediaeval religiosity, viz., the Bohemian
Brethren and the Mennonites.

Miiller finds a second great group of reform efforts in
the domain of monastic life. The movement here went
hand in hand with the existing Church, and was more or
less undertaken by it. The two prominent lines of activ-
ity here followed were, (1) the reforms in the Benedictine
Order, and its related Orders, and (2) the work among the
Beggar monks. The most important reforms among the
Benedictines took place in Germany. New monasteries
arose, and the old were brought into better discipline.
But here, too, as we now know, all was mediaeval in
thought. The Brothers of the Common Life, the author
of the Imitatio Christi, were anything else but teachers of
Reformation theology. Among the Beggar monks the re-
forms were more important. Three points are significant,
according to Miiller, (1) that these reformed congregations
of monks had the greatest influence anions: the common
people, they were the leaders of popular piety, in the sec-
ond half of the fifteenth century ; (2) in the special appear-
ance of one of these congregations, that of the Augustine
Eremites, to which Luther belonged ; and, (3) in the com-
mandins: form of the reformed Dominican Savonarola.
One striking fact about this reformed monasticism is, that
nowhere in it is there a definite, original principle for the
totality of Christian life ; everywhere we find it broken
up into a mass of observances, and a mystic fanaticism,
especially for Mary and the saints, which sought to put
spirit into the many observances of the Church. Miiller
says we now know that the writings of Augustine were

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 231

not zealously studied among the Augustines, neither did
that Father's doctrines of grace reach Luther through this
channel ; we see here also how original and independent
Luther was. Neither did Savonarola know or preach jus-
tification by faith ; he remained a reformed Beggar monk,
a preacher of penitence, a prophet of the coming judg-
ment as described by Joachim.

Turning* to the revival of religious life in general in
Germany, Miiller finds it proceed from the Low Coun-
tries, by way of Lower Saxon)', through Central and
South Germany. It showed itself chiefly in the better
men, who entered the office of bishop and priest, and in
the greatly improved and widespread religious literature.
The whole time from about 1450 on, was a period of grow-
ing religious need, active religious effort, and an almost
boundless increase of all the means of grace, which
belonged to mediaeval piety, — church building, founda-
tions of all sorts, architecture, painting, passion plays,
processions, etc. There was also an unhealthy activity,
which developed pilgrimages, witchcraft, saint worship,
ghosts, an army of devils, and an army of angels and
saints, all seen in conflict in the Church and in every
human soul. There was thus heaped up a mass of inflam-
mable material, which pointed towards a conflagration,
that should destroy existing relations. Husite ideas went
abroad, and we hear of men denying the doctrines of
eternal punishment and indulgences. Revolutionary
thoughts were in the air. Divine judgment would smite
Church and clergy, noble and mighty, their riches
would vanish, their property be given to the poor, the
lazy priest should become a plowman, and the poor peas-

232 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

ant serve at the altar ; so the ideas ran. It was a time
when the social disparity had become more and more
glaring, and rebellious hearts were demanding justice for
the virtuous poor. These views were the natural out-
growth of mediaeval ethics and social theories ; they were
applied by laymen to the rich and autocratic Church ; they
rested on the idea that all property claims were sinful,
and all human authority associated with wrong. Hence
reform in the direction of poverty was demanded.
Through the fifty years preceding the Reformation, the
prominent thoughts were, destruction of church riches,
and the might of rulers. Complaints were loud that the
Church was hopelessly corrupt. Socialistic and religious
ideas were mingling, to bring a second Husite movement
into play, this time throughout Germany. There was
discontent of a mystical, communistic sort among the
people, and a chaos of opinions threatened Europe. The
only power that advanced was the civil government. The
German rulers, through cries for reform, and through
the consent of the pope, who saw rebellious clergy disre-
gard his will, were enabled to increase their authority
in both civil and religious affairs. This fact is of vast
importance in view of the place which the princely power
was to occupy in the sixteenth century. Midler sums up
as follows : In most parts of Europe, in the fifteenth cen-'
tury, there was a stream of religious need, which, in
Germany, spread over the nation, like a flood. It met
here with passionate outbursts of national discontent,
which, in view of the breaking up of church relations,
looked towards a terrible transition in the life of the peo-
ple. Should the change be peaceful, or violent, a ref-

THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 233

ormation, or a revolution? Both elements came into
play, and find illustration later in the fanatics and Ana-
baptists, who appeared with Luther and Melanchthon, in
the revolution of the knights and the Peasants' war, and
in the growth of princely power and absolutism.1 In Spain
only did the mediaeval ecclesiastical system receive com-
plete establishment. Ferdinand and Isabella founded the
Spanish kingdom ; they also reformed the national Church,
bringing the hierarchy under the Catholic kingdom ; at
the same time the laity were subjected rigorously to the
hierarchy, in a way that fixed fast the old church religi-
osity in Spain. Then the Spanish king became ruler of
Burgundy, Germany and Italy, and seeing his power
threatened by the Kef ormation, in Germany, applied the
principles of the Spanish church system unceasingly until
the whole old Church was penetrated by them. Through
reform of the Papacy, hierarchy and monasticism, through
decisions in matters of doctrine, through the Jesuit Order,
the Index and the Inquisition, these principles introduced
the counter-Reformation, and brought about the new and
terrible revival of the Papal Church. Everywhere in the
fifteenth century there was a seeking after peace and rest,
which the mediaeval Church could not satisfy.

i Cf. Philippi, Der Sogenannte Artikelbrief des Miinstersclien

Wicdertdufer Kiinigs Johann von Leiden, in Ztft. f. k. Geschichte,

1888. Bd. I. H. 1, and, in general, Armitage, A History of the
BiqUists, London. 1887.

CHAPTER III.
THE MODERN CHURCH.

I. THE REFORMATION.

The new attitude assumed by the infallible Papacy
towards the Reformation has called forth not a little
apologetic literature from Protestant writers in defence of
that great emancipation movement. The Encyclica of
Leo XIII. [1881] called the Reformation a Revolution.
using that word in its evil sense, and charging it with pro-
ducing all the violent changes which have since troubled
Christendom. This position is defended at great length
by Hohoff.1 He treats of (1) kCthe great German Revo-
lution of the sixteenth century,'1 (2) cithe great English
Revolution of the seventeenth century," (3) "the great
French Revolution of the eighteenth century," and (4) "the
Revolution in the nineteenth century," under which lie
puts Socialism, Anarchism, Nihilism, and all the evils of
modern society. The work is interesting as an extreme
product of the new Ultramontane method of writing his-
tory. How little real liberty Roman Catholic scholars
now enjoy has been shown by Nippold, in his reference to
the three conditions under which Kraus' Church History

1 Die Revolution seit clem 16. Jahrhundert im Lichte der neuesten
Forschung. Freiburg, i. B.

THE MODERN CHURCH. 235

was allowed to appear in a second edition.1 (1) The
extant copies of the first edition were to be called in ;
(2) in the new edition the points noted by the Index Con-
gregation were to be corrected or left ont ; (3) before the
new edition was printed it must be sent to Rome for
approval. So Leo XIII. defines the extent to which his
followers may go in using the Vatican stores which he has
opened to their hands. All deviations from the Roman
Church are to be treated as the desolating Revolution scat-
tering firebrands and death. But this theory is capable
of a two-sided application, as Greeven has just shown. 2
He carries the war into Roman Catholic lands, and points
to Spain and her colonies. France and Belgium, Poland
and Ireland as the particular breeding places of revolu-
tions ; just as Italy was, so long as the Church-State
existed. Roman Catholic countries are the scene of polit-
ical and social overturning constantly manufactured, and
of the most bloody character. On the other hand, health-
ful revolutions, like that in England, in 1688, and in
France, in 1788, were crises resulting in good. Louis XV
said " apres moile deluge" for he knew the wrongs that
cried to the God of Noah in France. He thought that
" an archbishop of France should at least believe there
was a God"; the higher clergy were profane, and every
man saw how corruption filled the heart of the Church and
the aristocracy. In 1787, the French king declared lib-
erty of conscience, and in the same year the United States

1 Infallibilismus u. Geschichtfiforschung, in Jahrb. f. Prot. Theo-
logie. 1888. H. 1.

2 Das Jahr 1887 cin Jubeljahr der Oewissensfreiheil, in Deutsch-
Evan. Blatter. 1888. H. 1.

236 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

congress forbade the introduction by law of a new religion
or the interference with any religion. All this liberty was
born of the right kind of Revolution. Similar reasoning
applies to the condition of things in the times of Luther.
Every honest man felt that something must be done to
reform the Church in both head and members. A recent
study of the reform efforts of Duke George of Saxony, a
man who refused to leave the Papal Church, abundantly
illustrates this statement,1 He turned his attention espe-
cially to the improvement of the monasteries in his land.
Things grew so bad that from Duke William 114-1:6] on,
the rulers, without permission from Koine, took this mat-
ter in hand. At tirst entreaties and promises were made
to the monks ; then, in 1483, the ducal brothers, Ernest
and Albert, complained to the pope, and demanded reform
of the monasteries. The bishops tried to do it, but
effected little. George then took the matter into his own
hands. He had been educated for the priesthood, his
good mother saying in a letter to him "I hope one day
you will be a good preacher." He first took steps to
work through the bishops; he found that not satisfac-
tory, and then had his representatives work with those
of the bishops. In 1501, we hear the bishop of
Merceburg commanding his clergy to give up their
wives and concubines, not to lie around in beer houses.
not to receive strolling monks, excommunicated or irreg-
ular, "or even, horrible to tell, murderers/' Nuns, too,
are reported as wandering about outside of their cloisters.

i Die Klostervisitation des Herzog Georg von Sachsen. Von Gess.
Leipzig, 1888. Cf. Also Hasse, Geschichte der Sdchsischen Kloster.
Gotha, 1888,

THE MODERN CHURCH. 287

When the Reformation began under Luther, all the rest-
less characters connected with monasteries seized the
opportunity to escape. The evils which George set him-
self to oppose seemed multiplied, with Luther a lawless
monk at the head of the disorders. He always spoke of
the Reformer as vkthe perjured monk.'' He found him
destroying the monasteries instead of reforming them.
But the tide was too strong even for George. He saved
the Augustinian monasteries of his land, while all around
they disappeared. The storm of 1525, raised by the
Anabaptists, however, destroyed many of them. The
duke labored to restore them, but they never regained
their former strength. Thus the Saxon ruler saw his
reform efforts brought to naught by fanatics and extrem-
ists, who made the peace of ruin in the name of reform.
And yet this staunch Roman Catholic held on, demanding
a General Council for the reform of the Church. He
said, wwIf the Roman Church saw herself short 10,000
guldens, there would come Anathema, an army on the
march, all Christendom summoned to help ; but now when
it is only the salvation of the souls of hundreds of thous-
ands, the good shepherd joins himself to him, who always
broke in like the wolf on the fold," that is the king of
France. - No help came from Rome, so George went on
with the work of monastic reform himself from 1535 to
1538. A visitation showed a sad state of affairs. With
two exceptions, the cloisters were places of disorder,
greed, ki gluttony and drunkenness." Such a visitation
was an unheard of thing in monastic experience, and the
duke met with all sorts of hindrance in his work. Before
he could finish his task he died, and under his successor

238 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

the monasteries fell ; yet the labors of George deserve to
be recalled to show how irreformable the Papal system as
such is. He died clinging to the hope that a General
Council might find a way of safety and improvement for
the hard beset Church. But the popes would not call
such a council, hence more and more must the Imperial
Diets legislate in ecclesiastical matters. At the Diet of
Worms, the cause of Luther became national. His
famous words, which expressed his deep consciousness,
that he stood for God and Fatherland, have just been
found in a printed text of 1521, which appeared under
Luther's own eyes, and settles the question. They run :
Teh Van niekb anderst, hie stehe <c/t< Got helff mir.
Amen.1

After the early reformation conflict, a lull appeared at
the Diet of Spires 1520. Here, as three times before, the
effort was made to solve the religious question at a Diet ;
but when this could not he effected, the attempt to reach
a general deliverance was abandoned, and it was left to
the several states to act, till a General Council should meet,
as they should answer to God and the emperor. The Pro-
testants accordingly regarded this as permission to go on
with the Reformation. Such, at all events, is the com-
monly accepted view. Friedenburg, however, advocates ~
a theory very like that of the Roman Catholics, and holds
that the Empire by no means gave up the attempt to solve
the religious question, but rather made an energetic effort
to settle it by saving church unity. Hence the embassy

1 Of. Dummer, Lutherdrucke auf der Hamburger Stadtbiblio-
thek, 151G-1523. Leipzig, 1888.

2 Der Reichstag zu Speier 1526. Berlin : 11. Gartner, 1887.

THE MODERN CHURCH. 239

was sent to Charles V. to explain the matter, and to urge
him to call a council,, and visit Germany himself. Eo'el-
haaf, on the other hand, maintains1 that the Diet had no
such intention or significance. Slowly the new leaven
must work, away from a Christianity of legality and
priestcraft, which a German Diet might grasp, towards
that free Gospel, which can be really expressed only in a
renewed life. Reforming Germany must pass through an
experience like that of Luther himself, and that was a
change spiritual and moral. He was the great founder of
Protestant morals,2 in breaking away from mediaeval mys-
ticism, and teaching that true work in any earthly calling,
howsoever simple and lowly, is the work with which God
is well pleased. In comparison with this all the highly
praised works of asceticism and monasticism are utterly
worthless. Here all discord between religion and morality
at last ended. Luther avoided the extreme of unevangel-
ical practices of the law, on the one hand, as he did extrav-
agant antinomianism, on the other. For the conscience
and heart he would have freedom from law ; but for the
outer life in the world and society, where the religious and
godless are always together, the law should remain as con-
trolling authority. How he applied these is seen in his
classic work To the Christian Nobility of the German
Nation. In reference to the wellknown controversy be-
tween Luther and Zwingli, Richard says,3 that had Calvin

i Historische Zeitsehrift, 1888. H. 1, p. 113.

2 So Pfleiderer, Luther as Founder of Protestant Morals, in The
Lutheran Quarterly, Jan. 1888.

3 Historical Development of the Lutheran Doctrine of the Ijon/'s
Supper, in The Bibliotheca Sacra, Jan. 1888.

240 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

instead of Zwingli been at the Marburg conference, Luther
would have taken his offered hand ; l fc as between his own
view of the Lord's Supper and Calvin's, he did not see
difference sufficient for controversy." It was Zwingli's
rationalism that offended Luther ; he thought Zwingli
overthrew the sacraments as means of grace. Richard
thinks that during the whole period of controversy the
Lutheran Church has preserved her doctrine of the Lord's
Supper ktfree from all gross, carnal, physical, local cor-
ruptions."

The Reformation in Hungary is ever associated with the
persecution which the Gospel had to suffer here from the
iron hand of Austria. A recent article illustrates this
afresh from the sufferings of Hungarian Protestants, in the
middle of the seventeenth century.1 In one town of 0000
people all the men were summoned at once to trial for
heresy. Thirty-nine citizens and four hundred of the
common people in Pressburg were declared guilty in life
and a'oods. Three hundred Protestant churches were eon-
fiscated in a few months. In 1(374, all Protestant clergy
and teachers in Hungary, with some students and church
officers, were summoned to account. Forty-one faithful
preachers were sent " like a herd of cattle' to Venice,
where the survivors were sold as galley skives at fifty
scudi apiece. Thus did Austria and the Jesuits work their
terrible plan of a counter-Reformation in Hungary. We
are not surprised to learn that within four years 60,000
u heretics" were " converted," while a wave of Protestant
emigration flowed over Switzerland, Holland and Germany.

i Her grosse Kurfiirst u.die protcstantisdwi IJtigam, in Hist. Ztft.
1887. H. 3.

THE MODERN CHURCH. 241

The Reformation in Spain was so thoroughly crashed
out that church historians pass it by with little or no
mention. Recent research, however, is shedding not a
little light upon this obscure page in the story of the per-
secuted Church.1 Here, too, Ave find the same formalism
and moral deadness, as prevailed elsewhere in Europe, in
the fifteenth century. Cardinal Ximines, when he conse-
crated the great mosque of Albeycin to be a church, bap-
tized 4000 Moors, who knew nothing about Christ, and
did not wish to know anything about Him. Wilkens says :
"The fifteenth century has been praised, as a period great
in all directions, by spiritually blind and half blind human-
ists, philologians, and historians, on account of its disco-
veries and inventions, because, deceived by a Fata morgana
of the Paradise Restored of ancient classic glory, they have
overlooked the field full of dead men's bones." Ximines
labored for reform in the Church, supported by queen
Isabella and the Inquisition. He took away wealth from
idle monks, Franciscans and others, and gave it to the
poor pastors, schools, and hospitals. He purged both
monks and priests. His aim was to strip off all that de-
formed the solemn structure of mediaeval Catholicism ; i >ut
every other change was to be avoided. The traditional
errors were to be kept ; only their evil fruits were to be
plucked off. In the sixteenth century, the mistake was
widespread that the whole Church of the early centuries
had a clear understanding of the Biblical way of salvation,
put that it was lost, until restored by Luther. We now
see, however, that cultus, decisions of councils, and Fathers

1 Cf. Wilkens, Geschichte des Spanischen Protestantismus im 16.
Jahr. Gutersloh : C. Bertelsmann. 1888. M. 4.

242 HISTORIC THEOLOGt.

did not set forth the teachings which God called Luther to
present, in this our time, for all the Church. Justification
by faith alone made sad breaks in the mediaeval system,
and must overthrow it. This was soon felt in Spain,
where the mediaeval theology was still in full vigor, and
where Spanish pride and orthodoxy went hand in hand.
All that was needed was to present what Luther taught,
and the hate of Jew and Moor was ready for the Protest-
ant. This hate was intensified by the fact that Charles V.,
a Spanish king, was emperor, and his power was ham-
pered by German heretics. The king, and not a few
others, saw in the sins of the clergy the excuse for heresy.
Similar reasons account for the spread of the thin morality
and thinner theology of Erasmus, in Spain. His followers
formed both a churchly and a rationalistic school in the
Church. The natural result Avas, also, an opposition to
such teachings, and that not only among ignorant monks,
but also among educated, godly men, who found no real
spirituality in Erasmus. Alfonso de Valdes, secretary of
state, was an Erasmian, but his defence of the sack of
Rome by the emperor, speaking of it as God's judgment
upon the corruptions of that, city, with its Renaissance
vileness, worked against Erasmian teachings in Spain, for
the sack of Rome was indefensible. The pope condemned
all the works of Erasmus, except his writings against
Luther, and the Spanish Inquisition set itself to stamp out
Erasmians.

As for the Lutheran heresy, every effort was made to
keep it out of Spain. Yet Spanish students at French
universities heard of the new doctrines. Juan Diaz was
such an one, a Spanish theologian, who became a Lutheran,

THE MODERN CHURCH. 243

a friend of Calvin, and defended Protestantism before
Spanish courtiers at Regensbunj. He was assassinated by
his own brother, and fell the first Protestant martyr of
Spain. Francisco de Enzinas translated the New Testa-
ment into Spanish ; but it was not allowed to be published
in Spain. Juan de Yaldes. twin brother of the secretary,
became an earnest Protestant, and led his noble friends,
humanitarians, especially in Naples, towards the Gospel.
He influenced the noble Reginald Pole, later cardinal.
Ochino took texts from him. He taught Peter Martyr to
read Paul's Epistles, and many Italian ladies of princely
rank were influenced by him. But the movement soon
came to an untimely end, for the papal Church stamped
out these students of St. Paul, and, like Saul of Tarsus,
thought it was doing God service. In Spain, secret
believers read Luther's Commentary on the Galatians, also
a catechism by Carranza, an evangelical archbishop of
Toledo, while other Spanish Protestant books came from
Italy to help on the quiet propaganda. Fuente exercised
great influence in Seville by his preaching and writings. :
These evangelical works escaped the notice of the Inquisi-
tion under cover of mysticism, because they referred to
Bernard and Bonaventura, and had points of contact with
later mystics, who wished not only to know of Christ, but
to possess him ; so this similarity of aim in mystics and

1 Translations of these, and other works, have been made by J. T.
Berts, 1869, 1882, 1883, London. Cf., in general, the series Refor-
mistas antiguos Espanotes, 1863 ff. , Menendes y Pelayo, Historia
de los Heterodoxos Espanoles, 1880 ; and the classic work, Bibliotheca
Wijf'criiana. Spanish Reformers of two centuries from 1520. By
E. Bcehmer. 1874-1883. 2 Vols. For the literature since 1848, see
Wilkens, in Ztfl.f. K. Geschichte, 1887. H. 2.

244 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

evangelicals covered, in the eyes of most, the divergency
of the ways proposed to reach it.

One of the writings of Penafuerte, based on a sermon
of Ochino's, showed the sad decline of the Papacy, and led
the Inquisition to proceed against the secret Lutherans in
Seville, who numbered three hundred. De Reina fled to
London, where he drew up a Protestant confession for the
Spanish exiles there. Then he labored in Basle, where he
spent nine years on his Spanish Bible, which has become
the classic translation of the Scriptures. It was in Valla-
dolid, however, that the persecution first broke out. (1a-
zalla led the martyr band of fifteen at the first auto da fe
Many others suffered less severe punishment. Fuente
was often summoned before the Holv Office ; as he said
"they want to burn me, but find me too green yet." He
died later in prison. Four auto da fes ended the Protest-
ant movement in Valladolid and Seville. Thousands
were not put to death, as is usually stated. It did not
need such slaughter, for ktthe misunderstood and hated
Spanish Protestantism was a morning dawn with no suc-
ceeding day." The old system remained unshaken, and
we are not surprised a little later to hear of so many cor-
rupt priests that twenty scribes could not take down the
complaints made, after notice requesting such complaints to
be made, though they spent thirty days at it. For ninety
days veiled women in Seville told their sad tales of priestly
immorality.

Turning to England, in Reformation days, we see from
a recent life of Wolsey1 how Christendom was then still

i Creighton. Twelve English Statesmen. Cardinal Wolsey. Loii
don. Macmillan & Co. 1S88.

THE MODERN CHURCH. 245

regarded as one united body, and how naturally England
tried to be a mediator between contending states, as a
member of the great system. Wolsev sought to make her
"secure a leading position in European affairs, which
since his days has seemed her natural right," The prime
minister in the time of Henry VIII. was first of all the
servant of his sovereign. The principle of authority was
so strong that a statesman felt his first duty was to obex'
his king, as the churchman felt his first duty was to obey
the Church. This idea of unquestioning obedience may
help explain the persecutions of both Catholics and Prot-
estants in England, now done at the command of the kino-
now under the feeling of loyalty to the pope. How these
things appear to a Jesuit historian can be seen in the work
of Spillman.1 During the whole period of Protestant su-
premacy in Britain 353 persons are claimed by the Roman
Catholic Church to have died as martyrs. But that is just
about as many as the number of Protestants, that fell in
the one short reign of Mary. Among the fifty-four mar-
tyrs pronounced ^blessed r by Leo XIII [1886] occur
eighteen Carthusian monks ; and the account of their mon-
astery shows primitive simplicity, devotion and purity ;
the king and his visitors were criminals compared with not
a few of the monks whom they plundered. These mar-
tyrs fell opposing the act of supremacy by which Henry
VIII made himself pope. This monarch might well be-
wail the religious demoralization, which he saw in England,
in his last days. Under Elizabeth, we are told, twenty-
six Catholics were put to death, up to 1583 ; the greater

l Die Englischen Martyrer unter Heinrich VIII unci Elisabeth.
2 vols. Freiburg, i. B. Herder, 1887.

24i> HIS TOR I G THE OL OG V.

number fell later. Sixteen of these were priests, who
had been trained in the English Seminaries of Douay,
Rheims and Home. These young priests saved the Cath-
olic Church in England from the fate that befell it in Den-
mark and Scandinavia. Henry retained Catholicism but
rejected the pope. Elizabeth followed the policy of Ed-
ward, and allowed Protestantism to spread. The Catholic
peasantry rebelled but, Spillman says, were crushed [ 1 5 4 i > |
through the help of German troops and Italian sharp-
shooters. Calvin, he adds, urged Somerset to slay the
followers of the Roman Antichrist with the sword. Then
Mary came to the throne, and not till her gentleness was
abused did she take sterner measures.1 "In fact," we are
told, w'inost of those put to death were notorious rebels and
common criminals, who had more than once deserved the
death penalty.'" Spillman admits, however, that the num-
ber of executions, 288, was sadly large. As an offset, he
says that Elizabeth, crushing a rebellion, killed three
times as many. She perjured herself, he continues, when
she came to the throne by swearing to defend the Cath-
olic religion, and then goaded the Catholics into rebellion.
Cecil knew a rebellion was being planned, but preferred to
let it break out and then punish it. During the war with
France Elizabeth declared to the papal Nuntius that she
was a true Catholic.

i For much light on the relations in the reign of Mary, Sec lU<j-
inald Pole, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury . A Biography. By
Lee. London. Nimmo. 1888.

THE MODERN CHURCH. 24'

II. THE hugup:nots.

Baird is not certain how manv Huguenots left France,
whether 800,000 or 300,000, and continues, "much the
greater part of the Protestants found themselves compelled
to renounce all thought of escape."1 They must stay in
France. Of the ministers, however, very few were bribed
to stay and submit ; "all the others, between six and seven
hundred in number," not 2000, as is sometimes said,
"left the realm rather than renounce their faith." To stay
after 1(580 was certain death. In this last decade of the
seventeenth century, French Protestants were left as sheep
without a shepherd, and Bible reading, especially of the
prophets, became the comfort of these oppressed ones.
Now arose " prophets, " claiming direct revelations from
Heaven against Rome as Antichrist, much as they arose
in the thirteenth century among the Franciscans. Their
preaching gave rise to the war of the Camisards. which
raffed from 17o2 to 1704. It was civil war to the death.
After this, in 17-15, arose the Church of the Desert, taking
some form of organic life. Antoine Court became now
the restorer of French Protestantism, "the eldest son of
Calvin," as he was called, the boy preacher in the wilder-
ness. The first prominent synod was organized in 1715.
Baird refers to Hugues' edition of the Acts of these Syn-
ods as of great value. It appeared in three volumes, 1885
to 1887, and covers the period from 1715 to the last
synod, in 1796. From this work we see that the Church
in France, in the Desert, "was devoted to the idea of a

i Cf. The French Synods of the Desert, in The Presbyterian

Review, Jan. 1888.

248 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

well-ordered government." Proper rules of debate were
prominent from the outset. Great care was taken as soon
as possible to ' ' secure a ministry pious, exemplary in eon-
duct, able and learned." For this purpose, at the wise
suggestion of Court, a theological seminary was planted
across the border on the friendly soil of Switzerland.

The expatriated Huguenots, as well as the Protestant
refugees from Hungary, found one of their best friends
in Frederick, the great Elector of Prussia. As early as
the time of Luther and Calvin Huguenots had settled in
different parts of German}.1 A system of colonization
appeared first in the Rhine Palatinate, the first colony
being in Mannheim. The Lutherans in Saxony tried to
keep these Reformed Christians out of their land, and
about 20,000 of the 600,000, according to Tollin, who
left France, went to Prussia. There Avere in Berlin, in
1703, 5689 Huguenots, with twelve pastors, out of a pop-
ulation of 37,000 ; now there are but 5000, with six min-
isters, in a population of 1,500,000. But who can tell
the strength and blessing this Huguenot blood and spirit
may have poured into the national life of Prussia? What
gain, even temporal, these French Protestants brought to
Germany may be learned from the statement that they
introduced sixty-five trades and industries unknown before
in Prussia.

i See Tollin, Geschicht'e <l< r fra?izosischcn Kolouic in Magdeburg.
1 Bel. Halle : Niemeyer. 1886.

THE MODERN CHURCH. 249

III. CHURCH LIFE IN HOLLAND.

Of the secession movement going on in Holland in
behalf of orthodoxy,1 we have just received two different
accounts. Cairns says2 all authorities agree, that the
return of Holland to a supernatural Christianity, during
the last twenty years, has been decided. This return
assumes two aspects, a more liberal and a more confes-
sional. Of the one the late Dr. Van Oosterzee was a
prominent representative ; of the other the leader is Dr.
Kuyper. This latter school has, since 1885, brought on
a crisis. The eleven churches in Amsterdam are under
one church council of 110 members, a majority of whom
were orthodox in 1885, and were suspended, in 1886, by
the synod, for refusing to accept to membership persons
who did not profess Jesus Christ as their only Saviour.
Cairns holds, against the rationalistic synod, that Kuyper' s
contention, that he and his followers were suspended on
doctrinal grounds, is correct. The suspended ministers
hired six lar^e halls in Amsterdam, which were tilled at
their services, while those held in the churches were almost
forsaken. Kuyper claims that two-thirds of the church-
going people in the capital sympathize with the Reform
party. The theological position of the orthodox, in oppo-
sition to the synod, was sharply summed up by Kuyper
in his Last Word, addressed to that body in 1886. He
says: "You do not share our convictions. As a synod
you do not confess the three-one God ; you do not find

i Cf. Current Discussions, Vol. v, 1888, p. 218.
2 8t7uggle in the Church of Holland, in The Presbyterian Review,
Jan. 1888.

250 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

yourselves in sympathy with our sense of guilt in the
presence of the Holy One ; you do not believe in eternal
punishment ; you do not glory in Immanuel as God over
all blessed forever, you are not at home in the holy mys-
teries of his miraculous birth, sin-atoning death, justifying
resurrection, and glorious ascension in our human flesh."
Again, "the Church of Christ is not to you c a company
of believers with their seed;' Holy Scripture is not the
sole authority by which all human opinion is to be judged ;
the Headship of Christ is not to you an official sover-
eignty, but a figure for the influence of his past appear-
ance in History." Yet the synod deposed these men on
a question of outward order, a synod *wto whom ail inward
harmony had Ions: been indifferent." In May, 1887, this
Reform movement had fifty ministers in its service and
had raised about 150,000. We turn now to another ac-
count1 of this Secession under Kuyper, written from Hol-
land anonymously, but evidently by some one not in sym-
pathy with the party of orthodoxy. He admits that the
movement began against the boundless license allowed
preachers in doctrinal matters ; it then proceeded to fight
for a free church system ; and this involved much bitter-
ness of feeling. He says the spirit of the days of Dort is
abroad, and "godless synods" charge "synodal blood-
hounds " with terrible things in judgment. The cry of the
"reformers" is, "back to the old church order which we
had before 181C>." They are accused of using unscrupu-
lous means to gain their ends. It is said that Kuyper's
influence is weakening, and his attacks becoming more

i Das Ende der " reformirten" Bewegany in der niederlandischen
reform irten Kirche, in Deutsch-Evangelische Blatter, 1888. H. 4.

THE MODERN CHURCH. 251

personal. The supporters of the free university, in
Amsterdam, we are told, have diminished l>v 300, and the
contributions have fallen oft' sixty-five per cent in Rotter-
dam. And yet we hear that the preachers in Amsterdam
receive already $300 more salary than at first, while those
in Rotterdam get $4-25 additional. In 1880, the u re-
formers" took possession of one of the churches in Am-
sterdam, and guarded it day and night with twenty men.
They were also charged with plotting to seize all the
churches of the city. In one ease, we are told, it came to
blows, and street fights with bloodshed. After the expul-
sion of seventy-five ministers and elders, in December,
1886, an independent church was formed in Amsterdam,
and the authority of the " Synodal hierarchy " thrown oft'.
The old name was chosen, uThe Low German Reformed
Church." They called themselves also "the dolirend
Church," or "the grieving Church," a name used in the
seventeenth century by the orthodox, who suffered under
State oppression. Church buildings and other properly
were given up to the state Church. In January, 1887,
the " Reformed Congress r met in Amsterdam, attended
by 2000 persons, who all declared it their belief, that the
yoke of the Synod should be shaken oft'. The Church
authorities soon after declared such persons no longer in
the Church : and then arose a number of free churches.
The Reformers claim to be the true Church of Holland,
they have over 20,000 members in Amsterdam, about one-
eighth of the total membership ; besides the churches here
and in Rotterdam, there are also 10,000 members in other
places. At the conference in Rotterdam, in June, 1887,
there were represented eight}' free churches and forty

252 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

churches still 'Minder the yoke;' that is, about one tenth
of the 1345 Reformed congregations in Holland have joined
the Free Church movement. At this conference, in Rot-
terdam, the Presbyterian organization of the old Church
was renewed, with modifications. To meet the needs of
the people, students from any institution might be exam-
ined for the ministry, nay even those who had received
no academic training, but were men of gifts, could be
received into the ministry. This is in harmony, he says.
with the whole movement as "Independency of the pious
people.'' In some cases the Reformers got possession of
the churches, in others they built their own ; otherwise
they met in barns, or, more frequently, in school houses.
Opponents of Kuyper call him a pope, and hold that the
movement is betraying the Church into the hands of the
Papacy. The outcome of this struggle for a Free Church
in Holland will be watched with great interest.1

IV. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

The drift in the Roman Catholic Church in our days
seems towards higher ecclesiastical claims, especially in the
ease of the pope himself, and a lower degree of intelligent
piety and zeal. The fierce light of modern investigation
does not allow a prominent theologian to be made a saint
as readily as did the "dim religious light' of pre-Refor-
mation times. The full account of the attempts made to
canonize Bellarmine, now published for the first time, 2

i Cf., further, Geesink, Calvinisten in Holland, Rotterdam, 1887.

2 Die Selbstbiographie des Cardinals Bcllarmin. mit geschichtl.
Erlihiterungen von Dollinger and Reusch. Bonn, 1887.

The modern cSi m cm. 253

illustrates this tendency. Such efforts began in 1027,
they were resumed in 1827, and are still going on. The
Congregation of Kites decided that the learned Jesuit be
made a saint, but the popes ever hesitated ; his Autobi-
ography, especially, told too much honest truth about the
man, who defended Pelagianism and asked for reforms in
the Church, to make it expedient to canonize him. It is
difficult for any man who is very prominent in the Church
to have his private life revealed, and be regarded as pos-
sessing the theological and cardinal virtues in the heroic
degree required of saints. Augustine is the only great
ecclesiastic who published his Confessions and yet was
made a saint. Gregory I. who died in 601:, was the last
pope canonized. The life of Leo XIII, just published, 1
will doubtless form no exception to this experience, that
for twelve hundred years the official bearers of the title
wu Holiness'' have not been numbered among the highest
official saints. And yet there is no reason why the spirit
of devotion and self-sacrifice, in the Roman Catholic
Church, should not become more and more manifest.
Many earnest efforts in other days for good were thwarted
by the close, the material connection between the Church
and the estates of this world. During our century, as
never before since the time of Constantine, has the current
of events turned the Papacy away from temporal power,
and pointed the whole Church towards the saying, ktMy
kingdom is not of this world."

How this movement went on in Germany is well de-
scribed by Briick, in his History of the Catholic Church in

-z Life of Leo XIII. From an authentic memoir furnished by his
order. By B. O'Reilly. L. Webster & Co., 1887.

254 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

the Nineteenth Century, the first volume of which we have
and which treats only of the Church in the Fatherland,
from the beginning of the century to the Concordat discus-
sions. The author well terms it, especially from the Ro-
man Catholic point of view, ,w one of the saddest periods
of the Church History of Germany,'- for in this time, as
he shows with great wealth of detail, the Romish Church
here was deprived of its position as a great temporal
power. There were, until this century, three ecclesiasti-
cal Electors among the princes, those of Cologne, Treves.
and Mayence, besides twenty-three archbishops and bish-
ops, who were also temporal lords with landed estates and
seats in parliament. These princely bishops had also
large revenues from their ecclesiastical positions, so we are
not surprised to learn that the Catholic Church of Ger-
many, at the end of the eighteenth century, could lose
85,460 square miles of territory. 3,161,776 subjects, and
over eight million dollars of annual income, not to speak
of the many monasteries that were confiscated. Briick
seems to make it plain, that the ecclesiastical states of
Germany were better governed than the purely civil pow-
ers. The saying, "The best life is under the crosier,"
appeared in this ease to be true. It is interesting to trace
the influence of French scepticism, from 1750 on, upon
German Catholics, and to see how native rationalism
spread in the Romish Church. The activity of Yon Hont-
heim, bishop of Treves, who under the name of Justin
Febronius, attacked the Papacy in the interests of more
liberty, is depicted. He held that the pope should not be
lord over the Church, the liturgy should be simple, super-
stitions, pilgrimages, etc., should be avoided, and the walls

THE MODERN CHURCti. 2r>r>

between Catholics and Protestants be broken down. It
was the - Illumination v spirit in the Romish Church.
The prince-prelates of Mayence, Cologne and Treves sup-
ported this antipapal movement ; so did the archbishop of
Salzburg; and, in 1786, the Ems Functation was signed
by these leaders, by which the authority of the pope was
declared to be only that of a primacy of honor. But such
a movement, we are assured, rested upon rationalistic and
revolutionary, rather than upon spiritual convictions, and
soon came to naught. The same was true of the Kantian
theology, which spread in the German Catholic Church for
a time, especially at the universities of Mayence, Treves
and Bonn. Better influences seem to have moved the arch-
bishop of Salzburg, who issued a pastoral letter, in 1782,
the twelve hundredth jubilee of his diocese, recommending
simplicity in worship and true preaching of God and the
Bible, both in church and at home ; reading of the Scrip-
tures was urged upon the clergy ; rural deans were in-
structed to see that every priest had a German Bible and
commentary, and that he studied them daily ; German
hymns were to be sung in church and explained by the
clerow ; then, the directions ran off into '-Illumination ; '
the cler^v should teach "enlightenment and morality,'-
^philosophical doctrines of ethics,'' "theory of health,
especially of diatetics," etc. Next came the French Revo-
lution and the Napoleonic Avars, which so humbled Ger-
many. The conqueror annexed all lands west of the
Rhine, and, to compensate the German princes for this loss,
they were given the territory of the ecclesiastical princes.
Such secularization of Church property began with Fred-
erick the Great. In a letter to Voltaire in 1767, he spoke

250 JUS TONIC THEOLOGY.

of his plan to destroy iCthe Infamy," that is Christianity,
by putting an end to the monasteries, those " asylums of
fanaticism"; then the people, he said, would soon become
indifferent to religion. So France and her German allies
proceeded along the line of secularization marked out for
them by the great Frederick. Napoleon wished to weaken
the Empire, so he made separate treaties with the Ger-
man States, rewarding each with lands taken from the
Church. A pitiful business of bribery went on at the
French court, German princes getting ecclesiastical estates.
Napoleon strengthened Prussia to overthrow Austria, and
with it the Empire ; and that strengthened Prussia was after-
wards to put an end to Napoleonic rule and restore the
German Empire. Brack points out fairly the autocratic
encroachments of the civil rulers in Germany, both Prot-
estant and Catholic, upon the rights of the Church, and
their inability to grasp the idea of the spiritual liberty of
a Church. In this respect the Catholic Church in Germany
has fought the battle of true religious independence. The
Prussian idea, that uthe king is the source of all rights,
also religious, Catholic as well as Protestant," cannot be
recognized by any Christian who believes in the divine
origin of the Church and the L 'duality of supreme authority,"
which flows from such a conception. The Church is more
than a department of state. In 1810, the prince-primate
of Germany, president of the Khine league, Dalberg was
given for successor Eugene Beauharnais, Napoleon's step
son, and so the last spiritual prince of Germany went
down in the oreneral secularization of the lands of the
Church.

THE MODERN CHURCH. 257

V. RECENT THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSIONS IN GERMANY.

A most suggestive introduction to the theology of Ger-
many at present is the correspondence of Martensen and
Dorner,1 which reflects in a very interesting way the chief
ecclesiastical and doctrinal movements of Europe, during
the past fifty years. Such a work cannot be summarized ;
we can but select here and there some fragment of wisdom
from it. Martensen says, ' ' The position, that whoever
has the witness of the Spirit within him, has the right to
construct his theology out of his now renewed spirit, yea,
even to subject the doctrine of the Church and the doc-
trine of the Scriptures to criticism, is certainly right ;
only the theological categories, by which the criticism is
guided, must be really those of the Christian spirit."
Dorner replying, speaks of the relation of Ethics to Dog-
matics, and admits that he finds it very hard to keep them
apart. uThey have in common the doctrines of sin,
regeneration, sanctification, and the Church." The prin-
ciples of Ethics proper, he finds to be 4 ' the world of
will ; ' theologically it is Christ, for he is (1) personal
law and personal virtue, (2) he is through the Holy Spirit,
the essential principle of Christ, virtue, and (3) he is, as
head of the Church, founder of the community of God,
and essential principle of the highest good, the kingdom
of God. Martensen agrees with this, and says "the
great thing in the Kant-Fichte view was, that it regarded
the whole world as a work [Aufgabe] of free personality."
Dorner repeats, that Ethics and Theology must be kept in
unity, and thinks that the flight from nationalism shows

i Briefwechsel zwischen Martensen u. Dorner. 1888. 2 Vols.

