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for the present volumes a success from the beginning; and, as it is fortunately, and very probably with design, published in the later portion of the year, it will secure a large sale for itself at the Christmas season. The attention of the religious public in this country has also been called to Dr. Farrar, by his recently uttered and very pronounced views on the subject of Eternal Punishment. These views, while they may not be adopted by many, or even by any who did not already hold them, will possibly awaken an increased interest in reading what he has to say respecting the Apostle Paul and his doctrines. We anticipate, therefore, a success for the present work almost or quite equal to that which attended his Life of our Lord.

Dr. Farrar writes in an interesting way for the general reader. His style is attractive, and the reader finds himself carried along easily and without effort. He is a man of more than ordinary scholarship, also, and consequently gains the respectful attention of those who examine his pages. His present volumes show scholarly ability, and a candor in the examination of important questions which is commendable. He is evidently a wide reader, and has devoted himself with much attention to the Talmudic literature. Indeed, the display of learning in this latter regard is too great, as we judge, for the common mind. There is even, apparently, some degree of ostentation in it. And yet the bringing of his knowledge of this sort to bear upon the history of the Apostle's time gives a special value to this work, as compared with others which have been written on the same subject.

Dr. Farrar's translation of the Epistles is in the form of a paraphrase, and for the purpose of giving the thought of the writer and the meaning and progress of his discourse. This rendering into new language will, doubtless, be serviceable to the English reader, and will tend to further his study of the English Version. At the same time, the foot-notes, in which those phrases and Greek words that are of special interest or importance are discussed, will be of value to such as are able to examine the original Greek.

In a Biography of some thirteen hundred pages, for the foundation of which we have only the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline Epistles, there will naturally be a considerable amount of conjectural statement. Where the biographer does not know what the person of whom he was writing did and thought, he will in many cases be tempted to tell what he must have thought or what he probably did. Books of this sort are always made up in

this way, and Canon Farrar's is no exception to the general rule. The life thus becomes, as we may say, partly Farrar and partly Paul. After reading a large number of such histories of the life of Christ or his Apostles which have been set before the public, one wearies somewhat in the perusal of what may be styled the "filling in" of the story. And in these volumes, this peculiarity and the prolongation and diffuseness consequent upon it, cause the interest with which we begin to read them, to diminish considerably as we reach the middle and later portions. In immediate connection with this point, we may refer to a certain characteristic of this work, which marks in an especial manner many of the writings of clergymen of the Established Church in England. It is somewhat difficult to describe, but is a kind of combination of the exalted style, with which a church official may address the flock over whom he rules, and to whom he seems, or thinks he seems, an authoritative, yet condescending teacher, and of that politeness toward religion which was exhibited by the young man who, when he was unable to be present at divine service, is said, in a certain story, to have taken pains to leave his visiting card upon the altar. There are, indeed, few of the Anglican theological and religious writers of recent days, who do not exhibit more or less of this peculiarity in their style. Bishop Ellicott shows it frequently even in his Commentaries, which are so purely critical and grammatical that there seems to be no room for anything of of this kind. It is due, we suppose, to the influence of their church education, and to the condition of scholarship, in the religious field, in their country during the earlier part of the century. But it is a defect which mars the excellence of their books, and lingers even with those among them who are most learned and most liberal and large-minded. It is one reason, as we think, why English scholarship is not likely soon to equal that of Germany, and also one reason why scientific doubters in England have a stronger opposition to, and less respect for the clergy than they have among us.

Dr. Farrar's work will be interesting as an addition to the valuable books on the same subject by Conybeare and Howson, and Mr. Thomas Lewin, the former of which has had so remarkable a sale in our country,-having within the past few years been issued in four or five independent editions, and having awakened the rivalry of several publishing houses,-while the latter, though comparatively little known and too expensive, in

its present form, for general circulation, is deserving of high regard and will be prized for its distinctive excellences by all who possess it. All able writings which bring the life of St. Paul before us in its true character, and help to perpetuate his spirit in the church, are to be welcomed. Dr. Farrar has done his part in this good work, and we cannot doubt that he will bring to hundreds of readers a better appreciation of what the Apostle was, even though he or any other single writer may have failed to understand all that he was.

LANGE'S COMMENTARY ON NUMBERS AND DEUTERONOMY." This is the final volume of the American Edition of Lange's work. The editor, however, promises to add a supplementary volume, at an early day, on the Apocryphal Books, which will be welcome to many of those who have made use of this extended commentary. The part of the work now before us contains the annotations upon the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy. Those on Numbers, in the original German, are by Dr. Lange himself; those on Deuteronomy by Dr. F. W. J. Schroeder. Dr. Gosman and Dr. Lowrie are the translators. Our readers are so familiar with the peculiarities and general characteristics of this Commentary, that it is only necessary to call their attention to the appearance of this portion of it, and to state that it corresponds with the other parts. The American Editor of the notes on Deuteronomy, however, has added an Appendix of considerable length, in which he considers the question of the Mosaic authorship of the book; stating the objections presented by such writers as Kuenen, Robertson Smith, Colenso, and others, the difficulties involved in the position taken by them, and the proof that the book was written by Moses. This proof he regards as decisive, and gives the following as his final statement: "We must abide by the testimony of Christ and regard Moses as the author of Deuteronomy," or, if we "accept the premises and conclusions of these negative critics," we must "part with our Bibles and Christ."

