Heredity and Christian Problems. By Amory H. Bradford. (Macmillan and
Co.)—This is an able and thoughtful book, which will be found to repay perusal. We find ourselves differing seriously both from the ethics and from the theology of the writer. The treatment of the subject of marriage seems to us fraught with danger. And we cannot reconcile either with fact or with doctrine such a statement as that "Salvation is deliver- ance from the law of heredity, so far as it concerns the possession and the necessary transmission of our evil nature." Sometimes, too, we see traces of intellectual perversity. There must be a warp in the mind of one who can write that it is "better to wait until the question whether the real genius was Shakespeare or Bacon is settled." Baconians and Anglo-Israelites cannot be quite sure. Still, much that Mr. Bradford writes is worth reading. Mr. Bradford is an American Congregationalist.— In The Attitude of the Church to Some of the Problems of Town Life, by the Rev. W. Moore Ede (Cambridge University Press), we have the views of the Anglican incumbent of a popular Northern parish (Canon Ede is Rector of Gates- head). He is eminently practical. "Social Reform," "The Un- employed," "The Homes of the People," "The Vices of Towns," are the subjects with which he deals. To review his discourses (originally delivered as Hulsean Lectures) would be to open up discussions of the most serious kind. Our duty is done when we commend them to our readers as the utterances of one who has both observed and thought.—The Intermediate State, by George S. Barrett, D.D. (Elliot Stock), is a series of twelve essays, originally given, we presume, from the pulpit, on the most difficult and obscure of all theological subjects. Dr. Barrett has studied the Scripture utterances carefully, and expresses himself with prudence and caution. There is a strong tendency to push too far the inferences that can be drawn from the few statements and hints which Scripture contains. We cannot say that Dr. Barrett has altogether escaped it, but he never forfeits his character as a sober thinker. Three essays have been added on "The Last Things." Should not "abysmal sense of personality" be "abysmal depths of personality " ? It is, if we are not mistaken, a quotation from Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
In the series of "The Theological Educator," edited by the Rev. W. Robertson Nicoll, M.A. (Hodder and Stoughton), we have a very useful volume, The Theology, of the Old Testament, by the Rev. W. H. Bennett. Professor Bennett compresses much into the compass of his very modest volume. The reader should carry away from it a clear view of the subject as it is regarded from the liberal-orthodox standpoint. "Special difficulties," says Professor Bennett, "beset the construc- tion of a manual on any subject in which research is being vigorously carried on."—In Traces of Greek Philosophy and Boman Law in the New Testament, by Edward Hicks, D.D. (S.P.C.K.), we have an essay presented to the University of Durham for the degree of D.D. We are glad to see that what has been too often an empty honour is now being made fruitful of good work. Dr. Hicks's example is encouraging.—We have also to acknowledge : —The God-Man. By T. E. Edwards, D.D. (Hodder and Stoughton.) —The "Davies Lectures" for 1895.—Practical Reflections on Every Verse of the Minor Prophets. By a Clergyman. (Longmans and Co.)—Lesser Lights ; or, Minor Characters of Scripture. By the Rev. Francis Bourdillon. (S.P.C.K.) —A Primer of Modern Missions. Edited by Richard Lovett, M.A. (R.T.S.)
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