16 JULY 1881, Page 23

The Ages before Moses. By J. M. Gibson, D.D. (W.

Oliphant, Edinburgh ; Hamilton and Co., London.)—The leading thought of this volume, made up of lectures delivered by the author at Chicago, is the extreme value of the teachings of the Book of Genesis, which explain man's true relation to God, and, in fact, lay the groundwork of all healthy and permanent civilisation. Modern progress, the worth of which cannot, in the author's view, be estimated too highly, would speedily cease, if divorced from Christianity, and the enemies of the one are the enemies of the other. In the Mosaic record of Creation, there are, he maintains, so many subtle harmonies with the great, recent, scientific discoveries, that it is impossible to believe that it could have been the offspring of a mere guesser or inventor. It is not easy to say anything very new on this long discussed topic. Our author seems to be an earnest believer in the spiritual teachings

of the early books of the Bible, and if occasionally he refines rather too much and is somewhat fanciful, he succeeds, on the whole, we think, in putting some old and familiar truths in an interesting and impressive form.