THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE.
The Value of the Bible, and other Sermons. By IL Hensley Henson. (Macmillan and Co. Os.)—These twenty-ono sermons, preached during the last two years, are as fresh and powerful, as full of admirably expressed thought, as we should expect from the preacher. But our present concern is with the prefatory letter to the Bishop of London which Canon Henson has published with them. This letter puts forth five proposi- tions, of which two are of special importance: (1) that the Creeds have no independent authority apart from the Scripture ; (2) that the New Testament must be treated with the same freedom of criticism as the Old. As to the Creeds, surely they have a relative authority on those who subscribe them. The second proposition brings us face to face with a very great diffi- culty. It is not easy either to accept or to deny it. Is it possible to imagine a Christendom which should have accepted the con- clusions of Sehmiedel and Van Manen ? On the other hand, is it possible to draw a line? We must not forget, when we come to view the subject practically, that documents which claim a bind- ing force over the conscience and the life cannot be regarded with the impartial calm with which we may discuss a doubtful passage in a poet or a questionable narrative in an historian.
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