258 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

itself in this* identification much more than in going
beyond such identification. Martensen rejoices to find
that Dorner agrees with him that in the " objective moral
forms of life," "the family and the Church form the two
end points of the organism of morality." The German
friend then asks how the Son of Man could pray. The
Danish friend replies, that he always associated Christ's
praying with his temptation ; if the latter was a reality
for him, then he had a real need to pray. Through prayer
and conflict he overcame temptation, and so actualized his
divine-human being, and made his empirical activity a suf-
ficient manifestation of his essential glory. In November,
1841, we find the Strauss controversy referred to in the cor-
respondence. Martensen thinks that Strauss constantly con-
founds the letter and the spirit of Christian facts, just what
the Bible says such men do. Dorner says in such questions
we must hold fast to the relative independence of religion,
of Christianity, in contrast to all the knowledge of sci-
ence. We must, further, lay stress upon the ethical idea
in opposition to materialistic or pantheistic abstractions.
Here he finds the influence of Schleiermacher, who blends
Ethics and Dogmatics, so powerful. In Kenan's Life of
Jesus, Dorner sees an attempt to present the historic
Jesus ; but inasmuch as the critic thinks that Jesus pre-
sented himself as the Son of God, he runs inevitably
towards the decisive dilemma : Jesus was either the Son
of God, or the most base and godless blasphemer. He
adds, "The clearer and sharper science sets forth this
dilemma, the nearer comes the decision between belief and
unbelief." We soon after hear the friends talking of love
and literature across the field of battle between Denmark

1HE MODERN CHURCH. 259

and Prussia. Martensen laments the spirit of Revolution
that was growing up in Europe, and saw in the negative
theology of Schenkel and others part of the movement
which nattered fleshly ideas of liberty. Dorner remarks
that it is noticeable that the great Church historians, Gie-
seler, Baur, Neander, left so insignificant a school behind
them. But, he continues, the controversy now is not in
Church History but in the Life of Christ. Renan says
Jesus was an enthusiast of gigantic mould, who thought
Himself Son of God in the ontological sense ; He then
became a personal idyll, a dramatic hero, finally, a tragic
sacrifice. Strauss thinks He was the unity of the Semitic
and Greek spirit, who transfigured monotheism into gen-
tleness and beautiful humanity by his blessed, unbroken
nature. Schenkel considers Him the pure man, whose
doctrine was pure morality and worship of God in spirit
and truth, whose work was the deliverance of the people
from their spiritual leaders. Dorner adds, that all these
views ignore what the New Testament makes most promi-
nent, that Jesus came to redeem the world and reconcile it
to God. "His enemy was sin, not the Romans, not the
Hierarchs." And for this work He claimed the miracle of
sinlessness ; so here again the dilemma is : either Son of
God, or a blasphemous degree of vanity and self-decep-
tion. Respecting church unity, Dorner thinks it must be
ethical, not theological. Perhaps on the basis of the
predicates One, Holy, Catholic, the Church Universal
could meet. The Church should not consist solely of
regenerate persons, for it is also, he adds, a seminarium
fidei. But, negatively, he continues, holiness must be
applied to keep out of church offices unworthy men. He

260 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

finds Puseyism at work in Hengstenberg and the High
Church leaders in Prussia. He laments also the spirit of
the young theologians growing up about him [1864]. He
rinds in them so frequently a lack of " the poetic and
speculative sense, if not also the religious ; ' they take
an empirical and critical position. Martensen says that
as a Lutheran, he found the Danish Church based solely
upon the Augustana and the Small Catechism ; but
Luthardt and Thomasius put the German Church upon
the whole symbolical Corpus, especially the Formula Cori'-
cordke / this made the latter so unyielding towards the
Union Church of Prussia.. In 1871, Dorner notices
Ritschl's work on the Atonement, and says: " He seems
to me — at present his point of view is not very clear — at
the outset to promise something ; yet although I recog-
nize keenness and much that is excellent in the historical
criticism, yet I doubt whether he will positively further
the doctrine. I have so far noticed no speculative vein in
him ; against mysticism he seems to have a sort of aver-
sion." uHe seems to have turned aside as far as possible,
from questions of principle, but exalts the Church in
opposition to personal assurance of salvation." Later, he
says that Ritschl sees no real progress in history ; he sees
{ill pass bye, intentionally or necessarily, without any prin-
ciple being noticed. ' ' He has an instinctive hatred of
mysticism and pietism, that is not based upon scientific
principles, and in an irresponsible way weakens the doc-
trine of justification. He has so little conception of the
importance of this truth, that he goes on, as if the Church
had had justification before the Reformation and its the-
ology." In the Old Testament, Dorner finds him explain-

THE MODERN CHURCH. 261

ing away violently all that points toward expiation and
the justice of God. He does not regard guilt as a pun-
ishable state, only sin is that ; the connection between sin
and outer evil appears to him as made through subjective
consciousness, not through the objective divine attribute
of justice. Dorner recurs again to his favorite theme,
and says, " I come more and more to the conviction that
the deepest need in our Lutheran Church system hitherto,
has been that the ethical side of Christianity was too little
recognized." "Justification has been made to cover all
sins, even those of the future in advance, and that becomes
but another form of Indulgence." In Martensen's book
on Ethics, he finds a most valuable work for reconciling
culture and Christianity. He touches the question, whether
morality is possible without religion and Christianity.
Martensen distinguished between humane, and religious-
Christian morality, and showed that Rothe's idea, of
having a Christian morality without a Christian faith was
untenable. Dorner adds, " I wish the further proof Avere
given, that the morality of mere Humanism must be
inwardly different, and of a worse order, than that of the
Christian character. If the virtue of Humanism is not
to remain behind the ideal of Humanism itself, does not
this very ideal, if it is to be realized without God, point
to an inner contradiction ? ■ Dorner says he likes to see
the physical and logical attributes of God subordinated to
the ethical conception of God ; but thinks that the attri-
bute of justice should not be brought too near that of
love, otherwise it will be difficult to provide the organisms
of State and Church with definite distinguishing princi-
ples. Referring to the heresy trial of Dr. Sydow [1873],

262 SlSTOniG 1HE0L0G7.

who taught Sabellianism and denied that Jesus was born
of a virgin, Dorner says that a Unitarian secession from
the Church was possible, but u all shrank back from the
beginning of North American conditions." What most
impressed him on his visit to America, in 1873, was the
conviction forced upon him "that here Christianity had a
popular character, that it was a people's matter, and had
a national life. That we had by no means imagined.''

In 1876, appeared Hermann's Essay on Metaphysics in
Theology, attacking Dorner, and saying that a speculative
theology is an impossibility. Dorner remarks, "It is
depressing to see how all pluck for higher scientific studies
is wanting among the young men." "They never get be-
yond what is empirical-psychological, or subjectivism."
He sees theology constantly growing poorer. Of Lipsius'
works on Dogmatics Martensen thinks unfavorably.
" Christ as religious ideal, but with all that is historic,
especially miracles, surrendered to negative criticism, also
all that is metaphysical cut off; what remains after this
subtraction but a cloud form, where we should hold on to
' the principle ' ? ' His chief error, Martensen finds, is his
ignoring in the conception of religion the knowledge in
religion, which precedes theological knowledge, and is not
only a knowledge of the relations of God to us, but also
of the Being of God as mirrored to us in his revelation.
He observes the same weakness in Hermann, who does
not see that theology has its own proper metaphysics,
developed from the Christian faith, which it frames for
itself. He finds Hermann's Essay to be but an echo of
Schleiermacher's statement, that Dogmatics must be en-
tirely separated from philosophy. To reject all meta-

THE MODERN CHURCH. 263

physics in religion is to reject the writings of John and
Paul. With this criticism Dorner agrees, and thinks that
the Subjectivism of this school opens the doors to all
extravagances, by denying the objective knowability of
truth. He says Hermann's book on Religion [1879]
"lays a foundation for a know-nothing theology." Her-
mann Schultz he calls one of the Agnostics, who adorn
themselves with knownothingism under the appearance of
strictly scientific requirements. In 1879, Dorner writes
that he was thinking much about "conditional immortal-
ity." The book of White, Life in Christ, which advo-
cated this view, was approved by Gess and Hermann
Schultz; Dorner now read it, but could not accept its
teaching of the natural mortality of the soul. Martensen
took the same position, and held that every human soul
was made for communion with God. Can a conscience
ever die? he asks. An ethical being cannot be merely
physical and perish like the beasts.

Leaving the companionship of these two great
ethical theologians,1 we are brought again by the
controversial theology of Germany to notice the
school of Ritschl, which still attracts chief attention
among students of divinity. A recent criticism of
this system2 seeks to show that Ritschl, by making the
kingdom of God consist solely in the moral fellowship of
men, thereby fatally separates religion and morals.
Closely connected with this dualism he finds arising the
conflict of religious dependence and moral freedom, which

i For an estimate of Dorner, see an article by D. W. Simon, in
The Presbyterian Review, Oct., 1887.
2 F. Luther, Die Theologie RitschVs. A Lecture. Reval. 1887.

264 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

is to find its solution in Christianity ; and hence the proper
theme of Christianity, victory in the struggle between the
old man of sin and the new man of God, is postponed ;
further, the Bible doctrines of freedom and the world are
given a foreign meaning, God becomes a mere means, by
which man either frees himself from God himself, if the
world be regarded as equal to divine Providence, or does
what God himself cannot do, that is if the world of nature
be regarded as indifferent to our moral aims, and evil be
derived from purely mechanical causes. This false dual-
ism, Luther finds further overthrowing the Scripture con-
traries of Law and Gospel, wrath and righteousness of
God on the one hand, and grace and love, on the other,
the opposites of the reconciled child of God and the nat-
ural man. He says that the ignoring of these contraries
in the theology of Ritschl practically sets aside the divin-
ity of Christ, and the personal work of the Spirit, while
the idea of justification is apprehended in a way that
involves reasoning in a circle. He holds that a moral
quantity is here set up beside God, in the presence of
which God himself is lost. He maintains further that
Ritschl's theology leads to a thoroughly Pelagian view of
life, for what else can a doctrine of perfection be which
does not rest on repentance and communion with Christ?
The Ritschl doctrine of prayer, which teaches only thanks-
giving, he shows to be at utter variance with the Scrip-
tures. The God of this theology, he concludes, is uno
God for men, certainly no God for sinful men ; he is only
a God for deified men." Yet Luther finds a great number
of single truths in Ritschl^ teaching that are of great
importance. Some of these are : The aim of justification

THE MODERN CHURCH. 265

is the begetting of true morality ; faith in justification
makes us free lords of all things ; the certainty of recon-
ciliation through Christ must precede joyous faith in the
paternal providence of God ; the idea of the kingdom of
God is made prominent in contrast to all individualistic
piety ; faith preserves its power, not in renouncing the
world, but in a sound rule over the world ; the Christion
life is a process of becoming divine ; the evangelical Chris-
tian life has its decisive mark, not in the quantity of works,
but in the, quality of its moral exercises in the free air in
which it shows its love ; Christian perfection has its essen-
tial condition in the presentation of a unity of life-course ;
joy is to form the fundamental tone of a life in justifying
faith ; and, that in our knowledge of God we must begin,
not from above, but from beneath, from the humanity of
Christ. Zahn, a pastor, thinks1 Ritschl is right in sepa-
rating theology from philosophy ; but, in not basing his
theology upon the experience of conversion, as Hofmann
did, or, in not seeking to draw it from a direct analysis of
sayings of the Scriptures, as Beck did, he fell into that
weak rationalism, which tries to justify Christianity before
ordinary reason, and rejects all that does not agree with
such reason. Hermann Schmidt thinks2 this criticism is
just, and that, if the peculiar terminology of Ritschrs
teaching be stripped off, the results will appear very much
those of the old rationalism. This Kantian theology runs
towards the deistic moralism inaugurated by Kant.
Kriiger attacks the supranaturalistic claims of the school

i Bemerkungen zu RitschVs theologischer Wissenschaftslehre. A
Lecture. Gotha. Schlossmann. 1887.
2 Theolog. Litter atur Matt, 1888. No. 24.

266

HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

of Ritschl,1 and holds that the one-sided prominence given
it is in conflict with the Bible, which recognizes the pre-
paratory points, and points of connection in the natural
man. As for the elimination of the doctrine of the
acceptance of salvation, in Ritschl's system, he pronounces
it in open contradiction to the teaching of the Scriptures
and the common faith of the Church. He finds, too, a
doublemeanin&'ness, arising from the contradiction be-
tween the rationalistic limitations of the domain of revela-
tion and the claim to found common Christian belief,
which leaves us in doubt in respect to the most weighty
matters, such as the resurrection, divinity of Christ, etc.
Haring, on the other hand, show's the importance of
Ritschl's view, which makes the love of God the principal
cause of redemption, and wards off heathen error in the
doctrine of expiation. He then seeks to supplement the
master's teaching by adding the idea of Gess, that active
obedience of positive performance should take the place
of bearing punishment vicariously, in the atonement by
Christ.

Lipsius is sometimes spoken of as also belonging to the
school of Ritschl, but he, too, appears among the critics
of the system.2 He objects to the limitation of revelation
to Christ and the Scriptures, as is done by Ritschl, while
the protest against all knowledge of God from nature is
shown to be very like the Socinian positivism, which landed
in such fatal consequences. Haring, however, finds in
this return to Christ a deliverance from a great mass of ar-

1 Phantasie oder Oeisl ? Bremen. Miiller.

2 Die RitschVsche Theologie. A Lecture.
1888; also in Jahrbb. f. prot. Theologie.

1887.

Leipzig. Reichert,

1888, H. 1.

TEE MODERN CffUBCE. 267

tificial theological forms, which are often painfully strange
to the confessions and life of the Church. Yet, he adds,
this revelation through Christ must not be so pressed as to
undermine the Old Testament Scriptures. On Ritschl's
limitation of all Christian knowledge to that found in the
Scriptures, Lipsius says, that it leaves "no distinction of
articuli puri et rnixti, no interblending of Natural Theol-
ogy, there is no Natural Theology, for by the means of
theoretical knowledge of the universe we can reach no con-
clusions respecting God's nature and purposes.'' Of the
position given the kingdom of God in Ritschl's theology,1
Lipsius says there is nothing original about it, and adds
that the thought of God's kingdom is independent of the
Christian revelation. In reference to the Christology of
Ritschl, Lipsius holds it differs in nothing essential from
that of the modern theology; and he has no right to speak
of the Godhead of Christ. He is behind " modern theol-
ogy" in teaching no proper personal life-relation between God
and mankind, but only a communion of aim, which gives
him finally only the trias of, confidence in God, faithful-
ness in calling, and universal love of mankind, all of which
Lipsius declares, is a more pitiful expression for the spe-
cific contents of Christianity than the trias of the old
rationalism, God, Free Will, and Immortality. He objects
to Ritschl's doctrine of sin, because in it the element of
inherited tendency of nature is entirely struck out, and sin
is judged as sin of ignorance, so far as the true knowledge
of sin is supposed to come solely from the gospel. The
rejection of original sin is partly covered in Ritschl's sys-

3 Cf. Current Discussions, Vol. ii, 1884, pp. 184-186, and Vol. v,
1888, pp 223-226.

268 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

tern by the great responsibility which, we are told, it lays
upon each man. Nosgen finds that, especially in the as-
surance of faith, a central point in Luther's theology,
Ritschl's teachings afford us no comfort.1 He nowhere
gives us a clear idea of the nature of faith. It is "the
subjective form of the peculiar dependence upon God,
which is possible in the Christian religion, at the same
time, the form in which the dependence as such is affirmed."
So, Nosgen says, it is not trust in a personal Redeemer,
but it is an inmembering into the world, which is ordered
and ruled by God. Other faith than this Ritschl regards
as the mysticism of Francis of Assisi. He makes the co-
ordinate of trust in the exercise of faith to be self-con-
sciousness, a very different idea from the humility associated
in the Scriptures with faith. He considers faith, further,
as obedience to the revelation made in Christ ; the certainty
in it he calls a kind of feeling, a pleasure. Nosgen ob-
jects to this, that our obedience can never give assurance
before God. A third presentation of faith given by Ritschl
refers to knowledge ; he calls it a " loving, personal con-
viction, brought to pass by means of the feeling of the
value of the grace of God known in Christ." Here, too,
Nosgen finds nothing but a judgment of knowledge, and
how little such judgments can give subjective certainty all
the history of philosophy shows.

In a review of Hermann's book, The Intercourse of the
Christian with God, Kohlschmidt finds the two principles
in his theology to be, (1) the exclusion of all that is mys-
tical from the Christian religion, and, (2) in connection

l Die Glaubensgewissheit eine Illusion bei RitscJiVs Theologie, in
Ztft. f. Kirchl. Wissenschaft u. K. Leben. 1887. Hh. 8, 9, 10.

THE MODERN CHURCH. 269

with that, the exclusive revelation of God's salvation in
the historic appearance of Christ. To this the critic ob-
jects, that it confounds the common, pantheistic mysticism
of mere nature, and true Christian mysticism, which in
deep reverence seeks rest and peace in God. And of the
second point Kohlschmidt says, that to limit God's reve-
lation to the historic Christ is to isolate this historic ap-
pearance from all the religious life of humanity, and the
belief in a divine Providence, making Christ's revelation
an abrupt, unconnected event in the religious development
of our race.1

VI. THE CHURCHES OF GREAT BRITAIN.

The Methodist movement was the most important revi-
val in the Church of England, in the eighteenth century,
as the Anglo-Catholic, or High Church movement has been
the most striking in our own century. A recent study by
Stokes shows1 in a very interesting way how the teachings
of John Wesley helped produce the Oxford school of
Pusey and Newman. He points out that the views of
Alexander Knox, (d. 1831) a North of Ireland gentle-
man, " sounded the first note of a movement which has
changed the face of the English Church." He was a high
churchman, he was a religious mystic, and that at a time
"when mysticism was utterly foreign to the spirit of the

l For a comparative statement of Confessional Theology, see
Plitt, Orundriss der Symbolik fur Vorlesungen, 2d. Ed., enlarged
by Wiegand. Erlangen: Deichert, 1888. M. 3. Fragmentary, but
useful for teachers.

i Alexander Knox and the Oxford movement, in The Contemporary
Review. Aug. 1887.

270 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

age." And, what is most interesting historically, Knox
himself traced all his new ideas to the teaching of Wesley;
so that, strange to hear, the fatherhood of the Oxford
movement is to be attributed, not to Rose, or Pusey or
Newman, but to the great Methodist of the preceding cent-
ury. Stokes sharply distinguishes the party of Whitefield
from that of Wesley ; the one being Calvinistic and Puri-
tan, the other Arminian, Anglican, and Sacramental. The
controversy between them is well known. At the Bristol
Conference of Methodists, held in 1770, the Anglican, or
seventeenth century view of justification was accepted.
This view Knox adopted, and transmitted to the Oxford
Tractarians. uThese statements," Stokes assures us, uad-
mit of the fullest demonstration." The high churchman
of to-day lauds and praises Wesley; and that is just the revo-
lution in thought which Knox predicted. Justification,
sanctification, the two sacraments, the Christian priest-
hood, the Eucharistic sacrifice, on all these points Wesley
and Knox set forth the teachings of the Caroline Divines
against Whitefield and the Evangelical party. Wesley
was a high churchman in those days, in opposition to the
Low Church Evangelicals, and Knox was the medium
through which his views passed into the modern High
Church party. Wesley held baptismal regeneration, he
held high views of the Real Presence, he held to the use of
prayers for the dead — all of which Knox passed over to the
Oxford men, largely through his intimate relations with
Bishop Jebb.

Abbey treats at length of the Avhole Methodist move-
ment in an elaborate Church history of the eighteenth

THE MODERN CHURCH. 271

century in England.1 Of Wesley and his work, he says
that he long thought that both might have been kept
within the Episcopal Church by a little forbearance and
sympathy ; but he now concludes that such a result was
not possible. The English Church of the last century, he
thinks, could not honestly combine with Methodism, "nei-
ther could Wesley, thinking as he did, have honestly
accepted its organized support." He shows that the
Georges nominated far less worthy bishops than such a
king as Charles II. did, while those under Queen Anne
were much superior to the later nominees. The Georges
made political bishops ; they must be Whig in politics and
Low Church in theology. Dull, safe mediocrity was the
the rule. Abbey deplores the suppression of Convoca-
tion, but admits that it gave provocation to the govern-
ment. Of the churchmen under Queen Anne also, he
must say that in dealing with Dissenters their action "can
hardly be called by any milder name than persecution.'"
Much less tolerant is Proby, who has written the Annals
of the " Low- Church " Party in England,2 to show that it
"has no moral position in the Church of England at all."
He holds that the Prayer Book was the work of "Re-
formers" but not "Protestants;" and, their teachings

1 The English Church audits Bishops, 1700-1800. London, 1887.
The following books, on the earlier history, we know only by
name : The Life, Times and Writings of Thomas Cranmer, the first
Reforming Archbishop of Canterbury. By C. H. Collette. London :
Redway, 1887 ; and The Bishops in the Tower. A Record of Stirring
Events affecting the Church and Nonconformists from the Restora-
tion to the Revolution. By H. M. Luckock, London ; Riving-
tons. 6s.

2 Vol. I. J. T. Hayes. London, 1888.

272 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

were both Scriptural and Catholic. Hence Low Church-
men, denying u Baptismal Regeneration, the validity of
priestly absolution, or the authority of the Church in con-
troversies of faith ought not to be admitted to holy
orders." Proby does not hesitate to call Low Churchmen,
who appeal to the courts of law against High Church
practices, " designing scoundrels," and libellers ! Such a
very fallible spirit, joined to such infallible pretensions,
savors not a little of the mediaeval Papacy with its policy
of rule or ruin.

VII. THE AMERICAN CHURCHES.

Schaff has written an Essay on the distinctive character
of American Christianity in its organized aspect and as
related to the national life.1 This distinctive character,
the great contribution that America has made to the prog-
ress of the Church, is "a free Church in a free state,"
with all the blessings that seem to now from such rela-
tions. Here is found a barrier to all persecution, and a
perpetual guarantee for both religion and liberty. The
American theory separates Church and State, not in an-
tagonism, but in a relation of respect and mutual sympa-
thy. The Republic is Christian, not infidel, though it
establishes no form of Christianity. The law of the land
recognizes churches, Sunday, oaths, the Bible, prayer in
legislatures, chaplains in the army and navy, and the
courts of the land declare Christianity to be part of the
Constitution of the Republic.

i Church and State in the United States, in Papers of the Amer.
Hist. Association. Vol. ii, JMo. 4. G. P. Putnam's Sons : New
York, 1888. $1.00

THE MODERN CHURCH. 273

How such a system works, when applied in the freest
possible way to the most diverse classes and nationalities,
is well illustrated by Dorchester in his recent book on
Christianity in America.1 He traces three great elements
in our religious life, (1) Protestantism, (2) Roman Catholi-
cism, and (3) a variety of elements, which follow no
organic unity. Among these "Diverse currents," special
attention is given to the u Unitarian trend," of which, it
is said, that ' ' the exciting point in this conflict was the
question of 'a change of heart,' and the "French-
American Infidelity ; '" both of which appeared in the first
period 1776" to 1800. After the Revolutionary War
greater liberality prevailed in religious beliefs, followed
by the growth of Unitarianism on the one hand, and
greater toleration of Roman Catholicism on the other.
The second period, 1800 to 1850, he finds to have been
the time of revival, ' ' New Life in the Protestant Churches, "
and "An era of Revivals inaugurated." In the "Mis-
sissippi Valley " he traces the "New Life expanding;'
and the "New Life" organizing takes shape in Home
Missions, Foreign Missions, and the many evangelical
agencies. In the last period, 1850 to the present, the
author puts a heading "Convergent Currents," under
which he traces better tendencies, such as ' 4 From Atheism
to Theism." Dorchester deals largely in statistics. Some
of his results are as follows: From 1800 to 1850, there
was an increase, in America, of 40,000 churches, 23,000
ministers, and 3,200,000 members in the "evangelical'1
Protestant denominations ; equal to about 800 churches a

i C hristianity in the United States from the first Settlement down
to the Present Time. New York : Phillips & Hunt, 1888. .

274 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

year, with 600,000 members. In the next twenty years,
1850 to 1870, the churches increased by 37,000, and the
members by 3,100,000, nearly as much as in the preced-
ing fifty years. Between 1870 and 1880, the growth has
been 27,000 churches and 3,400,000 members, while be-
tween 1880 and 1886, the rate has again increased to
344,449 members per annum, as against 339,258, in the
preceding decade. Of the Roman Catholic Church, he
says, it grew from 100,000, in 1850, to 1,161,000, in
1885 ; but the Protestant population has grown just about
as fast as the general population. It was 32,000 less than
half the nation, in 1850, and, in 1880, it was only 35,000
less than half. Between 1870 and 1886, as compared
with 1850 to 1870, the Roman Catholics have declined in
their rate of increase, having 890 ministers and 1,180
churches less with 386,000 less church adherents, while
the Protestants have 14,520 more ministers, 14,282 more
churches, and 8,287,465 more adherents than in the ear-
lier period.1

The aggressive Protestantism, which is here set forth,
is almost exclusively of the orthodox type ; to add to the
breadth of our survey, therefore, we will close this section
with a brief summary of the results of the "advanced'
theology as represented in America by Unitarian divines.
This system, or rather this tendency of thought, we are
told, has fought (1) to upset "the^ metaphysical doctrine
of a triune God," which is the "theoretic cornerstone ,:
of the "strange mythology ': of orthodoxy f (2) it now

1 For much information on the origin of the Lutheran Church in
'America, see Life and Times of Henry M. Muhlenberg (cl. 1787), by

W. J. Mann, 1887.

2 Cf . Prof. Allen, in The Unitarian Review, Sep. 1887.

THE MODERN CHURCH. 275

comes to see that the old controversy turned largely on
misunderstanding. Even the doctrine of the trinity is not
a mere "corruption" of Early Christianity, "but a devel-
opment out of conditions and demands of the soul funda-
mentally religious." It was of great "value in the relig-
ious life of Christendom, from its battle with old paganism
down to its conflict with the latest forms of materialistic
science." Athanasius, we are told, was nearer our modern
thought than the paganizing logic of the Arians. Thus,
Allen continues, Unitarians must make great concessions,
because they see now God in Humanity in a way very
much as Athanasius saw God in Christ. But the ortho-
dox, too, are broadening, we are assured, to meet this
broadening of the liberals. Unitarianism, we hear, has
now passed from controversy ; it takes in all liberal Chris-
tians. It claims the Unitarians of Hungary, many of the
prominent theologians of Germany, the school of Coquerel
in France, the liberals in Holland, and, it is said, if Japan
accepts Christianity at all, it will be of the free sort. Of
liberal Christianity in America, we read further,1 "The
disintegration of orthodoxy is going on more rapidly than
the integration of liberalism." We hear that "Unitarian-
ism must be aggressive." More men are called for. But
there seems little response to the appeal for liberal minis-
ters to preach a gospel which will win especially thinking
men in the West, of whom one-half or two-thirds, it is
said, do not go to church. The students of theology in
Harvard Divinity school,2 between 1872 and 1879, reached
twenty -three as the highest number; from 1879 to 1885,

1 Unitarian Review, Nov. 1887, p. 451.

2 Cf . Unitarian Review, March, 1887.

276 HISTORIC THEOLOGY.

it has reached only twenty-nine, some years. Another
disciple of the free theology calls American Unitarianism
of our day "tame and spiritless;"1 he even believes it "is
going backward in usefulness, in vitality, in church sound-
ness." He is distressed, and asks the reason. It is no
comfort, he says, to be told that the free theology is at
work in "Progressive Orthodoxy" and other movements
in other churches ; whither shall he go himself ? He can-
not go to meet "the churches that are coming towards
him ; he is still repelled by the dishonesty of professing
faith in even the remnants of their creed." He cannot go
to the free thinkers, for ' ' there he is met by the lack of
certain elements of religious worship which they ignore and
despise, but which to him are essential to true religion."
Prof. J. H. Allen, referring to these questions, quotes a
remark in reply as follows : ' ' You Unitarians need two
things, in order to go about your work with the proper
spirit, to accept the situation, and to he honestly afraid of
something." In this last phrase Allen finds a weakness of
Unitarianism touched ; "a bland gospel of culture, which
has learned to despise the terror of the Lord," he thinks,
"is the most impotent of equipments for the religious
life." If this prevails in Unitarian churches he declares
they must go down "the primrose path to deserved anni-
hilation. "2

1 Unitarian Review, March, 1888.

2 For much valuable information respecting living theologians,
see Encyclopaedia of Living Divines and Christian Workers of all
Denominations in Europe and America. By Schaff and Jackson.
New York : Funk & Wagnalls. 1887.

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

PRESENT STATE

Studies in Natural and Revealed Theology.

REV. GEORGE NYE BOARDMAN,

Professor of Systematic Theology

Chicago Theological Seminary.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

There have been more than the ordinary indications of
a want of repose in the theological world during the past
year. There seems to be an increasing number of those
who assume that Protestant theology is hopelessly shat-
tered. It may not be true that the number of staunch ad-
herents of that theology is diminished, but it is undoubt-
edly true that much theological thinking flows in other
channels.

A change of philosophical views has to some extent
modified theological views. The Aristotelianism of the
Middle Ages, reaching down in its influence far into the
age of the Reformation, long gave color to theological
thought and almost dictated theological expression. In
later days the philosophy of Kant, followed by that of
Hegel, some would say, completed by that of Hegel, has
greatly modified religious thought in some minds. Man's
relation to God, the nature of sin, the method of deliver-
ance from guilt, are all topics which have to do with phil-
osophy. When it is held that God is no longer the author
of positive laws, no longer a ruler keeping watch over his
subjects, and man is no longer a subject influenced by
moral considerations, to be judged according as his deeds
shall be, then a theology of discipline, punishment, and
ransom from guilt must be out of place. It may indeed
be said that the later philosophy does not destroy a moral

280 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

government, but, though many Hegelians have been earnest
Christian men, it seems clear that a scheme of thought
that makes the very existence of the world a process of
the reconciliation of opposites would not make reconcilia-
tion between man and law depend on grace.

The doctrine of evolution is also exerting an influence
on theological opinions. No one can doubt the truth of
this doctrine within a certain range ; development by means
of forces in nature is open to the most superficial observa-
tion. Hence a scheme of evolution may be easily illus-
trated and readily made captivating to eager minds. The
scheme is, moreover, so generally adopted by students of
nature as the true explanation of the world's progress, that
those who are ambitious to be abreast with the thought of
the age are ashamed to appear skeptical concerning it.
The question therefore becomes a pressing one ; can relig-
ion and evolution be reconciled? The replies to the ques-
tion are various. Some are so bold as to think that evo-
lution is the new light in which the mysteries of revelation
can be made plain. Immortality, redemption, pardon,
final blessedness of both body and soul are all demonstra-
ble, it is held, through this new scheme of both science
and philosophy. A far larger number do not go beyond
the attempt to show that evolution is consistent with our
revealed religion. If divine interpositions are granted to
have taken place here and there, as in the creation of man,
— humanizing the animal — and in the introduction of
Christ upon the earth, it is thought, the theory of evolu-
lion may be accepted without difficulty. But those who
have no regard for the Scriptures, and consider theology a
fabric which dreamers have constructed, must be expected

INTR OD UCTOR Y REMARKS. 281

to cany out their scheme of evolution to the utmost. To
them it is worth nothing if it is to be made subservient to
moral considerations and to be modified as the interests of
religion require. They, therefore, advocate a scheme of
science which is clearly at war with the Bible. Their views
make the fall of man an absurdity, make the deterioration
of man from a better state to a worse, as a general fact,
an impossibility, and make sin merely the laudable attempt
to throw off restraints and to rise into a higher freedom.

Again, there are not a few who attempt to reconcile this
thoroughgoing evolution with our Christian religion. And
as they can not bring evolution into accord with the Bible,
they bring the Bible into accord with evolution and claim
that Christianity is still untouched, though the Bible is
badly mutilated. Thinkers of this class, of course, re-
nounce the doctrine of inspiration and greatly modify their
views of redemption.

Still another source of agitation in the theological world
is the higher criticism of the Bible. If we are to accept
the idea that the Old Testament is a series of laws and
ordinances which lie in strata, being the deposits of differ-
ent ages piled one upon another, having no vital connec-
tion with each other, we shall inevitably be compelled to
renounce the old orthodox view concerning the authority
of the Scriptures. If the bed-rock of the Bible is a few
mythical traditions and the lowest tangible material cer-
tain disconnected prophecies, if Jeremiah wrote the oldest
considerable part of the Pentateuch, and Chronicles was
written to counteract the too little partisan view of Samuel
and Kings, then we shall not be able to save enough of the
old doctrine of inspiration to remind us even of what we

282 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

have lost. It is impossible to determine how many accept
this view of the structure of the Hebrew Scriptures, but it
is certain that many do, who still try to believe that they
contain words from God, and that some, claiming to be
Christian writers, treat with contempt the supposition that
we have the writings of Moses in the Pentateuch, and the
supposition that Leviticus is not a code of late authorship
constructed in the interests of priestcraft.

The particular subjects in connection with which agita-
tion is now chiefly manifested are the "new departure,"
so-called, and inspiration. The former has not been a
theme of strictly theological discussion for some years,
yet it is its theological element which keeps it before the
people. The form of statement in which the new depar-
ture is usually set forth is this: "a Christian probation
is granted to some persons after death." No one, how-
ever, has seemed to think it worth while to urge the doc-
trine upon the faith of the world as having value in itself,
its adherents have simply asserted their right to hold the
doctrine. In this latter claim they have had many sym-
pathizers among those who reject the doctrine. It is per-
haps for the sake of enlarging their party, perhaps from
the conviction that the doctrine is of little practical worth,
that its adherents wage their contest over the question
whether it disqualifies one for the work of a teacher of
Christian truth. Those who answer this question in the
negative, resort to various descriptions of the doctrine in
order to set forth its harmlessness. It is said to be a
dogma not a doctrine ; a supposition not an assertion ; a
supposition of which we know nothing, which we may
therefore cherish as possible ; it is said to be a hope — the

INTR OD UCTOR Y BE MARKS. 283

natural hope of a tender heart, and therefore to be tole-
rated— an extra-scriptural hope, and therefore not to be
repressed as if it were forbidden by the Scriptures. Those
who think that persons under the influence of this doctrine
are not prepared to proclaim the scheme of salvation ask,
what will prove to be its real import? and with what prin-
ciples of theology and philosophy will it be found to be
connected, when it shall have passed out of its present amor-
phous condition and shall appear definably constructed?
They know that at its first appearance it found its support
mainly in two principles, — man's natural relation to Christ
and the injustice of condemning any one before he had
heard of the salvation in Christ. They believe that it
will again, when it shall have acquired recognition, be set
upon the same foundation, and that its advocates now,
instead of seeking toleration — or rather countenance, —
should advocate their doctrine on its merits and let its
merits decide its fate.

I. TREATISES ON THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM.

An important work,1 treating of most of the principal
topics of theology, is that of Eduard Bohl, a Professor of
philosophy and theology in Vienna. It is written in a
clear style, with much directness and fearlessness of utter-
ance, and with a conscious mastery of the subject in hand.
It is, though not emanating from a city associated in
thought with Calvinism, a presentation of the Reformed
or Calvinistic doctrines. And the author goes back far
towards the days of Calvin to find a kindred spirit with
whose theological views he can sympathize. He says
Heidegger may be considered the last Reformed dogma-
tist. Heidegger died in 1698 and is prominently known
as one of the authors of the Form of Agreement adopted
by the Swiss churches in opposition to the modified Cal-
vinism of the Saumer school. Professor Bohl does not,
however, attach himself to theologian or to school, but
brings forward his views as those taught directly by the
Word of God. He considers the Scriptures as the only
source of Christian doctrine ; to interpret them, however,
one must have the aid of the Holy Spirit. "Whoever has
not the courage to claim for himself the witness of the
Holy Spirit, as the Reformers did, cannot become a
teacher ; otherwise he is only a hireling. Without this

i Dogmatik. Darstellung der christlichen Glaubenslehre auf
reformirt-kirchlicher Grimcllage. Amsterdam, 1887.

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. ■ 285

witness one is only a false witness."2 This witness, he hast-
ens to tell us, is toto ccelo different from that claimed as
coming through the immanence of God of which Dorner
speaks.

In constructing his system of doctrine he makes decrees
and inspiration the two leading, we might almost say, reg-
ulative forces of his scheme. The decrees of God have
their end and explanation in God himself. We are not to
attempt any ethical explanation of them, are not to seek
their purpose in the happiness or the holiness of the creat-
ure. It is not for us to speculate concerning the secret
things of God. He relies with equal assurance on the
inspiration of the Scriptures ; that is the warrant for the
truth of whatever is contained in the Bible. His anthro-
pology is that of our theologians described by the term
old-school ; the will is free because it follows the dictates
of the understanding, character as well as existence may
be imparted by creation, man was created in righteousness
and true holiness. Adam's sin is imputed to us and our
personal sin is perversion of relations and not connected
with the substance of man. "What we call sin is an acci-
dent which installs itself through a perverted attitude as
well as by the absence of previous life-conditions ; but sin
is nothing substantial, only the aim is different and has
become perverted. What descends by inheritance in all
directions is, according to Rom. v, 12, death, but not at
all a corrupt seed of sin which should be transmitted by
natural descent from Adam. The means by which death
comes upon all men is the divine ordinance and imputa-

2 P. XX.

286

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

tion. Death, which through the one transgression came
upon all the race, is the root of all the sins of the indi-
vidual."1

It is amusing to notice the fearlessness and self-confi-
dence with which Bohl describes the various positions of
modern theologians. Schleiermacher gave up the Bible
and put the religious feelings in its place, hence he makes
humanity, when it bursts the cocoon, come out a Christo-
phorus ; Biedermann is a pantheist ; Biedermann and Lip-
sius have no God to whom one can pray ; Frank is a syn-
ergist ; Ritschl has no standards, puts ethical judgment in
the place of metaphysics, has no trinity, is a semipelagian
and a deist. He says that Dorner, in order to establish
faith on a purely human basis, fell into the error that
God's immanence in us is the perennial and ever-present
ground of our existence. He quotes from Dorner : " To
the endowment of human intelligence belongs also the
power of intuition, the plastic power of thinking God's
real thoughts after him and of mirroring his truths in a
living representation ; '• and adds, " "Whoever grants Dor-
ner this, delivers himself up to him bound hand and foot,
and may see to it, how he shall get loose again."2 Bohl's
critics are equally cool in their judgment of him. Lipsius
says: "All the principal questions concerning theories of
religious knowledge, the essence of religion, the relation
of theology and philosophy trouble this favorite of fortune
so little that he does not think them worth the trouble of
a notice;" and dismisses the book with the remark: uThe
chief peculiarity of the work is a use of scripture-proofs
which laughs at all modern criticism and exegesis."

i P. 208. 2 p. ix.

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 287

The work of Professor Shedd,1 consisting of two vol-
umes, 1,300 pages, is in closest sympathy with ancient
orthodoxy. While the author does not undervalue the
brilliant and practical productions of modern times, he
does not hesitate to avow his preference for the thinking
of the great theologians of past generations. His admi-
ration of Augustine has long been known, the work before
us shows that he has patiently and carefully reproduced
in his own mind the speculations of Athanasius, Anselm,
Calvin, Edwards and others with whose words he has
enriched many of his pages. Every topic which he dis-
cusses is worthy of extended notice, but we have space
for only two — theism and the atonement. Possibly we
may at another time turn back to speak of some of the
characteristic features of these volumes, but they have
come to us too late for full review at present. A great
part of the first volume is devoted to theology in the
narrower sense, — the doctrine of God ; and nearly one
half to the existence, nature and attributes of deity. We
shall confine ourselves mainly to his idea of the nature of
God and of the proofs of his existence.

The opening sentence on this subject is instructive and
suggestive : ' ' The words of our Lord to the Samaritan
woman, ' God is a spirit, ' although spoken for a practical
purpose, are also a scientific definition.'' He objects,
however, to the ordinary translation and says : "He is
not a spirit, but spirit itself, absolutely. The employ-
ment of the article in the English version is objectionable,

because it places the deity in a class with other spiritual

i Dogmatic Theology. By William G. T. Shedcl, D. D. New
York. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1888.

288 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

beings. But this is not the thought of Christ, who
asserts that 'no one knoweth the Father but the Son ;
thus claiming for himself a knowledge of the deity as the
absolute and unconditioned spirit, who is not cognizable
by the finite mind in the manner and degree that finite
spirit is."1 While God is spirit he is possessed of sub-
stance or essence / he is not simply an idea, not the abso-
lute idea, neither is he an energy inferred from the current
of events, ua power that makes for righteousness," but a
being capable of possessing and exercising powers and
influences. Again "God has no passions." He does not
so exist over against anything as to be subject to its sway,
liable to be thwarted or in any way affected by its forces.
He is master of himself and of all things. Besides es-
sence he predicates of God personality. " God is a per-
sonal being. Personality is marked by two characteristics,
self-consciousness, self-determination." If this be true, then
God distinguishes himself from the Universe, forms plans,
governs the world and may make a revelation. The
author replies to the objection that personality is a denial
of the infinity of God by pointing out the important and
fundamental truth that the Infinite is not the All. " The
Infinite is without parts and indivisible ; the All is made
up of parts and is divisible."2 He thinks Edwards and
Dorner fell into the error of confounding the Infinite and
the All. Professor Shedd considers the idea of Gocl
innate to the human mind. His argument on this point is
extended and powerful. After remarking that the Bible
combats atheism only in the form of practical atheism, he
says : i i The reason why the Scriptures make no provision

1 J bid. p. 151. 2 j bid. p. 190.

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 289

against speculative atheism by syllogistic reasoning is,
that syllogistic reasoning starts from a premise that is
more obvious and certain than the conclusion drawn from
it, and they do not concede that any premise necessary to
be laid down in order to draw the conclusion that there is
a Supreme being, is more intuitively certain than the con-
clusion itself . The judgment, "There is a God," is as
universal, natural and intuitive as the judgment, " There
is a cause.'' The latter judgment has been combated (by
Hume, e. g.), as well as the former. And the principal
motive for combating the latter is the invalidation of the
former. Men deny the reality of a cause, only for the
purpose of disproving the reality of a First Cause."1 The
evidence of the innateness of the idea of God which the
author finds in psychology seems to us not wholly con-
vincing. He says : ' ' Atheism is refuted by an accurate
and exhaustive psychology." This need not be denied.
But when he argues the fact first from man's GocLcon-
sciousness, this seems to us very like begging the question,
which is whether the idea of God comes within conscious-
ness. To reply, it must be within the consciousness, for
the reality is there, at least makes the question futile.
When he says that self-consciousness proves that the idea
of God is in the mind, because there must be a self over
against the conscious self to make that form of conscious-
ness possible, we cannot assent. There is no evidence that
the subject and object in consciousness must be co-equal,
or even the same in kind. When he maintains that a sin-
ful self proves the idea of a holy creator, we ask what
would a holy self prove? There seems to us a subtle

l Ibid., p. 196.

290 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

realism underlying some of the argumentations of Prof.
Shedd on the subject of theism. At times it seems as if
he held knowing and being to be one. This appears, per-
haps, still more fully in his argtiment for the existence of

God.

