In Quest of a Creed (Elliot Stock.)—This little book deals
briefly and in a popular way, on the aide of belief, with the evidences of Christianity. Atheism, materialism, pantheism, and theism are all passed under review. The late Mr. Mill is taken as the great represen- tative of modern atheism, though, of course (this the author admits)- he was not a dogmatic atheist. Indeed, his opinion on the whole subject, as the author quite truly says, seemed to vary with the state of his feel- ings, and towards the close of his life he was in a mach more believing frame of mind. There appears to be a little misapprehension as to the new doctrine of evolution. "If we concede," it is said, "fthe possibility of man's bodily frame having been derived from some previous organi- sation, we must still hold that the endowment of mental and moral faculties proceeded from a creative and miraculous act." This would not be allowed by the Evolutionists. It is their belief that man's mental and moral faculties were derived by a process of evolution out of the instincts of the lower animals. This the author should have noted, as it has an important bearing on his argument. Those who have made a study of the Christian evidences, will not find much in this volume with which they are not already familiar ; to others, we can recommend it as a clear and useful summary of what has been written on this well-worn subject.
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