"

MASTER AND MEN; or, The Sermon on the Mountain Practiced on the Plain. By William Burnet Wright, author of Ancient Cities" and "The World to Come." Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1894. (Pp. 240. 5x234.) $1.25.

44

These brief discourses are models in style, and are full of good thought, sound doctrine, and generous sympathy with mankind. Having once begun to read the volume, one will find it difficult to lay it down until it is finished.

ST. PAUL AND WOMAN; or, Paul's Requirement of Woman's Silence in Churches Reconciled with Woman's Modern Practice of Speaking in Churches. By Rev. Wm. DeLoss Love, D. D., Hartford, Conn. Chicago: Fleming H. Revell Co. 1894. (Pp. 144. 5%x3.) 75 cents. A considerable portion of this small volume appeared as an article in the BIBLIOTHECA SACRA for January, 1878. At that time it attracted much attention, and it has had much influence in shaping the opinion of Congregationalists upon the subject in recent years. We welcome it in its present enlarged and greatly enriched form. It deserves a wide circulation.

THE ONE RELIGION: Truth, Holiness and Peace Desired by the Nations and Revealed in Jesus Christ. By John Wordsworth, D. D., Bishop of Salisbury. Second edition. London and New York: Longmans, Green & Co. 1893. (Pp. 406. 51⁄2x31⁄2.)

The Bampton Lectures of 1881 were received with favor when first given to the public, and now appear in a new edition without essential change. They are strong, conservative lectures on comparative religion, and will continue to be read with profit.

PHILOSOPHY ANd Development OF RELIGION: Being the Gifford Lectures delivered before the University of Edinburgh, 1894. By Otto Pfleiderer, D. D., Professor of Theology, University of Berlin. In two volumes. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons; Edinburgh: W. Blackwood & Sons. 1894. (Pp. 331, 356. 52x32.) $5.00.

If these lectures were translated from the German, and had been delivered from the lecturer's own chair in Berlin, they would have attracted comparatively little attention; but their delivery in Edinburgh has occasioned no little surprise and the expression of more than one opinion. Principal Rainey, Professor Orr, Dr. A. A. Charteris, and Professor Marcus Dods have issued a small volume in reply to their naturalism, and many voices have been raised in tones of earnest dissent from some of the views which they contain.

Barring their elimination of the supernatural, there is much in the lectures that commands admiration. It is not every German who writes in as good English as Professor Pfleiderer uses. The style is pleasant. In spite of the dogmatism of his rationalism, he has a pleasant way of putting things. There is much that is suggestive in his treatment of the several topics which come up for consideration; and, withal, he is thor

oughly loyal to Christianity, not as a supernatural system, but as the flower of what may be called-though Pfleiderer would not so call itnatural religion. His spirit is well illustrated by the following:

"In obedience to God man finds his true freedom; out of the humility which overcomes itself there grows the courage of the trust which overcomes the world. The more, in any religion, these two sides of humility and trust, surrender and elevation, dependence and freedom, come to full and harmonious realization, so much the more does it correspond to the essence of religion, and so much the more does it realize fellowship with its infinite ideal implanted in the essence of human spirit. In this we have the criterion by which we are able to estimate the relative value of the historical religions, and by which we can understand the law of their teleological development. Hence we shall no longer seek 'natural religion' in the rude beginnings of history, and just as little in meager abstractions from actual religion, which have never been actual; but we shall find them where religion has historically unveiled its true nature, as it alone corresponds to the essence of man, namely, in Christianity."

There is much in these two volumes with which we find ourselves unable to agree. The author's thorough elimination of the supernatural seems to leave us with an effect greater than its immediate cause. Nor can we agree with the suppressed premise of rationalistic theology, that an investigation without presuppositions involves, of necessity, an assumption that the supernatural is to be discredited. But we commend the work for its candor, for its scholarship, and for its spirit. It is thoughtful and thorough, and will be quoted and discussed for a long while.

