The Epistler. of St. John. By Charles Gore, D.D. (Murray.
6s. net.)—All that Bishop Gore writes will be welcome to Anglicans of his school ; and the Introduction to these studies of the Epistles of St. John, which contains a statement of his attitude towards the Johannine problem, will have an interest, at least as a document, for a larger circle of readers who, whether or no they see their way to the acceptance of his conclusions, will be glad to hear what can be said for them by so eminent a divine. The contro- versy is one which few, if any, approach without a certain predisposition ; professions of detachment must be taken with reserve. It is inevitable that, the more weight we attach to tradition, the more we shall incline to the conservative position ; while, the more reason we see for thinking tradition, in general, open to criticism, the freer we shall feel ourselves in dealing with the received view. The Bishop's postscript to the Preface is significant : "Since Dr. Sanday's declaration in Divine Over- ruling (Clarke, 1920), his name should no longer be included in the list—of authorities who take the conservative position— given below, p. 17." "The most real obstacle to the acceptance of the traditional account of the Fourth Gospel lies, no doubt, in the differences both in respect of the story of our Lord's ministry, and of the tone of our Lord's discourses between the Fourth Gospel and the Synoptic:0 It is this consideration, more than any other, which has influenced the great majority of independent scholars ; and why, not only "in literary Germanys
the traditional view of St. John's authorship has almost passed out of sight." "Nevertheless," says the Bishop, "I affirm the authorship of St. John the Apostle ; and I should like to add that, after all these years of discussion from every point of view, I think the subject is ripe for decision." By whom ?
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