THE RELIGIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF INTERNATIONALISM By Norman Bentwich The Hebrew
University of Jerusalem has a chair in the International Law of Peace, held by Mr. Norman Bentwich, late Attorney-General of Palestine. His first course of lectures, entitled The Religious Foundations of internationalism (G. Allen and Unwire, 10s. 6d.) makes a very stimulating book. It strengthens our conviction that the Churches must redouble their efforts on behalf of the League and all that the League stands for. Mr. Bentwich, reviewing the attitude of the religious to peace in the ancient and in the modern world, shows that Christianity in its latest as in its earliest phases— though not in the intervening period—has been on the whole a pacific influence. But in the East nationalism is rampant, and the essentially peaceful character of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism is for the time being obscured. The author advocates a League of Religions to work for the common benefit of mankind in the spiritual sphere, as the League of Nations works in the political and economic spheres. He emphasizes the contribution that the Jews, through their long history, have made to international law, which is based on the Pentateuch, despite or because of their intense nationalism. The two ideals, as he says, have both to be kept in view. Mr. Bentwich writes well and temperately, and his book should be read.
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