culmination reached nearly nineteen centuries ago. He considers with much patience the Chaldean story of creation, the root ideas of the religion of Egypt after prehistoric times, the religion of Zoroaster, with its absence of sacerdotalism and asceticism, the three phases of the religion of the Vedas, the Messiah of the Indian epics, the development and transformation of primitive Buddhism, the Greek cultus and the stand of the Greek conscience, the naturalistic basis of Roman faith, and its rapid decadence in the time of Augustus, the social and moral condition of the Greco-Roman world at the coming of Christ, and the rising of the Sun of Righteousness over that dark world of ignorance, corruption, and death. From this outline the reader will understand that the book is rather on other and older religions than Christianity, the latter having only incidental treatment, or reference as a resultant or consummation of human history under providential guidance in the day of Emanuel. Its skillful handling of old histories, and its rigid resistance of scientific criticism of Christianity by the discovery of similar truths in the old faiths and their preservation and development under the laws of continuity and evolution, render it a powerful auxiliary in the general defense of the religion of the Bible. Its use is, therefore, recommended. The Training of the Twelve; or, Passages out of the Gospels Exhibiting the Twelve Disciples of Jesus Under Discipline for the Apostleship. By ALEXANDER BALMAIN BRUCE, D.D., Professor of Apologetics and New Testament Exe⚫gesis, Free Church College, Glasgow; Author of The Humiliation of Christ, The Parabolic Teaching of Christ, The Miraculous Element in the Gospels, etc. Fourth Edition, Revised and Improved. 8vo, pp. 552. New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son. Price, cloth, $2 50. That the "twelve" were specifically disciplined or educated for apostleship is contrary to general opinion; but the reverend author scripturally and unanswerably maintains that, with Jesus as instructor, they were individually taught all the truth, and were trained in all the duties necessary to the fulfillment of their high and sacred office. Unlearned fishermen, as some of them were, they were apt students, and susceptible of supernatural impression. Possessed of natural prejudices, as other men, and narrowed by Galilean custom or hardened by Judaic law and restraint, they were not in the beginning the most promising candidates for leaders of a mighty revolution soon to be inaugurated by the Master; but under his insinuating teaching and fostering truth as it dawned upon them they grew into apostles before the eyes of men. If with temporary reluctance they resisted some of the early suggestions of the Teacher, and were at times bold enough to attempt to instruct him, they at last yielded to every utterance and incorporated his dying messages into their lives. Eagerly they learned the lessons of prayer, humility, religious liberty, toleration, self-sacrifice, and the law of discipleship; and as the Teacher broadened in his didactics, centering all things in the cross as the symbol of life and truth, they were contagiously affected and baptized into the spirit of the Master. Such is the import of this book, and as a mnemonic of Christ's teaching and a criterion of apostleship it is most valuable. Less critical than many other works on New Testament revelations, it recognizes the attacks of the Tübingen school and disposes of them indirectly rather by outlining the truth than by direct refutation. As the book exalts Christ in his attitude as a teacher, and heightens one's respect for the apostles, whose preparations were due to the professorial influence of the Master, the impression it leaves with the reader is wholesome and elevating. Reasons for Church Creed. A Contribution to Present Day Controversies. By Rev. R. J. COOKE, D.D., Author of Doctrine of the Resurrection. 16mo. pp. 92. New York: Phillips & Hunt. Cincinnati: Cranston & Stowe. Cloth, 60 cents. In this brochure Dr. Cooke couples clearness of thought with strength and elegance of expression, at once revealing his predilection for the Christian faith and furnishing a reason for its acceptance on the part of those who have stood against it. Just what Christianity is can best be known by its formulation into a creed. Certain truths, fundamental and necessary, constitute the teachings of the great religion which may be expressed in a confession, and for such human statement of truth the apology is ample and the defense sure. To the many objections urged against creeds by agnostic, deist, and liberal religionist, the author's replies, founded in history, the Scriptures, and the imperious force of reason, are fortunate and conclusive. In the more formal declaration of the ground of creed, however, he writes with the ease of one familiar with the truth, and demonstrates his proposition with all but mathematical precision. To some readers he will appear a trifle dogmatic, but dogma is the father of the dogmatic. In asserting that the dogmas of the Church cannot stand or fall at the bar of human reason (p. 62), he has gone to an extreme, for it is the glory of truth that it is rational, and revealed truth is in perfect harmony with the purest reason. The chief objection to Christianity is, that it will not stand the test of reason, an objection that will not be overcome until the theologian is willing to submit it to that royal test of all truth. For ourselves, we are not afraid of the application of the test to every divine truth, from the existence of God to eternal retribution for unforgiven sin. Introduction to the Books of the Old Testament. With Analyses and Illustrative Literature. By O. S. STEARNS, D.D., Professor of Biblical Interpretation in Newton Theological Institution. 