18 SEPTEMBER 1909, Page 25

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

[Under this heading ice swfies such Books of the lima as ham not bun reserved for review in other forms.] Prolegomena to the Study of Theology. By E. O. Davies, B.Se (Hodder and Stoughton. 5s.)—Mr. Davies publishes here the notes of lectures delivered at the Theological (Congregational) College, Bala. They are intended for the use of teachers, who will be able to expand them, as, indeed, they were expanded by the author. We are glad to find that the Bala students have such excellent instruction. After the introduction, defining the subject, we have " The Origin of Religion." Prominent points are that man discovers God, and, also, a thing which one school of thinkers ignores, that God reveals Himself to man. " Ethnie," or, as it is commonly described, " Comparative Religion," is treated in the next section. In chap. 5 we come to Christianity, and in chap. 6 to"The Authority of the Bible," as it was formerly regarded, the following chapter dealing with moderating influences and with the conclusions on which we may safely rest. It is somewhat strange to find Hooker saying : " The prophets neither spoke nor wrote any word of their own, but uttered syllable by syllable as the Spirit put it into their months, no otherwise than the harp or lute (loth give a sound according to the discretion of his hands that holdeth and striketh it with skill." A Council of Swiss Churches in 1675 declared that "the text of the Old Testament, both as to its consonants and vowel palate, is inspired by God." Dean Burgon, indeed, went about as far, only, if we remember right, he allowed that an insect crawling over the letters while the ink was still wet might have distorted their shape. The " modifying influences" are then treated, and in the remaining chapters other cognate subjects are dealt with.