GOD'S CITY, AND THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM. By the Rev. Henry Scott Holland, M. A., Canon and Precentor of St. Paul's Cathedral. London and New York: Longmans, Green & Co. 1894. (Pp. 342. 5x3.)

This volume contains four sermons on the Church, and an appended series of discourses on the parables. It is the first four sermons that give to the book its title. The author recognizes all baptized Christians as in "God's City," yet deplores the fact that so few are within what he calls the original circuit of its walls; he would be glad to have them within, but the foundations of the city must not be changed. This and the tenor of the book seem to mean (for the constant use of the figure of a city makes him a trifle obscure) that the Episcopal Church invites a reunion of Christendom, and will wait where she is for it. We do not think it will come to her upon these terms.

We find no fault with the aim and spirit of the discourses. Their sectarianism is not offensively prominent. Their style is too rhetorical for a book, but may well have been effective when the lectures were delivered. Their matter, though it adds nothing important to what had

previously been written, no doubt proved edifying to the congregation that listened to them, but we see no special reason for their publication in book form. If such a reason existed, the lectures should have undergone a thorough revision, making the argument more concrete, and the objective points more apparent.

Theologically there are one or two rather startling things; such as "Faith is inconceivable as a lonely act of a solitary soul" (p. 21). This, which is one reason given for the existence of a society of the faithful, is to us a most astounding statement. Faith is personal, always and of necessity, and the great examples of faith are those in which solitude has been a most conspicuous feature.

THE PURPOSE OF GOD. By Joseph Smith, M. D., D. D. Boston: Universalist Publishing House. 1894. (Pp. 257. 52x34.) $1.00.

This is a thoughtful, earnest attempt to set forth the teachings of the Universalists of the present time, not with respect to that in which they differ from other Christian bodies, but in the general spirit of their teachings. The effort is to exalt the character of God. It is reverent and conservative, and, barring that which is distinctly Universalistic, which forms no great portion of the book, will find a ready assent among Christians of many names but a common faith.

PROTESTANT MISSIONS: Their Rise and Early Progress. Lectures by A. C. Thompson, author of "Moravian Missions," etc., etc. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1894. (Pp. vii, 314. 5%x3%.) $1.75. All students of missions will welcome this volume, both for its breadth of view and its fullness of information upon the subject treated. It forms a fitting supplement to the author's previous volumes on "Foreign Missions: Their Place in the Pastorate, in Prayer, in Conferences,” and “Moravian Missions." No one is better fitted than Dr. Thompson to prepare such a volume, and the work has been done with rare skill and success.

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY: Its Present Claim and Attraction. By Theodore C. Pease, Bartlett Professor of Sacred Rhetoric in Andover Theological Seminary. With an Introduction by Prof. Egbert C. Smyth, D. D. Edited by "The Fortnightly Club.' Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. (Pp. 190. 52x3.) $1.25.

A melancholy interest attaches to this handsome and attractive book, the tribute of a company of friends to the memory of a companion, a man of rare scholarship and spirit. Mr. Pease was called from his unusually successful pastorate at Malden, Mass., to the chair of Homiletics in Andover. He had hardly taken his seat when he was taken away by death. The address which he delivered at his inaugural, with an essay on Dante, is included in the contents. Quite apart from this personal reason, the contents of the volume amply justify its publication, and we wish it a large sale.

Studies in ORIENTAL SOCIAL LIFE, and Gleams from the East on the Sacred Page. By H. Clay Trumbull, author of "Kadesh-Barnea," 'The Blood Covenant," etc. Philadelphia: John D. Wattles & Co. 1894. (Pp. 437. 54x3%.) $2.50.

In this volume, Dr. Trumbull has collected an immense mass of information concerning the social customs of the East, which shed light upon the interpretation of the Bible. It is written in simple and pleasing style, and is lightened up all along by anecdotes drawn from his own wide experience in Oriental travel. Few books of the season are at once more attractive and useful than this.

TRAVELS IN THREE CONTINENTS. Europe, Africa, Asia. By J. M. Buckley, LL.D. New York: Hunt & Eaton; Cincinnati: Cranston & Curts. 1895. (Pp. xviii, 614. 6x34.) $3.50.