This Commentary, which has been in process of publication for * A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical, with special reference to ministers and students. By JOHN PETER LANGE, D.D., Professor of Theology in the University of Bonn, assisted by a number of Eminent European Divines. Translated, enlarged, and edited by PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., Professor of Sacred Literature in the Union Theological Seminary, New York, in connection with American and English Scholars of various denominations. Vol. III. of the Old Testament: Numbers and Deuteronomy. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1879.

fifteen years or more, and has engaged the efforts of fifty different translators and scholars in the work of bringing it before the American public, is now completed. As we look at it in its immensity, covering twenty-four large octavo volumes and fifteen or sixteen thousand pages, and as we consider the fact that, at the advertised prices, it costs the pastor or student from one hundred and twenty-four to one hundred and eighty-six dollars, we cannot but have two feelings; one of admiration for the energy and perseverance which have been shown in the undertaking and carrying forward to success of such a great enterprise as the publication of this work; the other of regret that so much effort should have been turned away from German works of much greater value, and bestowed upon this one. The American editors, however, have gathered from various sources much that the original Commentary did not contain.

FORD'S STUDIES ON THE BAPTISMAL QUESTION.*-This volume comprises upwards of 400 pages, and includes contributions previously made by the author to The Watchman. He has aimed, as he states in the preface, to write in a conciliatory spirit, while plainly asserting what he believes to be the truth. He writes for laymen as well as for ministers. In Chapter I, he gives the general characteristics of Dr. Dale's book. In Chapter II, he reviews the complimentary testimonials which it has received. The notice in The New Englander—which, Mr. Ford may like to know, was written by Professor James Hadley-he approves. The remaining chapters of this volume embrace a careful, learned, and instructive discussion, from the Baptist point of view, of the mode and subjects of Baptism. The book will be a thesaurus of arguments for the Baptist denomination, and may be consulted with profit by others who are interested in the subject which it handles. The author disposes of much sophistical reasoning, as well as mistaken history and erroneous philology, which have been in vogue among the polemics on the other side. To prove, however, that Christ will recognize nothing as baptism but immersion, that none but the immersed have a right to the Lord's Supper, and that the baptism of infants is inconsistent with the idea of the church and of baptism, is a task of much greater difficulty.

* Studies on the Baptismal Question; including a Review of Dr. Dale's "Inquiry into the usage of Baptizo." By Rev. DAVID B. FORD. Boston: H. A. Young & Co.

1879.

DR. UHLHORN'S CHRISTIANITY AND HEATHENISM.*-The first part of the work is a clear and well-considered presentation of the religious and moral condition of the heathen world as it existed in the Roman Empire at the beginning of the great struggle of Christianity with heathenism; and of the character, condition, and work of the Christians at the same time. The second narrates the story of the persecutions from Nero to Gallienus. The third part narrates the final persecutions under Diocletian, the conversion of Constantine, and its immediate results, and the final struggle of heathenism under Julian. The work is not a continuous narrative, even in its second and third parts. It narrates enough to give the reader a knowledge of the most important transactions bearing on the subject and their connections, and occasionally presents a vivid sketch, as of the martyrdom of Polycarp. In connection with the narrative of events, the author discusses the influences and agencies by which they were brought about, and their necessary connection with the interests and exigencies of the empire. He succeeds in giving the reader a clear conception of the nature of this great struggle between heathenism, sustained by the mass and might of the Roman Empire, and by the philosophy, literature, and culture of the times, on the one hand, and Christianity in its small beginnings, relying on its moral and spiritual forces, on the other. He shows that while the empire was striving to suppress Christianity, its own existence secured the conditions, without which, humanly speaking, the new religion could not have prevailed. The struggle lasted, though not always with bloody persecution, about 250 years. There is not a paragraph in the book in which the writer uses his narrative explicitly as a proof of the divine origin of Christianity; but the whole work makes a profound impression that nothing less than its divine origin, and the continued presence and power of God could have secured the triumph of Christianity in this long and unequal conflict. The work is translated into easy, readable English. While rich in learning, it is not scholastic, and is suited to interest all intelligent readers.

*The Conflict of Christianity with Heathenism. By Dr. GERHARD UHLHORN, Abbot of Loccum, and member of the Supreme Consistory in Hanover. Edited and translated with the author's sanction, from the third German edition, by Egbert C. Smyth and C. J. H. Ropes. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 743 and 745 Broadway. 1879. pp. 508.

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