The Expositor, Vol. VII. (Fifth Series). Edited by the Rev.
W. Robertson Nicoll. (Hodder and Stoughton.)—Among the more notable papers in this volume may be mentioned Professor W. M. Ramsay's contributions, "The Authorship of the Acts" and "The Epistle to the Galatians," two posthumous papers by R. W. Dale, and some studies in Romans by Professor J. A. Beet. Mr. A. Carr takes the view that Christiania was a term of con- tempt, a jest on the supposed adherents of a rival &wad's, just as there were not long after, in the great struggle for the throne, after the close of the Julian dynasty, Galbiani, Othonicini, and Vitetliani. Professor Ramsay's first paper is peculiarly interesting. It is an answer to an attempt by Professor M. Giffert to disprove the Lnkian authorship of the Acts. One argument which he urges cannot be too much insisted on,—the absolute impossibility of drawing conclusions adverse to the genuineness of a narrative because we find insoluble difficulties in it. Were we to find in any of the historical books of the Bible such a narrative as that which Thucydides gives of the siege of Plattea, how unhesita- tingly would the critics condemn it How could the little Platwan garrison find strength and—harder still—materials for the works which they executed in answer to the great siege operations of the besiegers ? And yet if the story has not ample authority, what story has ? The writer is absolutely trustworthy and had the amplest means of information, for he must have talked with survivors of the siege within a few weeks of the event.
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