The evidence of the divine existence, as our author
thinks, is mainly our consciousness, yet he considers the
syllogistic arguments useful. He presents appreciatively
the cosmological argument and recognizes the Bible en-
dorsement of it. It is gratifying to see this at a time
when it is fashionable to deny this and other proofs of
God's existence. Critics treat these arguments of late as
if their purpose were to define God, not to certify us of
his being. Men who would be ridiculed as simpletons if
they did not know Hercules from his footprints, are ridi-
culed as simpletons if they do know God from his works.
Our author, however, gives the most prominent place to
the ontological argument, and considers Anselm's form of
it irrefutable. But he seems to us to beg the question in
his defence of it. Anselm attempts to go from the idea
of a perfect being to the existence of the perfect being.
The medium by which the idea is assured to be the idea
of an objective reality is the idea of necessary existence
as an attribute of the idea of a perfect being. Professor
Shedd seems to think the idea of necessary existence com-
pels an assent to the fact of necessary existence. In his
view the mind has not the power to hold the idea of nec-
essary existence as an idea, while it is an idea it is an
objective reality. The very idea carries over the mind
into the apprehension of the objective truth. In other
words you cannot say a being exists necessarily without

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 291

proving that he exists necessarily. He says the statement,
ktIf the absolutely Perfect exist, he exists necessarily," is
self-destructive. The' word necessarily nullifies the if.
It will not do to say God exists necessarily and then prove
his existence from the word necessarily, this is begging
the question ; but the argument fails unless the word
necessarily in some way establishes the existence of God.

Professor Shedd notices the objections which have been
urged against this argument and replies to them, but it
seems to us not conclusively, unless the idea of necessity
of existence is the evidence of the reality of a necessary
existence. He says the objections are made, in some cases,
against the Cartesian form of the argument and against
that are valid, but not against the Anselmic. Yet the two
differ only in this, that Des Cartes omits the statement of
the middle step in the process, viz., necessary existence.
Des Cartes goes from most perfect being, as an idea, to ob-
jective reality, Anselm goes from the same to the included
idea necessary existence, and from that to objective reality.
It is difficult to see how the mere failure to state an implied
thought should invalidate an argument. Of the entire ar-
gument it may be said that an element in a given idea
cannot be evidence of a reality to which the idea corres-
ponds. A plausible argument in favor of reality may be
derived from the source of the idea or from its relations.

The wealth of thought which the author spreads out be-
fore the reader in his chapters on the Trinity and on the'
attributes of God, will call forth admiration and gratitude,
but we can not take up these themes here. These pro-
longed meditations upon the Deity are the fruitage of
habits of thought long since established, already noticeable

292 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

when the author was a youthful pastor in a Vermont

village.

We pass now to notice briefly his view of the atone-
ment. He teaches with great positiveness the doctrine of
vicarious atonement. He considers that it is clearly taught
in the Scriptures, in those passages which declare that
Christ gave himself a ransom for many, died for our sins,
died for the ungodly. He finds substitution of Christ for
the sinner implied in the Greek prepositions which set
forth his relation to men. He calls attention to the differ-
ence between a personal and a vicarious atonement. The
offending party makes a personal atonement by suffering
the penalty of his own sin. A vicarious atonement is
made by the offended party, — in oar Christian system
made by God : "our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.'1
In the case under consideration, the particular function to
be performed is that of atoning for sin by suffering. Man
the transgressor is the party who owes the atonement, and
who ought to discharge the office of an atoner ; but Jesus
' Christ is the party who actually discharges the office, and
makes the atonement in his stead. The idea of vicarious-
ness or substitution is, therefore, vital to a correct theory
of Christ's priestly office.1

To the objection that there is no mercy in the pardon of
sin if the penalty is paid by a substitute, Professor Shedd
replies : "The highest exhibition of mercy is the substitu-
tional character of the atonement. For God to remit pen-
alty without inflicting suffering upon God incarnate, would
be infinitely less compassion than to remit it through such
infliction. In one case, there is no self-sacrifice in the

i Ibid. p. 382.

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 293

Godhead; in the other there is. The pardon in one case
is inexpensive and cheap; in the other costly and difficult
of execution."1

In this connection the author speaks of the self-sacrifice
of the Father in providing the atonement. To this thought
he recurs more frequently than to any other. ' ' Though it
was God the Son, and not God the Father, Avho became
incarnate, and suffered, and died, it by no means follows
that the first person of the Trinity made no self-sacrifice in
this humiliation and crucifixion of the second person." 2
"In looking, therefore, for the inmost seat and center of
the Divine compassion, we should seek it rather in the
w^ork of atonement than in the act of forgiveness. . . .
The latter transaction is easy enough after the former has
occurred. But the former transaction cost the infinite and
adorable Trinity an effort, and a sacrifice, that is incon-
ceivable and unutterable."3

To the objection that making atonement to one's self
means nothing, that the thought is artificial and nugatory
he replies : w 'The explanation of the great subject of the
Divine reconciliation lies in the doctrine of the Trinity.
The doctrine of vicarious atonement stands or falls with
that of the Triune God."4 Jesus Christ does not make sat-
isfaction to himself as Jesus Christ, but to the Trinity.
The incarnate Word satisfies the justice of the God-head." 5

The author notices that some who accept the doctrine of
a vicarious sacrifice yet deny that Christ's sufferings were
penal. He, however, prefers to retain that word since his
sufferings were not a calamity befalling him for no known

i Ibid. p. 384. * Ibid. p. 386. * Ibid. p. 393.

4 Ibid. p. 408. 5 lbid.y. 394.

294

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

purpose, were not discipline, for he was not undergoing a
process of sanctification, but were a satisfaction to the
claims of the law, and those claims were the penalty due
for transgression. The term punishment may describe
Christ's sufferings as fitly as atonement does. They are
kindred terms.

Professor Shedd affirms the adequacy of the substitu-
tion of Christ's sufferings in- the place of the sinner's in
very emphatic language. kkThe vicarious sufferings of
Christ were infinite in value. In the substitution, the
amount is fully equal to that of the original penalty/' "It
has been objected that the sufferings of Christ, not being
endless, cannot be of equal value with those of all man-
kind. But when carefully examined and strictly com-
puted, they will be found to exceed in value and dignity
the sufferings for which they were substituted.1'1 This re-
mark is based on two considerations, that the element of
infinity enters into the sufferings of Christ more fully than
into those of men, and that the law is more fully honored
by the substitution, since it is obeyed by Christ at the same
time that its penalty is endured. He teaches that the ex-
piation of sin was effected both by Christ's active and
passive obedience.

As to the extent of the atonement the author says :
"Atonement is unlimited, and redemption is limited. This
statement includes all the Scripture texts ; those which
assert that Christ died for all men, and those Avhich assert
that he died for his people. ' '2 Concerning the responsibility
of the non-elect he says : "It is the non-elect himself,
not God, who prevents the efficacy of the atonement."

1 Ibid. pp. 459-460,

2 Ibid. p. 470.

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 295

"The author of impenitence and unbelief is the author of
limited redemption." "The non-elect himself is the re-
sponsible cause of the inefficacy of Christ's expiation." 1

The theology of Ritschl continues to excite interest in
all European countries and to some extent in America.
An essay was read before an association of Swiss preachers
in August, 1887, which contains some points worthy of
notice. Its author, Dr. Th. Haring, is a professor of the-
ology at Ziirich and shows himself familiar with the topics
of which he treats. The question which he answers is
this : "Does Ritschl's theory of the atonement constitute an
advance in the dogmatic development of Protestant the-
ology ? " He finds the same difficulties which others have
encountered in the study of his author ; indefiniteness of
thought, indefiniteness of statement, the use of old terms
in a new sense, appeal to relations which are not defined ;
yet he maintains that he has made important contributions
to theological science. He states a few of the principles
of his theology with clearness and brevity which we will
give very nearly in his words : Sin in its religious and
moral character is want of reverential trust, on this ground
is based want of love to one's neighbor, and, through the
interaction of wicked wills, the kingdom of sin ; the atone-
ment is the restoration of right relations with God ; f or-
ofivino- grace is not at variance with the inviolability of
moral law, but is the highest moral love — this is the pecu-
liarlv Christian sentiment concerning God ; the forgiveness
of sin is not a mere sentiment of God relating to the sin-
ner, but implies the appropriation of grace and is the foun-
dation of practical Christian life, it is not the surrogate of

i Ibid. pp. 484-485.

296

8 } 'S TEMA TIC TEE OLOGY.

defective good works, but a divine judgment which is syn-
thetic ; Christ is the perfect revelation of God ; God's love
is revealed not only in sending Christ, but is self-revealing
in his life-wTork ; man's relation to God is not essentially a
relation of justice, as the old orthodoxy holds, or a relation
of dependence on arbitrary power, as the Socinians teach,
but of dependence on forgiving love to be appropriated by
faith ; the Christian knows that he is called to enter into
communion with God, but a sense of guilt restrains
him, Christianity brings with it the assurance of re-
conciliation, which is forgiveness, which is justification;
no moral consideration is to be thought of as calling
forth God's judgment of justification or as establishing
it as a fact. Professor Haring considers these views a
decided advance in theology; the old orthodoxy he sup-
poses to have been overthrown by the Kantian philoso-
phy and the speculations of Schleiermacher. Kitschl
has now gone back to the Bible and brought forth from
it a scheme which accords both with Christian experi-
ence and revealed truth. This is not a scheme which
depends on any philosophy, Ritschl discards metaphys-
ics as connected with religion, but is a scheme which
rests simply on the fact of Christ's work. We are re-
conciled with God, or, in other words, an atonement is
made, when we believe in Christ. This is the perpetual
miracle of the Christian religion. We are reconciled to
God, or atonement is made, not through any merit of
Christ, though his work has value before God and is
pleasing to him, but through his person, he being our
representative. We find absolutely no favor with God
except through Christ. It is only the faith which

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 297

Christ, historically known, creates in us, that makes us
acceptable to God. And Christ is acceptable to God
and creates faith in us only by his death. His death was
absolutely essential to constitute him a Reconciler between
God and man. The death of Christ, however, was not a
vicarious enduring of punishment ; this is an unbiblical
idea and would have no tendency towards a reconciliation,
it is effective because it has a faith-producing power and
because it was a faithful fulfilling of Christ's calling.

While Professor Haring accepts much of Ritschl's teach-
ing, he considers his views of expiation defective, and that
the Bible embraces much concerning the atonement that
is not recognized in this scheme. He thinks there are
still advances to be made in Protestant theology. Ameri-
can theologians will find, with many differences, many
similarities between Kitschl's theology and the views of
Dr. Bushnell.

The work of Stuart1 deserves notice rather as an indi-
cation of certain theological tendencies of the time, than
for its inherent worth. It is not wholly consistent
with itself ; it presents no standard of belief, after having
destroyed, or attempted to destroy, that ordinarily re-
ceived, viz. inspiration ; and it is utterly capricious in its
acceptance or rejection of Scripture statements; still it has
qualities which entitle it to careful study. It is an honest
and vigorous attempt to draw forth from the Bible the
doctrines of Christianity. It throws off all authority,
whether of commentators or theologians, it repels all meta-

1 Principles of Christianity. Being- an essay towards a more cor-
rect apprehension of Christian doctrine, mainly soteriological. By
James Stuart, M. A. Williams & Norgate. London : 1888.

298

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

physical subtleties and seeks from the Bible itself to make
out the teachings of the Bible. One is reminded, in read-
ing it, of Ritsehl's method of theological discussion. There
is little similarity of results in the speculations of the two
men, but they are alike in the fearless and independent
way in which they treat biblical commentators and other
theological writers. The work before us, though giving
evidence of the author's familiarity with the literature of
theology, is singularly free from any attempt to find sup-
port or confirmation in the works of others.

The author does not attempt to give the world an entire
system of theology, but aims to present what he considers
the correct view of the chief doctrines of the scheme of
salvation. He begins with a determined and prolonged
assault upon the doctrine of imputation. He claims to
have demonstrated its utter absurdity, its inconsistency
with itself and with the Scriptures. He selects the case
of Onesimus as one exhibiting the true idea of imputation,
in which the guilt of wrong-doing is transferred from him
to Paul. He affirms that the theological doctrine does

* — -

not, in any of its applications, teach a transfer either of
sin or of guilt. Adam retains his guilt, though his sin,
according to the doctrine, is imputed to his posterity-;
men retain their guilt and sin, though their sin is said to
be imputed to Christ; and men live lives of sin, though
Christ's righteousness is imputed to them. There is there-
fore no imputation, no transfer of character or quality
from one to another, there is, even according to the doc-
trine itself, merely a conferring of sin, guilt or righteous-
ness, so that the several individuals involved have com-
mon part n -ame qualities. The author argues at

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 299

great length that neither reason, experience nor Scripture
gives any support to the doctrine.

This " eliminating the theory or doctrine of imputation'"
from theology opens the way to the position that God
judges every man according to his character, - -the good
man is rewarded, the bad man is punished. The author
maintains that there are no fictions in theology, forgiveness
is actual forgiveness, not a transfer of righteousness from one
to another, punishment is actual and for personal sin, whether
inflicted on Christ or on men, and is never vicarious, suffer-
ing is penal, not simply chastisement, and righteousness is
an actual quality of character, never an assumed quality.

He maintains also that the Scriptures are to be inter-
preted from the standpoint of those to whom they are
addressed. They have no double meaning, are not to be
understood as allegorical, but are to be accepted in their
original intent. If they have been quoted, as they often
are in the New Testament, in a sense different from the
original, the new sense is to be discarded, and neither the
new nor the old is to be imposed upon us by a resort to
the doctrine of inspiration. Verbal inspiration and alle-
gorical exegesis, in the author's view, go together.

Mr. Stuart is one of the boldest critics of the Bible.
He accepts as true, or as in all probability true, the re-
sults of the higher criticism, and accepts the results of
scientific research as at war with many Scriptural asser-
tions and yet as indubitably established. Intelligent men
cannot, in his view, receive the account of the creation of
man which we have in Genesis, and cannot accept the
story of the fall as historical. He says : "It appears to
be quite clearly made out that we have at the opening of

300 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

Genesis not one account of creation but two, and two
accounts which originated quite independently of one
another, and are, in various details, such, for example, as
the order of creation, mutually antagonistic and utterly
irreconcilable. Of these two narratives, the second,
which contains the account of the fall, is probably the
older, but neither can be assigned to a date earlier than
the ninth century B. C." L He finds a relation between
the Old Testament and the New, but does not allow that
the latter is, in any sense, a development of the former :
the relation is that of continuity, not that of unity. He
says: "Historical critics of the more sober-minded and
earnest class are inclining more and more to the opinion
that the sacrificial and ceremonial system of the Israel-
itish nation was not of positive Divine institution, but of
natural origin, just as much so as the sacrificial systems of
the heathen ; that in the earliest ages it was of a simple
nature, and as nearly as possible identical, in its general
character, with that which existed among the surrounding
nations : that, though accepted by the God of Israel as a
convenient form in which religious feeling might develop
and expand itself, it was at no time regarded by the best
spirits of the nation as entering into the essence of true
religion, or as being in itself anything more than a matter
of indifference ; . . . . that the ceremonial system in
its most fully developed written form — the form in which
it appears in the middle books of the Pentateuch — did
not take shape, or at any rate did not come into actual
practice, till after the Babylonian exile ; and, finally, that
long before the Christian era the written law had been

1 P. 145.

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 301

greatly augmented by unwritten additions, and. instead of
being a help, had become a positive hindrance to the prog-
ress of true religion, and was ripe for being swept out of
existence, as soon as some great prophet or religious re-
former should appear to tear off the mask under which
ungodliness and immorality were parading themselves in
the name of religion."1

Christ is, of course, looked upon as the great reformer
who set aside traditions and carried forward'the religious
ideas of men to a higher plane. He made use of the Old
Testament as an aid, but while he appealed to it he really
set it aside. He did not think it necessary to remove
from the minds of his contemporaries their errors con-
cerning its origin and its historic truthfulness, he simply
sought to cultivate a true religion of the heart bv such
means as were within his reach. *w What Christ and his
apostles had to do, and what all religious reformers in
similar circumstances, both before and since, have had to
do, has been to tear off the mask of outward formalism,
and to lead men back to religion of the heart. The sum
of all that Christ and his apostles taught was that men
should obtain through faith a new heart, which would
enable them to love God and their fellow-men, and that
beyond this everything was a matter of absolute indiffer
ence."2

The apostles, when they subsequently proceeded to
publish and advocate Christianity, made use of such argu-
ments as they found effective among the people. The}
sought to draw away their hearers from the law which
hindered their spiritual advancement but to which the\

i P. 393. 2 p. 390,

302 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

were wedded ; they therefore attempted to persuade their
hearers that the law was fulfilled in Christ and might
safely be set aside. They thus read Christianity into the
Old Testament that they might through the law enforce it
upon the people. This apostolic exegesis of the Scrip-
tures was an artifice but served a good purpose. Paul
resorts to shuffling and sophistry to establish his views by
means of the sacred books, but we are not to be misled
by his interpretations or false inferences. We are to dis-
tinguish between his personal ideas and the principles of
Christianity. It is for us to set aside his whimsies, such
as original sin and death because of the sin of Adam, to
detect his Rabbinical prejudices and separate from them
the doctrines of salvation which he has set forth correctly,
having derived his knowledge of them from personal expe-
rience.

The author says that the Epistle to the Romans and the
Epistle to the Hebrews are the two pillars of Christian
doctrine. The perversions of the Old Testament by the
author of the latter Epistle are more monstrous than those
of Paul. He makes Christ a priest before he died, then
a priest after he died, teaches that there was no possible
salvation before Christ came, yet teaches in the latter part
of the Epistle that many in early times walked by faith.
Thus there are two or three contradictory systems in the
Hebrews in reference to which we must be on our guard.

It is somewhat difficult to understand how our author
discriminates between the true and the false in the New
Testament writings, but he seems to accept with implicit
confidence and as final authority much of the gospels and
of the epistles.

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 303

The question will be asked, what, in the view of Stuart,
is salvation ? If there is no original sin, if there has been
no fall, from what are men saved? The reply is salvation
is deliverance from sin, not from guilt and punishment
except incidentally, but from sin. Salvation is the result
of righteousness, the state of salvation is the state of
righteousness. God does not deal with fictions but facts.
He was always ready to justify those who would keep the
law, and always condemns those who transgress it. None
are ever justified till they cease from transgression. God
does not exact the full penalty for sin in the case of those
who believe in Christ and enter on a holy life, on the con-
trary, he forgives and delivers them from final condemna-
tion. But they are under his wrath till they become
righteous? and are never delivered from sin till they put
off the flesh. So long as they are in the flesh they suffer
for sin and this suffering is penal ; it was penal in the case
of Christ and is penal with all men. This punishment is
like the eternal punishment of the lost, a condemnation of
sin and an exhibition of divine wrath. It is not necessary
to inflict an adequate punishment for sin; even eternal pun-
ishment is not an adequate punishment.

Sin, in our author's view, is an inherent principle of
flesh. Flesh is always sinful, God's anger goes forth
against it wherever it appears. He was angry with Christ
because of it and is angry with all the human race in the
same way. While all men are sinful because of the flesh,
and all suffer and die because of it, Christ among the num-
ber, the spirit is righteousness. The flesh lusts against
the spirit and draws it away from its integrity, but so long-
as it resists temptation the man may be considered

304 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

righteous, that is, he will be righteous when he dies, if the
spirit remain pure. No man is strong enough of himself
to resist temptation, but he may resist it through the aid
of the Spirit of God. By the aid of this Divine Spirit
Christ kept the spirit sinless, and men may live a life like
his by the aid of the spirit received through faith. There
is no complete salvation except through death. After
death sin is not possible, there is no means b}^ which temp-
tation can have access to the soul, even though the soul is
already contaminated by sin. uThe flesh is not only a
part of the world, but being in immediate contact with the
spirit, it is that part through which, directly or indirectly,
all the world's temptations come. Again, the devil and
his emmissaries can not be viewed as sources of tempta-
tion wholly distinct from the lusts of the flesh ; for it is in
and through the lusts of the flesh that the supersensuous
powers of evil act on human nature." 1

Christ's salvation was precisely like that of other men.
He died to sin by putting off the flesh, was under the
wrath of God till that time, and in the days of his flesh
resisted its temptations by the aid of the Holy Spirit,
His death affected no one but himself directly, though the
faith by which others are saved is produced by his death,
— by his blood.

One naturally asks, what kind of a Being does Mr.
Stuart suppose Christ to be. He has not dwelt upon this
topic at length, but one sentence may be cited as an
answer. "We know that Christ, when He became man.
emptied himself, laying aside the substance and form of
Godhead, and assuming the substance and form of slave-
hood^^

i P. 558. 2 p. 612.

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 805

It may be asked how the power of Christ is applied to
men so that he can be said to become their Saviour. On
this the author has not been explicit, but he uses the ex-
pression, the believers vital 'union with Christ, without
explaining the meaning of the phrase. He also says :
-wIt was the prodigious influx of the spirit of religion
which Christ brought with him into the world, and which
he left behind him in the world, that constituted his com-
ing a new era in the religious history of the world." 1

Non-Biblical Systems of Religion* is a very entertain-
ing and instructive book. It consists of a series of essays
first published in The Homiletic Review. A little volume
of 243 pages, presenting the thoughts of nine able schol-
ars on topics over which they have spent years of study,
must be worthy of a careful perusal. And it is very
gratifying to notice the honor paid to Christianity by men
who know how it stands in contrast with the other reli^-
ions of the world. The maxim ua little learning is a
dangerous thing'' is seldom more manifestly true than
when essays like those before ns are set in contrast with
the opinions of sciolists who find Buddhism or the Re-
ligion of Humanity superior to Christianity. Some have
attempted to account for the Mosaic legislation by tracing
it to the jurisprudence of Egypt. Some theologians
have claimed to find nearly all the teachings of the Bible
in Egyptian theology. But Canon Rawlinson says: uThe
fact was, that the Egyptian system, whatever amount of
truth it contained — and we are far from denying that

i P. 390.

2 A Symposium. By Ven. Archdeacon Farrar and others. New
York. Thomas Whittaker, 1888.

306 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

the amount was considerable — rested on no sound basis,
was a fabric built up by fancy out of very questionable
materials, and involved much false teaching of a practi-
cally dangerous character, against which Moses had to
guard his countrymen." ! He speaks also of Egyptian
morality as mostly negative, its positive requirements as
being few and easily kept. wwIt inculcated no severe self-
denial, no stern control of the passions, no love of ene-
mies, no turning of the cheek to the smiter, no humility,
no real purity, no complete resignation to the divine will
under all circumstances." 2

The essay on Buddhism by T. W. Rhys Davids, LL. D.,
is one of much interest. This religion of the East has by
some wTriters been compared with Christianity to the dis-
paragement of the latter as a debtor to, and in imitation
of, the former. Our essayist expresses himself on this
point quite decisively. w k There has been, it is true, no
little wild talk about the borrowings of Christianity from
Buddhism. But there has not as yet been discovered the
slightest scintilla of evidence for any historical connection
between the two. . . . The fact is, that Buddhism is
the most different from Christianity of all the great relig-
ions." 3 After noticing many marked but superficial
similarities he says: "It is precisely those ideas in the
Bible which are most instinctively and specially Christian,
which are not only wanted in, but are absolutely contra-
dicted in, Buddhism. In it we have an ethical system but
no law-giver, a world without a Creator, a salvation with-
out eternal life, and a sense of evil, but no conception of
pardon, atonement, reconciliation, or redemption. " 4

i P. 39. 2 p. 51. a p. us. 4 p. 131.

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 307

One of the most interesting of the essays before us is
that on the Scandinavian Religion. The author holds that
it had an origin wholly independent of Christianity, that
the most intelligent of its adherents worshiped a spiritual
Deity behind the gods known to the people, and that it
inspired the ancient Scandinavians to live upright and
noble lives.

Comtism and Mormonism are the two religions which
the Nineteenth Century has produced. Comtism is the
religion of Humanity. Its worship is the worship of
that which is worthiest in humanity. In the concrete the
proper object of worship is woman. A man should wor-
ship his mother or wife or daughter. This religion is
simply the naturalist's scheme of morals with forms of
worship added. Professor J. Redford Thomson in an
essay on this topic says : k ' Our admiration of much in
the teaching and practical life of our Positivist neighbors
does not blind us to the fact that what of good there is in
them is owing almost entirely to the religion of Christ,
which has entered into the structure of the society of
which they form a part, nor does it blind us to the fact
that the peculiarities of the Positivist doctrine are in
themselves indefensible and misleading.'- ]

Rational Theology? by J. M. Williams, treats of so
many of the Christian doctrines that it may be noticed
among the works upon theology in general. The author
gives us, with great clearness and perfect independence of
all authorities, his views on Calvinism, Conscience, Virtue,

1 P. 190.

2 Rational Theology. By John Milton Williams, A. M. Chicago,

1888.

308 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

Regeneration. Sovereignty and Free Agency, Atonement.
Future Punishment and the Person of Christ. His views
on most of these topics will be readily inferred from a few
suggestive statements taken from the book itself. After
quoting Reid's definition of freedom — power over the de-
terminations of one's own will, — he says: "New Calvin-
ism accepts. Old Calvinism rejects this definition; and just
here theology divides into two schools,'' 1 and adds, Reid's
definition of necessity is Hodo-e's definition of freedom.
He says, the old Calvinists make the sensibility the heart,
the New Calvinists make the will the heart. The Old Cal-
vinists *w agree in making regeneration a work wrought by
the direct power of the Holy Spirit in the affections, in-
clinations, impulses and tastes of the sinner — in what the
apostle calls the flesh — in something lying back of the will,
from which, they claim, volition and choices proceed.
There is probably no other doctrine in the whole Hyper-
Calvinistic theology to which the New Calvinist takes more
emphatic exceptions. . . . Regeneration the New Calvinist
lifts into a higher and different department of man's nature.
He makes it a change of moral character — a change
from ill to well-deserving— from blame to praise-worthi-
ness, and he can not understand how a change wrought in
the sensibility by another can render its object meritorious,
or make a bad man a °:ood man.4 These two theologies
agree that regeneration is in every case secured by the
Spirit of God, but they differ as to the nature of the influ-
ence he employs. One makes it physical, the other moral;
one force, the other persuasion.'' 3 The author considers
the Edwardian distinction between natural and moral

i P. 16. 2 Pp. 27-28. 3 p. 30.

THEOLOGY AS A SYSTEM. 309

ability of no account. "Conscience is the arbiter only of
intentions or motives. It approves of right intentions and
of nothing else. . . . Its domain is the whole field of
morals/11 "The choice of this (the welfare of being in
general) for its own sake I conceive to be the essence and
totality of virtue."2 The governmental theory of the
atonement is adopted in this work; God has made it safe
to pardon sin by the sacrifice of Christ. The author de-
nies that Christ possessed a human soul and holds to the
Kenotic theory of the incarnation and manifestation of the
Logos.

An essay"* by Karl Wilhelm Ziegler indicates- the drift
of religious thought in some parts of Christendom, it may
be. a wide-spread tendency of thought. Lipsius in his no-
tices of theological literature4 passes it with the simple re-
mark that it is a reproduction of Ritschlian ideas. But it
is not a reproduction of those ideas through which Kitschl
is best known in this country, and is worthy of a brief
notice. Zieoler, confessing that he has himself been one
of the freest, of free-thinkers, aims to lead his countrymen
to the adoption of Christianity, not the Christianity of the
Bible but of experience, as the inevitable 'result of sound
and candid thought. He considers that the aim of religion
as of morality, is to deliver man from dependence on the
world. The root of religion is "If is J." The personal
being is of more importance than the world, and the world
must be made to serve the person. A just personal.

i P. 40. ~? P. ST.

3 Zum Entscheichingskarnpf um 'den chrisblichen Olauben in cier
Gegenwurt. Tubingen. 1887.

■* Theologischer Jahresbericht, Leipzig, 1888.

310 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

spiritual life is a religious life. It is the mission of man.
— of all men — to live this life of elevation above the
world. If we value men as we should, we shall esteem
them as a capacity for this better life requires, and shall
seek to promote in them the realization of their high dig-
nity. This is the proper neighbor-love, loving our neigh-
bors as ourselves. If we start from this moral principle,
which is also the sum and substance of practical Christi-
anity, we shall find that we are obliged also to accept the
truths of the Christian religion.

In order to reach this result we must begin with practi-
cal life. 'Christianity is to be known from the lives of
pious men, not from the Bible. The evidences of Christi-
anity "as drawn out in treatises on that subject" have little
force, but experience shows that it is the system which we
must accept as best, — and in any science that which ex-
periment shows to be best, is to be adopted. We are to
make faith an act of will, then we go on successfully to the
result desired ; but when religion attempts to rescue us
from dependence on the world by making us dependent on
a fictitious Deity we remain dependent on the world still.
It is from the will-act that we attain to the religious state
and to a knowledge of God. "We for our part would be
morally active persons, hold the moral good will for the
worthiest, and then believe that the personal will is the
point from which our morally guided, not unbridled phan-
tasy must make its leap to the Unconditioned." The
author informs us that he has purposely omitted reference
to Christ in his essay, but says, if any one asks whether
he can have that will-faith which opens the way to belief
in a personal God, his reply is, he can make an earnest

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 311

effort for it and perhaps there will come to his assistance
one who has more power in faith than any other and is
near to God as never man has been.

II. TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES.

1. Apologetics.

James Martinean has long been known as one of the
leading Unitarians of Great Britain. As a teacher, a
thinker and an author he stands in the front rank. His
many years of study have given him a familiarity with
philosophic literature which no young man can have. He
seems to be as familiar with Kant and Lucretius as a
Christian preacher is with the Bible ; he has at command
the main thoughts of philosophical authors from Plato to
Theodore Parker ; he cites Fichte and Hegel as readily as
Hamilton and Hume.1 The opinions of such a writer
must on any theme be of value ; especially students of the-
ology must seek the acquaintance of one who could write :
"We are entitled to say that conscience reveals the living
God, because it finds neither content to its aspirations nor
victory in its strife, till it touches his infinitude and £oes
forth from his embrace*."2

The work before us is essentially philosophical, though
it is entitled "A Study of Religion." It is an attempt to
set the main truths of religion on a firm foundation and
deals with it not as a matter of experience bat of intellec-

i A Study of Religion, Its Sources and Contents. By James Mar
tineau, D. D., LL.D. 2 Vols. New York ; Maemillan & Co. 1888.

2 Vol. ii, p. 37.

312 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

tual belief. The author has no reference whatever to
Christian doctrine but seeks simply to rescue, appropriate
and defend our 4 natural faith. ' He says : ' ' By religion I
understand the belief and worship of Supreme Mind and
Will, directing the universe and holding moral relations
with human life. This I state as its essence; but whatever
this essence may necessarily carry as a consequence, or,
with the collateral aid of other evidence, may justify us
in accepting as true, will also find its place under the cate-
gory of religion."1 He says also: "All religion resolves
itself into a conscious relation, on our part, to a higher
than we ;"2 and distinguishes between religion and moral-
ity in this way : "Nothing is so sickly, so paralytic, so
desolate, as k Moral Ideals' that are nothing else; like a
pale and beautiful estatica that can only look down, and
whisper dreams, and show the sacred stigmata, they can-
not will or act or love ; and their whole power is in abey-
ance till they present themselves in a living personal being,
who secures the righteousness of the universe and seeks
the sanctification of each heart. The whole difference on
which I have dwelt between morality and religion hangs
on this conviction of an Eternal Holiness in correspondence
with the individual conscience/* 3

His study of religion is therefore a discussion of this
question : can we justify the belief, that there is above us
a Supreme and Holy Will in such relation to ourselves
that we are drawn by its influence to a holier and better
life? He answers this question in the affirmative. Before
examining the process by which he reaches his conclusion,
however, we will notice the ground on which he rests

i Ibid. p. 16. * Ibid. p. 137. 3 Ibid. p. 36.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 313

belief. The basis of conviction, assurance, certitude is an
important element in discussions of this nature. And we
may say in general he is a common-sense philosopher. He
accepts as true our instinctive and inevitable beliefs. He
says : w ; All your self-consciousness is relative, and postu-
lates the otherness of the objective term of the relation ; if
you arbitrarily deny that postulate, I have nothing to say
for it except that it is natural, inherently involved in the
very law of thought itself. . . . We take the opposite
course, and accept what each faculty reports as to its cor-
relative term. That report is what we call an intuition/* !
In connection with this principle the following is of inter-
est as showing: the author's view of the office of meta-
physics. --For this is all, I take it, that metaphysics can
pretend to accomplish by their scrutiny of the ultimate
factors of human knowledge. Thev discover for us that,
for all phenomena of experience, we are obliged to supply
in thought a transcendental object as their ground. Think
it. we must, but only as the base of that relation ; believe
it. we must ; for, if we evict it, the phenomena cling to it
and go too; but prove it, we cannot ; since it is impossible
for thought, however nimble, to leap beyond its own laws,
and see, from a foreign station, whether they tell lies." 2
On such a basis the author attempts to found our belief in
God and the immortality of the soul He is ready to ana-
lyze our acquired thoughts till we reach their original ele-
ments and beyond this point, relying on the veracity of
our faculties, he takes on trust, "as valid intuitions, the
residual belief inherent in our mental constitution.1'

How are we to find and believe in that Higher which

i Ibid. p. 2. 2 Ibid., p. viii.

314 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

we are to worship, if we are to have a religion ? The
author says there are two conditions of supremacy, power
and moral worth; — power to command all methods need-
ful for the accomplishment of contemplated ends, moral
worth which gives ascendency to the highest ends wtas the
springs of the divine Will." He first turns his attention
to power as the means by which we are to rise to a know-
ledge of the existence and power of God. and fixes upon
causality as the form of power which leads to this result.
God is to be known first as cause. He then enters upon
a very careful study of the idea of causality. We cannot
follow him in this but must be content with noticing
simply the conclusions which he reaches. He rejects the
view that a thing is a cause in virtue of being an object in
which attributes reside. The view of Spinoza that sub-
stance is the cause of all things cannot be accepted ;
4 'except as the seat of change, or partner in a change, no
k thing ' can ever play the part of cause."1 He rejects
also the doctrine that a cause is simply another phenome-
non in a series of events, and is a cause as occurring prior
to the event called the effect, This, he says, would re-
quire that the maxim 'cessante causa, cessat effectus' be
replaced by 'cessante causa, incvpit effectus.' The effect
would not appear till the agent ceased to exist. He
accepts the idea that" force is involved in cause, for causa-
tion is production not prophesy, but denies that they are
identical. He says there are two questions here involved :
' ' Whence any phenomenon at all out of the bosom of eter-
nal rest? and. Whence this particular phenomenon?"2
Power answers the first question adequately and is a nec-

1 Ibid. p. 145. 2 Ibid. }). 159.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 315

essary part of the reply to the latter, but not the full
reply. Why this particular phenomenon rather than any
other? is a problem not resolved by power alone, but by
power and the occasion for its use. This brings before us
an agent in which the power resides. Power used for a
purpose is causative. Dr. Martineau does not consider
that simple intelligence apprehends the idea of cause, holds
that the world processes would not suggest to the mere
observant mind the causal relation. "Not till he throws
himself into the field as agent can he find the problem and
try to solve it. Its very rudiments spring from the activ-
ity of the e£o.v He then examines at some lenoth the
question, whether causality is an inference from percep-
tion, i. e., whether we infer an external energy by which
that known in perception is thrust upon us, and replies to
it in the negative. Then follows the true doctrine, as the
author understands it. In perception the self and the not-
self appear opposed to each other, the monism of sensation
passes into a dualism. The self apprehends a resisting
force without and perceives immediately, ah initio, the
outer world in relation to self ; this relation is both dynam-
ical and geometrical, it perceives that it has both a position
without and has power to resist. Hence it perceives
causal force. Now all we know of causal force is from
immediate self-knowledge, " through inner intuition" and
if we attribute causality to that without we must attribute
it as known, and ascribe it to the outer world as we know
it to be. But our causal force is will directed by a purpose,
we are compelled therefore to see in the energy of the
external world will directed by purpose. "Having thus
possession of the antithesis — cause within and cause with-

316 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

out — the latter term becomes available thenceforward for
changes within themselves. . . . True, the subjective focus
has in it. as a seat of consciousness, an immediate feeling
of operative will which can only be reflected on to the
other [the non-ego.] But reflected it is, and must for ever
be ; for it is identified with the inmost essence of the sole
causality accessible to us." l Cause is therefore a dispos-
ing will, and when we see a change in nature, in the non-
ego, we have to think of it as determined by a will in
nature accordant with our personal will.2

The author considers himself entitled by his argument,
briefly sketched above, to this conclusion: "That all
which happens in nature has one kind of cause, and that
cause a Avill like ours ; and that the universe of originated
things is the product of a supreme mind. And precisely
thus, by no less immediate a step, arc we carried, by the
causal intuition, to the first truth of Religion."1 8 Thus
cause dynamically interpreted gives us our natural theism.

The author has an interesting chapter on the implicit
attributes of God as Cause and sums up as follows :
•- There is One universal Cause, the infinite and eternal
scat of all power, an omniscient Mind, ordering all things
for ends selected with perfect wisdom."

After treating of God as Cause the author treats of him
as Perfection. He lays down as the basis of his argu-
ment the following: wiIt is the peculiarity of all properly
moral verdicts, that they are not the expression of indi-
vidual opinions which we work out for ourselves by sift-
ing of evidence ; but the enunciation of what is given us
ready-made and has only to pass through us into speech.

1 Ibid. p. "201. * Ibid. pp. 208 and 213. 3 Ibid. p. 230.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 317

The Moral Law is imposed by an authority
foreign to our personality, and is open, not to be can-
vassed, but only to be obeyed or disobeyed.'' 1 He denies
that conscience is a bundle of prudential maxims, argues
with great acuteness that right is not established by social
vote, and that it is the divine in the human. He holds
that we can therefore rise to a knowledge of the
divine through our moral nature. We find here a second
method of establishing the first and fundamental truth of
religion equally valid with that disclosed to us through
our knowledge of the external world. uIn the act of
perception, we are immediately introduced to an other
than ourselves that gives us what we feel : in the act of
conscience ~we are immediately introduced to a Higher
than ourselves that gives us what we feel : the externality
in the one case, the authority in, the other, the causality
in both, are known upon exactly the same terms, and

carry the same guarantee of their validity

The dualism of perception, which sets us in the face of
an objective world, and the dualism of conscience, which
sets us in the face of an objective higher mind, are per-
fectly analogous in their ground.1' 2 He maintains that
duty and law have no meaning except as they proceed
from one who has authority over us and that we recognize
him in recognizing them. k k I care not whether this be
called an immediate r is ion of God in the experiences of
conscience, or whether it be taken as an inference drawn
from the data they supply. .... In any case the
constitution of our moral nature is unintelligible, except
as living in response to an objective perfection pervading

1 Ibid. pp. 6 and 7. * Ibid. pp. 28, 29.

318 8 TS TEMA TJ ( ' 7 'HE OL OQY.

the universe with holy law." 1 On this principle, we are
entitled to say that conscience reveals the living God, be-
cause it finds neither content to its aspirations nor victory
in its strife, till it touches his infinitude and goes forth
from his embrace." ~

The author designates as implicit attributes of God, as
apprehended by conscience, benevolence towards sentient
beings, justice towards moral beings and amity towards
like minds. He also recognizes a united human life sub-
ject to the divine authority as constituting a hingdom of
God. He argues briefly but convincingly "the unity of
God as Cause and God as Perfection.

If one should ask, is religion worth cherishing; '{ do we
not in a few days, at most a few years, pass into non-
existence, so that the existence and character of God are
of little account ? the work before us replies ; the soul is
immortal, religion is, therefore, important as well as
real. The argument on this point is brief and not differ-
ent from that found elsewhere. The author first shows
that death, considered physiologically or metaphysically,
does not require us to believe that the soul cannot exist
separate from the bod}'. He considers the moral argu-
ment the one which should control our belief. ,w Not till
we turn to the moral aspects of death do we meet with

the presiding reasons which give the casting vote

From this position I now advance a further step and say
that the divine ends manifestly inwrought in our human
nature and life are continuous and of large reach; and,
being here only partially or even incipiently attained,
indicate that the present term of years is but a fragment

i Ibid. p. 30. 2 lUd. p. 37.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 319

and a prelude." 1 Here he points out some of the vatici-
nations of our faculties and endeavors. He shows that
the intellect is constituted for a larger range of knowledge
than any now attained, that the conscience serves well the
office of monitor, warns us clearly of what is to come,
but utterly fails in inflicting punishment for sin. It even
ceases to do its work when men become hardened in
iniquity. There is also a vaticination in the suspense to
which the judgment of the world is subject. Character
can be justly estimated only after one has been long dead.
Those who have been scourges of the race are at first
honored as heroes, then execrated, as monsters. If this is
the fate of the best known of men, where, but in the
world to come, will a just judgment be pronounced upon
those who have lived lives of unostentatious virtue or of
secret crime %

We have presented simply the author's method of justi-
fying our faith in the rock-basis of religion. We have
not space to notice his method of confirming his own view
by an extended essay on theodicy and another on deter-
minism. His remarks on the permission of sin are not
different from those frequently made on the subject, yet
he seems to us to make less of sin than a true theology
requires, and to have less of range for suppositions as to
its permission than is open to those who hold to an objec-
tive atonement.

The author bends every energy to the proof of the
freedom of the will. His entire scheme of thought de-
pends on this. He knows God primarily as Will acting
determinatively. But will in nature and over nature he

i Ibid. p. 367.

320 8 YS TKMA TIC THE OL 0 G Y.

knows only as a will over against the subjective human
will. The will known without is limited in its kinds of
power to the will known within, for the knowledge of
opposites is one. If, therefore, the human will is subject
to necessity, is inevitably determined by motives, the
divine will must be, at least can only be known as. so de-
termined. His argument on this point is as clear as any
to be found in our ordinary treatises, but does not cut off
all reply. The difficulty on this subject still remains.

We cannot believe this work of Dr. Martineau will have
any permanent influence upon the theological world though
it will always repay careful reading. But so few people
will admit that the idea of causation is derived solely from
our own will action, and so few will admit that a will
without is actually perceived in the perception of an exter-
nal world, that the argument here can never have any
great popular effect.

