ANNI DOMLNI.*
LADY MABEL LINDSAY gives us in this volume what will be found, we think, a very profitable work. While we are fighting the battle of criticism, whether it be on the side of defence or of attack, we are apt to lose sight of the essential thing,—the welfare of human souls. A writer who keeps this end in view, and brings to the task an adequate equipment of knowledge, a reverent spirit, and an open mind, cannot fail to be helpful in the highest degree and over a very wide circle of influence.
In the " Introduction to the Gospel Story " we have a sketch of the religious development of Israel as it is to be seen in the Old Testament. The standpoint is that of a moderate Modernism, if the word may be used without any sinister significance. The Mosaic cosmogony is " one of the great epics of the primeval world" ; it is scientific so far as it expresses the idea of an orderly progression. The Eden story is taken as an allegory. After this the history of Israel is passed in rapid review. The difficulties of the Egyptian sojourn and the Exodus are wisely passed over. As the numbers in this narrative are prominent among these difficulties, it might have been well to note the general untrustworthiness, partly due to mechanical causes, of these items in ancient records. An excellent comment is made on the wilderness story, to the effect that Moses "realised that it would be suicidal to take these mutinous and disobedient Hebrew tribes into a land so strongly fortified and so fiercely hostile as Canaan." The forty years' wanderings were a punishment, but, like all true punishment, a preparation for better things. But we must pass over this part of the book, and come at once to the subject proper. In the account of the Temptation the first assault is depicted as objective, the second and third as subjective. "In thought He stands on the pinnacle of the Temple " ; "at Satan's suggestion His mind reverted to where He had so often stood upon the hill- top above His home in Nazareth." There is something Euhemeristic-abOut this, and we doubt whether it is really helpful. On the other hand, there is much in the suggestion that the Baptist's exclamation : "Behold the Lamb of God,• which taketh away the sin of the world!". was made as Jesus passed by on His way from the wilderness. We may wonder that the Baptist could apprehend so fully a truth that the Master's daily companions took years to 'learn, which is, indeed, the innermost secret of the Gospel ; hitt certainly the words were marvellously appropriate. He had been tempted to make Himself a wonder-worker, a world conqueror, and " 'John's words reminded Him that the satkifice of His life`was to be offered, that His blood was to be dutFitired, and that thus only could the sin of the world be atoned- for."' It is no little thing to have the subject trotted with 'so much insight.
The conimentary, if we'may so describe it, on the Sermon on the Mount is a'-good specimen of Lady Mabel Lindsay's work. She does not explain away the paradox- of its injunc: tione,—that is beyond. all Minion ingenuity. Doubtless 'they were spoken to arrest the attentidn of the hearers, and these were left to accomModate fhem to the actualities of life. " Give to him that asketh thee," was one of these startling' utterances, " and 'from him' that would borrow of thee thin not thou away." (We must remember, however, that. the Jew had always before him- in his Year • of Release-an ideal of altruistic. dealing with money. Possibly it was never.put'into practice, but-it confronted- him-vheriever he rooked-into the' Law.) The author's.explanation is very simple. .,fin;those • A isymini • a. Gospel Study. By Mabel M. y. t vols. Londort; Idethundn and Co.- [10s. net.]
days there was no organised charity ; a destitute man had to beg, with the alternative of death or crime. In the Master's command we have really the fruitful seed out of which sprang the whole order of Christian charity. We do not give to every one that asketh, but we know that there is no limit to the efforts which we must make for the relief of those who are in want.
In the comments on the events at Godson—the treating of the demoniac and the destruction of the herd of swine—we find some highly suggestive comment. The Synoptists, it has been often remarked, dwell on the benevolent aspect of the miracles. "He had compassion " occurs again and again. Generally the life is summed up in "He went about doing good" ; on the other hand, St. John dwells on their evidential value. It could hardly be otherwise with the "theologian," who had to deal with apologetic as with other parts of his new science. We have as naturally returned to the older view.. No apologist would now appeal to the miracles. Sometimes he even finds them to be a difficulty. We value, therefore, the more highly such a remark as this "Jesus Christ, striving to awake the true individuality of the man, asked him,
What is thy name ? ' But the demoniac could not realise his human identity, for he answered : My name is legion, for we are many." The sequel our author is content to leave "as a most mysterious occurrence." All that she can find, or, indeed, that any one can find, to say is that "one human soul rescued from the slavery of Satan is of greater value in the eyes of Christ than even a multitude of the soulless animal creation." The spectators, it may be added, would realise the greatness of the man's deliverance when they saw what havoc was wrought in a few minutes by the agitating influences which he had endured for years. But, say what we will, the crux remains, for these herds of swine furnished a quite legitimate subsistence to the people of the country, who, it will be remembered, were not Jews. We turn to what is said about another miracle which is naturally ranked with this,— the curse on the barren fig-tree. " It is unlike anything else in the life of our Lord," though, we may add, it has a notable resemblance to the wonders related in the Apocryphal Gospels. It is "a parable exemplified on a living, although not responsible, object," with a moral directed against hypocrisy. " The time of figs was not yet," says St. Mark, and the words seem to make the difficulty greater. Why did the Master look for what He would not find? But we must remember that neither was it the time for leaves. The tree with its fine show of foliage was exceptional. This certainly points the moral, and it is evident, we may add, that the tree was of no value. The coin it the fish's mouth is the third in the familiar trio of difficulties. " It differs from all the other miracles of our Lord," in its want of naturalness, we may add. It is a wonder, but we cannot make it out to be a sign. The only course is to leave it alone. We may speculate how it found its way into the narrative, and be glad, perhaps, that it is a solitary specimen of its kind. A difficulty of another kind is passed over in silence. This is the interpolation, if the phrase may be used, of the verse, "As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly," &c., after our Lord's declaration that the only sign that should be given was the sign of Jonas the prophet, with its manifest reference to the opportunity of repentance. F. D. Maurice in The Unity of the New Testament does exactly the same thing.
We should explain that Lady Mabel Lindsay's method has been, without attempting a formal harmony of the Gospels—a thing that can scarcely be done without much painful, not to say irreverent, distortion of the record—to give what will serve all the useful purpose which a harmony can have. Each section is followed by a reference to the portions of the Gospels which are to be read along with it, and St, John takes his place with the Sygoptista, The oase of the Hormoniate, if any such still exist, is practically given away by the general acceptation of this same term Synoptists. On the other hand, the more closely we can connect, the Gospel of St John, with the others, the better it will be for our general understanding of the whole. This 'is emphasised by .the reaction which has taken place of late years, reaching to very different schools of thought, in favour of the Apostolic authorship of the Fourth Gospel. It is impossible to estimate too highly the record of the one man who itfe,s the actutil.cornpanion of the Master. As the first volume contains an introduction, so the second is supplemented by " A Sequel to the Gospel Story," giving a popular account of the origin of the Gospels, of the Apostolic age, of the teaching of St. Paul, of the early history of the Church, and of the origin of the Creeds. There is also a brief description of the principal MSS. of the New Testament, and of the chief versions. Some special points, the site of the Crucifixion among them, have been dealt with in appendices. Altogether, the book will be a very useful manual for any one who desires to make a careful study of the subject, though it does not pretend to specialise.
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