TURNING POINTS IN THE PRIMIT11 , L CHURCH.
Turning Points in the Primitive Church. By the Rev. W. S. Hooton. (C. J. Thynne. 3s.)—This volume contains essays on important passages in the Book of the Acts, the term " Primitive Church" being used of the Church of the Apostles. Mr. Hooton has studied Professor Ramsay with good results, and his exposi- tions are worth attention. We could wish that he had not shown, on one occasion certainly, some hostility to criticism. Can he seriously maintain that no portions of the Old Testament are historically inaccurate ? Did the "old allegorical and spiritualising method of interpretation" lead to no absurdities ? Has not the system of " proof texts " led to much misapprehension? To take a crucial instance, would any one now quote Old Testament texts as St. Matthew quoted them ? Was the Bethlehem massacre a fulfilment in the ordinary sense of the " voice heard in Rama " To ns it means the ever-renewed sorrow of Rachel, the typical mother of Israel, for the troubles of her race; but this implies no small latitude of interpretation.
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