We notice with great gratification the author's view of
teleology. He has not accepted the view that teleology,
as held by Paley and others in former times, has been driven
from the held, nor has he acceded to the boastings of re-
cent evolutionists that while they have destroyed the old
teleology they have established a new on an immovable
basis. He reminds these new philosophers that they have
made no new discovery but are merely annotators upon
the works of their predecessors.

The Apologetic work of Professor Ebrard is now before
the people of England and America, in their own lan-
guage.1 It is a work of great ability, evincing at once the

1 Apologetics, or the Scientific Vindication of Christianity . By J.
H. A. Ebrard, Ph.D. D.D., Professor of Theology in the University
of Erlangen. 3 Vols. Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark. 1886-1887.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 321

acutest thinking and the broadest research. Still his bold
assertions and somewhat haughty criticism tend to weaken
one's confidence in the soundness of his judgment. His
pronounced idealism will, with many, subject his views to
suspicion. He takes his "departure" from this position :
' ' There are indisputably existent to every man two facts :
that he finds himself in a world o-iven to him, which has
been already existing before him, and as a part of the
same, and that he is able to make this world the object of
his cognition, while he in perceiving and cognizing, ap-
propriates it, and consequently makes it the contents of
himself."1 He says again: "With all earnestness we
must therefore firmly hold, that there is no matter, but
only existing complexes of powers."2 He says, we do not
know that atoms, which are merely complexes of powers,
are never lost, all we know is, that the laws by which they
are combined and transformed exist. "The entire visible
and audible and tangible nature is according to this — not
perhaps, an illusive appearance— no, but a phenomenon of
a kingdom of laws. A law, however, is nothing material,
nothing corporeal, bat something intellectual, because a
something generally valid, embracing a plurality under a
unity."3 Whatever may be thought of the author's philo-
sophical position, there can be no question but the treatise
before us is a verv instructive one. His definition of
apologetics shows at the outset that he is the advocate of
positive ideas and has no intention, in treating of Christi-
anity, of acting merely on the defensive. k ' Christian apol-
ogetics is distinguished from the mere apology by this,
that it is not determined in course and method by the at-

i Vol. I., p. 25. 2 ibid. p. 31. 3 Ibid. p. 124.

322 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

tacks appearing casually at any point of time, but from
the nature of Christianity itself deduces the method of the
defence of the same, and consequently the defence itself.
Apologetics is that science which deduces from the nature
of Christianity itself what classes of attacks are generally
possible, what different sides of Christian truth may pos-
sibly be assisted, and what false principles lie at the bottom
of these attacks. Apologetics is the science of the defence
of the truth of Christianity."1

The author conceives of Christianity not as a relative
truth, but as eternal absolute truth ; yet truth not in the
form of doctrine but of realization. In its process of be-
coming, moving towards a full realization through redemp-
tion, it is connected with historic occurrences. Conse-
quently attacks may be made upon it either by assailing
its substantial content or its historic occurrences. The
author accordingly divides his work into two parts ; a de-
fence of the eternal in Christianity, and a defence of its
historic facts. The majority of readers will be interested
specially in the first part. His method of procedure at
this point we give in his own words. "The apologetics
of Christianity in its first part, where it deals with the de-
fence of the eternal truths of Christianity, has entirely to
proceed solely from the general human facts of conscious-
ness and from the certified results of the philosophy of
nature, and has to ask whether the presuppositions of
Christianity . . . agree with the facts of nature and of the
natural consciousness or disagree therewith."2 The pre-
suppositions of Christianity are : the existence of a holy
God, of an ethical law, of human freedom and account-

i Ibid. p. 3. % Ibid. p. 8.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 323

ability, the fact of sin and man's inability to restore him-
self from the evils of sin. The author aims to establish
these presuppositions by a course of positive argument,
and then enters on an examination and refutation of oppo-
sing systems. In the second part of the treatise, having
reference to the historical facts of Christianity, the author
devotes more than 600 pages to an examination of the
"Religions of Men, "ranging from the ancient Aryan races
to the North American Indians. He demonstrates the con-
stant deterioration of all heathen religions, yet finds that
all confirm the truth of the Bible narrative as far down as
the account of the tower of Babel. He holds that the
Semites were the most debased and hardened of all the
races, and that the fact that Christ sprang from them is a
demonstration that he came from God.. His treatment of
this part of the theme may be inferred if we notice two
questions which he discusses: "Is Jahavah a product of
Israel? or is Israel a product of Jahavah, the living God?"
and ' why has God chosen one of the most corrupt of the
races to prepare the way of redemption V 1 After showing
the futility of the religions of men he shows the validity
of revelation as given us in the Scriptures and the validity
of Christianity as seen in its effects.

We have now on ven but the barest outlines of this work
which is one of vast labor, — the product of patient and
protracted thought. We have not space to speak of the
argumentations as they are conducted in the various sec-
tions of these volumes, but must refer readers to the vol-
umes themselves. We think, however, that the author's
peculiar treatment of the subject of design, his second sec-

l Ibid. p. 543.

324 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

tion in the examination of systems opposed to Christianity,
designated "Teleophobe, or the Denial of the Presence of
Design in Nature," is worthy of a fuller notice ; teleology
being a living subject in theological discussions.

He finds a purpose manifested everywhere in nature, not
absolutely demonstrable in inorganic nature, still made
probable, but in the organic world- proved by indubitable
evidence. 6 ' Now we find, then, that in each of these three
stages [inorganic complex of powers, organism, animal-
subject] the system of laws operates with reference to an
end, that all nature is one great teleological system."1 He
begins the discussion by laying down the following thesis :
uThe laws of the inorganic world are ordered for the
design of the making possible and of the subsistence of
organic beings."2 After referring to the laws of heat, the
diffusion of gases, and the laws of light, he concludes :
"Organic beings do not exist for the making possible the
existence of the inorganic, but inorganic complexes of
powers and their laws exist for the sake of organisms."
But he contents himself finally with the following: "It
suffices us for the present to establish that if the design,
that organic life exist, is posited, the actually given laws
of inorganic nature are throughout not, namely, contra-
dictory, but corresponding to such a design."3

His second thesis is: "In single organic beings the laws
of all elementary cells and individual organs are ordered
for the design of the collective life of the organism." He
notices that a plant begins life on the presupposition of its
full development, constructs its own apparatus of organs
and lays in supplies for organs not yet in existence. The

1 P. 163. 2 Ibid. p. 164. 3 Ibid. p. 168.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 325

development of the individual is completed in the produc-
tion of fruit or in "the germs of new, homogeneous, vege-
table individuals." In this vital process the different sys-
tems of the plant, the different organs, are necessary to
each other, if any should fail the whole would be injured.
Here the author sees design completely demonstrated.
While he did not in connection with the first thesis abso-
lutely affirm design, he says : "It stands quite differently
with our second teleological thesis. Here end and means
do not lie beside and without one another, and do not
allow themselves to be separated. . . . Here you cannot
say : ' If it were the design of the plant to reproduce itself
in flower and fruit, the vital process of the plant were for
this purpose a suitable means,' but the plant is even in
this self-reproduction really included ; its existence and life
is nothing else than self-reproduction. To assert : This
self -reproduction in the seed (which nevertheless takes
place with all plants) may be an accidental consequence of
an accidental coincidence of external causes — this, can-
didly, would be insanity."1 If the plant exhibits design,
it cannot be in any one of the million cells which work
towards a common end, but must be in a designer outside
the plant. But the designing author cannot be the vital
monad of the individual vegetable. This monad works
unconsciously in directing the processes in the plant cells,
and belongs to a single plant, while the design extends to
all the plants of the species and of the genus. This brings
the author to ask, who is the designing author of vege-
table life ? He establishes his second thesis still more fully
by evidence derived from animal life. He says here too

l Ibid. p. 172.

326 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

it would be insanity to deny design and assert that the
offices which the blood performs are undesigned accidental
coincidences. He says also that a mechanical philosophy
cannot explain the circulation of the blood. The power
that carries the thirty pounds of blood through the arte-
ries and veins is the nervous system. This nervous sys-
tem is sustained by the blood, so the blood seems to be a
perpetuum mobile, a small portion of the load, nourishing
the nervous system carries the entire load much larger
than itself, — mechanism does not explain this. Again,
how are the galvanic currents, produced through the
nerves, set free and checked, — regulated so as to produce
the beating of the heart and effect the circulation? With
the motor nerves this is indisputably the will, conse-
quently a something incorporeal, and here the mechanical
philosophy confesses its inability to disclose a mechanical
explanation."1 Thus he considers himself entitled to the
inference that something incorporeal induces the nerve
currents which cause the beating of the heart. This con-
clusion he thinks analogous to that assertin°: a clesi^nin^
author of the system. He finds another proof of design
in the respiratory movements. These movements are called
forth by the pneumo-gastric nerve, and upon the center
of this nerve (the so-called nwud vital) there operates as a
chief cause the want of oxygen in the blood. Here then
is an incorporeal vital power working with design. "The
thesis: 'the want of oxygen excites the nceud vital is syn-
onymous with the thesis: kthe real non-presence of a sub-
stance which should be present for the attainment of the
end, excites the nanid vital. And thus modern physiology

i Ibid. p. 182.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 327

itself has furnished the most striking proof for teleology
in the nature of the animal organism."1 After pointing
out other evidences of design in the animal organism, he
asks again, whence conies the design? and replies as after
the examination of Vegetable life: "Neither the uncon-
scious vital monad in the animal individual, nor the con-
scious and egoistical vital monad in the human individual,
is the design-setting author of the animal and human
organism."2

We pass over much that is of great interest and give in
a brief quotation his view of the way of salvation : < ' Since,
then, Christ's person has implanted me, the believer, as a
member of himself, I become a part not only of Christ's
person, but of all that is Christ's, hence above all of
Christ's righteousness, that is, of all that Christ, without
my participation, wrought and suffered. The holy and
complete life in which he absolutely satisfied the moral
law, and bore the suffering of absolute pain, which he
guiltlessly endured as belonging to his person, is imputed
to me with his person, is my real property, and so Christ's
sufferings become a vicarious expiation, by means of which
all guilt and even my own individual guilt is objectively
and actually expiated."3

#. Inspiration.

It would be difficult to define the present attitude of
theologians on the doctrine of inspiration. There can
be little doubt that a great part of the members of the
American Churches hold that the Scriptures are the inf al-

1 P. 184. 2 p. 186. 3 p. 339.

328 SYSTEMATIC 1HE0L0GT.

lible rule of faith and practice. But among Christian
students theories differ, ranging from verbal inspiration
to an occasional gracious inspiration. Perhaps no one
maintains the rigid mechanical theory, but some hold
stoutly to a verbal theory, while others make inspiration
simply the quality inferrible from the fact that the Bible
produces wonderfully desirable effects.

We will notice two works which will show how far
apart honest men may be on this important subject. The
first is by Professor Manly of the Southern Baptist Theo-
logical Seminary, Louisville, Ky.1 The author states
his view thus : fc ' The Bible as a whole is the Word of
God, so that in every part of Scripture there is both
infallible truth and divine authority." 2 He does not at-
tempt to present any theory of inspiration for it is the
fact not the method of which we are assured in the Bible.
His arguments in favor of the doctrine are those gener-
ally relied upon by orthodox theologians, but are pre-
sented with more than ordinary attention to logical
sequence and with a fulness that makes each step in the
argument easily apprehensible. There is one considera-
tion which the author has made more than usually com-
plete. "The re-appearance of the prophetic order is not
only predicted by the Lord Jesus, but distinctly announced
by Peter on the day of Pentecost as having actually oc-
curred. And there was scarcely anything more startling
in the incidents and announcements of the day of Pente-

i The Bible Doctrine of Inspiration explained. and vindicated, by
Basil Manly, D. D., LL. D. New York : A. C. Armstrong & Son,
1888.

2 P. 59.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 329

cost than the impressive and astounding assurance that the
gift of Prophecy had been revived." 1 The inspiration
of the Old Testament is forcibly argued from the fact that
the portrait of Christ is drawn by many hands in its vari-
ous books and then folded up for four hundred years
waiting for the original to appear. In the fulness of time
he comes and is recognized by John the Baptist who says :
"Behold the Lamb of God." The man and the portrait
agree.2

The other work is by Robert F. Horton, M. A., late
Fellow of New College, Oxford.8 The author assumes
the inspiration of the Bible and then attempts to find what
inspiration is by the inductive process of investigation.
He says : " We call our Bible inspired, by which we
mean that by reading it and studying it we find our way
to God, we find his will for us, and we find how we can
conform ourselves to his will." 4 Makinsr this the start-
ing point Ave find what inspiration is by finding what the
Bible is. The Bible is like no other book, this proves its
inspiration. Its peculiar quality is its inspiration. Take
this view of the subject and you have no more trouble.
Let higher criticism do its worst, the Bible leads us to
God and is inspired. Genesis has two inconsistent ac-
counts of creation, two inconsistent accounts of the fam-
ily of Cain, two inconsistent accounts of the flood, but it
is inspired for it leads us to God. Some one may say, c ' I
had supposed inspiration secured the Bible against incon-

l P. 127. 2 P. 121.

3 Inspiration and the Bible. An Inquiry. London : T. Fisher
Unwin, 1888.

4 P. 15.

330 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

sistencies, but this only shows what a mistaken idea of
inspiration he had ; one must get his idea of inspiration
from the Bible, not bring it to the Bible. Cast-iron theo-
ries of inspiration are driving many into infidelity, but
make inspiration to be just what the Bible is, and you
have no trouble. The evil which, as the author conceives,
rises from a preconceived theory on this subject, is thus
vigorously set forth : ' ' The whole of this polemical the-
ology which has disgraced the Church of Christ and turned
our attention aside from practical duty, so that the world
remains unconverted, and educated Europe is smiling
contemptuously upon us, may be traced to that radically
false assumption, an assumption made from the beginning
without any attempt at proof, that by an inspired New
Testament must be meant a homogeneous treatise on the-
ology which would authoritatively give us a doctrine and
a church government divinely ordained and unquestion-
able, to which all must submit as to the Word of God." 1
Lipsius notices in the Jahresbericht of 1887 a discourse
by Meuss on inspiration, which admits the untenableness
of the old doctrine and finds the significance of the Scrip-
tures in three things : they are the classic monuments of
theistic piety, the gathered records pertaining to the king-
dom of God, and the indispensable instrument of the
Spirit in leading forward the Church. Lipsius, who is
one of the liberals, expresses his perfect agreement with
the author in the sentiment that " it is a great undervalu-
ing of the Bible to find in it only a nomenclature of pure
doctrine instead of finding in it above all things the living
record of the historical revelation of God in Christ,"

i P. 116.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 331

3. Christology and the Trinity.

A. C. Armstrong & Son have published a new edition
of Professor Brace's Lectures on the Humiliation of Christ.
The work, somewhat enlarged in the present edition, has
been before the public for several years. The call for a
new edition is its sufficient commendation. The theme is
one of perennial interest, one always entering into the cur-
rent discussions of theology. A topic at once so practical
and so recondite must constantly awaken curiosity and
give rise to innumerable questions. The diverse solutions
of some of its problems show that the subject is not a set-
tled one, and must at least raise the query, whether theo-
logians ever can agree upon it.

The work of Professor Bruce is very instructive and
brings before the reader much of speculation with which
American pastors are not generally familiar. The chap-
ter on uThe Modern Kenotic Theories," and the Notes in
the Appendix may be mentioned as having special interest.

TJie Faith of the Gospel, 1 a small volume of four hun-
dred pages, seems to have been intended as a manual for
theological students, but we call attention here mainly to
its suggestions concerning the Trinity. It bears on almost
every page the stamp of the author's private views and
one needs to have some knowledge of theology before read-
ing it. It does not assume to discuss thorouo-hlv the
several themes which belong to a body of divinity, but
it presents such views on certain topics that it deserves
notice as a book which may have an influence upon popular

i The Faith of the Gospel. A Manual of Christian Doctrine. By
Arthur James Mason, B. D. New York, E. P. Dutton & Co. 1888.

332 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

thought. Notably the estimate of the metaphysical proofs
of the Trinity of the Godhead here presented deserves
attention ; the conception of the tri-personality seems to
us more happy than that ordinarily found in like
treatises. Theologians have not generally adhered to the
Scripture statements on this point so closely as they
might have done with advantage. Our author has not
done this perfectly, but has surpassed many of his pre-
decessors. For our thinking, whatever is, whatever can
be called thing, has an inside and an outside ; or there is
an inner truth and an outer expression. The human soul
has an expression. It manifests itself through the body ;
not that the body is its expression, but there is a look im-
pressed on the body, on the countenance, which is the
soul's manifestation of itself. The Bible more than sug-
gests the fact that God manifests himself or makes him-
self known by an expression. God and his glory are two
ideas and vet one. The glory of God is as sacred as God
himself, he is known to us only by his oiorv, if that were
hidden he would be hidden. It would be very difficult to
tell what God's glory is ; it is not the material world as
dead matter, but the looks which the world wears.
Whether his sign manual, his name, be lire or wind, force
or law. it would be difficult to say. but it is ^something
that appears to us. and, when we see it. we see God in it.
But the ultimate glory of God. its original and eternal
manifestation is his Son. He is the brightness of the
Father's glory and the express image of his person. We
have the Scripture warrant for so believing, and may be
permitted to accept the statement in its simplicity as a lit-
eral truth. This image of God is the Logos which was in

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 333

the beginning, was with God, and was God. It is prob-
ably impossible for us to see that this Logos, express
image, is a distinct person, but it is also impossible to deny
it. And we have full warrant in the Bible for attributing
personality to it. Nor are we wholly unable to illustrate
the distinct personality of the Father and the Son. In
man there is an antithesis between the soul and the ani-
mated body which suggests a two-fold personality. These
are the inner and the outer man. And though there is
here really but one ego, we can readily recognize the pow-
ers contending for the possession of the ego. In the Deity
there is no reason for apprehending a warring for the pos-
session of the ego, but there is no ground for denying that
the Logos and He, with whom the Logos is, may each be
possessed of such attributes that personality may be pre-
dicated of each. Such a mode of divine existence coin-
cides with human knowledge as fully as any other. A
two-fold personality would not be known a priori, but we
have no reason to deny it, while a two-foldness of exist-
ence— an outer and inner, a being and an expression, — is
absolutely necessary in anything which is an object of
human knowledge.

This seems to be the primary view of the author con-
cerning the Father and the Son, except that he would per-
haps say we can have an a priori apprehension of the two-
fold personality. But we do not think that his statements
on this point clear up any difficulty. He considers that
God could not perceive himself if he were in utter solitude,
and that there must therefore be another who is yet the
same in order that he may know himself. But this seems
to us an unwarranted transfer of our method of knowledge

334 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

to God. He thinks, also, God could not love with the
noblest and purest emotion if he did not love another than
himself, yet one as good as himself. "It can only be
morally true to say that God loves himself, if there be
eternally within the divine nature a real distinction of per-
sons, whereby one Divine Person may lavish the infinite
wealth of his love upon another Divine Person, who is
infinitely worthy of receiving it."1 This again seems to us
interpreting God's love by human love. — and possibly not
by human love in its highest form.

It is easier to illustrate to one's own mind a duplicate
personality in the Deity than the tri-personality, but the
thought of the tri-personality is as legitimate and has as
good ground in the Scriptures, perhaps as good in reason.
If we admit the personality of the expression, the Logos,
as well as that of the thing expressed, then we must sup-
pose also a mutual recognition of each person by the other.
There must £o forth from each a knowledge that " search-
eth all things, yea, the deep things of God." This know-
ledge of each person proceeds from each but is the same
knowledge, it supposes the duality of persons, is condi-
tioned on it, but is not a distinct quality of either ; if
therefore we may hypostasize this knowledge, considering
it the knowledge of the Divine Spirit, but not of the Father
or Son alone we have a third person of the Trinity — this
is the Holy Spirit. Our author expresses his conception
of the matter in this way : "We shall expect to find the
movement whereby God places himself before himself,
followed up by a movement whereby he makes himself
fully known, in all his loveableness and wisdom, to the

i P. 42.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 335

object thus set before him, and receives back the response
of that object. And we may perhaps dimly apprehend
how this mediation between the Divine "I" and "Thou'
should itself be fitly the work of a person. ... It seems
to put the completing touch to the glory of the Divine life
when we see Person and Person eternally made known to
each other, in their difference and in their unity, by a Per-
son to whom both are absolutely known, and who is abso-
lutely one with both."1 We should prefer to make the
knowledge the indication of the person rather than the
person the condition of the knowledge, but we think by
giving an objective reality to truths clearly stated in the
Bible, and by separating the idea of personality from some
of its human associations, we may attain an idea of the
Trinity which is not contradictory to the ultimate concep-
tions of science and philosophy.

It might very easily be asked, why each person of the
Trinity should not repeat the process of objectification and
hypostasizing, so that we should have nine divine persons
instead of three, and why the process should not continue
indefinitely ; but we think a reply would be easy, though
we shall not enter upon the discussion of it. Both ethical
and metaphysical arguments would lead us to rest in the
tri-personality.

We pass other points, except to notice that our author
is, for a Protestant, (perhaps he would not permit himself
to be called a Protestant) a high sacramentarian. He
finds something sacramental in preaching and in marriage.
But what we wish to notice for a moment is his view of
regeneration by the sacrament of baptism. He says :

P. 46.

336 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

"We need religion, because we are fallen : but regenera-
tion places us on a higher level than that of our unfallen
innocence. Adam in Paradise had no such glory as is
made ours in baptism. The incarnation of the Son of
God has done more for us than the taking away of our

sins It is in baptism that we are made so

[Gods, as Christ was made man], through incorporation
into the sacred humanity of Christ." 1 This regeneration
which " is a metaphysical change, altering a man's na-
ture," 2 may be destroyed out of the soul. It is imparted
to infants when they are baptized, may be thrust upon an
adult for a moment, but may be repelled if one chooses.
It is conversion not regeneration that determines as to
one's salvation. Conversion may begin before or after
regeneration. In any case it will save the soul and be
crowned with regeneration in the next world if not in
this. Regeneration without conversion will avail noth-

ing.3

Jf. The Atonement.

The work on Soteriology 4 by Professor S. G. Burney
is, in substance, the lectures given for many years to
classes of theological students. The work evinces patient
studv, love of the theme and much dialectical skill. But
it is repetitious, polemic, and, as it seems to us, feeble in
its support of the theory adopted. The author never tires
of pointing out the weakness and contradictions of the

IP. 272. 2 p. 343. 3 p. 342.

4 Atonement. Soteriology . The Sacrificial, in contrast with the
Penal, Substitutional, and merely Moral or Exemplary Theories of
Propitiation. S. G. Burney, D. D., LL. D., Prof essor of Systematic
Theology in Cumberland University. Nashville, Tenn., 1888.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 337

penal and substitutionary theories of the atonement as he
understands them. Imputation of sin or of righteousness
he considers an absurdity ; Christ had, in his view, no right-
eousness to impute, none but that of his own personal
character ; suffering a ' penalty cannot possibly have any
connection with granting a pardon ; and the suffering of
a substitute cannot possibly relieve a principal from suf
fering for his guilt.

The author does not adopt the moral influence theory of
the atonement. He holds that the divine mind is affected
by an atonement, and instancing those made by Moses,
Aaron, Phineas, he says : " To say that these had no
influence upon the divine mind would be to say that the
Bible is a book of shams, rather than of realities."1 The
sacrificial death of Christ, though different from other
atonements, like them in some way effects a propitiation,
so that God can be merciful without being unjust. The
exercise of mercy is the pardon of sin and the removal of
it, not deliverance from punishment. We are delivered
by being made holy, not by a forensic decision of the
Judge.

The author makes much of the holiness of the mediator
between God and man. Under the old dispensation only
appointed priests could secure favor for the guilty, and
under the new dispensation men are pardoned only be-
cause a holy Saviour gives them repentance. If a sinful
man could repent, it would be of no avail, for God cannot
under any circumstances accept that wmich an unholy
being performs.

The author makes much also of the resurrection of

i P. 308.

338 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

Christ. He was raised for our justification. Our salva-
tion is his present work upon us. He makes us like him-
self, imparts, not imputes, his character to us, and in that
way we are saved by his righteousness, by its becoming
our own personal character. "I ought to be profoundly
grateful to the blessed, loving Christ, not for doing what
he did not do, nor for doing what he could not do, nor for
doing what, if done, would be the greatest of all calami-
ties to me, but for obeying the law in his own place — even
unto death, and being raised up from the dead by the
glory of the Father, and thus made a quickening spirit,
who can impart to me his own death unto sin and life
unto God, and thus enable me to love God and my neigh-
bor as myself." 1

The book of Dr. Cochran is a work of patient labor and
careful thought.2 The author has given us in a closely
printed volume of more than five hundred pages, the result
of twenty or more years of study. The treatise consists
of four parts ; the first part presents the author's view of
the moral system ; the second presents his view of theism,
so far as the doctrine of redemption makes it necessary ;
the third treats of the atonement proper ; the fourth gives
us the Scripture teaching on this subject. The twenty-
four chapters, made up of two hundred and ninety-five num-
bered sections, are so woven together that no mere notice
can give an adequate idea of the work. The comprehen-
sive thought that binds all the parts into one whole makes
it impossible to represent the work by means of specimen

i P. 328.

2 The Moral System and the Atonement. By Rev. Samuel Davies
Cochran, D.D. Obeiiin, Ohio : Edward J. Goodrich. 1889.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 339

quotations, it is only by a careful study of the book that
one will master the scheme which it contains. We shall
attempt nothing more in the present notice than a state-
ment of the author's views on some important points with-
out regard to their connection with the main topic or with
each other.

A principle on which he dwells with emphasis and
to which he frequently recurs may be stated as the
realism of law. "The law is concrete and social. By con-
crete is meant that it is never given as an abstraction. . . .
By social is meant, in addition, that its matter of moral
love is enjoined by its imperative as owed by and due
from its subject to objects. . . . The whole rational uni-
verse is thus interbouncl into one society, with God as its
center and head."1 It is from this social character of law
that he infers the need of retribution and atonement, as
will be noticed hereafter. One of Dr. Cochran's sharpest
criticisms of Dr. Bushnell (and there are not a few of them)
relates to this point. "A more fantastic notion has never
been invented than that of a law before government,
impersonal, and having only the natural consequences of
obedience or disobedience to it for retributions." He then
notices Dr. B's view of law as being the idea of rigid and
adds :, uHe calls this imagined law impersonal! As well
talk of thought without a thinker, a creature without a
creator, or an effect without a cause ; for what conception
of law remains, if it is not an authoritative rule of moral
action, declared and administered by an authoritative per-
son?"2

In connection with this view of law, really as an infer-

1 P. 5. 2 p. 9.

340 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

ence from it (God being under the law), the author holds
that God does all he can for the happiness of the human
race. aThe answer to all questions concerning this mat-
ter [God's obligation to furnish an atonement] lies in this
nutshell — He is a moral being ; and, if so, is necessarily
under the obligations of the eternal, immutable moral law
in and from his moral reason in all his actions towards his
moral creatures to do the greatest good possible." 1
"God's design in constituting them [moral beings] was not
that they should sin and suffer either the natural or the
retributoiy consequences of so doing, but it was that they
should obey his law and experience the blessed conse-
quences, both natural and remuneratory, of so doing ; and
he has done all he could, consistently with their nature
and relations, to keep them from doing and suffering the
former, and to induce them to do and experience the lat-
ter."2 Hence he holds that there was the strongest ante-
cedent probability of an atonement before it was disclosed,
a moral certainty that God would do his utmost to save
men from ruin. This presumption he considers to be now
the basis of the strongest argument against infidelity.3

Our author makes frequent use of the expression moral
love. He has in mind that love which is the fulfilling of
the law and which, as he holds, is the sum of virtue. He
discards the utilitarian theory of virtue and says of this
love : ' < It is volun fury and designed, and consists in freely
i rUling or choosing the good of its objects for their sakes.
It is unselfish, disinterested, embraces all righteousness,
and because it is just, it is impartial, and in principle,
universal."4 A love which is merely sentimental, which

IP. 315. 2 p. 81. 3 p. 149. 4 p. 108.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 341

discards retribution, would, in his opinion, engulf the
world in woe, would in the end give rise to lamentations
and satires "over the race sunk and festering in inexpres-
sible corruptions and horrors of inhumanity, beastliness,
villainies, crimes and anarchies, raving and raging with
deviltries and dynamite."1

One of the sentiments most positively insisted upon as
essential in a moral system is that of retribution. The
author rejects decisively the idea that the natural conse-
quences of sin are the punishment of sin. His view of the
social nature of the moral system forbids this. Self-ap-
proval is not the reward of right conduct, self-condemna-
tion is not the punishment of wrong doing, but the inflic-
tions of the divine Ruler are the punishments of disobedience
to his law, and it is these sanctions of vindicatory justice
which man instinctively looks forward to, which his con-
science " presignifies r in its condemnation of sin. The
natural consequences of sin cannot be retributive since
they are merely personal and have no relation to the social
system, and no return to those who have been defrauded
of the love which was their due. He uses the strongest
language in setting forth the character of the divine
retribution. He maintains that God "must make the
punitive retributions of sin exactly equal in every case to

the actual measure of ill-desert If God had not

connected and would not administer all its (the law's)
sanctions, as both conscience and the Bible announce them,
he would not even approach doing all he could and ought
to do to prevent sin with all its due progeny of natural
and social consequences. "2 "The measure of inflicted suf-

i P. 298. 2 p. 75.

342 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

fering must be in every case neither less nor more than
exactly just."1

TThen the question rises whether the demands of exact
justice can in any way be set aside, the reply is, guilt may
be of such a quality that the law is not in absolute antag-
onism to the sinner. He may be a transgressor of the law
and so justly condemned, yet there may be personal quali-
ties which excite pit}' and bring into exercise the senti-
ment of mercy. In such a case it is proper to ask
whether a substitute for the punishment may be found.
The law divides itself into two parts, one requiring justice,
the other requiring benevolence in the form of mercy.
• * It is only respecting sinners, in whose cases there are
mitigating circa instances, such as great want of light and
experience, circumvention and great temptation by supe-
rior wicked minds, . . . that the antagonism of the law's
justice to them is not absolute, but modified, and that re-
demption is possible.'^2 The demand of mercy is not that
justice be set aside, but that those whose sin is instigated
be rescued from destruction if it can be done consistently
with justice. Mercy is only a remainder of love towards
sinners which is consistent with retributive justice.3 "The
demand for primitive retributive justice upon sinners is
always and necessarily antecedent to, and the occasion of,
the dictate to exercise mercy."

He holds it as a fundamental fact, and one abund-
antly asserted in the Bible, that God will maintain his
holiness, his character for justice. The exercise of
mercy therefore depends on the possibility of satisfying
the still remaining demands of justice. The claim of jns-

1 P. 85. ^ p. 220. 3 p. 223. 4 p. 227.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 343

tice precedes. " It is this fact that made expiation a con-
ditio sine qua non of the forgiveness of sinners."1

Expiation he makes to be satisfaction for wrong-doing
' 4 by some equivalent of repairing action, sacrifice, or suf-
ferance of penalty.'1 Such an expiation is attempted in
the incarnation and death of Christ. "What we affirm is
not that Christ was published for the guilty, which was not
possible, but that he voluntarily, having from infinite phil-
anthropy become their representative with the Father as
Ruler, acted the consummate self-denial and self-sacrifice
of equivalent ly suffering their ^punishment in their stead,
which he had an absolute right to do, as no sane man of
respectable intelligence can deny , and that he did this in
agreement with the Father, who had the same right to act
the self-denial and self-sacrifice he did in his part of the
amazing transaction."2 This suffering was an expiation
for the sins of many, potentially for all, actually for all
those who should comply with the conditions on which it
may be made available. And it is not only an expiation,
it is also a propitiation, because justice is vindicated by it
and there is no longer a bar to the exercise of mercy. As
expiatory and propitiatory the sacrifice of Christ consti-
tutes an atonement. Whether the atonement is sufficient
is to be answered not by men; we must ask, "How did
the Father, to whom as universal Ruler the atonement was
made by them (the sufferings of Christ), and in whom it
was to have its sole effect regard it? This is really the
only important question for us concerning it, and the de-'
lightful answer is, with infinite satisfaction."* Dr. Coch-
ran holds that God's relations to his moral subjects is such,

1 P. 238. 2 P. 290. 3 p. 268.

344 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

and the demands of justice are such, that no other than a
real vicarious atonement — substitutionary suffering —
could have availed for the salvation of sinners. He holds
that men underwent their legal probation in Adam but are
allowed a gracious probation because of the atonement.
He holds to the traducian theory of race propagation and
inherited depravity, but holds to an election to salvation
because of foreseen good works. Gocl saw that many of
the race would be salvable if an atonement were provided,
he therefore provided the atonement and elected those
whom he saw he could induce to accept it.

In this brief sketch we have brought forward a few of
the important points discussed by a thinker who shows
himself to be possessed of both acuteness and systematiz-
ing power.

5. Eschatology.

Is there Salvation after Death?1 This is an able and
thorough work upon the most exciting theological ques-
tion of the day. The author shows his skill as a dialecti-
tian in his statement of the question and in his statement
of the conclusion. He insists that the advocates of a post
mortem probation shall accept all that their argument
requires in order to be conclusive ; for example, if the doc-
trine is proved from the two assumptions, that probation
consists in a decision concerning the historic Christ, and
that all men are subjected to this probation, then he insists
that the doctrine is not to be set aside as a mere hypothe-

i Is there salvation after death ? A Treatise on the Gospel in the
Intermediate State. By E. D. Morris, D. D., LL. D. Lane Theo-
logical Seminary. A. C. Armstrong & Son. New York.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 345

sis. However self-contradictory some persons may allow
themselves to be, the system of thought contains the asser-
tion that the future life is the period specially appointed
for man's probation. The author also recognizes the fact
that, on a question like this, neither side can be absolutely
compelled to give over the discussion, but that all that is
to be required of the opponents of the doctrine is to show
that there is no adequate ground for believing it. In
arguing the question he examines the Scripture passages
relating to the subject, then takes into consideration the
bearing of Christian symbolism, Christian theology and
Christian experience upon his theme. He thinks himself
entitled, after a careful examination of the various texts
of the Bible usually cited in this connection, to the con-
clusion, that the word of God in no clear way suggests
the dogma of salvation after death ; that ' ' its general as
well as particular teaching" is "in irreconcilable conflict"
with it.

The argument in favor of future probation derived from
the headship of Christ the author considers null because
Christ is the head, not of humanity at large, but of
redeemed humanity. This view he considers corroborated
by that of the late Professor H. B. Smith. From an
examination of the svmbols of the Church he concludes,
"that the attempt to introduce this dogma into the
accepted creeds of Christendom would require not only a
reconstruction of these creeds at many vital points, but in
fact an abandonment or extensive modification of some of
their most essential doctrines, — a new theology thus otow-
ing into confessional form, not by the development and
expansion of preceding confessions, but on their ruins, or

346 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

through such revolutionary transmutations as would leave
but little else than the fragments of the old faith."1

The author's treatment of the argument from conscious-
ness is specially satisfactory. Much has been made of late
of the ethico-religious consciousness as a ground of belief ;
but Professor Morris shows that the natural consciousness
is not to be entrusted with the decision of human destiny,
that the consciousness of the regenerate man can never
embolden him to hold a doctrine that is anti-biblical, and
that in any case the consciousness of a few cannot be
allowed to prevail over the ' ' ecumenical consciousness of
the Church."

There is one view of the divine work in salvation here
presented which we have not noticed elsewhere ; it is this,
that the work of the Holy Spirit is temporal only. After
noticing the means by which the Spirit works as favoring
this view the author says: "But waiving these queries,
and contemplating the Holy Spirit alone, we are con-
fronted by this decisive fact, that nowhere in the Bible is
there a verse, a line, a phrase, which teaches that the
Spirit has any mission or office or agency which reaches
beyond the boundaries of time." 2 We cannot say that we
consider the Professor's position strengthened by this argu-
ment.

The treatment of the subject of probation in the book
before us is admirable. The doctrine that human proba-
tion closed with the fall of Adam is avoided, the position
that each man has a fair chance to obey the law by which
he is to be judged is maintained, and the grace manifested
in permitting a Christian judgment to be applied to those
who have lived under the law simply is fairly set forth.

l P. 154. 2 P. 105.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 347

6. Church Polity.

The Church-Kingdom.1 This work presents to us an
extended survey of church polity. It consist of twelve
lectures published in an octavo volume of more than 370
pages. The author has long been known as a leader in
this department of Christian doctrine. He is a theorizer
and desires to bring our Congregational polity to what he
would Consider a complete and consistent form. It will
be admitted by all, those who may differ from him as well
as those who agree, that he has adjusted his scheme with
much thought and care.

He finds that all church polities may be reduced to
four : Papacy, Episcopacy, Presbyterianism and Congre-
gationalism. He considers that the last is the only one
through which the true idea of the Church can be fully
realized. Whatever service may have been done by the
others, or may yet be done, they must finally fail. He
says : " On the principle, too, of development, which we
have more than once referred to, the Congregational
theory will possess the field. It comes latest as the con-
summate flower of all. True, it is not strictly developed
out of any theory or theories ; for it was the plan of the
apostles to establish a great number of distinct, inde-
pendent churches ; but the principle there announced and
embodied was buried up for more than a millennium by

adverse theories The other theories are

undergoing testing by the Word and by the providence of

i The Church- Kingdom : Lectures on Congregationalism, deliv-
ered on the Southworth Foundation in the Andover Theological
Seminary. By A. Hastings Ross. Boston and Chicago: Congrega-
tional Sunday School and Publishing Society. 1887.

348 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

God. They fail to express the brotherhood of the saints
in its fulness of liberty. Hence they must cease. This
expresses brotherhood, and hence makes all in the local
church equal, and issues in popular government and lib-
erty. It is able to exhibit the unity of the church-king-
dom on principles of fellowship and cooperation, and so
to fulfill the prayer of the Master that all may be one,
that the world may believe on him. Thus the glorious
end is reached on w the plan of the apostles. ' ' 1

The dominant idea in the work before us is the Church-
Kingdom. This is an invisible organization of which
Christ is Head and King. It is composed of those who
are redeemed, who are the true followers of Christ. This
body of believers viewed in relation to one another is the
Church, viewed in relation to Christ is the Kingdom. All
local churches are manifestations of this kingdom, but
taken together as visible on earth do not constitute it.
"The kingdom of heaven is partly on earth and partly in
heaven, and is constantly coming." 2 "We must broaden
our conception of local churches into an ecumenical com-
prehension if we would attain an adequate idea of the
kingdom of heaven in manifestation. . . . But in
this manifestation of the kingdom we must not for a
moment forget that the local church is the great' factor.
. It is in and through local churches that the king-
dom becomes the light of the world and the salt of the
earth.'' 3

The underlying kingdom is the force which gives to the
manifestations of the Church their form and vitality. The
ministry is the direct product of the kingdom. As Christ

l P. 130. 2 P. 29. 3 p. 38.

TREATISES ON SPECIFIC DOCTRINES. 349

chose his apostles who gathered churches so he now ap-
points some to be ministers who shall found and serve
local churches. The local churches are the product of the
ministry, not the ministry of the churches. The author
therefore rejects the pastoral theory of the ministry and
maintains that the Church must call for its pastor one
already a minister. There is indeed no power save the
Head of the Church competent to put one into the minis-
try. He holds that the minister is responsible to the
churches to some extent but is not under their control in
the discharge of his ministerial office. " It is only when
the churches forbid him to fulfill his divine calling that
he can rightly assert his higher commission/1 1 "The rec-
ognition of the ministry is made in ordination, which is
a formal inquiry and setting apart to the work." "Or-
dination is the ecclesiastical recognition of the ministerial
function of the Church-Kingdom as that function appears
in individuals called by Jesus Christ to preach the Word.
It is not therefore primarily and fundamentally an inaugu-
ration into the pastoral office, as the New England fathers
made it, but into the ministry of the Word." 2

Ordination is to be performed by the churches. The ,
power of the' keys has been permanently committed to
them. They can try the spirits and detect false teachers.
Congregationalism knows no priestly or clerical rule ; it
is not therefore for the ministry to ordain, while this
function may be discharged by even a single church. The
churches may properly ordain by councils, but the author
thinks it would be well if associated churches would
assume the responsibility and discharge the duty of this

1 P. 156. 2 p. 150.

350 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

office. Ordination confers no peculiar right or authority,
so that one may preach without it, may preach if it is re-
fused him, may claim and exercise the ministerial office if
the churches deny it to him. In that case, however, he
must find his own flock and no Christian body is in any
way responsible for him.

One of the most interesting and important questions
brought before us in this book is that of ministerial
standing. The author has given it much thought and in
his own mind has come very clearly to the conclusion that
it should be in church associations. He would have these
associations ordain, try, defend, depose, endorse the minis-
ters belonging to them as each should deserve or desire, and
would have no other recognized depositary of ministerial
standing ; each minister having the right of appeal from
the association to a council. He finds objection to having
the ministerial standing in a civil organization, in a local
church, in a council, in unassociated churches, in minis-
terial associations, and thinks an association of churches
the only body to which it can properly belong. The ex-
treme view of Independency, that one is a minister only
as he is a pastor of a local church it has been found
impossible to maintain, since it would exclude from the
ministry College Presidents, Professors, Secretaries and
many others who are constantly relied upon for important
ministerial labor. It is a question for Congregationalists
to answer, where shall a retired preacher find his warrant
for calling himself a minister of the gospel %

Dr. Ross favors a plurality of elders in our churches,
especially the large churches, and finds no warrant for

ETHICS. 351

considering an elder a layman. A ruling elder of a dif-
ferent order from a teaching elder is to him a myth.

It is worthy of remark that the historical sketches to
be found in this work of Dr. Ross add much to its inte-
rest and value.

