THEOLOGY.—The Claim of Christ on the Young. By Anthony W.
Thorold, D.D., Bishop of Rochester. (W. Isbister).—Four of these six sermons were preached before the University of Oxford, being especially addressed by the preacher to the younger part of his audience. They are neither controversial nor apologetic. Of these kinds of sermon there are enough, perhaps more than enough, delivered from the pulpit of St. Mary's. They are didactic, and their appeal to the conscience of the hearers is manly and sensible, as well as earnest. Perhaps the second sermon, "Jacob," with its analysis of the patriarch's character, is the best of the series. Bishop Thorold, though he cannot follow in all things the theology of F. D. Maurice, is one of those to whom that great thinker has "made the Old Testa- ment absolutely luminous ;" and he is never seen to more advantage than when he is following this light.—Sermons. By Richard Twigg. (Griffith and Farran).—Mr. Twigg was a devoted parish priest, and an effective preacher. He was the first or one of the first to hold a "mis- sion" in his parish (St. James', Wed nesbury), and he afterwards became a "mission preacher" of considerable repute. His sermons have the excellencies and, we must add, the faults which we should expect in this account of his work. They are direct, vigorous appeals to the con- science. Stripped as they come to us here of the personal power which accompanied their delivery, they are still effective. But they use over mach the instrument of terror. Here is a passage from "Dives and Lazarus," which certainly errs in this way :—" He is in torment. How Through every sense. His hearing is tormented by the cries of demons, and by the wailing of the damned. His sense of taste is tormented ; for his tongue is parched with thirst, and in his agony he bites it with his teeth, and thus adds to his pains. His taste of smell is tormented ; for he is almost suffocated with fire and flame, brim- stone and smoke. His sense of feeling is tormented ; every nerve is on the rack. His sense of sight is tormented, as we have already seen, by beholding on every side the means which torment him." This elaborate detail suggests that the passage is borrowed from the Latin or French. It is certainly not native to the Anglican pulpit. —We find a much more liberal theology in Sunday Mornings at Norwood : Prayers and Sermons. By the Rev. S. A. Tipple. (Began Paul, Trench, and Co.)—The prayers, indeed, seem to us, we must say, too rhetorical. Perhaps this is a prejudice suggested by attachment to a liturgy. But the sermons are excellent, thought- ful, eloquent, without any excess of ornament, and, we should think, genuinely helpful to those who, had the privilege of hearing them. We may single out for special praise the sixth sermon, "The Election of God." The preacher clearly apprehends and plainly seta forth the underlying principle of the fact, which no one who looks at life can deny, of the election of some to privileges and blessings which are denied to others. According to Calvinism, the elect are chosen, to the exclusion of the rest ; a more hopeful creed holds that they are chosen for their benefit.—Three Books of God : Nature, History, Scripture. By George Dawson, M.A. Edited by George St. Clair. (Began Paul, Trench, and Co.)—These sermons present the well- known characteristics of Mr. Dawson's style. They are fearless, outspoken utterances, somewhat rugged, sometimes, we should say, not sufficiently well considered ; but manly and energetic, and fall of a faith which, though often widely departing from orthodoxy, was vivid and genuine. A sentence from the first sermon will give a good idea of the preacher's aim. He begins by quoting Hazlitt: —"In the days of Jacob, there was a ladder between heaven and earth ; but now the heavens have gone farther off, and have become astronomical." And further on, he says :—" There are two books— one of the body, and one of the soul—one of matter and one of spirit ; and that declaration of Hazlitt about the heavens having become astronomical, is the result of trying to read God in the wrong book." The two sermons, "Christ Fulfils Moses," and "Christ and Moses ; or, Love Better than Law," may be specially mentioned. Those who are inclined to find their ideal in Islam, or, at least, to pat Islam above Christianity, should read the two admirable discourses entitled " Christ and Mohammed" and "Christ Increases : Mohammed Decreases." They will see what an able thinker, who formed and expressed his convictions with perfect freedom, had to say upon this subject. The sermon on " Evolution " is forcible. "It is to me," says the preacher, "quite as pleasant to have had a lowly beginning and to have climbed to loftineass, as to have been lofty and to have gone downhill." The following- sermon, "The Ascent of Man from Savagery," is good, too, in its way. This is fine satire :—" When I go through the country, I get a vision of kings, and dukes, and - highnesses and mightinesses, and I find that every one of them is a butcher, with his tools by his side. We are carried back to the tiger. These men are going to have a gala-day, so they go to the tiger and say, Lend me a stripe or two.'" We notice a mistake, common enough, but still such as we should hardly expect from so acute a thinker. "Judge Phillimore having been brought up in the human learning of the law, settles whether there is a Real Presence in the Eucharist." He does nothing of the kind. He settles whether the language of certain formularies asserts, or denies, or allows—for there are these three possible issues—the tenet of a Real Presence.—We have also received The Collects Exemplified . Illustrations of the Collects for the Sundays after Trinity, edited by the Rev. Joseph Jackson, M.A. (Began Paul, Trench, and Co.), a series of twenty-five sermons, constructed on strictly orthodox lines,. by a layman.—Old Faiths in, a New Light, by the Rev. Newman Smyth (C. Higham), which comes with the powerful recommendation of Professor Bruce.—Abbatt's Young Christian (Roberts Brothers, New- York), "a memorial edition," with a sketch of the anther, from the pen of one of his sons.—The Story of the Bible, Told in Simple Language for the Young. By Charles Foster. (C. Griffin and Co.)— Introductory Hints to Readers of the Old Testament. By the Rev.. John A. Cross, MA. (Longmans.)—Living Truths for the Head and Heart. By the Rev. Rev. C. D. Bell, D.D. A series of short papers setting forth the main tenets of the Christian Faith in the language of Evangelical theology.
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