High Hopes and Pleadings for a Reasonable Faith, Nobler Thoughts,
Largo. Charity. Sermons preached in the Parish Church of Tooting- Gravenoy, Surrey, by John Congreve. (Macmillan and Co.)—These sermons must have been listened to with pleasure by an educated con- gregation. The style is not remarkably vigorous, and there is nothing in them strikingly original, but the general tone of thought is in har- mony with tho average views of the more cultivated classes. Anything like a bard, self-complacent dogmatism the author holds to be weak and foolish, as well as-utterly inconsistent with a genuine faith in God's purposes towards the human race. Growth and expansion are neces- sarily characteristic of Christianity as a divine religion. It will be "a nobler faith to our children than it can be to us. There are many things in the Bible, in God, in man, in nature which will ono day be revealed, but we cannot bear them now." We are therefore to keep our eyes open to every new light, and are not to be distressed by the apparent clashing of science and faith. Our habitual attitude is to ho that of a belief that wo can know very little of God's plans, and consequently, we must be tolerant and charitable, rather than dogmatic and controversial. At the same time, we are to be hopeful as to the prospects of the Church and of the world. To a largo number of devout thinkers this teaching will be very welcome. Of course, others will say that it is too vague and indefinite to be of much practical value. There is next to nothing about the Sacraments, or about what some people regard as the peculiar doctrines of Christ- ianity. It is, however, the sort of preaching which finds much acceptance in the present day, and wo sincerely believe it is in sympathy with much of the most deeply religious thought of the age. There is a ser- mon on the prayer for fine weather, and in this it is plainly hinted that the phrase "a plague of rain and waters" has for us become something of an anachronism.
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