Aids to the Devout Study of Criticism. By T. R.
Cheyne, M.A. (T. Fisher Unwin.)—Professor Choyne's object is one to be thoroughly commended. There must be criticism, and to a certain extent this criticism must be destructive. But it need not be destructive of devotion and reverence. We may have to acknow- ledge that the Bible narratives are not all of them historical, and yet be able to road them with all the edification that generations that were never touched with the modern spirit of inquiry drew from them. We must confess, however, that he does not make out his case. The "David Narratives," to which the first part of this volume is deVoted, become, under this treatment, didactic fictions. The real David, we are told, was a wholly different person from the David of the story ; but we are exhorted to feel that this makes no difference. Can it be so P We must own to utter disbelief. The David of the popular view is a God-inspired champion ; the David of criticism is the hero of a religious romance. Does the one touch the reli- gious convictions in the same way as the other ? Then take the Psalms, to which the second part is devoted. Are they the same to us when they are assigned to the post-exilic, even to the Maocabean, period, and become pieces of literature instead of songs of reli-
gious triumph ? And how can the effect of the Messianic or prophetic character, which we are told no longer to accept, be supplied ?
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