Notes on the Canons of the First Four General Councils.
By
been done for some years past by successive occupants of the Chair of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford. Professor Bright, who edited the text of the Canons, some four or five years ago, now publishes, in a somewhat expanded form, the substance of notes given to his class. Theological study has now become a reality in Oxford, and this book, which we may commend, not for its learning, which we should not presume to praise, but for its practical, business-like form, will prove a valuable help to it. A generation ago such a work, if produced at all, would have had a shape which would have limited it to a few libraries. As it is, it is put within easy reach of students. Other readers may well find an interest in it, for there are many things in it which throw a light on early Christianity. The Councils took cognisance of many other things besides the great doctrines with which their names are commonly associated ; and their Canons illustrate the daily life, as well as define the creed of the Church.
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