CURRENT LITERATURE.
The Orthodox Doctrine of the Church of England. By the Rev. Thomas Isaac Ball. (Rivingtons.)—Mr. Ball having conceived the idea of ex- plaining the orthodox doctrine of the Church of England, " in a com- mentary on the XXXIX. Articles," applies, it would seem, to Mr. Bennett, of Frome, for an" introduction." Now, Mr. Bennett is a doubtful sponsor for orthodoxy, but apart from this, the purport of his intro- duction is that the Articles are not an authoritative statement of doctrine at ell, and by inference, that Mr. Ball's labour is thrown away.
It is well," ho allows, "that we have the opportunity, when it is needed, of examining them, and by study, as we should any theological tract, to extract their moaning." But that they are anything more than "theological tract " of doubtful morality and of no use he clearly believes. As for what Mr. Bull has writen , it is needless to say much. Those who know what manner of book was the late Bishop Forbes's, of Brechin, "Expla- nation of the XXXIX. Articles," and also know what a trenchant criticism it received at the hand of the late Professor Conington in the Contem- porary Review, will have a quite sufficient idea of Mr. Ball's work and of what, were it worth while, might be said in answer to it.—Prin- ciples of the Church of England; a Neu) Apology for the Church of England, by the Rev. Charles Hole (Longmans), gives a very different view of the question. That Mr. Hole is exactly the theological product which the compilers of the Articles contemplated we should be sorry to affirm, but he is certainly more like it than are Mr. Ball's friends.
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