12mo, pp. 148. Boston: Silver, Burdett & Co. Price, $1. A very suggestive digest of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament. It skeletonizes the contents of each book, indicates its design and place in the canon, points out the difficulties relating to authorship, chronology, historical accuracy, and verbal contradictions the newer criticism claims to have discussed, and mentions many critical works to be consulted in the study of the general subject or the particular book under review. While not elaborate, it comprehends the vast area of inquiry, and is brief enough to be mastered in a month. We commend it to students without any reserve or any qualification. The Lesson Commentary on the International Sunday-School Lessons for 1889. Of many valuable commentaries on the "Lessons for 1889" this one stands first because of the clearness of its interpretations, the authorities quoted in support of them, the rich illustrations of the truths taught, and the helpful references, practical thoughts, and general hints given in the progress of each lesson. It is a book primarily prepared for the Sundayschool teacher, but it is suited to the advanced scholar, and parents would be profited by carefully studying its crowded pages. Whether the reader prefers one or more helps on the "Lessons," he should not omit this commentary from his list. Witnesses to Christ. A Contribution to Christian Apologetics. By WILLIAM CLARK, M.A., Professor of Philosophy in Trinity College, Toronto. Large 12mo, pp. 320. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co. Price, cloth, $1 50. The Baldwin Lectureship of the University of Michigan, similar to the Bampton Lectureship of England, was established three years ago for the defense of Christian truth, the plan requiring a course of lectures to be annually delivered at Ann Arbor, and afterward to be published in bookform. This book is the second that has appeared under the auspices of this lectureship. Professor Clark is a foeman worthy of the steel of the champions of unbelief. In eight carefully prepared lectures he exposes the origin, essence, influence, and probable outcome of the regnancy of infidelity, whatever form it exists in or may possibly hereafter assume. He designates rationalism, mythicism, and materialism as the three phases of unbelief, puncturing them as so many bubbles in the atmosphere of faith, and insisting on their insufficiency as foundations of a stable and energetic life. As the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the great basal truth of Christianity he considers it at special length, reviewing the evidence of its accomplishment, and examining the arguments against it, reaching an invincible affirmation of faith in the great event and in all the truths dependent upon it. While the style of the writer is not of the vigorous cast of a polemic, it is of that mild and beautiful sort that wins attention and imperceptibly undermines the false theory which confronts the reader in his investigations of truth. Such lectures compensate for the expense required to secure them. PHILOSOPHY, METAPHYSICS, AND GENERAL SCIENCE. Philosophy and Religion. A Series of Addresses, Essays, and Sermons Designed to set forth Great Truths in Popular Form. By AUGUSTUS HOPKINS STRONG, D.D., President and Professor of Biblical Theology in the Rochester Theological Seminary. 8vo, pp. 632. New York: A. C. Armstrong. Cloth, $3 50. While the volume is without a methodical development of any phase of philosophy, or any systematic treatment of religion as a whole, or any of its truths, there is scarcely a modern problem in either philosophy or re ligion that is not discussed in one or more lectures, and quite fully within the limitation intended by the author. In this respect the book is usable, and may be referred to at all times for something on the burning questions of the day. As subjects of philosophical discussion, idealism, evolution, scientific theism and materialistic skepticism are elaborated with critical thoroughness, and stand before us in their strength and weakness; while in the larger realm of religion the author devoutly and ably considers inspiration, miracles, the two natures of Christ, the atonement, with a scholarly address on New Testament interpretation, and a practical one on Christianity and political economy. In his sermon on the "The Baptism of Jesus" he claims, but does not prove, that Jesus was immersed. Nor can such a claim be established; but if the proof were patent it would not justify the position of the exclusive immersionist. As, however, salvation depends not upon water but upon blood, we dismiss the point as too insignificant for our time or thought. Theologically, the two lectures on "The Will in Theology" and "Modified Calvinism; or, Remainders of Freedom in Man," are of most consequence as showing not only