The Doctrine of the Roarnation. By Robert L. Ottley, M.A..
2 vols. (Methuen and Co.)—It would be beyond our province in these columns to discuss this treatise in detail. Such discussion, indeed, would require, if it was to be of adequate fullness, more space than the Spectator could afford. Mr. Ottley surveys the subject from the historical, as well as the theological, standpoint. He describes the controversies which have arisen in the Church, tells us what has been authoritatively pronounced on the subject, while, at the same time, he examines the utterances of the in- spired writers on the subject. The learning, the industry, and the intelligence which he brings to bear upon his task leave nothing to be desired. The doctrine is one on which orthodox theologians, while agreeing to accept the same standard, are not by any means agreed. Mr. Ottley holds with Canon Gore on the most important subject of the Kenosis, and has been sharply assailed by the Church Quarterly. It is a matter of congratula- tion that differences, clearly accentuated, and not minimised by opposing schools of thought, can yet exist without bringing out the fierce charge of heresy, which they would certainly have evoked in an earlier age. Our own view of the matter has been declared more than once. We cannot but think that some who take a view opposed to Canon Gore and Mr. Ottley are not unlike Theodore of Paran, who "regarded the human soul and body of Christ as merely the passive, impersonal organ of the Divine Logos ; the only iviiryesa being that of the dominant godhead." A human nature, always conscious of godhead, could be nothing more than passive. To the Docetx the human Christ was a phantasm ; to scme theologians of the present day it is, as it were, a living statue.
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