21 SEPTEMBER 1901, Page 24

Apollonius of Tyana: a Critical Study. By G. R S.

Mead B.A. (Theosophical Publishing Society. Ss. 0d. net.) —With much that Mr. Mend says about Apollonius we are entirely disposed to We have no objection to the title of a " Philosopher-Reformer', that he was a man of commanding powers and high aim, evident enough. Unfortunately, be was early made the den. pion of anti-Christian feeling—set up, in fact, as a rival to Chris, both as a teacher and as a worker of wonders. The difficulty that besets modern supporters of this view is the character of the work which professes to give the life-story of Apollonius. work of Philostratus compares unfavourably, to say the leas.. with the Gospels. The letters, the genuineness of which there is no valid reason for doubting, tell us something about the man's habit - o! thought and speech, but they do not carry us very far. Withont the Life by Philostratur, Apollonius is but a dim figure ; yet the picture dram in the Life is in many respects impossible ; the story eat. tains anachronisms and blunders ; and the tone contrasts at. favourably with that of the Gospel narrative, to which, however, there is good reason for believing it to be largely indebted Mr. Mead is not, we fear, wholly free from the controversial animas which has often been exhibited in Apollonian literature, Hewes of Professor W. M. Ramsay's " Church in the Roman Empire before A .D. 170" that it is "extraordinary, for he endeavours to interpret Roman history by the New Testament documents, the dates of the majority of which are so hotly disputed." Surely the words we have italicised express an out-of-date opinion. There is a very wide consensus of opinion nowadays among critics of various schools that the great majority of New Testament writings are early, quite early enough for Professor Ramtay's argument.