III. ETHICS.

Die Wahlfreiheit des Willens in ihrer Nielitigheit darge-
stellt, von Waldemar Meyer, Pastor, a little work of 218
pages published at Gotha in 1886, is remarkably like dis
cussions on the will published in this country in the early
part of this century. The author's aim is to show that
there is no such thing as free-choice, by which he means
choice apart from motives. The liberty which he opposes
is the liberty of indifference. He defines the will to be
the proper expression of the ego, so that a choice without
a motive would be an expression without expressing any-
thing, or motive and freedom are contradictory opposites.
In each particular act of will we have, as he holds, an indi-
cation of that which is now uppermost in the spirit-life of
the willing subject, while the sum of all the will decisions
is the best possible mirror of the inner state of the willing
subject. Real freedom, the author teaches, is the will
being controlled by the sweet necessity of the good ; and
this, so far from being the destruction of moral character,
is the very highest stage of morality.

This treatise is, in its philosophy, an exact reproduction
of the Taste Scheme of Dr. Asa Burton. In richness of
thought and calm, steady eloquence of statement, how-
ever, it falls far below the essays of the famous Vermont
divine. Pastor Meyer, like his American predecessor,

352 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

holds firmly to the responsibility of the individual, not
because he is possessed of the freedom of indifference, but
because he has no such freedom. Both teach that moral
character precedes acts of will and cannot possibly be gen-
erated by them. The German theologian appends to his
discussion of freedom an essay on man's responsibility for
sin. He holds most firmly to this responsibility, considers
it proved by the consciousness of guilt, but confesses that
it cannot be explained. He says that the possibility of
sin is inexplicable, and that only by a recognition of this
fact can 'we maintain the true doctrine of sin and man's
full responsibility for his sin.

HegeVs Philosophy of the State and of History,1 by
Professor G. S. Morris, is a volume of 306 pages belong-
ing to Griggs' Philosophical Classics. It is a difficult
thing to interpret Hegel to the American mind. He has
been much stvidied in the English Universities, but his
thoughts do not seem to have become familiar to the mass
of English students. It is well known also that there are
different interpretations of his philosophy in the land of
his birth. We believe Prof essor Morris is as likely to be a
successful expounder of his system of thought as any one
in this country; his former volume in this series, that upon
Kant, showed that he had formed a clear estimate of
Kant's excellences and deficiencies and knew well where
the Konigsberg Philosopher needed to be supplemented
by Hegel, and we trust he will not commit it to other

i HegeVs Philosophy of the State and of History. An Exposition
"by George S. Morris. Professor of Philosophy in the University of
Michigan. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Company, 1887.

ETHICS. 358

hands to prepare an interpretation of Hegel's more strictly
metaphysical works.

The work now before us may be warmly commended
for its general view of morals, even if its sentiments con-
cerning the State and History should not be accepted. It
treats man as ethical in himself and looks upon his life as
a realization of morals. It assumes that all of social life
is an embodiment of the ethical, so that law. government,
economics, social habits, culture of taste, are simply
branches of an ethical system necessarily wrought out in
human life. Recent treatises on morals in this country
have, as it seems to us, begun at the wrong end of the
subject. Theoretical morals, systematized by means of
the law of conscience, can only present a scheme of duties
as a snide of conduct, do not bring to view the nature and
the life in which essential morals reside. Some authors
even deny that bad morals are morals at all, so absorbed
are they in discriminating between abstractions while they
should be treating of realities. Hegel's view of morals as
the evolution of the moral within man, instead of being
simply obedience to, or transgression of, law, may be seen
in the following : "He who first employs aggressive vio-
lence against another's freedom wars, not only against his
neighbor, but against himself. His act is thus inherently,
or in conception, self-contradictory and self-destructive ; it
is in accordance with its own nature that it should defeat
itself and come to naught,"1 Hegel's idea of the State
was brought before the American people some years ago
by a treatise on TIte Nation by the late Elisha Mulford,
LL. D. ; at least the author acknowledged his great in-

i P. 23.

354 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

clebtedness to Hegel. Professor Morris has presented th*,
idea much more succinctly, aiming simply to be an inter-
preter of the German philosopher. According to this
view the State may be said to be a person. As the family
is a unit, so the State is a larger unit, and only in it docs
the individual man find his real self. He is for the State
and reaches the fullness of his capacity as a man only
through it. uThe State, we have said, is the actualization
of the Idea of Man ; that it is not simply a contingent
means of human perfection, but is also this perfection.'' 1

There would be little objection to such a view of the
State if one might understand the language literally or fig-
uratively as should suit his own ideas. But when the
State is made a universal spirit and is in its inner substance
an unseen State, one is inclined to question and ask for
more definite statements. If the individual feels that as a
citizen he devotes himself to the universal, and becomes
free by losing himself through a union with a universal
spirit, or the universal spirit, then he must feel himself
overruled, if not absorbed, by a power outside himself.
One is inclined to ask, is this power personal or impersonal ?
It is not strange that Hegelianism should by some be
thought to border clcTsely on pantheism.

The same sentiment rises again when one considers
HegePs view of the Church. He seems to have looked
upon the Church and the State as essentially one, an or-
ganization in which religion as well as citizenship realizes
its ideas. Man is free by becoming self-consciously par-
taker of the universal spirit and in this is at once a man
of God and a man of the State.

1 P. 84.

ETHICS. 355

Hegel's view of the philosophy of history as presented by
Prof. Morris is entertaining and instructive. No one can
object to Hegel's sentiments so long as he occupies him-
self with showing that k'the goal of history is resemblance
to God," but it is difficult to believe that he does not select
facts to establish a theory rather than evolve a theoiy from
facts. When he attempts to bring Christianity into the
range of events evolved from the progress of humanity he
seems to us to make too little of miracles and interposi-
tions of Deity, and too little of sin and regeneration. He
finds that mankind was prepared for Christianity in the
Roman world, but it became effective in the Germanic
world. But the Germanic world has not wrought out
••the healing of the nations,'1 the cure of souls has, as yet,
been an individual work, and, as is generally believed,
effected by the direct work of the Holy Spirit, not through
a historic national development. ••

The work of Dr. Fairbairn1 is a plea for a fuller system
of religious morals than is now to be found in any of our
publications on this subject. The author thinks that at a
time when members of our churches become defaulters
and many persons go from high positions in religious

i Of the Doctrine of Morality in its Relation to the Grace of Redemp-
tion By Robert B. Fairbairn, D. D., LL.D., Warden of St.
Stephen's College, Armandale, N.Y. New York: Thomas Whit-
taker. 1887.

* Note. — Since the above was written the cause of philosophy
and of education has been called to mourn the untimely death of
Professor Morris. He had made himself a teacher in certain depart-
ments of thought, and his friends were justified in expecting from
him eminent service to metaphysical science.

356 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

organizations to state-prisons, there should be some atten-
tion given the instruction of the young in the full range of
Christian duties. We like his use of the word morals
rather than ethics, and wish he had written the book for
which he calls instead of attempting to show that such a
work is possible. His desire is that a work should be pre-
pared which should give in addition to the morals which
become practical in a state of nature those which become
practical through the grace of God in redemption. lie
thinks the scheme a feasible one. In opposition to some
Christian writers he teaches that natural morals form a
system, and that the system is consistent with itself, so
that vice is never taken for virtue. Nature favors moral-
ity. Sin rises from an unbalanced nature. Sin never
makes its way into the realm of the theoretical virtues, it
cannot vitiate the system of duties made binding by the
constitution of man. Christianity therefore adopts the
morality of nature and gives power to realize it in life. It
gives no new principles, but " enables the soul to perform
just the actions which were intended by the Creator/'
These actions, demanded by nature, made possible by
Christianity, should be delineated and inculcated, as the
true scheme of morals. ••There is necessity for a moral
theology in the Church, just as there is for a system of
dogmatic theology." The creed instructs us in revealed
doctrines, the commandments in social duties. The expo-
sition of one o-ives us a system of dogmas, the exposition
of the other a system of morals. "A book on moral the-
ology would show the relation of grace, of the divine
power from God, to each state and condition of life, and
it would teach the bearing of that grace on the cultivation

ETHICS. 357

of every virtue, and its bearing ou the aid required to
resist sin.,,:l The work before us is a treatise on morals
as well as a plea for a systematizing of morality, in point-
ing out the aim of the work we bring to view but a small
portion of its value. The remarks on conscience and on
the virtues as inculcated in various moral systems have
impressed us as having more than ordinal'}' interest.

Philosophy and Religion.* This work by Professor
Strong of Rochester Theological Seminary consists of
essays, addresses and sermons — fifty in all — prepared
from time to time during the last twenty-two years, now
collected and published in a single volume. They relate
to important topics and are all written with care. The
author's treatise on systematic theology was noticed in
Current Discussions last year. The present volume has
little that requires additional comment. We find here
the same evidence of extensive reading and practical
thought that the former volume presented. In a few in-
stances his views seem to be here disclosed a little more
unguardedly than in the previous work. One article on
the will is entitled u An Earlier View of the Will,'' and
is followed by an article on the u Remainders of Freedom
in Man." The former is a statement of the doctrine of
determinism; the latter betrays a dissatisfaction with that
theory but really does not avoid it: it simply brings to
view a larger array of determining forces by which the
will is controlled. The author traces the new departure

i P. 323.

l Philosophy ana 'Religion, by Augustus Hopkins Strong, D. D.y
President and Professor in the Rochester Theological Seminary.
New York : A. C. Armstrong, 1888.

358 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

in theology, i. <?., the doctrine of future probation to the
new theology of Hopkins and other New England divines.
He thinks it clear that man has no fair probation in this
life, unless he had it in Adam. If this is denied, proba-
tion in another life must be granted. It would be much
easier and much more correct to attribute the new depart-
ure to a reaction from his own view of race sin and
individual guilt incurred in the Garden of Eden. We
may call attention to the paper on Materialistic Skepti-
cism as an instance of vigorous reasoning and to that on
Poetry and Robert Browning as evidence of the author's
broad range of culture.

The intimate connection between philosophy and theol-
ogy entitles the work of Professor Stuckenberg to a brief
notice in Current Discussions.1 Its aim is to give
the student of philosophy his first landing place, a position
from which he can survey the field of his future labors.
It is intended to open to him the way which shall lead
to a reply to this question : "With the knowledge that
exists, what do the laws of thought teach us respecting.
the world, the soul, and God?"2 Almost every page
evinces the author's love of his theme and familiarity
with the topics with which he deals. He lays before the
reader the relation of philosophy to religion, to naturaj
science and to psychology. Philosophy he considers di-
visible into four departments: Theory of Knowledge
(Noetics), Metaphysics, .Esthetics and Ethics. He closes
the work with a chapter on --The Spirit and the Method

i Introduction to the Study of Philosophy, by J. H. W. Stucken-
berg, D. D. New York : A. C. Armstrong- & Son, 188S.

2 P. 262.

ETHICS. 359

in the Study of Philosophy," -a chapter replete with val-
uable suggestions. The authors competency to his work
will be apparent if we notice a few brief and clear state-
ments and definitions selected almost at random from his
pages. As instances the following may be cited : "The
real of the senses is not the limit of the real of the rea-
son." 1 He quotes from Paulsen thus: " He is a philos-
opher whose inquiries are guided by the aim to attain the
ultimate unity of all knowledge ; while he who stops with
isolated facts as the final truth is an empiric." 2 "Sys-
tematized general thoughts, mirrored in the individual
facts, constitute psychology." 3 "Knowledge is the legit-
imately and certainly recognized (conscious) argreement of
a percept or concept with its object." 4

It is interesting to notice the author's view of meta-
physics. He has long been a resident of Berlin, a member
of some of the philosophical clubs in that city, and is
familiar with the current ideas of Germany concerning
philosophy. If he reflects the opinions of his associates,
as seems to be the case, we must conclude that the meta-
physics of the clouds has left Germany, probably to take
lodgement in England. He speaks of Hegel's philosophy
as having lost its supremacy more than forty years ago,
and speaks of the doctrine of the identity of knowing and
being as having been renounced. He speaks of meta-
physics as calmly, we may say. as tamely, as Dugald
Stewart might have done. He makes its aim to be seek-
ins: the beginning of all beginnings, savs it must renounce
its dreams and visions, put off its vagueness, prove its
premises and rest in real solutions of its problems In™

i P. 6. 2 p. 54. 3 p. 148. 4 p. 187.

360 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

deed the author confines metaphysics (philosophy) within
narrower limits than those admitted bv the Scotch school,
for he says that the mind never comes in contact with
realities, that the world of consciousness is wholly phe-
nomenal.1 He teaches also that all knowledge must rest
finally on certain necessary truths which need no demon-
stration,— a position which is still held by some to be a
denial of all true science. In his appeal to Des Cartes'
Cogito ergo sum, unlike the more ambitious philosophers
of the time, he puts the emphasis on sum and simply in-
fers the thinker from the thought.

1 P. 221.

PRACTICAL THEOLOGY

PART I.

PRESENT STATE

STUDIES IX HOMILETICS.

REV. FRANKLIN W. FISK,
Professor of Sacred Rhetoric

Chicago Theological Seminary.

CHAPTER I.

THEORETICAL HOMILETICS— PREACHING .

THE GERMAN PULPIT : POINTS OF CONTRAST WITH THE

AMERICAN PULPIT.

Although the great themes of which the pulpit treats
should ever be the same, yet the manner of their presen-
tation should always conform to national and individual
education and characteristics. Hence in respect to forms
of preaching there can be no one ideal form. Yet much
that is valuable may be learned by a careful comparison
of the methods employed by the pulpits of different
nations.

Under the above title, the Rev. Dr. J. H. W. Stucken-
berg of Berlin, Germany, in an instructive article in The
Homiletic Review [Aug. 1887], has set forth the distinctive
characteristics of the German pulpit, as contrasted with
the American. After showing the forces that have made
the pulpit of Germany what it is, he states that "Among
present factors of special significance are the training of
theological students : the relation of the Church to the
State ; the character of the congregation ; the alienation of
the masses ; the religious indifference and skepticism mani-
fested among the cultured classes and in literature ; and
the renewal of the conflict with Rome." Students choose
the ministry for much the same reasons that lead them to

364 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

enter the other professions. "Conversion and an ardent
desire to promote the cause of Christ are not regarded as
essential." Theological students in Germany "are not a
little surprised to learn that in America emphasis is placed
on personal piety, evidences of conversion, and motives
for entering the ministry.*' "At present the practical
training for the ministry is far superior in America."
Since the Church is a State institution, "there is in it no
sharp distinction between professors and non-professors of
religion, all who have been baptized and confirmed being-
regarded as members of the church. " Hence, sometimes.
a single parish contains fifty thousand souls.

The German pulpit as contrasted with the American is
more limited in its range of topics and less free in the dis-
cussion of them. But while it does not touch public and
private life at as many points, it is kept more within the
bounds of strict propriety. German congregations of
whatever religious belief "are much more solemn than
those in America. Showy dress at divine service is
deemed vulgar." "The whole congregation rises and
remains standing while the Scriptures arc read." The
pulpit is influenced by the reverent character of the con-
gregation. Slang expressions and jokes would be regarded
by the audience as an insult. The author significantly
adds that "the German pulpit is not the place for the sen-
sational ; that is left to theaters and variety shows. Catch-
ing subjects are never announced or advertised. A con-
gregation which cannot be attracted by the simple Word
of God is not thought desirable." But in the effort to
avoid sensationalism, the German pulpit is thought to be in
danger of going to the other extreme.

HO MILE TICS— THE ORE TICAL . 365

The Gorman pulpit is distinctively biblical and exegeti-
cal. Generally long texts are chosen, and the preaching
is becoming topical rather than strictly textual. The
most prominent excellence of the best German sermons is
their Scriptural character. But they are addressed almost
wholly to believers, which fact may account, in part, for
the small attendance of those that arc not communicants,
at divine service. The sermon is often destitute of the
personal element, and in many instances has in it too little
intellectual freshness and vigor.

Sermons are generally delivered memoriter, and a pul-
pit tone prevails. The author regards the American pul-
pit as superior in delivery to that of Germany. He gives
the following points in the German sermon from which the
American pulpit can learn valuable lessons : "The Biblical
character of the German sermon; its simplicity, so that all
can understand it ; its emphasis on the edification of faith :
its careful regard of propriety, and its deep reverence."'

This entire article of Dr. Stuckenbero- is suo-oestive and
valuable to American preachers.

In a subsequent number of The Homiletic Review (June,
1888) Dr. Stuckenberg enlarges somewhat on the points
stated in this article. He thinks that "The prevalent
German theory of the services of the Sanctuary as com-
munion with God and as the edification of existing faith,
determines the character of these services. Since they are
adapted so exclusively to those already supposed to be
Christians, it is not strange that the worldly are so rarely
found at church. A writer savs that, as a rule, 'only the
pious attend divine services,' and hence the sermon is put
under the head of ' ' the work of the church in its own

366 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

behalf.'*' In this respect there is a wide contrast between
the German, and the American and English pulpit. The
writer says, that "The conviction is growing" I in Ger-
many] "that the sermon must have more immediate ref-
erence to time, place and occasion, and must spring from
the book and from the people, rather than from the study
and the library." -The sermon must be modern — the
old truth in modern Language, in modern style, and
adapted to modern hearers."

There is in Germany a deeply felt need, of better train-
ino- for the ministry than is now given at the university.
"There is demand for living preachers, for men who have
freely appropriated Christian truth, and are prepared to
give testimony respecting its power." To secure the prac-
tical training for the ministry so generally demanded, can-
didates for it are urged to put themselves under the
instruction of some pastor. *-In order to enable them to
do this, the Prussian government recently appropriated
135,000, each student to receive while under charge of an
older pastor $250 per annum. They are to remain in
such a position from one to two years." This would seem
to be a movement in the right direction, and one full of
promise for the future of the German pulpit.

THE SCOTTISH PULPIT.1

Dr. Win. M. Taylor has done excellent service to the
ministry of our country in giving to the press his lectures

1 Tht Scottish Pulpit from the Reformation to the Present Day.
By William M. Taylor, D.D., LL.D. New York : Harper and
Brothers, 1887.

EOMILE TICS— TEE ORE TIC A 1 . 86?

on the Scottish Pulpit, recently delivered before the Div-
inity School of Yale University.

"The design of these sketches ," savs the author, "is
neither to give a full account of Scottish Ecclesiastical
History nor to furnish complete biographies of the men
who have been prominent in the Scottish pulpit since the
Reformation. My aim has simply been to put the preachers
in the environment of their times, to bring out the charac-
teristics by which they were distinguished, and to give
point to such lessons from their work as may be useful in
our own age."

The volume contains seven lectures, full of interesting
and instructive information concerning the men who have
been eminent as preachers in Scotland since the Refor-
mation.

John Knox, more than any other preacher, the author
thinks, made the Scottish Pulpit what it is to-day. He
"set the fashion for the preachers who came after him.v
The pulpit was his throne. He never wrote his sermons,
but preached from a few notes, carefully prepared. The
form of his sermons was expository. "Having brought
out the meaning of the passage, he then set himself to en-
force its practical bearing on the circumstances of his
hearers and his times, taking care first to establish the par-
allelism between the original case referred to by the sacred
writer and that to which he applied it. This was the tip
of the arrow, to which all else was but its feathers; and in
the shooting of that arrow he spared neither age nor sex,
neither rank nor class." Often his expositions extended
through a whole book of Scripture. In doctrine he was
Calvinistic, in speech clear, direct and forcible, in action

868 PRACTICAL 2HE0L0GY.

impassioned and often vehement. Three characteristics,
Dr. Taylor thinks, were impressed by Knox upon the pul-
pit of Scotland--' 'its expository character, its vehemence
of maimer, and its unflinching: courage."

The great preachers that followed Knox, down to the
Revolution-settlement, were Andrew Melville. Alexander
Henderson. Samuel Rutherfurd, and Robert Leighton.
While the preaching of each had marked characteristics,
it was like that of Knox, scholarly, expository, direct
and courageous.

The name of Archbishop Leighton " marks the begin-
ning of a new era in the history of the Scottish Pulpit."
His discourses, while Calvinistic in substance, were ren-
dered attractive by his great learning, tine imagination,
beauty of style, and devout spirit. Although carefullv
written they were delivered without manuscript.

Contemporary with Leighton were such "Field-preach-
ers" as Richard Cameron and Alexander Penden, who.
driven forth from their Hocks, preached with great power
to "The Church in the Wilderness."

Then came, in the eighteenth century, the "Reign of
the Moderates," so-called, whose preachers with little love
for evangelistic truth cultivated assiduously literary graces,
and in whose hands uthe sermon became a mere literary
product rather than an instrument for the conversion and
edification of souls.'" Of this class the best representative
was Dr. Hugh Blair.

The "Evangelicals" followed. The brothers Ebenezer
and Ralph Erskine preached the old truth of the gospel
with unwonted power. They wrote out their sermons and
delivered them memoriter. One with them in spirit.

HOMILE TICS— THE OBE TICAL . 369

though in the National Church, were such able preachers
as John Maclaurin, John Witherspoon, John Erskine, and
Andrew Thomson, the last of whom united in his preach-
ing the literary culture and graces of the "Moderates,"
with the doctrines of the "Evangelicals."

Then came the greatest of Scottish preachers — Thomas
Chalmers. Remarkable as preacher, pastor and professor,
he ruled with sovereign sway in the pulpit. Although he
read his discourses closely, yet so rich and concentrated
were his thoughts, so affluent his imagination, so forcible
his speech, and so vehement his delivery, that he produced
such effects as to cause the critical Jeffrey to say of his
eloquence that "it reminded him more of what one reads
of as the effect of the eloquence of Demosthenes than any-
thing he ever saw."

Nearly contemporary with Chalmers, there were in the
pulpits of the dissenting churches such able preachers as
Drs. Symington. McCrie, Brown, Eadie, King, Anderson,
Wardlaw, Alexander, MacLeod, Candlish, and Guthrie. —
all of them characteristically Scotch in their preaching, and
the last remarkable as a popular orator. Dr. Guthrie wrote
his sermons with the greatest care, having his audience
in imagination before him, tilled them with apt and strik-
ing illustrations, and then delivered them memoriter with
such grace and force and vividness of action that he carried
all before him.

Dr. Taylor closes these excellent lectures, of which the
briefest outline has been given, with two words of advice.
w ' First, he yourselves. Pulpit efficiency is not a matter of
method. There have been great preachers in all methods,

twith the paper and without it, extempore and memoriter,

370 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

expository and topical. The efficiency is not in the meth-
od, but in the man.'' . . . u And while you are thus care-
ful to be yourselves, do not preach yourselves. Preach
Christ. Beware of hiding- him behind yourselves , rather
hide yourselves behind him ; and while your audience hear
the voice, let them wsee no man save Jesus only.' Do not
make the sermon an end ; use it only as a means; and let
your end be, not the gathering of a multitude, nor the
making of a name for yourselves, but the saving of them
that hear you, and then you will not lack success."

It is auspicious for the American pulpit that it seems to
be addressing itself, more of late years than formerly, to
the exposition of Scripture. This tendency will be pro-
moted, as we think, by Dr. Taylor's volume on The
Scottish Pvlpit.

ENGLISH IN THE PULPIT.1

■

This is one of the five papers which make up the vol-
ume entitled Our English, by Prof. Hill of Harvard
University. The other essays are on English in Schools ;
English in Colleges ; English in Newspapers and Novels :
and Colloquial English.

The papers that compose this volume arc worthy of
being taken from the periodicals in which they first ap-
peared, and put into this permanent form. As a whole,
they are interesting, suggestive and instructive treatments
of the topics named.

But we are inclined to think that the paper with the

1 Our English: by Adams Sherman Hill. New York: Harper
Brothers, 1889.

HOMILETICS— THEORETICAL. 371

title English in the Pulpit is the least valuable of the live.
In treating this subject, the author seems to have forgot-
ten the proverb, We sutor ultra crepidam, — and, not con-
lining himself strictly to his subject, to have ranged
well-nigh over the whole domain of Homiletics. On this
general subject he has presented in the main valuable
thoughts, many of which have been quoted from authors
of acknowledged eminence in Homiletics. Indeed, about
one-fifth of the paper is taken from these authors. We
cannot but think that, had the scholarly author confined
himself closelv to his theme, and written only on that in
which lie is confessedly a proficient, he would have done
better service to the ministers for whom he wrote.

The author well says that ".The tests of English in the
pulpit, then, are to be sought in the pews. It follows, —
since the people who go to church are, in our days, very
touch the same in the pews and out of them, — it follows
that a preacher cannot hope to interest and impress his
hearers unless he uses language which they readily under-
stand, language with which they are familiar in the best
books they read and the best speakers they hear."' He
condemns **in prayer and in sermon, pet expressions that
sound to some ears like cant ; as * imcovenanted mercies, '
* beatific vision,' 'unsearchable dispensations,' ' sin-polluted
lips.' * unspeakable and everlasting felicity reserved for the
saints.' But *wSome preachers who avoid ecclesiastical
formulas fall into philosophical ones ; as -will -power/
w subjective and objective,' 'the categories of the Infinite.'
Othere indulge in sentimental phrases ; as ' greenness and
beauty,' ' sweetness and light,' 'love-service,' w soul-build-
ing." He thinks that a reaction against ecclesiastical

372 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

phrases has lately set in that has led to a style of writing
and speaking not less objectionable. "It may hv
doubted, " he well says, "whether it is not better to
venerate form and symbols than to venerate nothing ; to
talk an ecclesiastical patois, rather than to borrow slang
and vulgarisms from the streets ; to use phrases which,
though now out of date, were once charged with a sacred
meaning, rather than those which embody a whim of the
moment, and will pass away with the occasion that
spawned them ;' to preach like a good though old-fashioned
book, rather than to brawl like aloud-voiced stump-orator.-'

This slang of the streets, like malaria, is forcing its
way into cultivated society and into some pulpits. But
though the minister that indulges in it may thus gratify
certain hearers, and draw others like them to hear him,
yet in time he will surely lose in influence more than he
gains by catering to this vitiated taste.

Professor Hill trulv says. -lBoth the ecclesiastical-
sentimental and the sensational extreme are avoided by
the best modern preachers. Shunning theological and
philosophical pedantry in every form, and vulgarity of
every species, they draw their language from the well of
English undehled. Their sermons contain no words that
the hearers cannot readily understand, and none that shock
the sensibilities or offend the taste. Their manner is
simple, straightforward, free from affectation either sol-
emn or petty.

r-r "

STORY TELLING IK THE PULPIT.

In no one respect, perhaps, does the sermon of to-day
differ more from the sermon of a century ago, than in

H0M1LET1CS— THEORETICAL. 373

that of illustration. From being stiffly formal and dryly
logical, it has. like the rod of Aaron, budded and blos-
somed into abundant illustrations. Indeed, in some in-
stances, this tendency has been so strong, that it has made
the sermon degenerate into little else than a tissue of
stories. But the illustrative tendency in the modern ser-
mon, if properly regulated, is very useful in making the
truth vivid and impressive. The great Teacher who knew
what was in man, made frequent use of most varied illus-
trations. But whether thev were drawn from real life, or
were "invented examples,'' they were all true to nature
and to life.

In The Homiletic Review (Aug., 1887), Dr. Edward
Everett Hale treats in an interesting and instructive way
of Story Telling in the Pulpit. In advocating illustrative
preaching, he expresses decided preference, when stories
are told, for those drawn from real history rather than
from imagination. Hence a preacher should be well read
in historv and biography, that he may gather from these
sources, fresh and appropriate illustrations of the truth.
But he should see to it that they are absolutely accurate1.

He may, however, freely use the -'invented example."
provided that it is true to nature and life, and such that
the irood sense of an audience not absolutely friendly,
may be satisfied that the moral it contains is not forced or
exaggerated.

To show how much longer people remember an illus-
tration of a truth than an abstract statement of it, the
author relates a conversation which he had with Dr.
George Putnam, at the close of a service in which the
latter had delivered an able discourse. In reply to the

374 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

inquiry how he had constructed the sermon, he said " that
it was an old sermon, excepting the illustrations ; the
illustrations were new. Then he added, very seriously,
that in practice, people remember nothing of a sermon
excepting the illustrations ; that the philosophical or eth-
ical statement does not rest in fixed form upon their
minds, while the}' would probably remember the illustra-
tions as long as they lived. In point of fact, this same
sermon had been preached to the same congregation within
two years, and yet, so far as appeared, none of them
knew that." We doubt, however, that such general ig-
norance of this fact was the case, and we think it perilous
both to the reputation and to the influence of a preacher
to repeat sermons l*to the same congregation within two
years," however plethoric or gaunt in illustrations they
may be. On this point two distinguished ministers were
comparing notes. One said, "It is astonishing how fre-
quently I can preach a sermon over again to my people,
if I take out of it all the white bears ' (striking illustra-
tions). To which the other replied, ik When I preach a
sermon over again to my people. I put in more white
bears." He had the right of it. A sermon that is to be
preached again to the same congregation within a few
years, should generally be, if not wholly rewritten, im-
proved by new illustrations, and not mutilated by remov-
ing whatever good ones it has.

The author, Ave are glad to see. condemns the -w hunting
for a story (in some 'book of godly stories") because
you know your statement is poor, or your sermon is
dull." He prefers as an illustration -'one of the familiar
stories of Scripture," and next, "a thoroughly familiar

H0MILET1CS— THEORETICAL. 375

story in history, or in general literature." But he con-
siders it ''perfectly legitimate to construct your whole
parable,'' whenever you find it desirable to do so. In
such case, it seems to us that there should be some inti-
mation given that the illustration is an "invented ex-
ample." But whether an illustration be an historical one
or an "invented example," it should be true to life. We
have heard from the pulpit stories told as true, that were
evidently false.

THE VALUE OF HISTORICAL STUDIES TO THE PULPIT.

In The Homiletic Review for June, 1888, Prof. J. O.
Murray, D.D., Dean of Princeton College, has an able and
suggestive article on Historical Studies: Their Homiletic
Yalue. He is of the opinion that a good knowledge of
history, profane as well as sacred, is of great practical ben-
efit to the preacher. He asserts with confidence that a
study of human history will throw light on the scriptural
teachings concerning mankind ; that history offers to the
ministry a no less interesting field in its disclosures of the
Divine Providence in human events; that historical studies
inspire hopeful views as to the moral progress of man-
kind ; that they throw light on social questions coming up
to confront the Church of Christ ; and that they furnish
the ministry with a fund of apt and telling illustrations.
"These are to be found in every possible variety — now in
an incident, now in the saying of a wise man, now in the
career of an individual, in the turn of a battle, in the acci-
dent of a life, in the progress of a revolution." But, he
adds, ; i I would not for a moment be understood as saying

376 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

that history should be primarily studied by the ministry
in order to go on a still hunt for illustrations. But, pur-
suing historical studies for the weightier reasons already
given, then let the minister keep ready his note-book, if
his memory is not perfect, and jot down in it the illustra-
tive1 fact or the incident to be used in the dav of need."

THE MEN. THE TRAINING, AND THE PREPARATION, FOR THE

PULPIT.

The Rev. Dr. W. Ormiston, in recent numbers of 77/r
Homiletic Review,1 has briefly but ably treated of Tlxe Men.
the Training \ and the Preparation, for the pulpit. w*The
ministry of the gospel, " he well says, ikis a service for
which special fitness and peculiar preparation are requisite:
the gift of the Spirit, severe mental discipline, careful
study of the word, some religious experience, and varied
and extensive culture.'" "The service implies, on the part
of him who enters it, not only a whole-hearted, earnest,
sincere, manly faith in Christ and his gospel, hut also a
spirit of cheerful self-sacritice, and absolute self-renuncia-
tion, a willingness to spend and be spent in the work for
Him and for his people."

Under the Topic of The Men for the Pulpit. Dr. Ormis-
ton thus sums up what he regards as essential, or at least as
exceedingly desirable, in those who are to enter the minis-
try. "The men for the pulpit should possess good bodily
health, intellectual ability, mental vigor, moral courage,
heroic self-denial, strong common sense, spiritual fervor,
and unreserved consecration."

l Vol. xiv, No. (>, Dec. 1887; vol. xv, No. 3, March, 1888; vol. xv.
No. 5, May, 1888.

H0M1LET1CS— THEORETICAL. 377

Would that it were as easy to find such young men in
sufficient numbers for the ministry, as it is to describe
them. They are to-day the great need of the churches and
of the world. And if our churches are to continue to have
godly, learned, and able ministers, they must not passively
wait for them, but must select the choicest sons of their
household, and set them forth on a course of training for
the pulpit. Every self-supporting church should, during
a series of years, put at least as many young men into the
ministry as, for that time, it appropriates to itself. Indeed,
it must do much more than this, if it is to do its part in
evangelizing the world. In a conference recently held by

cd ~

the Home Missionary Superintendents from nine of the
Northwestern States and Territories, with the Faculty of
Chicago Theological Seminary, it was found, by the most
careful estimate, that, for the present and future supply of
the pressing needs of the churches and regions represented
by those Superintendents, there would be annually needed
for the next five vears 210 more ministers, while the sad
fact appeared that, from the seven Congregational Theo-
logical Seminaries in our country, there were graduated
the present year only 92 students in the regular course.

Under the head of TJie Training for the Pulpit, though
Dr. Ormiston advocates the most thorough preparation in
the Hebrew and Greek exegesis of the Scriptures that the-
ological schools can give, in the case of students who can
take such a course with advantage, yet he thinks that the
curriculum inmost of our theological seminaries " might
be so modified as to furnish greater facilities and higher
advantages to different classes of students, and to conduce
much more extensivelv to the furtherance of the best inter-

378 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

ests of the church, specially as relates to her extension. "
He thinks that there are many theological students whose
talents and attainments are such, that they would be better
prepared for the ministry by a three years* course of Eng-
lish studies, in which the English Bible should hold a
prominent place, than by being subjected to the customary
drill in the Hebrew and the Greek Scriptures, of which
they will gain at best only a superficial knowledge. W-The
training for the pulpit,*' he thinks, " should have reference
to the work to be performed, and inasmuch as diverse
o-ifts are bestowed and various ministries are required — as
teaching, preaching, pastoral work, and evangelistic ser-
vices— some option in the course of studies might, with
utmost propriety, be allowed, and thus differences in the
age, attainments and purpose of the students would be pro-
vided for." But he would have "all the students rigidly
trained, both by written and oral exercises in homiletics,
the work of the pastorate, the subject of missions, both
foreign and domestic, specially in the best methods of evan-
gelistic services in sparsely settled parts of the country
and in towns and cities."

With these views of Dr. Ormiston, Prof. William C.
Wilkinson in the main agrees.1 He would make the
studies of the course elective, with the one very impor-
tant exception of the Bible. He - would require every
seminary student to so through the entire Bible in English
under a teacher before becoming a graduate either of the
seminary or of any department in the seminary." With
this sole exception, he would establish the elective system.
"I would erect.*' he says, " each department of instruc-

i The Homiletic Review, Vol. xv, No. 2,

H0M1LETICS— THEORETICAL. 379

tion belonging to the seminar}' into a kind of independent
sovereignty by itself, holding to the institution, as a whole,
somewhat the relation of the individual State to the gen-
eral government in our own American political .system.
Each department under the autocracy of the responsible
head of the department, should have full power and au-
thoritv to graduate its students. Graduation from all the
different departments should constitute, in the end, gradu-
ation from the seminary as a whole. I have thus indicated
the organization actually, I believe adopted, from the ex-
ample of the University of Virginia, by the Southern Bap-
tist Theological Seminary at Louisville, as also, more re-
cently, from the model of the Louisville institution, by the
'Baptist College,' a theological seminary in Toronto.

The different departments are, in these institutions,
called 'schools.1 There will, for example, be the 'School'
of Hebrew, the 'School' of New Testament Exegesis, the
'School' of Church History, and so on. The Seminary
is the collective group of these several 'schools.' "The
obvious advantages of this plan." he adds, 'tare very
great, and the disadvantages are practically nothing. The
disadvantage likely first to be thought of, in instinctive
objection, is that students, remitted to their own prefer-
ences, might often, in leaving out the studies to which
thev were least inclined, leave out the studies of which
they were most in need. But election would, of course,
always be made by the student somewhat under the advice
and direction of the faculty, whose influence could practi-
cally, in every individual instance, be carried as far as
might be found desirable toward the limit of the virtually
compulsory." He thinks that one great advantage of the

380 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

new organization would be that both students and profes-
sors would be incited to greater zeal in their studies and
to better work, while the disadvantages would be u prac-
tically nothing. v Prof. Wilkinson is of the opinion, that
••under the mediaeval system that prevails, we waste more
than half our teaching force." He has no fear that minis-
terial scholarship would suffer, should Hebrew and Greek
no longer be required of ministerial students. Indeed, he
thinks that "ministerial scholarship would in fact gain,
rather than lose, by the change proposed." ••Undoubt-
edly," he adds, "it is better for a minister to be a good
scholar in Hebrew and a good scholar in Greek, if such he
may be. than it is to be utterly ignorant of those Ian-
guages ; but I insist it is better that he be utterly ignorant
of those languages, than that he impose on himself, or
impose on others, the idea of his knowing something
effective in this line when, in fact, he knows nothing what-
ever as he ought to know. The pulpit suffers, perhaps]
less by ignorance than it suffers by vain pretension of
knowing. Scholarship is good; but genuineness is still
better than scholarship. Let us have genuine scholars :
and willing students will be found to have made the only
genuine scholars. But let us also admit that men may
make first-rate preachers, and not be more than third-rate
scholars/* He emphasizes the fact that "The theological
seminary exists in order to make preachers and pastors.
"If scholars, if exegetes, if commentators, if professors,
as distinguished from actual ministers, are also made, that,
I take it. is incidental, accidental almost. The seminary
is not founded, is not maintained, ought not to be admin-
istered, for that. The theological seminary, T repeat.

HO MILE TICS— THE ORE TICAL . 381

exists in order to train preachers and pastors. Let us
keep this fundamental fact in mind and govern ourselves
accordingly."

Under the head of Preparation for the Pulpit,1 Dr.
Ormiston has put much wisdom into few words. He
thinks it essential that the preacher have strong convic-
tions himself and he firmly persuaded in his own mind of
the absolute truth and momentous importance of what he
proposes to declare, that he thoroughly understand his
subject, and that he have a distinct aim in his discourse,
and have practical sympathy with both his theme and his
audience. The preacher in the pulpit must remember
; that he is a herald not an advocate, an ambassador not a
philosopher, and that his great mission is to preach Christ
and him crucified. "Careful, honest and thorough prepa-
ration is indispensable to one who would acceptably and
profitably attempt to persuade men to acknowledge the
Lord Jesus as their Master and to give themselves to
bim."

In constructing sermons, he would have no invari-
able form, yet would always have ika definite plan dis-
tinctly formed and followed throughout."

As to the delivery of the discourse, the preacher may
use full notes or none, but if he speaks without notes —
perhaps the better method for those who can— he must
make careful preparation and frequent use of the pen. On
this point Dr. Ormiston gives his long and valuable expe-
rience. "For many years I used neither note nor outline
in the pulpit ; then I used a mere outline or analysis of the
discourse. During later years I have taken more copious

i The Homiletic Review. Vol. xv. No. 5.

382 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

notes to the pulpit with me. Seldom, however, have I
ever read a full manuscript, except on some special occa-
sion ; and now, after forty years' service in the work of
the ministry, I can use any of the methods mentioned.
During all my ministry, except when called upon to
preach so frequently that I had no leisure to write, I have
constantly used the pen, and continue to prepare with as
much assiduity and pains as I did in the first years of my
ministry."

He closes his series of articles with the following
golden words to young ministers: i;l would earnestly
advise all young preachers to bear in mind that the pulpit
is their throne, and to urge upon them the necessity of
constant, thorough preparation for every service. Never
serve at the altar except with ' beaten oil. ' No personal
charm of manner, no special grace of deportment, no
social qualities, however pleasing — not even pastoral
work, however faithfully performed— will alone for fail-
ure in the pulpit. To any who may have the gift of ready
utterance this counsel is specially necessary. Mere fluency
of speech is not necessarily eloquence ; nor is an unpre-
pared and irrelevant harangue, however rapidly or bois-
terously uttered, a sermon. Never go to the pulpit with-
out a prepared message, and then deliver it in the best
way you can. Do the very best you can every time you
preach."

HOMILE TICS— THE ORE TICAL , 383

WOMAN IN THE PULPIT.1

It is almost too trite to say that woman largely owes
her present position to the teachings of Christianity as set
forth by the pulpit. Christianity has taken her by the
hand, and led her side by side Avith her brother man, into
well-nigh* every employment and profession. And the
question now presses, Why should she not be admitted
also to the pulpit that has already done so much to exalt
her i Why should the Christian ministry be the only one
of the professions from which she is excluded \ She is
earnestly seeking admission to the pulpit. Is it the Bible
or prejudice that is keeping her out? This question Miss
Willard attempts to answer in her little volume. She
maintains that there is no ground either in Scripture or in
reason for the exclusion of woman from the pulpit, and
that such exclusion comes mainly from prejudice and false
interpretation of the Bible.

The book, introduced by letters of approval from Rev.
Dr. Joseph Parker, Rev. Dr. Talmage, and Rev. Joseph
Cook, is divided into seven chapters, in the first live of
which the author endeavors to defend her position. The
sixth chapter contains the reply of the Rev. Dr. Hemy J.
Van Dyke, Sr., which appeared originally in the Homi-
letic Review for December, 188T ; and the last chapter is
given to a counter reply by Professor L. T. Townsend.

The first chapter under the title, TIte Letter Killeth, is
mainly given to an exegesis of those Biblical passages
that are generally regarded as opposed to the author's
views. The method of exegesis is to show that these pas-

1 Woman in the Pulpit. By Frances E. Willard. Boston. D.
Lothrop Company, 1888.

384 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

sages, if taken literally, would be directly at variance
with other parts of Scripture, and hence cannot have a
literal interpretation. They had reference only to certain
transient social conditions and customs, and when these
passed away became obsolete. This literalizing of the
Scriptural passages regarding woman, is largely owing,
the author thinks, to the one-sided interpretation of male
exegetes. --AVeneed women commentators to bring out
the women's side of the book ; we need the stereoscopic
view of truth in general, which can only be had when
woman's eye and man's together shall discern the per-
spective of. the Bible's full-orbed revelation."