In this sumptuous and highly illustrated volume, Dr. Buckley takes the reader from New York through Spain, Northern Africa, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, and Asia Minor to Constantinople. The volume is enriched by no less than eighty-five full-paged illustrations reproduced from excellent photographs. The plan of the author has been to introduce into the running narrative the information which the tourist most wishes to have at hand to appreciate the scenes through which he passes. The volume is written in a most interesting style, and is equally valuable for home reading and for a place in the traveler's hand bag. It is enriched by forty pages of index.

PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CHURCH HISTORY. Vol. VI. Report and Papers of the Annual Meeting, held in New York City, December 27 and 28, 1893. Edited by Rev. Samuel Macauley Jackson, M. A., Secretary. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1894. (Pp. xxx, 224. 64x3%.)

The volumes of the American Church History Society form a seria1 of increasing value, and embody much material not elsewhere accessible. The present one is of special interest for its extended memorials of the late Dr. Philip Schaff, to which thirty-six pages are devoted. Among other important contributions there is one by Professor McGiffert upon the lately discovered "Gospel of Peter," with a very full bibliography of the discussions concerning it. The author does not agree with those who regard the work as "Docetic" in its character. His views upon this point are presented with much fullness and cogency.

RECORD BOOKS.

Not a few of our church officers are sadly negligent concerning the matter of records. Many clerks are inexperienced, and pastors remain, on an average, few years in a place. One who has had occasion to look over the history of a church of even twenty years' standing learns to place a new estimate upon the value of even the simplest records. Many who have occasion to keep records do not know how much they might be helped by the use of prepared record books, such as are available and in

expensive. We take pleasure in calling attention to some of the best of which we know.

The PILGRIM CHURCH REGISTER1 is arranged for large and for small churches, with pages, more or less, according to the need of the church. It records the names of pastors, deacons, and other officers, with dates of beginning and close of service, delegates, baptisms, members received and dismissed, marriages, charities and expenses, with summaries of annual reports for twenty-four years. If the church clerk would keep such a book, aside from his record of church meetings, it would lighten his labors, and contribute to his efficiency.

The same publishers have just issued a book for the church treasurer. It is arranged to record the names of contributors with amounts pledged, and other information, and then in a separate list to keep an account by individuals and by Sundays, with weekly totals and quarterly balances. In this account, no names appear, but the numbers refer to names in the first list. The method is simple and free from all serious objection. It is especially designed for churches with the weekly offering system. It is the best book of its kind.

For Sunday-school work, the same publishers issue a convenient book in which the secretary tabulates the epitomized reports from teachers class-books, a complete and inexpensive book for one year's work, a rollbook, designed to last ten years or more and to furnish at once information concerning any scholar in the school, but not designed for weekly entries, and a library record arranged for libraries of small or large size, with a simple and effective system of keeping track of the books of the school for a year.、 We have examined these books with care, and commend them.

The minister also must have record books, and thereby hangs many · a tale of disappointment and chagrin. Diaries soon bury an event so deeply under the débris of later happenings that to find it readily becomes almost impossible, and other plans have their disadvantages. Our experience is that it is impossible to combine a day-book and ledger so as to meet fully a pastor's needs. A vest-pocket diary with space for addresses and other memoranda is almost a necessity, and its items may be, and should be, given permanent record elsewhere. THE PASTOR'S LEDGER 2 is what its title claims for it. There is space for a complete record of sermons, number, date, text, title, with Scripture reading, hymns, psalm, and other information, prayer meetings, parish calls, miscellaneous addresses, benevolences, marriages, baptisms, funerals, important events, and church directory. It is very complete, and will give satisfaction to all who use it. The price is low, and the book will prove a good investment to any minister who has not already a satisfactory record.

1 Boston and Chicago: Congregational Sunday-School and Publishing Society.

2 By F. A. Blackmer. New York: E. B. Treat. $2.50.