THEOLOGY.—The Doctrine of St. John. By Walter Lowry, M.A. (Longmans
and Co. 5s.)—We cannot pretend to epitomise this carefully reasoned statement of the teaching of St. John, a phrase which includes, though with a certain hesitation, the Apocalypse. Mr. Lowry holds that the Gospel is the only record of the life of Christ written by a companion. This theory seems to be gaining ground, and there is much to be said for it. The Synoptists may represent the external tradition ; the Johannine Gospel the view of one who was privileged to see Him as He really was. Perhaps the most important section of Mr. Lowry's book is IV. (a) (pp. 128-55). It bears a startling resemblance to Calvinism. Modern theology as a whole does not tend in the direction of "the Election of the Children of God out of the World." St. John's view is represented here as being that the purpose of the Coming of Christ was to save the whole world, but that the effect was practically a judgment, separating the good from the evil. —The Theology of Civilisation, by Charles F. Doll (T. Crowell and Co., New York, 4s.), is an eloquent and thoughtful appeal for the necessity of founding all society on religious belief. —Idealism and Theology. By Charles F. D'Arcy, B.D. (Hodder and Stoughton. 6s.)—Mr. D'Arcy gives us in this volume a closely reasoned philosophical defence of the orthodox position. We would direct the special attention of our readers to the fourth lecture (the book contains the " Donnellan Lectures" for 1897-98), entitled "Incarnation and Miracle." That this is a subject of transcendent importance need not be said. What ought to be known is the widespread scepticism which prevails among the nominally orthodox. To repeat the creeds and yet to deny the miraculous Incarnation seems strange to some of us, but it is very often done, and we owe great thanks to a champion of the old faith, especially when he takes Mr. D'Arcy's line. This, to put it briefly, is that belief is not an almost worn-out superstition, but an expression of the highest philosophical thought.—The Light of Li(e. By the Right Rev J. C. Hedley, O.S.B. (Burns and Oates. Gs.)—Bishop Hedley's discourses may be edifying to his co-religionists, but they will scarcely be so to those outside his Communion. "Anything like reflection :4 fatal to Protestantism." And yet we have had among us men who could and did reflect. Indeed, since the great sixteenth- century division the enormous preponderance of thought has been on this side. And again : "It is simply notorious that their [Luther, Calvin, and Cranmer's] so-called Reformation not only sprang from moral laxity but established moral laxity as a principle." We will not bandy words with Bishop Healey; it is lamentable to see what a Roman divine says when he is speaking to his own people. and speaking freely. Elsewhere his words may be "smoother than oil " ; there they will be" very swords."—Can I Believe in God the Father? By William Newton Clarke, D.D. (T. and T. Clark. 3s.)—Dr. Clarke, who gives us here four lectures delivered this year at Harvard, presents in his first lecture what he calls the "Practical Argument for the Being of God." "Science makes its exit along with revelation, if we cannot believe in God," is one of his compendious sayings, and he follows it up with another : "It is a very serious matter to live in a world where no science is possible." In II. we proceed to the argument for the Divine Personality. "Never before was the sentence God is great' so redeemed from emptiness and bare transcend- ency as it is, for one who believes in God, by the doctrine of evolution. Never, consequently, did the difficulty of con- ceiving of God as personal stand out so strongly." In III and IV. we have respecti'vely "The Relation between God and Men," and "The Moral Effect of the Doctrine of God."—True Religion. By Frederic W. Farrar, D.D. (S. T. Freemantle. 3s. 6d.)—Dean Farrar gives us here a very noble and inspiring volume of sermons. He uses plain speech on many questions which touch the public and private life of England. Now and then we feel ourselves out of harmony with him, but on the whole we gladly recognise the power and truth of his utterances. There is only one preacher of our times with whom in respect of the abundance and richness of his pulpit oratory Dean Farrar can be compared, and that is Mr. Spurgeon. —Christ the Protestant, and other Sermons. By Holy Hutchin- son Almond. (W. Blackwood and Sons. 6s.)—Some of the con- tents of this volume were published some thirteen years ago, and were then noticed in the Spectator. They now reappear in an altered shape with some new matter. The difficult question of clerical or lay Head Masters would be simplified if we could always have laymen who have such a grasp of religious truth, and such a power of expressing it, as we .find here.—The Critical Review, edited by Professor S. D. F. Salmond, Vol. IX. (T. and T. Clark, 79 6d.), is, we should hope, so well established in favour that it is needless to do more than record its appearance. It is indispensable to the student of theology.
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