The second chapter under the title. The Spirit Giveth
Life, is chiefly taken up with argument in support of the
author's position, and answering such objections to it as
that "no woman was called to be an apostle ;" that "it will
disrupt the home ; " and that " if we open the flood-
gates" (by admitting women to the pulpit) "Ave cannot
tell what may happen.'' " To ministerial leaders" opposed
to the ordination of women, the author asks, "Shall
women ordain themselves?", and significantly adds, "We
stand once more at the parting of the roads ; shall the
bold, resolute men among our clergy win the day and
give ordination to women, or shall women take this mat-
ter into their own hands % Fondly do women hope, and
earnestly do they pray, that the churches they love may
not drive them to this extremity."

In the third chapter the author replies to "The earth-
born argument" that the vocations of minister and mother
are irreconcilable; and in the two following chapters
brings forward the "Testimony of preachers who are

H0M1LE TICS— THEORETICAL. 385

men," and the "Testimony of women preachers" to show
that they are entirely compatible.

In direct antagonism to this position of the author, Dr.
Van Dyke brings. forward these four principal objections,
viz. : Women have no special qualifications for the work of
the ministry; Women hare special disqualifications for the
ministry; Women are not authorized to enter the ministry;
The Word of God expressly excludes and prohibits women
from the work of the ministry. These positions he sup-
ports with much ability and with apparent candor.

Then Professor Townsend gallantly enters the lists in
behalf of Miss Willard, and begins the contest by "a flat
denial" of every one of Dr. Van Dyke's positions, and
follows up his assertion by a course of argument similar
to that of the author. He stoutly maintains that women
have special qualifications for the ministry ; that as women
they have no special disqualifications for it ; that they are
authorized to enter it; and that though "The Word of
God expressly excludes and prohibits some women" (as
those in the Corinthian church) "from the work of the
ministry," it does not exclude them all. but. on the con-
trary, throws the door of the pulpit wide open as well to
women as to men.

Professor Townsend closes his able reply with the fol-
lowing advice: "The noble women'' (those that "have
exceptional qualifications to meet all the conditions
required of men who enter the ministry") "should knock
only once more at the doors of the Methodist General Con-
ference, and if their signals and entreaties are again unciv-
illy disregarded they should never knock again; they
should call too-other some of the noblest Christian women

386 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

of the land, and, in solemn convocation, by the laying on
of hands and by prayer, they should set apart for pulpit
and parish work those who trust that they 'are inwardly
moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon themselves the
office of the ministry in the Church of Christ, to serve
God for the promoting of his glory and the edifying of
his people,1 "

It is somewhat surprising that Professor Townsenddoes
not reply to the last and strongest argument of Dr. Van
Dyke, based upon the two reasons given by the apostle in
I Tim. ii, 12-14, and stated thus : WkBoth the injunction
and the reason for it" (I Cor. xiv, 34) "are repeated by
the apostle in a passage where the application cannot pos-
sibly be restricted to any church or any period of Chris-
tianity, because the reason is rooted in the history of
creation and in the divinely appointed relation of the
sexes. LI suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp
authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam
was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived,
but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.'
(I Tim. ii, 12-14.)" He adds, "We have no apology to
offer for these words nor for the quotation of them.
There is not space to expound their meaning and attempt
to adjust them to the varied relations of our modern
church life. It is not necessary, for the purposes of this
discussion, to do so. For, whatever else they forbid or
prohibit, they certainly do prohibit women from assuming
the office of the Christian ministry. The real scholarship
of the Church has always so understood them."

While we regard this advocacy of the ordination of
women by Miss Willard and Professor Townscnd as, on

H0M1LET1CS— THEORETICAL. 387

the whole, the ablest that we have read, yet we confess
that we cannot quite see the consistency of this view with
a reasonable interpretation of the two facts adduced by
the Apostle Paul, under Divine inspiration, as the two
reasons for his injunction (I Tim. ii, 13-14.). But we
welcome this discussion.

THE PULPIT AND MODERN SKEPTICISM.

There has been running* through recent numbers of The
Homiletic Review1 a series of eight articles by able
divines in answer to the question, How can the Pulpit
best Counteract the Influence of Modern Skepticism %
Only the briefest outline of these able papers will be
given, that it may be seen at a glance how some of the
best thinkers in the pulpit answer this question.

The first article is by the Rev. N. West, D. D., of
St. Paul, Minn. To him the inquiry resolves itself into
this, "How best the minister of Christ may meet suc-
cessfullv and counteract the various forms of Naturalism,
so current in our times.'' He regards Modern Skepticism
as " simply an inheritance from times gone by, an ancient
legacy revived in modern days.'' "It is a part of the
•immortal conflict' the ages have transmitted." The
early Christian preachers, as Paul and Peter and John,
and their associates, and their successors for two hundred
and fifty years, met and counteracted the influence of such
skepticism simply by the "Word of God." "They were
teachers of the truth, and preachers of the gospel of the
Son of God." "That was the way they 'counteracted
the influence' of skepticism in all its subtle forms."

1 Vol. xiii, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6 ; Vol. xiv, Nos. 1, 4, 5 ; Vol. xv, No. 1.

388 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

The preacher should follow the same course to-day.
He should study to show himself approved unto God,
should be thoroughly familiar with the Bible, and above
all should "Preach the Word," should preach Christ.
For to preach Christ kkis to preach all truth and to refute
all error at the same time."

The second paper is by the Rev. E. G. Robinson, D. D.,
President of Brown University. Skepticism is described
as existing in varying degrees of intensity from mere
doubt up to a broad and unqualified denial, not only of
every trace of the supernatural in Christianity, but of the
possibility of any authoritative revelation of the divine
will, other than that given in the uniform processes of
nature. For the pulpit u wholly to ignore it. is not safe,
even it it were practicable. To be perpetually attacking
it is unwise, as well as perversive of the true purpose of
the pulpit. But to remove honest doubts, and to make
clear to both believers and unbelievers the real and just
grounds of Christian faith, is doubtless a legitimate part
of the pulpit's true function." President Robinson re-
gards formal attempts to overthrow skeptics by direct
attacks on their positions as pretty sure to end in loss of
labor and waste of opportunity, since, as a rule, they do
not come within the reach of the pulpit, and if they do,
they are not in an attitude of mind to be convinced. He
thinks that "Formal attempts at a refutation of modern
skepticism in ordinary pulpit ministrations are also a waste
of opportunity," inasmuch as there are almost always
present " some who are hungering, possibly famishing, for
the bread of life ; and they, at the best, are put off with
mere assurance that the bread they crave is the true bread

HOMILETICS— THEORETICAL. 389

from heaven, — a something which they had never thought
of questioning." Often the pulpit in attempting to refute
skepticism sows the seeds of skepticism itself.

The best method of dealing with skepticism is the
method of the gospel with individual men. It seeks the
heart, since out of it are the issues of life. "The appeal
of the preacher, therefore, should be at once to the moral
consciousness of his hearers, whether believers or unbe-
lievers, for it is only within the moral consciousness that
the heart can be reached, and the conscience set to work.1'
Of this best method of counteracting the influence of
skepticism by the pulpit, the author adduces the example
of three illustrious preachers of the present century —
Schleiermacher and Tholuck in Germany, and Lacordaire
in France. "The work of the gospel," he concisely adds,
" is not so much to convince that it may convict, as it is
to convict that it may convince and thus convert ; and
conviction can be accomplished only through an awakened
conscience. The skeptic must be arraigned at the bar of
his own conscience, or all pleading with him will be vain
and unprofitable."

President Robinson closes his suggestive article with a
thought worthy of careful consideration. "Few things
in the pulpit of our time are more mischievous in their
influence than the pious flings at skeptics and caricatures
of their opinions, sometimes heard from well-meaning
preachers who tire indebted for all they know of the real
grounds of skepticism to the third or fourth hand state-
ments' of the penny-a-liners of the magazines and news,
papers.1'

The third paper is from the pen of President Henry A.

31)0 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

Imttz, D. D., of Drew Theological Seminary. He defines
skepticism as " every kind of doctrine which proposes to
set aside the Word of God as the sole rule of faith and
practice, whether it he the philosophy of our time, or the
so-called higher criticism which would undermine the very
foundations of our faith." The indirect influence of
modern skepticism takes mainly two forms, — it produces
indifference to all religion, and also an aversion to the
( Jhurch as the representative of Christianity. It specially
affects two classes — young men in the process of educa-
tion, and the working classes of our large cities.

c ' If the pulpit proposes an aggressive attitude, it must
have a thorough comprehension of the views of those
whom it would convert, and of the reasons which are
alleged in their support." "The ignorant discussion of
skepticism is more damaging to truth than to the error,
for it promotes antagonism and furnishes no antidote."

The pulpit, the writer maintains, should wait patiently,
and investigate the effects of the statements of supposed
antagonists before concluding that they are destructive of
the truth. " Give a fair hearing to the honest investiga-
tions and conclusions of responsible men whoever they may
be." He would urge upon the pulpit a careful sifting and
patient waiting in all matters of genuine criticism for
which real scholarship offers apparently satisfactory rea-
sons. The pulpit must also loyally adhere to Christian
truth and its thorough exposition. It must count the cost
and defend onlv what is defensible.

The pulpit cannot surrender any part of the sacred vol-
ume that has come down tons. Its great doctrmes should
be clearly set forth and maintained, and the views of op-

HOMILEITCS— THE ORE TICAL . 391

ponents plainly stated. The pulpit, the author believes,
can most effectively counteract modern skepticism by
strong statements of the evidences of historic facts derived
from the Scriptures themselves ; by addressing itself to the
conditions and circumstances of those who reject its be-
liefs; by an example corresponding to our faith, and the
personal influence which grows out of such a life. "This
personal, silent influence, going out from every church,
and from every Christian home through the influence of
the pulpit, is the last resort, the final method of counter-
acting modern skepticism.'' The apostle Paul illustrates
this method. "His words without his life, would have
been inspiring, but with his example they are irresistible."
So pre-eminently of the Master himself. "No instruc-
tions like his. But O, that wonderful life. 'It is the mir-
acle of history.' kkIn the midst of the world's question-
ings of thought, in the midst of its turmoils and struggles
for place and power, the pulpit proclaims a single life, the
life of Jesus, a single death, the death of Jesus, a solitary
resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus. He is the best
antidote to the skepticism of this age and of all ages."

The fourth paper of the series is by the Rev. Dr. A. J.
Gordon of Boston, Mass. He believes "'that against much
of the current unbelief, nothing is accomplished by the
martial posture of argumentation and disputation. One
can hardly be theologically dissuaded from that of which
he has never been logically persuaded, or reasoned out of
that which was never reasoned into him." He regards in-
fidelity as largely the result of intellectual ease and indo-
lence, rather than of intellectual acumen. It comes more
from the heart than from the head.

392 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

Tin conversion of the skeptic, therefore, is the first rem-
edy which the writer suggests against modern skepticism.
The ease of the conversion of Herr Von Schleumbach is
adduced to show that the skeptic is overcome rather by
Christian testimony and example, than by argument. kTf
the thousand pulpits and churches in our land would con-
centrate their prayers, their faith and their tender persua-
sions upon such skeptics as come within their range, what
inroads would be made upon unbelief within a few years!"
w'Let us lay down the cudgel and take up the cross."

The author also urges the use of spiritual and supernat-
ural weapons in resisting skepticism. Examples can be
o-iven of "abandoned drunkards instantly saved and deliv-
ered from their appetite by prayer and faith in Jesus
Christ ; opium eaters of the most desperate type emanci-
pated in a moment by the believing intercession of the
Church, coupled with their own faith ; and the sick raised
up in answer to earnest prayer." "The most striking
conversions from skepticism which we have known under
our ministry, have been effected by the testimony of these
emancipated slaves of sin and disease." Certainly the
reality of the new birth as evinced by the godly life will
be the most convincino; proof of the truth of Christianity
which can be presented.

The Rev. Dr. Jesse B. Thomas of Brooklyn, N. Y.,
furnishes the fifth paper in the discussion. The question
resolves itself into this— How, if at all, may pulpit
methods be most wisely modified to meet the emergency
caused by modern skepticism \ After giving wise cautions
as to place, time and preacher in the discussion of modern
skepticism, the writer proceeds to inquire, What is tlu r<

H0M1LET1CS— THEORETICAL. 393

in the nature of modern skepticism, or in its relations to
social or intellectual conditions, that entitle it to new or
special treatment from the Pulpit? From the Reforma-
tion inaugurated by Luther, the "great questioner of things
established," have sprung '.'the developing sense of indi-
vidualism in Christianity ;': "a clearer conception of intel-
ligence and freedom of choice, as the necessary basis of
Christian discipleship ; r and "an imperious demand for
fact as the only legitimate basis of faith."

The question then conies, "How may the Pulpit most
wisely deal with the subject ?v to which the author replies
that "The Pulpit ought judiciously, but candidly, to recog-
nize and comment upon the difficulties suggested by modern
skepticism.^ It should not be deterred by protests, by
the dread of the contamination of suggested error, or be-
cause the difficulties in question are old or even perennial,
nor again because they wholly belong to another hemi-
sphere and so are irrelevant in the pulpit.

Moreover "The Pulpit ought to make clear the distinc-
tion between skepticism and honest inquiry. v The inquirer
will not believe without reason, the skeptic will not believe
at all. It is essential that Christianity be vindicated from
the suspicion of hindering the search for truth.

The author adds that "The Pulpit: may reclaim in de-
fense of truth much of the testimony which modern skepti-
cism has perverted to its own ends.y "It may be that
modern skepticism will prove to have been one of the
'offenses' that 'must needs come,' to draw the pulpit back
from the lingering haze of a scholasticism, thin and distant
as the milky way, to the more concrete and familiar ways
of the earth and men. Perhaps in studying the phenom-

394 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

ena it has brought to light, in order to learn the secret of
its fascination, the preacher may find in those phenomena
themselves a fascination which may hint to him how he
may so speak that the common people 'will hear him
gladly.'"

Rev. William A. Snively, D. D., of Brooklyn, N. Y.,
contributes the sixth paper. The answer to the question
k • will depend, first of all, upon our conception of what
the specific function of the Christian pulpit is." It will
be generally conceded that the pulpit is a teacher neither
of philosophy nor of theology. It is not to give a detailed
refutation of the various forms of prevailing skepticism.
This would rather disseminate than counteract the skepti-
cism of the day. It should also be remembered that intel-
lectual conviction is not the sole object of pulpit instruc-
tion. The skepticism of the day is voluntary, of the
intellect and the reason, rather than of the moral nature
of man seeking earnestly the knowledge of the truth.
But the voice of God within the soul is a more powerful
element in man than the decisions of his intellect or the
conclusions of his reason. It was not to the reason nor to
the doubt, but to the conscience that the apostle Paul
made his appeal.

To the question, How shall the pulpit protect those who
are sincere in their faith, from the fatal effects of the ma-
laria which is in the very atmosphere they breathe? the
writer replies that the answer will be found in the true
conception of the work of the Christian pulpit, which
meets all the necessities of the case, — that "it is not a
teacher of philosophy, nor a lyceum lecture on current
topics, but as bearing a divine message of pardon and

HO MILE Tl OS— THE ORE TIC A L . 395

peace from God to man ; and which, standing before the
world, in Christ's stead, beseeches men to be reconciled
to God.'" ** In other words, the best way for the pulpit
to counteract the influence of modern skepticism is to
spread the positive truth of the gospel, fearlessly and
boldly, for the acceptance of faith, rather than to con-
struct argumentative apologies and refutations for those
who refuse to accept its message."

The author adds that there are other places than the
pulpit where modern skepticism may be met and opposed,
as the lecture-room and the platform, or through the pages
of the review and the magazine, while "The first concern
of the pulpit must be, not 'to banish and drive away
strange doctrine,' but to nourish and strengthen the souls
committed to its care."

The seventh article contributed to the discussion is by
the Rev. Dr. Donald Eraser of London, England. He
thinks that while there is no reason to fear the discom-
fiture of the modern pulpit, it should be wide awake to
prevalent questions and "oppositions," and carefully state
and calmly argue the positions impugned. The counsels
which he would give to "the man in the pulpit" are the
following:

1. Avoid all scorn and impatience. Instruct in meek-
ness, above all do not threaten when you cannot persuade.

2. Explain the nature of the proof of which religious
truth is capable. Show the distinction between moral
evidence and scientific demonstration, and notice the fact
that the eminent jurists of Christendom are, almost with-
out exception, convinced of the Divine authority .of the
New Testament.

396 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

3. Be quite frank with the people about the formation
of the Bible. Such a course will not shake but rather con-
firm their faith.

4. Give full consideration to moral difficulties in the
way of faith. The pulpit should not only show that
though immoral conduct is recorded in the Bible, it has no
sanction there, but also it should vigorously set forth the
positive moral claims of Revelation on the veneration and
acceptance of every healthy-minded man.

5. Lay stress, not so much on Christ's miracles, as on
Christ Himself. While by no means giving up the argu-
ments for miracles, the pulpit should set forth Christ Him-
self as the wonder of wonders. " Skepticism cannot ex-
plain Him. Scoffers cannot disparage Him. Cultured
critics cannot indicate how he might be improved. Con-
centrate on Him, Christ the defense and vindication of
Christianity."

6. Bring the pulpit to bear more than ever on the char-
acters and lives of those who -profess and call themselves
Christians. The skeptic must hold his peace when you
show to him good men and women rejoicing in the cross
of Christ. Although comparatively few adherents of Chris-
tianity "walk worthy1 of it, yet the pulpit must not
shrink from applying the test. " It must be evangelically
ethical. It must build up character ; it must purify life.
It must insist on rectitude. It must teach the people that
they, and they only, can refute the skeptic on this line.'1
"If the people called Christians would only obey these
lessons, and follow Him whom they call Master and Lord,
they Would do more than whole libraries of Apologetics,

HO MILE TICS— THE ORE TICAL . 397

or even so much pulpit argumentation, can do to discon
cert and defeat Modern Skepticism."

The Key. Robert F. Sample, D.D., of New York, con-
tributes the last paper to the discussion. He regards
modern skepticism as largely a resuscitated doubt, or an
antiquated error. The old enemies of the Christian faith
are wearing new clothes.

In reply to the inquiry, How can the pulpit best count-
eract the influence of modern skepticism? he notices two
or three ways of impairing its influence, and then empha-
sizes the best way.

1. Offensive attack. Yet, after all, comparatively little
has been accomplished by this method.

2. The defensive attitude may be assumed. Doubtless
apologetics have their place, but apologetic preaching is
liable to create skepticism.

3. The simple preaching of the gospel, without contro-
versy and without apology, the author regards as the best
means of counteracting the influence of error. "Truth
is the antidote of error. When the sun rises the night
flees away."

It is also well, he thinks, to present the sterner truths
of the gospel in dealing with skepticism. While the pulpit
should give prominence to the love of God, it should not
forget that all the divine attributes, including God's justice,
holiness and power, unite in the nature and expression of
infinite love.

And then, " Let the pulpit be linked to the cross,'1 and
we need not fear the final result. This the history of the
Church abundantly shows.

"The minister who preaches Christ has Human Con-

398 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

sciounesss on his side.'' Although blinded b\^ sin the hu-
man mind will recognize, and the human heart will respond
to the truth of the gospel.

"The gospel preacher has also the Church on his side."
This moral support will greatly aid him in dealing with
skepticism.

"The preacher of the gospel has God on his side."
Such a ministry He will uphold and bless. But ' k Preach-
ing that is on the circumference of truth and never reaches
its center , that deals with the questions of the times with
no hint of eternity; that gratifies human pride, never hum-
bles it ; that entertains with speculations, attracts by its
grotes.queness, or startles by its dramatic action, but sel-
dom or never tells the story of Him who died and rose
and, for us sinners, went up on high, will neither be owned
of God, nor have saving power with men."

YALE LECTURES ON PREACHING AND OTHER WRITINGS.1

This large octavo volume of more than six hundred
closely printed pages is a fitting memorial of its late gifted
and lamented author. It consists of twenty Lectures on
Preaching, delivered at the Yale Divinity School, eight
Addresses, and nine Sermons, together with Foreign Let-
ters, and memorial Addresses by President Dwight and
Drs. Twichell and Parker.

The lectures on preaching take so wide a range and in-
clude so much material, that only a few of the more im-
portant and valuable suggestions can be here noticed.

i Yale Lectures on Preaching and other Writings. By Nathaniel
J. Burton, D. D. New York: Chas. L. Webster and Company.
London: Chatto and Windus, 1888.

H0M1LET1CS— THEORETICAL. 399

These suggestions are all the more valuable because they
grew out of Dr. Burton's experience as a preacher.

In his lecture on Making Sermons, after remarking that
he does not know that there is anything on earth so inter-
esting as a preacher and his habits, to preachers, he goes
on to give his notions and methods in sermon making.

In getting a topic, he would allow the largest range of
freedom while keeping within the lines of Christianity.
He found that topics came to him not only from the Bible
but also "from all points of the compass.1" These he put
down in a book of subjects. Having selected a topic upon
which to discourse, he thus graphically describes the
method by which he gets ua host of thoughts on that
topic." tk I go to my desk and my pen and my paper, and
there sit waiting for thoughts. I open all my windows
hospitably, so that if they want to come in they can. And
they almost always want to. Somehow they hear that I
am there. Why do all the winds of heaven pour down
towards a vacuum? Why do all the birds of heaven pour
down through zones and zones seeking the summer?
Why do all the waters of the world drift down towards
any hollow anywhere ? And why does all heaven move
towards beseeching souls ? No matter, why. So it is, and
that is enough. And it is enough for me to know that
somehow my waiting mind there in my study is univers-
ally advertised, and excites a universal good will towards
me, so that my windows are filled with in-Hocking thoughts,
according (I am compelled to say) to the size, and what
not, of my mind." Sometimes these thoughts will come
sparsely and slowly. But come as they may, he puts
them down great and small, so long as they come. He

400 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

insists upon original effort, upon the mind doing its best
to get materials for the sermon before reading on the sub-
ject. Then let the preacher freely consult commentaries
and other books bearing on the topic.

Having topic and materials, he next proceeds to organ-
ize these materials according to the proper end in view —
the salvation of men — rejecting whatever will not fall into
line toward this end.

As to uhow plainly a preacher had better show to his
congregation the skeleton in his sermons," the author
says. "as a rule, just about as plainly as he shows his own
skeleton.'" But he adds, t4If there should ever come up a
serious doubt among a people whether their minister has
any skeleton, he had better show one," and "perhaps
preachers do well to show their skeletons often enough to
create a general feeling that they always have them."
Now all such talk as this against the exhibition of 'w skele-
tons '' in sermons comes largely, we think, from the word
used, rather than from the idea. A planless mass of
material is as monstrous in a sermon as in a building.
And if a plan is necessaiy to a well-ordered sermon, why
may it not be seen whenever its prominence will increase
the power of a sermon, just as the distinct and well-
rounded limbs of a human body serve to render it more
effective. Indeed we are inclined to think that the absence
of a clearly defined plan and unity is a defect in some of
the excellent sermons in this volume, of which the author
himself seems in some cases to be aware. In closing his
discourse on The Transit of Venus, from the text, "The
heavens declare the glory of the Lord," he says, "Breth-
ren, 1 feel that there is less than my usual unity in the

HO MIL E TICS— THE ORE TICAL . 401

remarks which I have made this morning. But I have
this to comfort me, that many times, in discourses of the
utmost unity, the good gained by different persons listen-
ing comes from single sentences and single thoughts that
are no essential part of the substance and general move-
ment of the discourse. I would not make that an argu-
ment for a scattering and unorganized treatment of
subjects; but only a solace when, for any reason, one
happens to fall into scattering."

As regards what the author calls "the amplification " or
development of the outlined sermon, he thinks that it
should come mainly from "the amplification of the
man," — constantly increasing with all the experience and
observation of years. tlA great man makes a great ser-
mon, and O ! what clear effects of greatness are made
now7 and then by quite measurable and even moderate
men, who have turned their powers into the service of
God with a complete consecration, and have opened them-
selves to the infloodings of his blessed Spirit."

While these thoughts of the author on making sermons
are found substantially in some works on Homiletics, they
are especially valuable as the results of his own expe-
rience.

As an aid to originality in the preacher, he would have
him think more than he reads, and have him -read re-
flectively, critically, ruminatively, judicially,'' using freely
outside material, but making it all his own.

In his two lectures on Imagination in Ministers, and
Imagination in Sermons, the author lavs much stress on
cultivating the imagination both recollective and creative,
as an aid to the proper setting forth of Biblical doctrines

402 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

historically, to the seeing of doctrines in their compara-
tive importance, and to the interpretation of the imag-
inative parts of the Bible. The imagination should also
be cultivated because of its beneficial influence on the lan-
guage of the pulpit, and its "prolific contribution of
images and imageries drawn from life and from Nature."

In the lecture on Short Sermons, Dr. Burton well de-
fines a short sermon as "a sermon that seems short."
"Time has nothing to do with it.'" Among the causes
that make a sermon seem long, are named a monotonous
voice, giving tk a sense of eternity, " monotonous thought,
slow progress through the subject, too much proving of
things, Ions: introductions, and lack of substance, which
last fault can be remedied only by hard work. A slow
utterance will make a sermon seem long, as will also the
appearance of preaching mainly to unfold a subject instead
of impressing hearers, and the preaching on a theme and
in a manner far away from the customary thinking and
the daily life of the mass.

His three positive rules for making a sermon short are,
first, "to stop " the sermon when through with the thought .
If necessary, " Strike it by lightning." Secondly, choose
just one thought and resolve to stop when it is developed
and applied. And then do not crowd into the sermon
everything that belongs to that one thought, for you may
speak again on that subject some day.

In the lecture on Order in Sermon Topics, Dr. Burton
recommends that preachers, in selecting their themes for
Sunday mornings, follow the recorded career of the Lord,
or "the order of the Christian Year as laid down in the
the liturgies of the Church at Large." This he thinks

H0M1LETICS— THEORETICAL. 403

would make their preaching full of Christ, would make it
sweep the entire circle of Christian truth in both the Old
Testament and the New, and would keep them from get-
ting into ruts in their preaching. For the second sermon
on each Sunday, he would have the pastor select his sub-
ject from a wider range of topics as the occasion might
demand.

On the Assimilation of Sermon Material, the author
has given so many valuable suggestions that this lecture
deserves to stand beside Professor Shedd's excellent lec-
ture on General Maxims for Sermonizing. While the
preacher is to be on the alert to gather materials of thought
and illustration for his sermons from every source, espe-
cially from the Bible, he is to make them all his own by
patient, earnest meditation, and putting to practical use.

As regards variety in church service, Dr. Burton thinks
uit is best that our services should call for quite a little
change of posture as they move on," and that they should
not be made monotonous by "a strong push for unity,"
since unity is not incompatible with variety. He would
have preachers aim at variety both in their themes for
sermons and in the way of treating them, as also in their
prayers and hymns.

We regard these Yale Lectures on preaching by Or.
Burton as among the best of the excellent courses of lectures
on this subject, delivered in the Divinity School of Yale
University. They are full of valuable thoughts and sug-
gestions, set forth in the freshest manner, with abund-
ant and striking illustrations. In his use of language the
author seems to have no fear of Webster or Worcester

404 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

before his eyes, but goes on in a marvelous way, turning
nouns into verbs, participles, and the like, at pleasure.

In respect to the Sermons contained in this volume, we
think that, while they are highly characteristic of their
author, and permeated with his genius and spirit, they are
not, perhaps, as a whole, such as he himself might have
selected from his many able discourses. \\re hope that,
as intimated in the Preface, one or more volumes of his
sermons may soon be given to the public.

THE VOCATION OF THE PREACHER.1

This last work from the industrious pen of its late
author, consists of more than five hundred pages of inter-
esting matter on preaching and preachers. The volume is
characteristic of the writer. It contains much instructive
information, respecting both the matter and manner of
preaching, and interesting descriptions of several noted
preachers, some of them of the olden time.

The preacher's vocation the author defines as "the
instinct for souls," . . . " an instinct which has wrought
in some men, and in some ages, like a passion, which was
the passion of Jesus, the passion of Paul, and which has
been the passion of many of the more wonderful of the
humbly obscure men, who lived, and died, and made no
sign which the great world regarded ; but who, neverthe-
less, felt that wonderful instinct, the instinct for souls.'*
The model of the preacher's vocation is in the Book which
is to be to him ^ text, doctrine, creed, life, inspiration,
consolation, history, biography, — everything. "

1 The Vocation of the Preacher. By E. Paxton Hood. New York:
Funk and Wagnalls, 1888.

HOMILETIGS— THEORETICAL. 405

The imagination the author regards as of great value to
the preacher. Although no faculty in the pulpit has been
more abused, there is perhaps none that, when properly
cultivated, can be made more useful.

As to the use of "paper in the pulpit," the author well
says that "slavish reading can never be true preaching.'"
But though he asserts that "Paper is certainly a non-
conductor in the pulpit, and interferes with the dynamic
power of the word," yet he admits that "It does not fol-
low because a man reads that he should not be an orator,
that he should not feel, and deeply feel himself, and also
take captive the feelings of his audience.1' It is certain,
lie says, that Chrysostom, Augustine, and Gregory the
Great, did not disdain the assistance of paper in the pul-
pit. Neither did Baxter nor our own Edwards. It is the
man, whether with or without paper, that makes the
preacher.

In his chapter on Billingsgate in the Pulpit, the author
regards Robert South, whose "style is held up to admira-
tion," as the "Tom Sayers of the pulpit." He puts him
at the unenviable head of the list of ministers whose coarse
style of preaching has disgraced the pulpit.

As regards the place of the pulpit in poetry and fiction,
the author thinks that preachers may learn many £ood
lessons from a careful reading of the numerous and often
exaggerated portrayals of themselves and their faults in
fiction and poetry. "Preachers should study fiction if
they would learn how to preach." Among several other
graphic descriptions of ministerial character and life, from
such writers as Lytton, Hugo, Scott, Mrs. Stowe, Tenny-
son, and Whittier, the author refers to the "sweet deline-

406 PBACTICAL THEOLOGY.

ation of American ministerial life," given in the descrip-
tion of Parson Hawkins' trouble, in Mr. Aldrich's "Pru-
dence Palfrey." The pathetic story calls forth from the
writer a remark so truthful and well put, that we cannot
forbear to give it to our readers. "This is a suggestive
little portrait, but we should not have thought it so appli-
cable to the state of society in America as to that of our
country ; with us, it is simply true that the age which is
supposed to give ripe wisdom and experience to other pro-
fessions, when, in the army, men are looking for highest
promotion, when the accomplished lawyer expects to
exchange the bar for the bench, when, in our English
episcopate, the clergyman expects to be raised to the rank
of bishop, the age of maturity, of wisdom, of fruitful
learning, this is the age when the Congregational clergy-
man is cast out as a dry tree ! And this is one of the cir-
cumstances which will always depreciate the pulpit, the
fact that the old age of the minister is delivered over to
years of which he says, 'There is no pleasure in them.'

Among the foregoing topics the author has interspersed
sketches and critical estimates of noted preachers, as illu-
strations of his views ; such as F. W. Faber, styled by the
author, the Preacher of the Oratory and the Cloister, at
once poet and preacher; John Henry Newman, "emi-
nently a preacher for preachers," and regarded by. the
author "as the greatest preacher of our age;" Edward
Andrews of Walworth, "endowed with all the most emi-
nent attractions of genius," resembling in many respects
Hartley Coleridge, and pre-eminently the "poet of the
pulpit ;" James Parsons of York, "the English Massillon,"
who of all preachers of his time in England "would," the

HOMILETICS— THEORETICAL. 407

author thinks, ' ' have met the most universal award of pre-
eminence in the pulpit ;r the "Puritan" Thomas Adams,
li the George Herbert of the pulpit ;r and John Elias and
Christmas Evans, who stood notably at the head of "the
preachers of wild Wales."

This volume, though somewhat diffuse in thought and
style, and deficient in unity, is interesting and suggestive,
and is worth reading.

JOHN WARD, PREACHER.1

One of the characteristics of the evangelical pulpit of
to-day contrasted with that of a half century ago, is its
treatment of the doctrine of eternal punishment. In many
pulpits this subject is rarely discussed, in others a general
reticence in regard to it is maintained. Probably this is
owino; not so much to a growing disbelief in the doctrine
on the part of the evangelical ministry, as to a somewhat
prevalent doubt in the minds of the people as to the truth
of the doctrine. This doubt, often arising to positive dis-
belief, shows itself in many forms of the literature of the
day. It has especially cropped out in two or three of the
so-called religious novels of the last year, in which the
doctrine of endless perdition or an eternal hell, is set forth
in such terms of exaggeration as to make it a caricature.
This, Mrs. Deland has done in her volume whose title
stands at the head of this notice. The two clergymen
whom she introduces to us in her book, represent, we can-
not but think, two greatly exaggerated types of belief
among evangelical ministers. Dr. Howe, an Episcopal

1 John Ward, Preacher. By Margaret Deland. Boston and Mew
York : Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1888.

408 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

rector, believes, as he says, in a hell, but would never
think of preaching it ; while John Ward, Preacher, a Pres-
byterian pastor, believes so fully in "eternal damnation"
that he feels in duty bound not only to preach it very often
and sternly, but also to compel his young wife, — a bride
of one year, and whom he dearly loves,- -to believe it or
to wear out her life in dreary exile from his home. The de-
scription of the belief and preaching of these two minis-
ters is so overdrawn as to appear ridiculous. We think
that there are few. if any, among the Episcopal clergy of
the United States, who believe one thing and preach
another, or else do not preach it at all, while we are equally
confident that there are very few, if any, Presbyterian
ministers who harp on the doctrine of eternal punishment
Sunday after Sunday. And yet we cannot but think that
there is a slight groundwork of truth upon which the vol-
ume is based. Certainly it is true that what are termed
the severer doctrines of the Scriptures are rarely discussed
in evangelical pulpits. They are taken for granted, and
often indirectly referred to, and are made the basis of ten-
der appeal and entreaty, though they rarely form the sub-
ject of discourse. Perhaps the absence of deep conviction
of the enormity of sin and of its desert of punishment, i
the chief cause for this reticence of the pulpit. But when-
ever the doctrine of the eternal punishment of the unre-
pentant sinner is preached, it should be in the tender and
loving spirit in which our Lord himself preached it.
Preached it should he. we believe, by him who would de-
clare "the whole counsel of God," and thus be "pure
from the blood of all men."

HO MILE TICS— THE ORE TIGAL . 409

EVANGELISTIC WORK. l

Probably few men in the American churches are as well
fitted to write a volume on the world's evangelization as
is Dr. Pierson. He modestly says in his Preface, that "a
close study of the theme for twenty years, in circumstan-
ces providentially very helpful, has thrown some light
upon the matter ; and experience, that, like lamps at the
ship's stern, illumines the path which has been traversed,
throws at least a dim ray over the onward course.''

The volume is divided into two parts, the first setting
forth in twelve chapters, Evangelistic Work in Theory ;
and the second, in as many chapters, Evangelistic Work
in Practice. The evangelistic problem is how to execute
our Lord's last command--1 'Go, make disciples of all na-
tions" -with promptness, persistence and power. As re-
gards the factors which enter into this problem, the author
estimates that there are at least seven hundred and fifty
millions of mankind that have no knowledge of a crucified
Christ ; that they can never be evangelized by the present
■inadequate supply of laborers; that the opportunity of evan-
gelization is practically limited to the lifetime of each gen-
eration; that all accessions to the churches by conversion do
not represent actual growth, which for the last half cen-
tury has been only about seven converts yearly to every
one hundred church members ; and, Avorsc still, the church
itself lacks piety and therefore power.

The Scriptural solution of this great problem is, the
author maintains, the teaching of our Lord, that makes
emphatic the duty and privilege of every saved soul to be-

i Evangelistic Work in Principle and Practice. By Arthur T.
Pierson, D.D. New York: The Baker and Taylor Vo.

410 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

come a saver of others. This is the general tone and
tendency of all his words. The method of evangelization
is to be by preaching, teaching and testifying. "All are
to go, and to go to all.'5 There must then be evangelistic
work by the whole Church, and there must be evangelistic
power from the Holy Ghost. The early Christians illus-
trated this spirit and method, and went everywhere preach-
ing the word with remarkable results. To this primitive
method the whole body of Christians must return to-day.
Yet it must be confessed that the great majority of pro-
fessing Christians practically do nothing whatever in dis-
cipling others. If they could be persuaded to take up
this work, the)' would find at once great joy in it, and
great blessing to their spiritual life.

The central theme of all successful evangelism is "Christ
Crucified." "There will" the author maintains, "be no
.marked advance in evangelistic work, without more em-
phatic and exclusivt preaching of Christ crucified." Many
of the themes treated in the modern pulpit " are traves
tics upon preaching." The true sermon has its genesis in
the divine word, which it develops with the purpose of
setting forth Christ as the power of God unto salvation.

Here the question arises : How shall evangelistic
preaching be made at once attractive and effective ? Dr.
Pierson answers that it must be the unfolding of a
Scripture germ, and take largely even a Scripture form ;
that it must have simplicity in thought and word ; and
that the preacher must be invested with a mysterious
power known as unction, and must be oblivious of self

This kind of preaching, he affirms, is utterly at vari-
ance with ktThe Secular Spirit" of the pulpit that causes

HOMTLETICS— THEORETICAL. 411

it to make a constant effort to robe the gospel in worldly
charms in order to attract worldly men to the Church, and
to appeal so far to the aesthetic taste in the service of song
as to displace the divine savor and flavor of worship.
"If the Church would woo and win souls, it must be by
offering them attractions and satisfactions which the world
does not and cannot offer, — that which is bread and satis-
fies spiritual hunger, instead of husks which till but do
not feed ; the well of water springing up into everlasting
life, instead of the broken cistern.'" Facts would seem to
prove that as a result of the modern secularization of the
churches, the common people are deserting them. The
late Earl of Shaftesbury said that "not more them tiro
per cent of workingmen in England are wont to attend
public worship.1' In the United Stales, the author thinks
"that the bulk of our population, especially in the cities,
is practically as unreached by the gospel as the masses of
pagans are in the heart of Africa/' In Berlin, according
to Professor Christlieb, only two per cent of the whole pop-
ulation attend divine service, and he adds that "In no
Christian country are things so bad as in Germany."

Among the subordinate helps to evangelistic work, the
author ranks first of all the evangelistic service, whose
special object is the conversion of men. He would have
it held as a Sunday evening service, with an " after-meet-
ing" for the immediate application of the truth to indi-
viduals. He would also have suno- at these meetings
evangelistic hymns, setting forth the central truths of the
gospel.

In the second part of his book, Dr. Pierson gives a
graphic sketch of the life and work of such representative

412 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

evangelists as Whitefield, Finney, Spargeon, Moody, and
McAll.

The volume, as a whole, is a yaluable aid to the prac-
tical solution of the evangelistic problem.

MODERN CITIES AND THEIR RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS.1

Into this little volume. Rev. Samuel Lane Loom is has
condensed within seven chapters much valuable informa-
tion and experience on the evangelization of cities. He
agrees, in the main, with Dr. Pierson as to the means to
be employed. His Suggestions regarding Christian Work
for our Cities, in his last chapter, are worth}' of special
attention.

He thinks that if the churches would reach the people,
they must greatly enlarge their working force in the
towns and cities, — must employ not only their pastors,
but, like the English churches, missionaries, Bible-readers,
deaconesses, and trained nurses. If they are to reach
workihgmen, they must be assisted by workingmen. He
would have a " down-town church" not hasten away to the
suburbs, but manfully hold its ground, and have other
churches in the city and suburbs rally to its support.
Religious services should be frequent, at which should be
preached plain gospel truth, accompanied with the singing
of popular gospel songs.

The author thinks the parish system, if it could be
adopted, would prove far more efficient than the present

i Modem Cities and Their Religious Problems. By Samuel Lane
Looniis. With an Introduction by Rev. Jos ah Strong, D. D., New-
York : The Baker and Taylor Company.

HOMILETICS— THEORETICAL. 413

weak u plan of .attraction," and deplores the sad fact that
" The forces of the kingdom of heaven are scattered and
divided between a score or more of rival sects, no one of
which will allow to another exclusive right to any portion
of territory, no matter how little it may be doing there
itself."

He pleads also for the cultivation in the churches of a
broader, truer, and more profoundly Christian sympathy
with workingmen, than that now felt — a sympathy which
shall show itself in deeds as well as in words, and which
shall win the hearts of the masses and lead them to
Christ.

CHAPTER II.
PRACTICAL HOMILETICS— SERMON S .

ETERNAL ATON EM E NT. 1

The Rev. Dr. Roswell Dwight Hitchcock, late President
and Washburn Professor of Church History in Union
Theological Seminary, destroyed the greater part of his
sermons a few years before his lamented death. Of the
thirty that he spared, nineteen have been published under
the above title since his decease. The}7 are mostly on
practical themes, in the treatment of which the preacher
rarely uses argument, but appeals to the convictions and
consciences of his hearers.

His introductions, always appropriate, are in some eases
very felicitous. Often they are descriptive, and introduce
the subject in a very graphic manner. In the discourse
entitled, "From Blindness to Vision," from the text
John ix, 39 : "And Jesus said, For judgment came I into
this world that they who see not may see, and that they
who see may become blind," we have the following:
"Milton was forty-six years old when he became blind,
carrying with him into that blindness of twenty years,
endless galleries of remembered visions : vivid pictures of

i Eternal Atonement. By Roswell Dwight Hitchcock, D.D.,LL.D.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1888.

EOMILETIGS PRACTICAL, SERMONS. 415

land and sea and sky, of golden days and starry nights,
of storm and calm, of wife and children. But this poor
blind man of Jerusalem, in the ninth chapter of John's
Gospel was born blind. All bis life he had never once
seen his mother's face. Now all at once he sees his
mother's face, sees his father, whom very likely he less
cared to see, sees the neighbors who had been in the habit
of speaking kindly to him in the street, sees the grand
new Temple of Herod of which he had heard so much,
sees the slope of Olivet dotted over with trees, sees the
bright blue sky, sees the sinoino- birds. Look at him
going about with a new kind of springy movement, stop-
ping every now and then to gaze, and to gaze again. You
and I will never know just how glad and grateful that
man was. Jesus had cured a great many blind people in
Galilee, in Judea, in Decapolis, people that had become
blind in that scorching climate ; but never before had he
cured any one born blind. That was a very great miracle,
from natural, born blindness, to instant and perfect vision.
But underneath it there was another miracle, far greater,
from spiritual blindness to spiritual vision : of which I
propose to speak to-day.'1

The author generally states his subjects clearly and
briefly, makes few and prominent divisions, and develops
his thought by clear statement, apt illustration, and direct
appeal, rather than by argumentation. His conclusions
are brief, tender and pointed.