that the subjects are under consideration by those hitherto known as fatalists, but as undergoing revision in order to harmonize with civilized thought and Christian culture. Retreating from Jonathan Edwards he inclines to Calvin, whom he alleges to have been more liberal in the construction of human history and the lesson to be derived from it. He says, "Will is itself the determiner;" man "is in the highest sense self-determined, and therefore solely responsible," and yet he declares man to be in bondage to motives and to the forces that bear him onward. When the Calvinistic mind is aroused from its sleep, it will find that the Arminian conception of freedom and responsibility has captured the world, and relieved the race of the intolerable weight of fatalism which for centuries interfered with progress and paralyzed human aspiration. Even to Arminians, however, these pages are interesting, since they indicate the changes in conservative thought and foreshadow a complete abandonment of the rejectable hypotheses of Calvin, Augustine, and Edwards. Let the book be read by those who would be broad in their thinking and be made acquainted with a rare and well-equipped mind. The Credentials of Science the Warrant of Faith. By JOSIAH PARSONS COOKE, LL.D., Erving Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy in Harvard University. 12mo, pp. 324. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers. Price, cloth, $1 75. Of many books recently issued to exhibit the inner fraternity of science and religion, this is one of the best, as it is freest from partisanship, and most ample in its discovery and recognition of the truths both science and religion hold in common. The author, however, goes beyond the mere statement of harmonious truths, extracting from chemistry, astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy those principles that, underlying the processes of nature, also concenter in the working of the supreme religion. Induction and deduction unitedly, though sometimes singly, are shown to play as important a part in religion as in science. In that the author prefers induction as fundamental to theology, because it has been fundamental to science, we differ with him, since deduction has now the right of way in general investigation. But we are quite ready to believe that both induction and deduction, as instruments of reasoning, are so valuable that the discovery of truth is impossible without them. He who studies this book will be prepared to resist the scientific attack on religion by a right use of natural facts and by a method as scientific and successful as that which it opposes. It well deserves the careful perusal of those who propose to defend religion by the scientific method. On the Senses, Instincts. and Intelligence of Animals. With Special Reference to Insects. By Sir JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart., M.P., F.R.S.. D C.L, LL.D., Author of Ants, Bees, and Wasps; Prehistoric Times, etc. With over one hundred Illustrations. 12mo, pp. 292. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Price, cloth, $1 75. The author has confined himself to facts within the particular sphere of his investigation, and obtained them from personal experiment and observation and the memoirs of other writers quite as intelligent and reliable as himself. With its illustrations and orderly study of the subject, the book will be valuable to those in search of the latest résumé of knowledge concerning in particular the senses and instincts of insects. As a preparation for this minute exhibit the author quite fully considers the senses and intelligence of man and animals, furnishing an abstract of the whole subject of world-intelligence. With a little patience the reader may familiarize himself with the organs of sense, genuine and problematical, of medusa, annelides, mollusca, crustacea, centipedes, and all other lower animals, and their limitations, and find exquisite pleasure in understanding their individual habits, social laws, and the general powers supposed to belong to them. As a scientific work it is gratifyingly free from theories, making no attempt to ally man and the insect in a common heritage of organs, or resources, or ignorances. It is more of text-book for the scholar than for the school. HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, AND TOPOGRAPHY. The Life and Times of George Foster Pierce, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with his Sketch of Lovick Pierce, 1. D., his Father. By GEORGE G. SMITH, North Georgia Conference, Author of History of Methodism in Georgia, Life and Letters of James O. Andrew. With Introduction by ATTICUS G. HAYGOOD, D.D. 8vo, pp. 688. Sparta, Ga.: Hancock Publishing Co. Price, muslin, $2; half morocco, $3; morocco, $4. Bishop Pierce was a prominent historic figure in Southern Methodism from 1854, when, at the age of forty-three years, he was elected to the episcopacy, to 1881, when his earthly career closed. Prior to his last ecclesiastical elevation he was conspicuous in the pastorate, or the presidency of Emory College, preaching always with great eloquence and effectiveness, and being more than ordinarily useful in whatever position he held. He was an inactive member of the General Conference of 1840, but so acute an observer that he predicted the separation of the Church, |