The style of these sermons is admirable. The words
are mainly simple and forcible, the sentences short, and
the thoughts vividly expressed. Perhaps the style is too
uniformly brilliant. Metaphors, often striking, are used

416 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

in abundance ; similes, rarely. The author is a master in
graphic delineation. .

These sermons are filled to repletion with evangelical
truth, and set forth with great power the chief doctrines
of the Bible. In a "Charge to an Evangelist,"1 is t lie
following: "It may sound strangely, but I must say it,
the great weakness of the ministry in our day comes from
its neglect of the Bible. It is not half enough studied,
pondered over, prayed over. Our texts are too often
only mottoes. Our sefmons are not saturated, as they
should be, with the Scriptures. What we need is vastly
more of Bible truth, in the Bible forms. Mv brother, be
a man of this one great Book. Plunge your intellect into
its depths. Send your emotions up into its heights. Let
your preaching come out of it, as at Horeb waters gushed
from the smitten rock. So shall you lie God's ambassa-
dor, speaking only God's word. And so shall you save
both yourself and them that hear you."

We are struck with the manly and robust Christian
character that shines through these discourses. It is a
cause of regret that the lamented author did not spare
from the flames the materials for another volume of ser-
mons like this. With his impressive delivery, we can
easily imagine the effect produced by these discourses as
they came from his lips.

FIFTEEN YEARS IN THE CHAPEL OF YALE COLLEGE.2

The distinguished author tells us in his Preface that
uThe discourses in this volume were prepared for definite

i Rev. Edward P. Hammond.

2 Fifteeii Years hi the Chapel of Yale College. By Noah Porter
New York: Charles Scribner's Suns. 1888. "

HOMILETICS PRACTICAL, SERMONS. 417

academic uses, and written in a distinctively academic
spirit. Fifteen of them were delivered as Baccalaureate
sermons before the classes which were graduated during
the presidency of the writer. The remaining three have
some historic interest. While their themes are practical,
the treatment of .them is more or less philosophical."

The first sermon in the volume, On Leaving the Old
Chapel, from the text, "We have thought of thy loving
kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple,1'1 is a very
appropriate discourse filled with tender reminiscences to
the older graduates of Yale.

If these discourses seem somewhat too uniformly
polemic and apologetic in their tone, the author in his
sermon, On Entering the New Chapel, sets forth the rea-
son in his line description of his ideal college preacher.
"But the college preacher should be sensitively alive to
all the tendencies of modern speculation. No electrometer
should respond more quickly than he to the changing
moods of the thinking of the times. He should anticipate
as by instinct each new position for attack or defence
which is taken by the unbelief of cultivated men. Being
himself a man of culture, and thoroughly acknowledging
it in all its forms as the rich and becoming fruitage of the
kingdom of Cod. he should assert for faith itself a royal
pre-eminence, and set forth its claims by arguments which
command respect, and compel conviction." It should also
be remembered that these discourses were delivered
through nearly a score of years to largely different audi-
ences of young men of culture, fully alive to prevalent
theologic doubts and difficulties.

One of the first things that strikes us in reading these

418 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

discourses is the richness and abundance of the material of
which they are composed. Into them are garnered the
fruits of a life-time of wide reading and thinking. The
learned author could hardly have fitted himself better for
this service, had he directed all his reading: and studv to
this one end. In philosophy, logic and literature, he
seems in these discourses to be equally at home, and
employs them all to throw a flood of light upon hi sthenics.
In this respect he realizes the description given by a writer
in Tacitus, "The knowledge which we have of many
departments of learning, adorns us even when discussing a
subject not included in these branches, and where you
would least think it, shines out and becomes evident,1'

He has the rare faculty in a preacher of entering very
fully into sympathy with hearers perplexed with religious
doubts and difficulties, and thus leading them out into
assured conviction. In treating objections he is a model
of candor. His illustrations, often very appropriate and
telling, are largely drawn from literature.

The introductions of these discourses of Ex-President
Porter, are replete with interesting thoughts, that lead
naturally to their respective themes, which are usually
announced in clear and brief terms. The plans of these
sermons seem, in the main, excellent, but in a few cases
it were to be wished that the divisions were more clearly
marked, and more tersely stated.

The development of the themes is largely argumentative,
and is very able. Here the preacher is at his best. His
varied learning, ripe culture, and intimate knowledge of
the different schools of theologic thought, together with
his hearty sympathy with young and gifted minds strug-

H0M1LET1CS PRACTICAL SERMONS. 419

gling with doubts, peculiarly fitted him for the discussion
of the subjects to which he addressed himself.

The conclusions of these discourses, in which the truths
discussed are affectionately commended to the thoughtful
consideration of the "Young Gentlemen of the Graduat-
ing Class," are direct and searching.

We would designate as among the ablest of these dis-
courses, the fourth, on Christ a Witness to the Truth ; the
fifth, on the Conquest over the World ; the sixth, on Obe-
dience the Condition of Knowledge ; the seventh, on Chris-
tianity an Ethical Force ; the eleventh, on The New and
Old Commandment ; the twelfth, on Agnosticism a Doc-
trine of Despair ; the fourteenth, on The Evil Heart of
Unbelief ; the seventeenth, on Success in Life ; and the
eighteenth, on The Christian College.

The discourses in this volume are an honor to their
author, and to the University over which he presided.

GOSPEL SEKMONS.l

The title given by Ex-President McCosh to his volume
of sermons fitly characterizes them. They are full of the
marrow of the gospel. Their distinguished author says of
them, "Of the many discourses which I have delivered
in Scotland, in Ulster, and to the students in Princeton
College, I have selected those in which I have been enabled
to proclaim most clearly the way of salvation." Hence
these sermons fairly represent Dr. McCoslrs type of
preaching. They are the farthest possible from contain-

i Gospel Sermons. By James McCosh, D. D., LL.D., Litt, D.
New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.

420 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

ing any display of philosophy. "I am anxious/' he says,
"that the public should know that, much as I value phil-
osophy, I place the gospel of Jesus Christ above it." He
might truthfully have added with the Apostle, uMy speech
and my preaching were not in persuasive words of

wisdom."

The eighteen discourses of the volume are eminently
direct and practical. Five of them are descriptive or illus-
trative, on such themes as The Syro-Phenician Woman ;
Christian Humility illustrated in the Character of Paul;
The Sifting of Peter; Growth in Grace illustrated in
the Life of Mcodemus ; Moses' Dying Reflections on
Mt, Pisgah. In this specie- of sermons, Dr. McCosh
particularly excels. The interest of the hearer or reader
increases as the graphic portrayal of the character, motives
and actions goes forward, until abiding impressions are
made by the lessons inculcated.

The plans of several of the sermons are textual, of which
the divisions are natural and prominent, Perhaps the
method of division throughout these discourses is some-
what too uniform ; and in two or three cases the plan in-
cludes more material than there is in the text. (Sermons

i, ix.)

In the development of his themes the author mainly ad-
dresses the reason and the conscience, shows large know-
ledge of human nature, avoids philosophical speculations,
and makes constant appeal to the Word of God. The
illustrations employed are largely drawn from Scripture,
Indeed, these sermons are permeated throughout with Bib-
lical truth. In this respect they are fine examples of the
opposite of a kind of preaching that the author condemns

HOMILETICS PBACTICAL, SEBMONS. 421

in a passage which, though lengthy, we cannot forbear to
quote : "We further see what is the style of preaching
most fitted to advance the kingdom of God. It is preach-
ing founded on Scripture, that speaks of Christ, and speaks
to all, — to rich and poor, to Greek and barbarian, to old
and young. There is a kind of preaching which sprang
up in New England, an age or two ago, and which has
since travelled South and West, but which does not seem
to me the best for alluring the great body of the people.
The minister is a well-educated, thinking man, and he
reads and ponders the most of the week, and he brings out
to his people his cogitations on the Lord's Day. All well;
I say the good householder must bring out of his treasure
things new and old : his people will not thank him for
throwing them what has cost him nothing. But then he
brings out his own thoughts, ingenious it may be, but
wire-drawn and abstruse, instead of God's Word, to which
they are pinned, and from which, certainly, they do not
grow. They are admired excessively by a select number
of refined men and women, who are loud in praise of the
preacher, and offer him a constant incense of adulation.
But as to our children, who compose, or at least ought to
compose, so large a proportion of every congregation, as
to our servants, male and female, our mechanics and day-
laborers who have toiled all the week, they would feel an
interest in the grand old truths of God scripturally and
feelingly illustrated; but as to the peculiar notions or nos-
trums of this man's brain, they cannot understand them,
or at least they do not appreciate them, and in most cases
they do not, thereby, suffer much loss. If this style pre-
vails among those churches that require a highly educated

422 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

ministry, I fear the common people will turn to those
churches where Scripture truth is preached more freely
and heartily. There is an affected originality about this
kind of preaching, which, however, consists more in a pe-
culiarity of mode than in substance or reality. I admit
that Christ is commonly there, but he is disguised by so
many ingenious adjuncts that a large body of the people
do not see him."

The applications of the truth Dr. McCosh usually makes
as he advances in the discussion of the different heads of
the discourse. They are direct and searching.

These discourses are worthy of their author, and of the
Christian pulpit.

expositions. l

In his Preface to these Expositions, Dr. Cox says,
"This, I think, must be the biographical volume of the
Series." He adds what must seem strange to American
ministers : — ' ' And so many clergymen have written to
tell me that they use my sermons in their pulpits, and
find that those which are complete in themselves best
serve their turn, that I have excluded a long series which
I had prepared, and have replaced it with discourses more
suitable for their purpose." It is to be hoped that the
time is far distant when, among our churches, a pastor
can look his people in the face while he preaches to them
another man's sermon as his own.

These expository discourses are mostly upon the ob-
scure characters of the Scriptures, such as Simeon, The

i Expositions. By the Rev. Samuel Cox, D. D. (St. Andrew's.
Fourth Series. New York : Thomas Whittaker, 1888.

H0M1LETICS PRACTICAL, SERMONS. 423

Cleansing of the Leper, the Man who was born Blind,
Demetrius, Diotrephes, and Gains.

These discourses are characterized by those qualities
that have won for their learned author distinction as an
exegete. They are, as was said of former discourses by
the same author,1 remarkably fresh and interesting in
both matter and manner, and show that expository ser-
mons may be made attractive as well as instructive. They
are the fruit of ripe Biblical scholarship, keen perception,
and fine analytical ability.

The author sets forth his views with frankness and
manliness, and when we cannot agree with him, as in his
frequent intimations of his belief in "The Larger Hope,"
we respect his modesty, sincerity and learning.

SERMONS PREACHED IN ST. GEORGE'S.2

The sixteen discourses contained in this volume are
mostly on the practical themes of the times. These are
discussed in an impartial, frank, and manly way, and the
author shows that he is in hearty sympathy with those
who are trying to solve the great problems which con-
front the Church to-day.

In his discourses on Inspiration for To-day, and Capital
and Labor, after referring to the two great crises in the
history of the Church, through which it has been triumph-
antly led, — in the first centuries the solving of the ques-
tion as to the unity and the nature of God, the theological
problem, and in the Keformation period the solving of the

1 Current Discussions in Theology. 188G. P. 29G.

2 Sermons Preached in St. George's. By W. S. Rainsford. New-
York : Dodd, Mead and Company, 1887.

424 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

soteriological problem, ■ — the author maintains that the
third great crisis which confronts the Church is the solving
of the sociological problem of man's relation to his fellow
man. "Not until men learn that they are here to live,
to work, to suffer, for others, can society approach its
possible stage of development "

The author well points out the part which the pulpit
should take in the attempt to solve this great problem.
"The office of the pulpit is not to give men precepts : it
is not to try to reproduce in other minds the mere reflec-
tion of one's own, but rather to help men to a truer
apprehension of those eternal principles which each man
must shape into his own life. It is not for us to enter
into detailed explanations, either to workingmen or to
capitalists, as to how each should treat the other ; but it
is our duty to remember, that while the opinions and ac-
tions of both laboring-men and capitalists are, of neces-
sity, influenced by their surroundings and interests, the
Christian clergy of this land are called of God in His
Providence to occupy a position, of necessity, from
which an unprejudiced and judicial view of the positions
of these parties to each other should be easily obtainable.
Our interests are with neither party specially, but with
both ; and to us, both must naturally look for wise and
cool-headed counsel. "

In his sermon on Foreign Missions, the author presents
many stirring thoughts in ringing words ; and in his dis-
course on the Christian Sabbath, he sets forth very forci-
ble arguments to the most c w overworked race " that has
ever been on the earth, for the proper observance of the
Lord's day.

H0M1LETICS "PRACTICAL, SERMONS. 425

In his exegesis the author is sometimes at fault, as in
the sermon on Quickened Life, from Rom. viii, 19, "For
the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestations of the sons of God ; ' in which the word
translated "creature" is made to include man, in which
interpretation he is at variance with Meyer and Alf ord.

The materials of these sermons are better than the
forms in which they are cast. The subjects are not always
stated with sufficient prominence, clearness and brevity,
and this is also true of the main divisions. It is doubt-
ful, to say the least, whether anything is gained by the
attempt to change a sacred oration into the form of an
essay.

SERMONS FOR CHILDREN.1

We fancy that we have read these sixty-two short ser-
mons of Dr. Ross with as much interest and pleasure as
they were heard by the fortunate children of his congre-
gation. They are the farthest possible from the talks —
sometimes called sermons — largely made up of a string
of inane stories, to which some children are compelled to
listen. "The sermons," as the author tells us, " have
aimed at plain and practical instruction, and not at sensa-
tional results. Hence they have not been highly wrought,
or embellished with stories that seldom benefit hearers."

They are on the most practical of themes, as. Aiming
at High Things ; Making the Most of School ; Making

i Sermons for Children. By A. Hastings Ross, pastor of the
First Congregational Church of Port Huron, Michigan. Boston
and Chicago : Congregational Sunday-School and Publishing
Society. 1887.

426 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

the Best of Everything ; Cruelty ; The Right Use of
Money ; Pure Hearts, Pure Words ; The Duty of Prayer ;
A Mocker and a Brawler ; How to Become a Christian ;
The Boy Samuel ; Be Honest; Mine and Thine — or, Steal-
ing ; Profane Swearing ; Telling Lies ; Daniel, the Tem-
perance Boy ; The Unruly Tongue ; and the like. These
topics are all treated in a natural, simple and orderly way,
with excellent sense and judgment, with sufficient illustra-
tions drawn from the common events in children's lives,
and in language which the youngest child present could
hardly have failed to understand.

It is a good sign of the times that the pulpit is coming
more and more to acknowledge that the children of a con-
gregation have rights that it is bound to respect, that they
have moral and spiritual needs for which it is under obli-
gation to provide. How this can be done best is a pro-
blem that each pastor must solve for himself. Whether
he shall employ the method recommended by the Rev. Dr.
John Hall, of introducing; here and there in his morning
discourse, thoughts and illustrations adapted to the chil-
dren scattered throughout the congregation, or shall take
this method of Dr. Ross, and preach a five-minutes sermon
to the children before delivering the usual discourse,
"with a short hymn between the two,': will of course
depend largely upon what he finds he can do best.

We regard this volume of Sermons for Children as a
valuable contribution to this rapidly increasing species of
pulpit literature.

HOMILETICS PRACTICAL, SERMONS. 427

SPIRIT AND LIFE.1

In his Preface to this volume of twelve sermons, Dr.
Bradford modestly says: "Without attempting any
orderly discussion of dogmatic themes, I have brought
together here a few of the results of a pastor's practical
labor, and offer in these discourses something of what a
patient study of God's word and a reverent scrutiny of his
works — "the two revelations" — have su«:£ested to me
concerning the Spirit and the Life. The fact that these
partial views of truth have helped many in a narrow field
to more satisfying conceptions of God, and to a more con-
stant reliance on his Spirit in their search for truth, and
in their attempt to face bravely the conflict and mystery
of life, is the only excuse for offering them to an audience
which may be larger and may be smaller."

Of these discourses, four are on the Holy Spirit, viz. :
The Holy Spirit the Fundamental Doctrine of Christian-
ity ; The Holy Spirit in Individual Experience ; The Holy
Spirit and Christian Work ; The Holy Spirit a Constant
Factor in the Problem of Progress ; the others are on
Conditions of Spiritual Light ; Theological Thought of
Our Time ; The Incarnation ; The Vicarious Principle in
the Universe ; The Appeal to Experience ; The Life, the
Light of Men ; The Invisible Realm ; and The Endless
Growth.

One of the first impressions made upon us in reading
these sermons is the fresh and informal maimer in which
the author treats the subjects under consideration. He

1 Spirit and Life: Thoughts jar To- Day. By Amory H. Brad-
ford, D.D. New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert. 1888.

428 PB ACTIO AL THEOLOGY.

sometimes goes so far in this direction, that he does not
give sufficient distinctness either to his themes or to his
divisions.

A careful reader of these discourses will also be
impressed with the reverent spirit manifested by their
author, and his evident desire to get at the truth in the
topics discussed. We are charmed with his catholic and
charitable spirit, while we may not be able to agree with
him in some of his views.

We can hardly assent to the following thought in his
discourse on The Incarnation : "With all reverence it may
be said that there would have been an incarnation if there
had been no sin. It was a necessity to the nature of God.
... If it (sin) had not existed, God would have been the
same and his richest gift would not have been withheld."

In the sermon on The Vicarious Principle in the Uni-
verse, Dr. Bradford holds substantially the views of Dr.
Bushnell, as opposed to what is termed the substitutional
theory of the atonement.

These discourses exalt the Holy Spirit in his gracious
offices and work, and delightfully set sorth the Lord Jesus
Christ as the central sun of the moral universe. Evi-
dently their author has tried to embody in them his own
ideal :--" Jesus Christ, the ever-satisfying answer of God
to the everlasting hunger of the human heart, — this has
been the message of the pulpit in the past ; and to pro-
claim the same old truth in form adapted to the circum-
stances and to the natures of those who may listen in the
future is all the honor that any man need court on the
earth."

HOMILETICS PRACTICAL, SERMONS. 429

THE VICTORY OF THE CROSS.1

Whatever work Canon Westcott may give to the press
is sure to be eagerly read by scholars. This volume of
six sermons preached during Holy Week in Hereford
Cathedral will, Ave are confident, interest and instruct its
many readers. "In the following sermons.** says the
eminent author, "I have endeavored to give an outline of
the view of the Atonement which frequent study has led
me to regard with more and more confidence as both
Scriptural and, in the highest sense of the word, natural,
since I had first occasion to work at the subject in 1858. "
He acknowledges valuable suggestions from Dr. Camp-
bell 's and Dr. Dale's Essays on the Atonement, and from
Dr. Mulford's Republic of God. He approaches the sub-
ject "in a devotional rather than in a scholastic form,1' pre-
senting it "as a fruitful subject for quiet meditation," in
the conviction "that the Victory of the Cross is revealed to
us with fresh glory hj thoughts which are characteristic
of our own age."

At the opening of the first sermon, he sets forth the
general object of the sermons. "I desire to consider the
problem of sin and suffering in connection with one char-
acteristic thought of our own generation. I desire to
show how Christianity interprets, completes, consecrates
for daily use, that conception of the unity of humanity
which the students of life and nature have brought home
to us within our own memory : to show how the funda-
mental thought of the gospel that the Word became flesh

l Th* Victory of the Cross : Sermons preached during Holy
Week, 1888, in Hereford Cathedral. By Brooks Foss Westcott,
D. D., D C. L. New York. : Macmillan & Co., 1888.

430 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

gives a Divine foundation for our belief that duty is the
law of the individual life, and solidarity the law of uni-
versal life, one law in two forms, fulfilled through the
manifold sorrows which we dimly realize : to show, in
other words, step by step, the possibility, the condition,
the reality, the moving force, the assurance, the present
realization of that perfection of manhood through suffer-
ins: which Christ has wrought for us."

The author then proceeds to treat of The Natural Fel-
lowship of Men, showing that the possibility of redemp-
tion is involved in this natural fellowship ; that they are
united and dependent on one another, materially, intellec-
tually, socially, and spiritually ; and that they have fellow-
ship in failure, in sorrow, in sin, and cannot dwell apart.

In his second discourse on The Power of Sacrifice, the
author aims to show that the condition of redemption is
shown by nature in sacrifice ; that the power of sacrifice —
the central truth of Christianity — is confirmed by experi-
ence ; that its necessity is based in our felloAvship ; and
that its power is justified by personal and national experi-
ence. Sacrifice is welcomed by the conscience, and
becomes to us a revelation of a larger life, of victorious
influence, and of an eternal blessing. The teaching of
nature on sacrifice thus agrees with Christ, which he him-
self fulfilled, that k' Whosoever shall seek to gain his life
shall lose it ; but whosoever shall lose his life shall bring
it to a new birth."

In his third sermon, on The Unity of Humanity in
Christ, Dr. Westcott, taking for his text Gal. iii, 28,
There can he neither Jew nor Greek; there can he neither
Ixntd nor fret; there van he no male and female; for ye are

HOMILETICS PRACTICAL, SERMONS. 431

all one man in Christ Jesus, sets forth his aim in the follow-
ing words : "In Christ, as I hope to show, that natural
fellowship is raised to a Divine unity, so that the possi-
bility of Redemption is made a fact : in Christ that fruit-
fulness grows infinite, so that the condition of redemption
receives absolute satisfaction. To the Christian the soli-
darity of mankind is shown in the single sentence : the
Word became flesh. All are "one man in Christ Jesus."
In this is revealed the purpose of creation. "We go back
to the Divine words in the first chapter of the Bible let us
make man in our image after our likeness — in our image
to gain our likeness — that we may find the great charter
of our hope.'" The author says that "He (Christ) real-
ized absolutely under the conditions of earth the Divine
likeness which neither one man nor all men could reach.
He gained for the race that for which they were made."
The life of Christ is a universal life in character and
experience, a Divine life (because lived in God) which we
are called to reveal. Hence Christians are a first fruits of
creation.

The author, in his fourth sermon, on The Sufferings of
Christ, from the text Heb. v, 8, [Christ) though He was a
Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered,
remarks that "we naturally think of the sufferings of
Christ in relation to ourselves as a ransom, a propitiation,
an atonement. This indeed they are; but Scripture
teaches us to think of them also in relation to Christ Him-
self, Who was made perfect through, sufferings." uHe
endured in His Passion every penalty which the righteous-
ness of God had connected with the sins which He made
His own." These sufferings of Christ "were complete,

432 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

they were voluntary, they were foreseen, they were under-
stood in the fulness of their anguish and unnaturalness ;
and therefore they were the spring of perf ectness. "

The Virtue of Christ's Sacrifice— the theme of the fifth
sermon of the series — is from the text, Heb. x, 8, 9, 10,
Saying above. Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt-
offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou wouldest not, neither
hadst pleasure therein . . . then hath He said, To, I am
come to do Thy will. . . In 'which will we have been sanc-
tified through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once
for all. The author, after noticing what he regards as
imperfect or false theories of the atonement, gives us his
own view : ' c Christ who took humanity to Himself was
able to fulfil the will of God under the conditions of our
present earthly life, both actively and passively, raising to
its highest perfection every faculty of man, and bearing
every suffering through which alone fallen man could
attain his destiny. " c ' Christ gathering the race into Him-
self suffered for all by the will of God." This thought
he ably develops under these four heads :

" 1. Christ exhausted all suffering, bearing it accord-
ing to the will and mind of God.

2. We on our part need the constant support of His
present sympathy in our labours.

3. Christ is able to communicate the virtue of His
work, the reality of forgiveness, to all who are in Him.

4. We on our part can even now through every trial
realize His joy."

Dr. Westcott takes as the text for the subject of his
last discourse — Christ Reigning from the Cross — Johnxii,
32, I, if I be lifted u-p from the earth, will draw all men

HOMILETICS PRACTICAL, SERMONS. 433

unto myself. In treating tins theme, he shows that the
sovereignty of Christ from the cross is a new sovereignty
— "The Divine King rules forever by dying,"'' that it is
universal, is present, is divine — answering to the very
nature of Clod, is exercised through His people, and is
effective upon the heart and life

In his resume the author says, uWe have seen, in a
word, however imperfectly it must have been, that the
Victory of the Cross is the satisfaction of the necessities,
the instincts, the aspirations, the activities of the soul of
man."

These sermons with learned notes are full of fresh
thoughts, and the topics are treated in a reverential man-
ner, and in a delightful spirit. In homiletical structure
they are orderly, clear and attractive. They will well
repay reading, though the reader may now and then dis-
sent from the views of their author.

THE WORLD TO COME.1

This volume consists of twenty sermons and addresses,
remarkably characteristic of their author. They are quite
original in matter and far from conventional in form, and
have in a marked degree the qualities of truthfulness,
manliness, and "sweet reasonableness." The themes
treated are mostly of a practical nature. "In the selec-
tion of sermons," says the author, "I have carefully
avoided all which treat of questions in debate, and have
chosen those which depend for such force as they have

1 The World to Come. By William Burnet Wright. Boston and
New York. Honghton, Mifflin and Company. 1887.

434 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

upon principles acknowledged by the universal Christian
conscience as true."

Hence in these discourses the author, avoiding all con-
troversy, addresses himself to the illustration and enforce-
ment of generally accepted truths. These he sets forth
in a fresh manner and with affluent illustrations.

But we must think that he is at times a little lame in
his exegesis. In his sermon on The Model Church, from
the text, Acts ii, 43-47 : ' 'And fear came upon every soul,
and many winders and signs were done by the Apostles.
And all that believed were together and had all things
common ;" etc., he says, "1. We are told that fear came
upon every soul, that is, upon every member of the Church.
So it seemed to Luke. . . . Luke describes this splendid
bravery" (of the disciples after Pentecost) "by saying,
'Fear came upon every soul' which caught the tine con-
tagion." . . . u These men were fearless, he explains,
because they feared God." On the contrary Dean How-
son interprets the verse thus : "And fear came upon every
soul. The general impression on the public mind. A
feeling of awe was excited even among those who did not
join the company of believers." Meyer says, "Luke in
these Avorcls describes what sort of impression the extraor-
dinary result of the event of Pentecost made generally
upon the minds of those who did not belong to the youth-
ful church." So also Alford.

In the sermon on The Keys of the Kingdom, from Matt,
xvi, 18, 19, the author says: "If we will give due weight
to the obvious peculiarities of Peter's character, it will be
evident that the words of the text were not intended to
remind him of his strength, but to warn him of his weak-

HOMILETICS PRACTICAL, SERMONS. 435

ness." The object of the discourse is to set forth this
view, which seems fanciful, and is at variance with Meyer's
interpretation.

In the interesting discourse on Gideon's Men, from
Judges vii, 7: "And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the
three hundred men that lapped will I save you and deliver
the Midianites into thine hand,'1 the whole development is
based on the fact that ' ' the three hundred did not kneel
upon the bank, but stood watching, and caught up the
water in their hands, as if watching, and not drinking,
were their business." Thus they were selected because
they revealed by their manner of drinking some of the
best soldierly qualities.

The memorial discourse on Franklin Snow is a very
tender and beautiful tribute to a good man. The address
on Christinas (which fitly closes the volume) is full of
curious Christmas lore blended with delightful humor.

We have read this volume with pleasure and profit, and
commend it to our readers.

PRESENT STATE

STUDIES IN PASTOKAL THEOLOGY.

REV. Gt. B. WILLCOX,
Professor of Pastoral Theology and Special Studies,

Chicago Theological Seminary.

THE CHURCHES AND THE WORKINGMEN.

Dr. Lyman Abbott, in the Homiletic Review for Novem-
ber, 1888, discusses the question concerning what the
Church owes to this class of our countrymen. Negatively,
he holds that nothing is gained by turning the pulpit into
a lecture-platform, or the Church into a lyceum. The
preacher's duty is to preach Christ, not social theories or
economic reforms. Nor should he preach to workingmen,
or to any other class, as such. The class-jealousy is strong
enough already. It is not the business of a Christian min-
ister to emphasize and intensify it. In the least degree
possible he should recognize it at all. A third duty on
the positive side, is to make the church-services accessible
to laboring men. It is often said that the rich in our
churches have no supercilious feeling, that they would
welcome the laboring classes to seats. But the question
is, does this sympathy reach farther — does it go to the
length of making any and all seats free to the first comers ?
St. George's church, New York, under the pastorate of
Dr. Rainsford, has answered this question. For two years
after he commenced his work in that church, the galleries
were closed. There was not congregation enough to fill
the body of the house. But he had insisted, as a condi-
tion of his acceptance of the call, that the pews should be
free. He inaugurated a method of contribution to meet
expenses, sent out visitors to invite in the common people

440 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

of the neighborhood, set the young men and young women
of the church, who were employes, at Christian work, on
a perfect equality with the wealthiest, made his church
Sunday school and Mission Sunday school one, directed
ushers to recognize no distinction between the foremost
members of the church and the poorest strangers; and
now the church is full, on floor and galleries, to its utmost
capacity.

The mere abolition of pew-rents will not, as Dr. Abbot
urges, suffice, in itself, to bring workingmen into the
church. It is not the rents which are the barrier, but the
spirit, of which, too often, they are the symbol. Work-
ingmen are not excluded from Masonic lodges, or their
sons from colleges. There is no caste-spirit there allowed.

Moreover, when the workingmen attend church, they
must find something there that meets their soul's want. It
must he a gospel like that of the Master, dealing little in
doctrinal abstractions, but much in the simple story of
the Cross and of the applications of religion to daily life.
The rich in the church and congregation need these appli-
cations. Says Dr. Abbott : "We cannot practice on the
world's motto, 'Get all you can, and keep all you get,' on
Monday, and expect to have the respect of the world for
what we are pleased to call our religion. We cannot
gamble in breadstuff's through the week, and preach indus-
try to wage-earners on Sunday. We cannot practice high

caste all the week, and preach the democracy of Christian-
ity on Sunday. . . . There is no specific for the absence
of workingmen from our churches and no better way to
get them back, than to go to the four Gospels, see how
Christ preached and lived in that epoch in which the poor
had the gospel preached to them, and heard it gladly; and
follow the example which He set."

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 441

LEGAL EIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF CLERGYMEN.

Kev. William Hull, of Hudson, N. Y., has, in The
Homiletic Review, for May, 1888, a resume of legal deci-
sions affecting the privileges and liabilities of ministers.

The law protects their reputation. If they are slan-
dered, the law requires only that the fact, not the injury
resulting from the fact, shall be proved. On account of
the importance of his good name to a clergymen, judges
have assumed that a slander causes damage.

The law favors ministers as to taxation. In the State
of New York they are exempted to the extent of $1500
worth of property.

The law protects them in the discharge of their duties.
Disturbino; reli°-ious services is in all the States severelv
punished. Also, a clergyman cannot be compelled to
divulge secrets confided to him in confidence by his flock.
But we suspect that this last statement of Mr. Hull would
require modification.

The law protects a clergyman's livelihood. Even where
there has been no pecuniary contract with a parish, he can
collect a reasonable remuneration for his service. The
whole church property is liable for this. But the officers
of neither church nor society can be individually held. If
the minister, being under ecclesiastical censure, vainly
appeals to some higher authority in his church, then his
right to collect salary fails from the date of the original
censure. The judges of the higher courts in Massachu-
setts have always held that, if no date were set by the par-
ties in interest, for the termination of a pastorate, it is.
primchfacie, for life.

442 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY

Though it goes without saying that the clergy, as a
body, are a law-abiding class, they are as to this matter
not altogether above criticism. Not only clerical adven-
turers, but men of character and standing are occasionally
careless in solemnizing, without full inquiry, the marriage
of minors and other unqualified parties. But more needs
to be said on the score of the rights than of the responsi-
bilities of clergymen. In some States of the Union, for
example, the whole responsibility for unauthorized mar-
riages is thrown on the officiating minister. No license
from a town clerk or city registrar comes between him
and the law. He must fill out a blank with a formidable
list of inquiries, all wise and proper indeed, as to names,
birthplaces, ages and occupations of the parties and their
parents ; and, if he have the least reason to suspect that
either groom or bride is a minor, misrepresenting the true
age, he is strictly required to administer the oath. We re-
member an instance in New Jersey, in which a deacon sued
his own pastor for marrying a daughter of the deacon
(who had deliberately misstated her own age), securing
$200 damages. Evident good faith and intent on the part
of the clergyman ought, in all reason, to be allowed to go
far in his defense.

There are, too, cases not a few in which a pastor is
cruelly defrauded by a parish. Public opinion and his
own instincts forbid his entering legal suit for arrearages.
There are trustees unprincipled enough to take advantage
of this. They neglect just claims as they would not for
a moment think of doing with a creditor disposed to legal
measures.

It bears also, severely, against a clergyman, that a dif-

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 443

ferent standard of morality from that by which others are
judged is erected for him. A merchant, compelled by
reverses to take the benefit of a bankrupt-act, is counted
unfortunate, not criminal. If, after legal release, he ever
indemnifies his creditors, it is lauded as a remarkable
instance of integrity. But the act of a clergyman, who
should be forced to the same resort, would be counted
unpardonable. Whether he ought to do it is not the ques-
tion. But the inequality of tests or standards here is
beyond dispute.

This exceptional moral standard for a clergyman has
been sometimes an invitation to acts of blackmail. In
some cases the innocent victim has been so intimidated,
and so unwise, as, instead of prosecuting the conspirator
at once, to the extent of the law, to pay a small sum as
hush-money. This, of course, puts the foot into a trap
from which it may be extricated only with infinite troul >le,
and at heavy cost.

THE PROBLEM OF THE COUNTRY CHURCH.

Two articles, on this matter, in The Andover Review,
for September and October, 1888, by different writers,
have much interesting suggestion. The discussion relates
chiefly to churches in communities stationary or retrograd-
ing in population. But it applies largely, also, to any
that are located outside cities and considerable towns.
Rev. John Tunis urges, in the first article, a correct
understanding of the people with whom one has to deal.
Especially, he would have us distinguish between suburban
villages and those which are unaffected by the currents of
urban life. The minister is tempted to underrate the

444 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

people and their capacity to respond to his work. He
should inquire, without much regard to denominational
usages, what type of church-life is best suited to the needs
of his flock. It is idle to expect each small locality to
work out its problems and light its battle, independently.
The mission-station plan must come into the work. And
^/ixii'hig the Word1' will by no means suffice. Men get
the larger share of what they know through the eyes.
The writer commends texts illuminating the walls of the
church, legends on the windows, frequent decorations at
special services, and so on.

Also, he favors liturgical worship. The strain of con-
tinuous attention to a discourse, he argues, is too severe
for undisciplined minds. A regular order of service,
much of it responsive, relieves the tension. And the min-
ister, as soon as possible after the service, as well as before
it, should be at the church-door to take each worshiper by
the hand. He would have the church interest itself in the
formation of a village-improvement society, in observing
Arbor-day, in establishing a reading-room, and like meas-
ures. He would occasionally select a week to be filled
with religious services, with printed invitations circulated
over a radius of about two miles. No service should go
without a collection. He counts that an indispensable
means of spiritual culture.

In addition to the Home Department of the Sunday-
school, outlined in the last volume of Current Discussions,
he would institute a "Home Department for Worship."
He would pledge as many as possible of those unable to
attend church, to set apart a certain hour on each Sabbath
for Bible reading and perhaps the singing of hymns. The

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 445

writer, notwithstanding all the evils that have followed
church-endowments, would have country-churches at least
partially endowed. They are in the condition of a down-
town city church, which finds all its congregation moving
away. It must be supported by something more than the
current gifts of the people.

The second article, in the October number of the Review,
complains that about all we have done for the country
church has been to borrow such inventions of the city as
Young Men's Christian Associations, Societies for Chris-
tian Endeavor and the like. Not enough original thought
and invention have been given to the country problem. It
is a social as well as religious problem. As the home
plays a much larger part in country than in city life, that
fact must enter largely into the pastor's plans. Measures
for cultivating home religion must be devised. Also the
church must be the center for all manner of social refine-
ment and of plans to promote it. This writer (Rev. C. M.
Sheldon) would have the pastor the leader of the choir.
To the week-day service he would give much care and
labor. Send out a dozen or more postal cards to habitual
absentees. Ask three or four to be prepared with lists of
hymns to sing. The Sunday evening service he would
make one of praise, with a liberal admixture of song. To
the sermon he would prefix a discussion of recent public
events in their religious aspects. Responsive reading of
Scripture should come in. This writer, to become thor-
oughly acquainted with his people, obtained permission to
board around with them, one week with a family at a time.
Or rather, he took two meals each day, in this fashion,
continuing it through one winter. Among oilier advan-

446 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

tages, as he claims, it gave him fine opportunity to make
the acquaintance of the men of his congregation. In
preaching, he recommends opening a subject in the morn-
ing, allowing the audience to reflect on it, and then con-
cluding it at the second service. He would deal largely
in illustration with object-lessons in the pulpit. In refer-
ring to a watch or flower or knife or whatever for illustra-
tion, he would have the article itself at hand, to be exhibited.

Our statistics show that the country-pastorate is com-
monly shorter than one in the city. The reason is found
largely in lack of invention and enterprise in holding the
congregation with an interest ever fresh. The country
pastorate must be, to a great extent, a ministration to
individuals. The people have a greater repugnance than
the inhabitants of cities to organizations and constitutions.
Only face-to-face work with individuals will win them.
Much should be made, in the rural parish, of the "Church
Wagon," or "Gospel Sleigh.'' Large vehicles should run
from different parts of the town to the sanctuary, with
free accommodation for all who are willing to attend. At
any sacrifice the means for this must be secured.

Also, in a spirit of fraternal helpfulness, strong churches
should send delegations, at times, to meet with and cheer
weaker ones in their vicinity. And Christians dwelling
between the two, should sever their connection with the
former and join the latter. Let country and city pastors
exchange — at the mid-week meeting, if not on the Sabbath.
Lastly, an assistant should be employed, on a salary. His
work should be to look after the poor, the sick, the lonely;
but especially after outlying hamlets that are falling into
incipient barbarism. No pastor alone can do a tithe of
the work that must be done.

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 447

REV. DR. H. CLAY TRUMBULL'S YALE LECTURES ON THE

SUNDAY SCHOOL.1

These lectures afford us perhaps the most complete
treatise on the institution of which they treat that has yet
appeared. The history of the Sunday School among the
ancient Jews, the mediaeval and the modern churches; its
membership, management, relations to the pastor and
church; its auxiliary and training agencies, with two ex-
cellent chapters on preaching to children, are the rich and
serviceable contents of the volume.

The earliest records of the Talmud indicate that Bible
schools in connection with the synagogues, were in vogue
at the opening of the Christian era.

That they existed far earlier is suggested by the fact
that, though, in the pre-exilian period, the very word
''school' is wanting in the language, shortly after that
period, no less than eleven expressions of the idea of it
occur. Instruction was always, not by continuous dis-
course, but, by the Socratic method of question and
answer. Teaching among the Jews, meant not merely
telling: a thing, but causing another to know that thing.

Jesus always went about in all Galilee, "teaching in
their synagogues," as well as "preaching."2 This distinc-
tion between teaching (didaskon) and preaching (kerusson)
is carefully preserved in the New Testament. And through-
out the Middle Ages, wherever Christianity was purest,

i The Sunday School, its Origin, Mission, Methods and Auxili-
aries. The Lyman Beecher Lectures before the Yale Divinity
School for 1888. By H. Clay Trumbull Philadelphia: J. D. Wattles,
Publisher.

a Matt., iv, 23.

448 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

among the Waldenses, Albigenses, Lollards, Wiclifites,
Hussites and others, the Bible-school was sedulously main-
tained. Luther prepared a larger and a smaller catechism
for a like service. Calvin, Zwingle, Beza, Knox, Ridley,
Usher and others contributed to the good work On the
other hand, Ignatius Loyola, Lainez, Aqua viva and Xavier,
with the Sunday School largety, stayed the progress of
the Reformation, and fixed its boundaries where substan-
tially they have remained to this day.. The Council of
Trent, recognizing the peril of the Romish church, pre-
pared a new catechism for children. St. Carlo Barro-
meo, after gathering a great school in the cathedral of
Milan, left, at his death, in 1584, 743 such schools, with
more than 3,000 teachers and 40,000 scholars.

The decline of the Sunday School among the Protestant
churches, after the Reformation, seems to have been, at
least partially, due to a mechanical recitation of the cate-
chism, by rote, which dried out of it all freshness and life.
u Words," said Dr. Watts, "are but as the husks of this
Divine food, whereby the souls of the children must be
nourished."

Among the fathers of New England, Church and State
being united, Christian instruction was given in the com-
mon schools. Hence, when the common schools after-
ward became secularized, and there were no Sunday
Schools, the religious training of the children was much
neglected.

Dr. Trumbull ascribes to the Sunday School, far more
largely than has been generally done, the great Christian
awakening in England at the time of the Wesley s and
AVhitefield. Said Wesley, "It is one of the noblest insti-

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 449

tutions which has been seen in Europe for some centuries. "
Within four years after Robert Raikes commenced his
work in Gloucester, there were a million and a quarter
Sunday School scholars in Great Britain. Those schools
were the beginning of the English common school system.

When the institution arose in this country, early in the
present century, French infidelity and general godiessness
were sweeping over the nation. It was, tinder God, the
Sunday School, in great measure, that drove back the
tide. We have, in our Protestant schools, to-day, from
eight to ten million members — nearly as many as through
the rest of the entire Protestant world.

About twenty-live years ago, Mr. Albert Woodruff, a
Christian layman of Brooklyn, N. Y., started, in Germany,
a Sunday School on the American plan. There are now,
in that country, about 3,000 such schools, with 30,000
teachers and 300,000 scholars.

The International Lessons were formally inaugurated
in 1873, and have since spread throughout Christendom.
An immense Christian literature, of comment and' illustra-
tion has been brought by them into existence. Said a
prominent American pastor, recently, of a youth in his
church, "He knows more of the Bible, now, when enter-
ing college, than I knew when leaving the theological
seminary."

In reply to the complaint that the Sunday School mili-
tates against Christian instruction in the home, Dr. Trum-
bull argues that, universally, where the school thrives
most vigorously, family-religion is at its best.

In England the children of the wealthier classes are nut
generally in the Sunday Schools. And evidence is ad-

450 PBACTICAL THEOLOGY.

duced, by our author, that they are lamentably wanting
in Christian education. He shows also, from contem-
porary testimony, that the alleged high state of family
religious instruction in NeAV England, before the rise of
the Sunday School, is mythical.

Dr. Trumbull insists that a church should both support
and control its own Sunday School. Of a western church,
which voted $8,000 to its pastor, $2,000 to its choir, and
a pittance to its Sunday School, it was said that every
scholar might well complain, "How many hired serv-
ants of my father have bread enough and to spare, and I
perish with hunger ! "

The author recommends the formal installation of
superintendent and teachers, as is, in many churches,
already the custom.

In urging: that children be trained to generous giving,
he cites, from Dr. Titus Coan, the habit of the Sandwich
Island mothers, in putting a small coin in the hand of a
babe, holding the child over the contribution-box, and
teaching it to drop in the money. Also, he refers to Mr.
Henry P. Haven, of New London, Conn., who used to
induce a large school to give to the poor, instead of re-
ceiving, Christmas gifts.

A difference exists between the English and American
methods of the cooperation of Sunday Schools. The
London Sunday School Union is a union of schools. The
American Sunday School Union is a union of individuals,
for promotion of interest in the work. The author de-
fends the American way.

There is in the volume much good suggestion as to ser-
mons for children. One method, in England, is to throw

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 451

upon an assistant minister this service, in the chapel,
Avhile the pastor has the adults in the main auditorium of
the church. Dr. S. A. Tyng, Sr., invariably gave one of
the two Sabbath services to the children. In many a
sermon to adults the hearers may be left to infer the plan.
But, with children, it must come out in clear outline. Too
many stories often spoil a children's sermon. Many suc-
cessful preachers to the little ones tell no stories whatever.
But apt illustrations should abound. To find these, study
the children themselves — their ways, habits, methods of
conceiving of truth, etc. Very largely, a sermon to chil-
dren should be question and answer. A telegraph-operator,
who could fi^et no response, would conclude that the connec-
tion was broken and that it was idle for him to proceed.
The whole volume is a thesaurus of valuable matter.

TERMS OF CHRISTIAN UNION.

The discussion, by the last General Convention of the
Episcopal Church, of the question of fellowship with
other churches, the numerous interdenominational confer-
ences for Christian consultation, the Church Union of
Congregationalists and Presbyterians likely to be accom-
plished in Japan, and other causes, have accelerated the
movement toward a closer affiliation of all evangelical be-
lievers. The " Church Union?' a religious journal, in
New York, is specially devoted to this aim. Impractica-
ble as any organic federation — anything more than a har-
mony of spirit — would appear, there are not a few who
look with confidence even for that. ' Conditions and plat-
forms of principle and policy are freely discussed. Bap-
tists and Psedo-Baptists are invited to meet on the common

452 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

ground of a public consecration of children, without the
right of Baptism, to Christ. The terms of the Presby-
terian and Congregational Union proposed in Japan are of
interest as suggesting possibly similar methods elsewhere.
In that Union each church is left, in its internal economy,
absolutely free. It may elect a Presbyterian Session or
a Congregational Prudential Committee, as shall seem
o-ood. For the fellowship of the churches, as in ordina-
tions, installations and advice in difficult cases, stated con-
ventions are held. These answer more nearly to a New
England Conference, or a Western Association, than to
either a Congregational Council or a Presbytery. These
gatherings, called "bukwai," or k ' district meetings, " ex-
ercise no ecclesiastical authority. A church which should
persist in retaining a pastor pronounced by the " bukwai'
unworthy, would simply, after the Congregational way,
be dropped from the fellowship of the churches repre-
sented, and become independent. The "bukwai" holds
regular semi-annual meetings. For installations, ordina-
tions and like occasions, other sessions are called. There
is also a general annual convention, like one of our State
Associations, for reviewing the entire work of the churches
and consulting for the common welfare. Two of these
are to be held, representing two different sections of the
Empire. A national biennial conference also enters into
the plan proposed. Though a pastor may be a member of
his own church, in case of charges against him he would
be tried only by the "bukwai." There can be no suc-
cessive appeals, as through Presbytery, Synod and Gen-
eral Assembly. An aggrieved brother in a church may
appeal no further than to the "bukwai." The doctrinal

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 453

basis is broad enough to include evangelical Christians of
every name. The Apostles' and Mcene Creeds, with the
creed of the Evangelical Alliance, are adopted as the
only standards. But the Heidelberg and Westminster
Catechisms, with the Plymouth Declaration, all have hon-
orable mention. This catholic basis is in the line of a
principle which is slowly but steadily gaining ground, that
churches should include in their conditions of member-
ship only the fundamental, saving truths and facts which
are held in common by all believers. The practice is ex-
tending, at least among Congregationalists, of adopting a
full dogmatic platform, which descends into detail, but, as
a formula for the admission of new members, the Apos-
tles' creed, or other brief and simple outline of the truths
of our common Christianity.

This Japanese Union involves, as will be seen, large
concessions from both denominations. It is not to be
hoped that anything like it will be adopted in the United
States. But every such demonstration of the feasibility
of organic union sets the current of thought in that direc-
tion. It points toward the day when the churches shall
be, like the early disciples, of one heart and one soul.

An article in The Andover Rwiew, for March, 1888, by
Mr. Jas. B. Wasson of New York, on the question, "Is
Protestant Unity Possible?' deplores the multiplication
of starveling churches of many sects, in small communi-
ties, and insists that the decadence of interest in the old,
sectarian shibboleths is rapidly working toward organic
union. No proposal from any one denomination will ever,
in his opinion, be likely to attain the object. The plan of
the Episcopal House of Bishops, that we should all accept

454 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

their view of church-orders, has been denounced as arro-
gant. In Mr. Wasson's view, it was simply a courteous
statement of what they regard as fundamental to the very
idea of a church. He looks for unity, not in the absorp-
tion by any one sect of all others, but in gradual assimila-
tion, under the catholic spirit of the age, acting as a sol-
vent on church barriers. This process, he believes (as the
movement in Japan would seem to indicate) will first ma-
ture on missionary ground. There is in this suggestion
plausibility, if not promise. The intensely practical char-
acter of missionary life, allowing little time or taste for
theological hair-splitting, and the immense importance of
the presentation by Christianity of a common front to a
common foe, may easily put the mission churches in
advance, as to this matter, of the churches at home.

An article in the same Review, for February, 1888, by
Rev. W. F. Faber, of Westfield, N. Y., raises the ques-
tion, "Why have a church?'; He complains that, by the
present conception of the church, it exists almost exclus-
ively for worship. He finds each separate church held
together only by the cohesion of common tastes and social
ties. Without rebuke, almost without question, a Chris-
tian feels at liberty to select any church he chooses, how-
ever little needed he may be in it, however neglected he
may leave feebler churches that require his aid — as his
fancy or accidental affiliations may incline him. Mr. Faber
insists that the body of first disciples at Jerusalem was
more than a religious society. Though it worshiped, it
existed not for worship only. Though it evangelized, it
existed not for evangelization alone. Nor was it merely
for the upbuilding of its individual members in the divine

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 455

life. The temporary sharing by the rich of their means
with the poor was no permanent community of goods.
But it by no means follows, as we are too apt to suppose,
that the Church was a mere religious association, touching
life at but few points of contact. Its sphere was not that
of religion, in the narrow sense only, but of the entire
human life. It was the beginning of a newly-constituted
Christian social order — a reorganized society on earth, in
which not accidental tastes or affinities or conventionali-
ties, but Christian love, was the main element and perva-
sive force. Toward the realization of this original type,
as he contends, the modern Church, if she is ever to realize
essential union, must continually strive. If we call this
visionary and impracticable, so too we may pronounce the
prayer, "Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth."
"Because," he says, "the church limits herself to a small
fraction of man's time and interests, devoting herself to
Avhat she is pleased to call, with the most indefinite of
words, tL religion," and because she does not believe that,
in such an age as this, God can give her power over the
manifold secular and social activities of men, therefore she
has it not."

To the same periodical, for January, 1888, Prof. E. P.
Gould of Burlington, Vt., contributes a suggestive article
on "The True Church." He starts with the premise that
in the apostolic era, Christian faith was an acceptance of
Christ as a personal Redeemer, rather than of any system
of doctrines regarding Him. This faith in Him, as in
Paul's words to the jailor, "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved," was personal, simple,
initial, and, with the accompanying confession, was the

456 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

only condition of entrance into the church. This is the
constitutive act — the constructive principle, of the church.
Consequently, while the modern denominations are content
with a general harmony of Christian sentiment or feeling,
but despair of organic union, this simple faith made the
apostolic Church organically one. All believers constituted
one body. The conflict over the Judaizmg tendency was
as radical and divisive as anything in the history of Chris-
tianity. But Paul never thought of dividing the church
on the question. And both parties were harmonized by
the Jerusalem council. The objection to this writer's
view, on the ground that belief in Christ is belief in the
truth about Him, and is therefore more or less doctrinal
in its character, he meets with the assertion that while the
Church should defend all doctrinal truth, this is the work
of the whole Church, not of factions, or churches, antago-
nizing one another. The very spirit needed for such de-
fense is, as things now stand, impossible. A church
which has it for its very idea to defend certain opinions, is
in no condition to discover the truth. And if the Church
is recognized, not as a multitude of different bodies, gath-
ered about their various watch-words, but as the be^innina'
of a heavenly society on earth, divisive opinions would
carry their cleavage to no such depth as now. Prof. Gould
strenuously urges Christian comity among Home Mission-
ary societies. He proposes to each society, as a test-
qaestion, before aiding a new church, ' ' Should we grant
this aid if eno gh churches of our own sect were already
planted in that community ? ' These discussions all sug-
gest the query whether there may not have been a pro-
founder wisdom in the dictum of Dr. Leonard Bacon, that

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 457

we "Congregationalists are not a /denomination," than has
been generally recognized. Concede it, as a necessary
evil, that we must for the present conduct our work as if
ire were a denomination. But this need not discredit the
principle that ideally, and in aim, we belong only to the
Church universal.

CHRISTIAN BENEFICENCE.

k*The next great problem," said Dr. Horace Buslmell,
"is the consecration of wealth." For two momentous
reasons, in this country, at least, that is true. The first is,
that the love of money is peculiarly the American sin,
Europeans are sufficiently imbued with it. But, with
them, other evils, not less serious, act as a counterpoise to
this. Society is more rigidly stratified than with us.
Wealth flows less readily from hand to hand. Laws of
entail secure it to some, almost forbid it to others. To the
peerage, wealth, as being largely a matter of course, is, as
a social factor, comparatively weak. To the working class
it is mainly bej^ond reach.

Other evils and perils are more prominent and perma-
nent than the love of money. But, among us, wealth is
free to whoever has the energy and tact to win it. The
golden prize glitters in the vision of every day-laborer at
his task. Worldliness, selfishness, take naturally there-
fore the one shape of mammon-worship. And, if this vice
is ever to be remedied, the antidote must begin in the
churches. Till men discover in Christ's disciples, some-
thing of the cross-bearing spirit that overcomes this love
of lucre, it is vain to commend that spirit to the world

458 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

without. But, for a second reason, the consecration of
wealth is of utmost moment in the United States. These
States have an immense and always increasing capital.
According to Mr. Edward Atkinson,1 the latest estimate
of our accumulations is about ^60,000,000,000, and the
yearly increase 1900,000,000, or nearly $3,000,000 daily.
As the wealthiest nation in the world, as more able, there-
fore, than any other, to contribute for the world's redemp-
tion, we are falling, every year, under heavier obligations.
Our periodical Christian literature, of late, urges various
methods of meeting this responsibility. The tithing sys-
tem is, in some quarters, strenuously commended. If the
individual conscience and judgment of the donor commend
it, well. But the notion, so confidently urged, that the
tithe, of the patriarchal and Mosaic Economies, is binding,
as a law, upon us to-day, rests on false interpretation of
Scripture. No good cause was ever permanently aided
by perversion of the Word of God. No recognition of the
tithe system, as binding on Christians, occurs in the New
Testament. But personal obligation, in view of fuller
light and ability is far greater in the Ncav Economy than
in the Old.

THE WEEKLY OFFERING.

The serious bearing of the free-seat system, as com-
monly conducted, on the beneficence of the churches, is
beainninof to attract attention. The income for current
expenses, where this system is in vogue, is obtained by
the weekly envelope plan. The envelopes, with any con-

i Men of Wealth and Institutions of Learning, in New Englander
and Yale Review. June, 1888, p. 403.

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 459

tributions for the purpose, not so enclosed, arc collected
in the plates or boxes. Any offering for missions, or
other charity, outside the church, conies in, therefore, at
great disadvantage. If two collections are taken, the
same day, the amount for the charitable object will be
small. If, on certain Sabbaths, the charity is allowed the
whole field, the temptation is strong to bring in such
occasions as rarely as possible. The trustees complain of
the effect on current expenses. The Congregationalist,
August, 1888, mentions two churches, as nearly equal in
ability as they well could be, one of which gave, in chari-
ties, five times as much as the other. The reason was
that the former, meeting its expenses by pew-rents, gave its
collections to charities. The latter, with the free-seat
system, gave its collections to its own trustees. This evil
is far more extensive and serious than is generally sup-
posed. The remedy, if free seats are to be maintained,
is obvious. The current expenses must be met by definite
subscriptions, made and paid outside the chwrch malls,
and on secular days of the week. Otherwise we shall be
inviting in the " home heathen," at our own doors, at the
heavy cost of heathen beyond the seas.

FREE SEATS IN CHURCHES.

In The Forum, for June, 1888, Rev. Dr. A. F. Pierson
has, under the title, ' L Should the Churches be Free \ ' a
vigorous protest against pew-rents. Some of his prem-
ises refute one another. E. g. "It would be hard to find
in the preaching and practice of the primitive church, any
authority or precedent for modern pew-rents." On the
following page he informs us that "For hundreds of

460 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

years there appear to have been no paid preachers or
teachers, singers or choirs, nor even hired keepers of the
house of prayer. . . Those who labored in the Gospel
worked without charge, some upon principle, taking
nothing of the Gentiles, others working with their own
hands, lest they should burden the feeble church." Man-
ifestly if there were no expenses, there was no occasion
for pew-rents or any other source of income. Any argu-
ment drawn from such a situation is, for our time, of no
value.

The next consideration, urged by Dr. Pierson, is of
hardly greater weight. "A church," he says, ktin which
individuals cannot have the control of the pews, cannot
be free to all the uses of religion ; and trustees, who in-
vite into it popular assemblies, between Sabbaths, incur
censure." This may, in some instances, be true. But
we have churches in abundance, with rented pews, where
the trustees feel as free as those of any other church, to
admit any proper assembly.. If it is not universally
understood, it should be, that the rental of a pew entitles
the occupant to it only on the Sabbath. On other days
he has no more right in it than any one else.

Again, Dr. Pierson argues that, ik while dependence is
placed upon pew-rents for revenues, it must be an object
to court the highest bidder ; and hence the applicant will
be rated chiefly at his money-value. " If this be true, it
will be true in whatever way he pays for the support of
worship. And if current expenses are to be met, pay
he must, in some sort of ratio with his means.

Dr. Pierson claims that the pew-rent system brings the
pulpit under bondage. ' 4 It takes, " he says, ' i a brave

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 461

soul to hurl his bolts against intemperance and adultery,
when he is expected to please those who sell liquid dam-
nation and trample on the Seventh Commandment." If
the offender were a heavy subscriber to the pastor'^ salary,
and the pews were free, the same courage would be de-
manded. The only remedy is one which Dr. Pierson
urges, viz. : that the church proper, without calling on
the congregation at large, should bear the whole expense
of the worship. Undoubtedly that is the ideal way.
But there are churches by the thousand, where it is an
absolutely impossible way. The chief wealth of many a
congregation is held outside the professed disciples of
Christ in it. The church alone is simply unable to sup-
port the preaching of the Gospel. Should such a church
not meet for worship? Or should it worship without
preaching or other expense?

But notwithstanding these objections to the reasoning
of Dr. Pierson, the free-seat system, with the expenses
borne by Christian disciples alone, and through subscrip-
tions paid on secular days and outside church-walls, is the
policy at which we should steadily aim. If aid in sup-
port of the church must be received from non-church
members, it should be with the explicit understanding
that they are not to control either church or pastor. And
the instances in which they would care to do either would
be exceedingly rare. They are not heathen, like those
from whom the early churches declined to receive aid.
They are often deeply interested in the welfare of the
church, loyal to the pastor, and, some of them, genuine
disciples of Christ.

It is urged, in favor of free seats, by a writer in The

462 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

Christian Union, for August, 1888, that they promote
punctuality in attendance at church. That the families of
the congregation may enjoy the same seats from Sabbath
to Sabbath, the seats are assigned to them. But, in one
church mentioned, their exclusive right to them ceases at
the commencement of the service. After that, the pews
are free to all comers. The result is said to be a great
improvement in punctuality of attendance.

DEACONNESSES IN EUROPE.

Mrs. C. M. Mead gathered into an article in The
Andover Review, for June, 1888, a mass of information
as to this class of noble Christian laborers. In the largely
increasing numbers of our own devout and earnest coun-
trywomen, the question may arise whether, on a greater
scale than any hitherto known, some such beneficent body
should not be organized among: us.

Founded bv Pastor Theodor Fliedner, at Kaiserswerth
on the Rhine, in May, 1836, the Rhenish Westphalian
Deaconness Society had, in 1887, 580 deaconnesses and
196 probationers, working at more than 200 stations. The
number of deaconness1 houses, similar to that at Kaisers-
werth, for their residence and training, is at present 89.
The work is under the supervision of a board of directors,
of which the presidents and vice-presidents of the provin-
cial synods of the Rhineland and Westphalia are ex-ojficio
members.

The deaconnesses labor for the physical and spiritual
good of sufferers of all religions without discrimination.
They must not, however, proselyte to Protestantism those
of other faiths. None but unmarried women and childless

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 463

widows, of Protestant churches, and from 18 to 40 years
of age are admitted. No vow of any sort is taken. The
deaconness engages for only five years. After that period
she is free to continue or not. Even meanwhile she may
marry, or return home to the care of dependent parents.
The Scriptures are constantly studied, and sacred song fills
a large share in the routine of the day. There is a coun-
try house, to which the sisters may go for recruiting, as
also a "House of Evening Rest," so called, for those
unable, through infirmities or age, to continue their labors.
The Marthashof, in Berlin, founded by Fliedner, is an
asylum for servant girls out of employ. In 1849, he
established on this side of the water, at Pittsburg, Penn.,
a branch deaconness house which, at Rochester, N. Y., is
still maintained. In Italy, at Rome and Florence, even
in Jerusalem and Smyrna and Beirut, these indefatigable
philanthropists are at work. Similar, but independent,
institutions have arisen in almost every country of Europe.
Florence Nightingale stimulated the increase of them in
England. There is not in Christendom a nobler example
of our religion in its practical working than that of these
earnest and self-sacrificing women.

SHALL WOMEN PREACH?

An interesting discussion of this question, between Miss
Frances Willard, President of the Women's Christian
Temperance Union, and Rev. Dr. H. Z. Van Dyke of
Brooklyn, has been carried on in The Hbmiletic Review,
for 1888. Untenable positions have been taken and argu-
ments used, as it appears to us, on both sides. Miss Wil-
lard seems to assume that there is, as to this matter, no

464 PEACTICAL THEOLOGY.

appreciable difference between the sexes. She apparently
sees no reason that women should not, as commonly as
men, enter on the pastorate. That wifehood and mother-
hood are. as the general rule, the divinely ordered estate
of woman, seems quite foreign to her reckoning. The
conjugal and maternal relations are sacred and abiding-
facts. They are not to be set aside by any novel theories
about the expanding sphere of woman. And it is obvious
that, except in very extraordinary cases, wifehood and
motherhood are incompatible with the pastoral office.
Miss Willard denounces the celibacy of the Romish priest-
hood. But it seems not to occur to her that she is, in
effect, ursine; a clerical celibacy of her own sex. And her
argument is by no means strengthened by the prophetic
warnings, thrown in for the admonition, not to say intimi-
dation, of opponents of her views.

But Dr. Van Dvke has more unwarrantable assertions
than Miss Willard. In his first proposition that women
have no special qualifications for the pulpit, he insists that
they are not morally better, by nature, than men. The
fact that they furnish, universally, two-thirds of the mem-
bership of the churches of Christ and not a fifth of our
convicts, makes no appearance in his reasoning.

The fact, which he adduces, that our Lord chose no
women among the apostles and that women are nowhere
in Scripture authorized to preach, will carry no great
weight till he shows that they are positively forbidden to
do so. This he attempts to do, and so to foreclose for
Christian readers the whole discussion, by quoting Paul's
prohibition to women to speak in public. In so doing, he
resorts, we believe, to radically unsound principles of

PASTORAL THEOLOGY 4G5

interpretation. The only instances in which these prohi-
bitions occur are in I Cor. xiv, 34, 35 and I Tim. ii, 11, 14.
Now Corinth was in Greece. Timothy was laboring in
Ephesus and other cities adjacent, some of them Grecian
colonies, just across the zEgcan sea. The prohibitions,
therefore, were to take effect in communities dominated
by the Hellenic civilization and social usages.

The question then arises, Was there anything in the
social condition of woman in those communities, which
would specially require such prohibitions ? There are
many evidences that, in the Homeric, or heroic, age,
women were highly regarded. But in the later, historic
times they were counted as in every sense inferior. 1 Their
education was almost entirely neglected. They were
thought incompetent for an intelligent sympathy with
their male relatives. The only virtues of which they
were esteemed capable were those of a faithful slave.
Except in a woman's own home circle, her existence,
even, was hardly recognized. In the house she was
chiefly confined to the gynseconitis, or women's apart-
ments, in the rear ; while the apartments for men were in
front. A law of Syracuse, a Grecian colony, forbade a
free woman to be seen out-of-doors after sunset. No
wife could eat, if strangers were present, with her hus-
band. Even when the disastrous battle of Cheronrea
threw Athens into a fever of excitement, no woman ven-
tured beyond her own door-step, to inquire the news.

The only class of women who did appear in public,

i Cf. Becker's Charikles. Trans, by Rev. T. Metcalf, p. 4G2, et
seq.; The Quarterly Review, Vol.22, p. 103; The Contemporary
Review, Vols. 32 and 33.

466 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

attend the schools of philosophers, and debate with citi-
zens, were the hetairai, or courtesans. To increase their
attractiveness, they cultivated rhetoric, wit and humor,
and often distinguished themselves intellectually.

Evidently enough, in such communities, with such
social usages, had a Christian woman appeared in assem-
blies and taken audible part in them, the heathen Greeks
would have at once suspected and thrown suspicion upon
her. More harm than good would have resulted. Not
to carry the discussion farther, it is, in our view, clear
that the prohibition, like the direction in I Cor. xi, 10,
that a woman should have, always, a veil on the head,
was local and transient. To infer from the condition and
privileges of women, in a heathen community, in the first
century, to that of our Christian countrywomen in the
nineteenth, is a patent non-sequitur. It is in the same
line with the defense set up for slavery, before the civil
war, on the ground that Paul nowhere forbids it. There
are reasons enough against the general assumption of the
pastorate by women, without relying on false interpreta-
tion of Scripture. If, in a rare instance, a Congrega-
tional church, like that at Nantucket, Mass., elects to be

•

served by an able and most estimable lady as pastor, it
would be hard to prove that it is under the frown of the
Great Head of the Church for disobedience to his Word.
The whole question is one to be solved not by ethics
or exegesis, but on broad grounds of Christian expedi-
ency. And these grounds are likely, for a long period to
come, to admit women to the pastorate only in exceptional
instances.

INDEX.

Abbey, on Church of 18th cent.,
270

Abbott, Lyman, 119, 120, 130, 439

Accents, Hebrew, 7, 8

Acts, The, 84, 112

Adrian, Introduction, 79

Albreeht, 7

Allard, on Persecutions, 163, 164

AUen, 206, 274

Agapte, The, 162

Amelineau, on Gnosticism, 169,
on Monasticism, 193

America, Hebrew Study in, 3

Anabaptists, The, 233

Angus, 141

Ankel, on Geog. of Palest., 48

Antiqua Mater, 149

Apocalypse, The, 92, 96, 126, 130,
131, 144

Apologetics, by Martineau, 311,
Ebrard, 320

Archaeology, Biblical, 52
Christian, 199

Armitage, 157

Arnold, 160, 161, 162

Athanasius, Life of, 193

Atkinson, E., on American
Wealth, 458

Atonement, Views of, 260, 292,
296, 298, by Burney, 336, by
Cochran, 338, Eternal, Hitch-
cock, 414

Art, in Early Church, 199

Backhouse, 206
Baird, on Huguenots, 247
Baldensperger, 132, 133
Batiffol, 95
Baumgartner, 6
Beecher, Prof., 18
Bellarmine, Autobiography of,
252

Bellesheim, Hist, of Cath. Church

of Scotland, 213
Beneficence, Christian, 457
Bennett, on Christ. Art, 199
Berchtold, on Bull Unara Sanc-

tam, 209
Bethge, 112
Bevan, 219
Bible, Latin, 96
Bibliotheca Sacra, 239
Bickell, 198

Bissell, on Codes, 17, 53
Boardman, G. D., 100
Boh I, Dogmatik, 284
Bois, 24
Boise, 126, 127
Bradford, A. H., 427
Bratke, 196, 198
Bredenkamp, on Isaiah, 70
Briggs, 9, 92, 107
Broadus, 103
Bruce, 91, on Humil. of Christ,

331
Br tick, Hist, of Cath. Church in

Germany, 253
Buddhism, 306
Burger, 90, 128
Burney, on Atonement, 336
Burton, N. J., on Preaching, 398

Cairns, on Church of Holland,

249
Carr, on Rhodes, 157, 225
Chadwick, 108
Chambers, 16
Cheyne, on Criticism, 41, on

Deuteronomy, 44, 45, on the

Pss., 66, 67
Christ and the Fathers, 150
Christian Church, Hist, of, 151

History, Institutes of, 151

Union, 451

468

INDEX.

Christian Worship, 196
Christianity, Attacks on, 165

Beginnings of, 158

Original, by Pfleiderer, 154

Principles of, 295

in United States, 273
Christology, in Early Church,

180
Chokma Literature, 24
Church, The, 454, 455

Country, Problem of, 443

Early and Empire, 157

Early, Organization of, 183

The English and its Bishops,
271
Churches, Free Seats in, 459
Church History, Division of, 153

Manual of, 151

Study of, 150
Church Kingdom, The, 183, 347
Church, Roman Catholic, 252, in

Germany, 253
Church and State, 354
Church of Sub. Apost, Age, 188
Churches, The and Working-
men, 439
Cities, Modern and their Relig.

Problems, 412
Clement of Alex., and Mysteries,

196
Clergymen, Legal Rights of, 441
Clubs, Funeral, 160, 164
Codex, The Leicester, 94
Colossians, Epistle to, 125
Comba, 220
Conder, 53

Corinthiaus, Epistles to, 114
Correspondence bet. Martensen

and Dorner, 257
Councils, Hist, of, 210
Cox, S., 422
Coxe, 151
Creation, 59

Creijghton, on Wolsey, 244
Criticism, Hallowing of,Cheyne,

Textual, 10, 11

Views of, 43, 44, 281
( -rosbery, 83
Cross, The Victory of, 429

Daland, 26, 27

David of Thessalonica, Life of,

173
Davids, T. W. R., on Buddhism,

306
Dawson, 51

Deaconnesses, in Europe, 462
Deane, 41
Death, Salvation after, Morris,

344
Deland, M., 407
Delitzsch, on Genesis, 15, 43, 58,

59, 60, 63, 64, on the Pss., 68,70
De Rossi, on Baptism, 197
Deutero-Isaiah, 71
Deuteronomy, 20, 21, 22, 23
De Waal, on Apocr. Gospels in

Art, 203
Dillman, 58, 69

Discussions, Theological, in Ger-
many, 257
Doctrine, Hist, of, 166, 173, 217
Dollinger and Reusch on Bellar-

mine, 252
Doring, M., 211
Dogmatik, byBohl, 284
Dorchester, on Christ, in United

States, 273
Dorner, 257, 263
Driver, on Isaiah, 43, 57
Dummer, on Luther Prints, 238
Dwinell, 19

Ebrard, on Apologetics, 320
Edwards, C. E., 114, 116, 117
Ehrle, on Minorites, 222, Coun-
cil of Vienne, and Spirituals,
223
Eicken, 206
Elijah, Life of, 41
Ellicott, 86, 114, 116, 117, 118
Encyclopa3dia of Living Divines,

276
Ephesians, Epistle to, 87
Epistles, Catholic, 89, 126

Pastoral, 126
Eschatology, 141, 344
Essays, on Pentateuch, 16
Essenes, The, 149, 192
Ethics, 351
Euting, 68

INDEX.

469

Evangelistic Work, 409
Evolution, Doctrine of, 280
Expositions, Cox, 422
Expositor, The, 81, 102, 113, 141,

187

Faber, W. F., on the Church,

454
Fairbairn, R.B., on Morality, 355
Faith of the Gospel, Mason, 331
Farrer, 102, 305
Fetzer on Pope Alex. II., 208
Fisher, G. P., 151
Forbes, on the Psalms, 61, 65
Forum, The, 459
Franz, 201

Fraser, D., on Skepticism-, 395
Fraticelli, The, 224
Fricke, 136
Friedenburg, on Diet of Speier,

238 ■
Friedrich, 54

Galatians, Epistle to, 96

Gardiner, 16

Gebhardt, 211

Geikie, 51, 97

Gelzer, 207

Genesis, 15, Commentary on, 57,
59, 60

Geography of Palestine, Ankel,
46

Germano, 204

Gesenius, Grammar of, 6

Gess, on Visitation of Monas-
teries 236

Gloel, o'n~H. Spirit in Paul. Writ-
ings, 139

Gnostics, The, 168, 169

Godet, 86, 87, 91, 92, 114, 116,
118, 120

Gobel, 86, 113, 114, 116, 118, 119

Gorres, 165, 166.

Gossling, 79

Gospels, Apocryphal, 101

Gould, E. P., on Church, 455

Grammar, Hebrew, 6, 7

Grau, 132, 133

Great Britain, Churches of, 269

Green, H. Grammar of, 6, on
Exodus, 17

Gregory, 95, 96
Grimm, Joseph, 100
Grube, 211

Hale, E. E., 373

Hiiring, on Ritschl's Theology,

266, 295
Harmon, 19
Harnack, 167, Hist, of Doctrine,

173
Harper, on Heb. Syntax, 6
Harris, J. R., 94
Hasenclever, 200, 201
Hauck, 167, 207
Hebrew, Study of in America, 3,

Syntax, 6
Hebrews, Epistle to, 126, 129
Hebrews, History of, ;!'.)
Hegel, 352, 353, 354, 355, 359
Heinrici, 189, 201
Hemphill, 20
Hergenrother, Hist, of Councils,

210
Hermann, Theology of, 268
Heron, 188
Hilgenfeld, on Pileiderer, 156, on

Essenes, 192
Hill, A. S., 370

Historical Books of Old Test., 18
History of Israel, 30, 35, 37

New Testament, 97
Hitchcock, R. D., 414
Hohoff, on Reformation a Revo-
lution, 234
Holiness, in N. Test., 140
Holland, Struggle in Church of,

249
Holtzmann, Oscar, 83
Hood, E. P., on Preacher, 404
Horst, 21

Horton, on Inspiration, 329
Huguenots, The, 247
Hull, W., on Rights of Clergy,

441
Humiliation of Christ, Bruce, 331
Hupfeld, 69
Hutchinson, 124
Hyvernat, 171

Infallibility, in R. Cath. His-
tory, 235 •

470

INDEX.

Inquisition, The, 220
Inspiration, 327, by Manly, 328,

by Horton, 329
Introduction, N. Test., 79

O. Test., 13
Isaiah, 70,

Book of, 32,

Life of, Driver, 43
Israel, History of, 30
Issel, on Holiness in N. Test., 140

Jackson, S. M., Encyclopedia,

276
Jennings, Manual of Ch. Hist.,

151
Jeremiah, Life of, Cheyne, 44
Jeremias. 73, 75
Jesus, Life of, 100, 101

Self-consciousness of, 132
Job. Book of, 27, 28
John, Gospel of, 83, 109

Keil 52

King,' C~ W., 165, on Gnostics, 168

Kirsch, 202

Kittel, 21, 39

Knoke, 126

Rolling, 126

Kostlin, on Christ. Worship, 199

Kohlschmidt. on School of

Ritschl, 268
Komnientar, Kurzgefasster, 87,

89, 90, 91, 93, 126, 128, 131
Kriiger, on School of Ritschl, 265
Kiibel, 87, 91, 92, 93
Kurtz, Church Hist., 152

Lactantius, Dualism of, 172

Ladd, 81

Lagarde. 11

Land. The Holy, 97

Last Things, Five, 141

Lectures, Yale, on Preaching, 398

Lemonnier, 158

Leontius of Byzanzium, 173

Leo XIII., Life of, 253

Ley, 8

Liell, on Virgin Mary in Art, 201

Life, Christian, 191

Lipsius, 170, 266

Loman, 150

Loomis, S. L., on Modern Cities,

412
Loos, 172
Luthardt, 91
Luther, F., on Theology of

Ritschl, 263

Maclaren. 125

Man, The Divine, 100

Manchot, 130, 185

Manly, on Inspiration, 328

Manoury. 193

Marcion, 170

Marignan, 204

Mark, Commentaries on, 108

Martens, Vt

Martensen, 251

Martin, 13

Martineau, on Religion, 311

Martyrs, Cath. in England, 245

Mason, The Faith of the Gospel,

331
Matthew, Commentaries on, 103
McCosh, J., 419
Mead, C. M., on Deaconnesses,

462
Meyboom, on Marcion, 170
Meyer, W., on Free Will, 351
Modern Cities and their Relig.

Problems, 412
Molinier, on the Inquisition, 220
Monasticism, Rise of, 191
Monod, on Medieval Morals,

226
Montet, 220
Moore, 3

Morals, in Eighth Century, 226
Moral System and Atonement,

Cochran, 338
Morris, on Hegel, 352, 355
Morris, on Salv. after Death, 344
Miller, 102
Milligan, 41, 187
Mulford, 353
Midler, K., 207, 220, 222, on pre-

Reformation Research, 227
Murray, J O., 375

Nippold, 234

Nosgen, on Theology of Ritschl,

268

INDEX.

471

Nowack, 69

Ohle, 191

Orders, Monastic, 221

Organization of Early Church,

183
Ormiston, 376, 377, 381
O'Reilly, Life of Leo X1IL, 253
Osgood, 20

Palestine, Geography of, An-
kel, 46, 97

Papacy, Hist, of, 206

Parousia, The, 134, 142

Paul, Letters of, 86, 126,
Speeches of, 112

Paul, Ludwig, 82

Pentateuch, The, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

Persecutions, in Persia, 166,
Under Trajan, 160

Peshitto, The, 12

Peter, Epistles of, 128

Plieiderer, on Luther as Moral-
ist, 239

Plieiderer, Prof. O, on Original
Christianity, 154, 155, 156

Philemon, Epistle to, 125

Philippi, on Anabaptists, 233

Philippians, Epistle to, 124

Philosophy and Religion, 357

Pick, 101, 149

Pierson, A. T., 409, 459

Pinnock, 46

Plitt, on Symbolics, 269

Plummer, 157

Poetry, Hebrew, 8, 24, 25

Pohl, 201

Pont, 23, 24

Prayer, according to Paul, 138

Preacher, John Ward, 407

Preacher, Vocation of, 404

Preger, 220

Porter, N., 416

Pressense, 152

Primer, of N. Test. Greek, 102

Principles of Christianity, Stu-
art, 295

Probation, Views on, 282

Protestantism in Spain, 241

Protestants, French, in Magde-
burg, 248

Proverbs, Book of, 25, 26
Psalms, 19, 20, 23, Metre of, 8, 9,

61
Pulpit, English in, 370

German, 363

Scottish, 366

Story Telling in, 372

And Modern Skepticism, 387

Training for, 377

Quarterly, The Lutheran, 149,
239

Reformation, The, 234
Reformers, Spanish, Works of,

243
Rainsford, W. S., Sermons of,

423
Religion, of Babylonians, 73

Non-Biblical Systems of, 305

A Study of, Martineau, 311
Renan, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39
Resurrection, 75
Reusch and Dollinger on Bellar-

mine, 252
Revel, 14

Review, Andover, 136, 443, 445,
453, 454, 455, 462

The Homiletic, 305, 363, 365,
373, 375, 381, 383, 387, 439,
441, 463

The Presbyterian, 107, 247,
249, 263

The Unitarian, 206, 274, 275, 276

The Yale, 458
Reynolds, 83, 109
Ribbeck, on Seneca, 152
Rice, 103

Richard, on Lord's Supper, £39
Rigg, 184
Ritschl, 154, 155, 228, 263, 265,

266, 268
Robins, 53
Robinson, E. G., on Skepticism,

388
Romans, Epistle to, 119
Roos, on Paul's Letters, 138
Rose, 173

Ross, A. H., 183, 347, 425
Russell, on the Parousia, 142
Ryssel, 71

472

INDEX.

Samuel, Life of, 40

Sayce, 46, 73, 75

Schaff, 272, 270

Sch egg, 52

Schmid, Hist, of Doctrine, 166

Schmidt, H., on Ritschl's Theol-
ogy, 265

Sehnedermann, 87

Schodde, 17

Schwabe, on Berengar, 218

Schottmiiller, on Templars, 225

Sehnltze, on Eceles. Archaeol.
Research, 200

Scotland, Hist, of Cath. Church
of, 213

Seboek, 12

Seeberg, 217

Seneca, 152

Septuagint, The, 11
Sermons for Children, Ross, 425
Gospel, 419

preached in St. George's, 423
Servant of Jehovah, 33
Segerlen, on Early Episcopate,

189
Shedd, on System. Theology,

287 ' &

Sheldon, C. M., 445
Sheol, 73, 74
Simon Magus, 168
Simon, on Dorner, 263
Skepticism, Modern and the pul-
pit, 387
Slicer, 150

Sohm, Outlines of Ch. Hist,, 151
Sommers, 135

Song of Songs, 26. 27, 28, 29
Soteriology, by Burney, 336
Speier, Diet of, 238
Spencer, on Last Things, 141
Spillman, on Cath. martyrs in

England, 245
Spirit and Life, 427
Spirit, the Holy, in Paul's writ-
ings, 139
Spirituals, The, 223
Spurrell, 57

Stade, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36
Stapfer, 97, 98
Steinmayer, 109
Stickel, 26, 27

Stokes, 198, 203, on Oxford move-
ment, 269

Story telling, in pulpit, 372

Streibert, 19

Strong, 357

Stuart, on Christianity, 295

Stuckenberg, on Philosophy, 358,
on preaching, 363

Sully, 54

Sunday Schools, Trumbull on,

, 447

Swete, 11

Symbolics, by Plitt, 269

Synods, French of the Desert,
247

Synoptists, the, 81

Syntax, Hebrew, Elements of, 6

Talmud, The, 98, 99

Taylor, W. M., on Scott Pulpit,

366
Temple, of Ezekiel, 53, 54

Herod, 53

Solomon, 53
Temptation, of Christ, 104
Text, Massoretic, 8, 12

N. Test,, 94
Theologische Literaturzeitung,

11, 220
Theology, Dogmatic, Shedd, 287

of N. Test,, 132

of Old Testament, 72

of Paul, 136

Rational, J. M. Williams, 307

of Ritschl, 260, 263, 265, 266,
268, 295

Treatises on, 284
Thessalonians, Epistles to, 113,

144
Thomas, J., on Skepticism, 392
Three Friends of God, 219
Timothy, Epistles to, 126
Tollin, on Huguenots, 248
Tongues, Gift of, 117
Trumbull, H. C , on Sunday

Schools, 447
Triimpert, on Justification, 136,

137
Tunis, J., 443
Tyler, 206

INDEX.

473

Union, Christian, 451

United States, Church and State

in, 272
Usteri, J. M , 90, 128

Van Dyke, H E., on Women

preaching, 463
Vocation, of the Preacher, 104
Volkmar, 85
Volz, 158

Wahle, 83, 109

Warburton, 75

Wasson, J. B., on Prot. Unity,

453
Wealth, men of, 458
Weber, 13
Wcingarten, 159, 166, 171, 186,

209 222
Wellhausen, 36
West, N., 387
Westcott, B. F., 429
Wickes, on Hebrew accents, 7, 8
Wilkens on Spanish Protestant

ism, 241

Wilkinson, 378, 380

Willard, F., 383, 463

Williams, J. M., 307

Witnesses for Christ, 206

Workingmen and Churches, 439

Wolff, 153 •

Wolsey, Cardinal, 244

Women, shall they preach ? 383,

463
Woolf, 55
World, Ancient and Christian

ity, 152
World, the, to come, 433
Wright, W. B., 433

Yale College, Fifteen Years

in Chapel of, 416
Yale Lectures, on Preaching,

398
Yriarti, on Caesar Borgia, 212

Zahn, onRitsehl, 265
Ziegler, on Christ. Belief, 309
Zimmer, m, 119
Zinrmern, 138
Zockler, 165

Princeton Theo

oqical Seminary Li

braries

012 01245 1615
DATE DUE

GAYLOAO

PRINTID IN u.m.A.

■ ■

■ r3*s

■

■
■

-;V» ■

■

HH >■---■■
mUi< it,**.' H

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Current discussions in theology"

See other formats