The Moral System and the Atonement. By Rev. SAMUEL DAVIES COCHRAN, D.D. 8vo, pp. 546. Oberlin, Ohio: Edward J. Goodrich. Price, cloth, $3 50. A theological defense of the atonement, both as an historic fact and a continuous influence in human development, working out, because of certain observed conditions on the part of the human family, the final redemption of the majority of mankind, is not altogether an unnecessary work in these times of indifference to the fundamental doctrines of religion. An exposition of a mere theory of atonement is not desirable; but the presentation of the doctrine in its scriptural character and relations, enforced by a certain historic authority that the doctrine has gained, notwithstanding that numerous and perplexing misinterpretations have been substituted for the simple teachings of the sacred writers, will relieve the subject of the odium theologicum, and fix the mind of the student upon the stupendous event or method, of redemption in Jesus Christ. Finding certain theories in his way, because they are more or less accepted in many quarters, the author devotes considerable space to the elucidation of their unfitness as explanations of the doctrine, especially the moral and governmental theories, and then elaborates what he conceives to be the true scriptural view of the subject. In this discussion he does not turn theorist himself, but is an expositor of the law, the divine government, and its function, and the terms employed, both in the Old and New Testaments, to represent the actual intent of the sacrificial system as portrayed in both, and which found its majestic and triumphant consummation in the person of our Lord. Ostracizing theories in general, however, he proceeds at some disadvantage, for, imperfect as they are as interpretations of the great doctrine, there is not one, even the untenable moral theory of Bushnell, that is not suggestive of a phase of truth and is not necessary to a clear conception of the whole. It is, therefore, questionable if he has pursued the best method for the vindication of the scriptural fact or doctrine of atonement, to which all theorists as well as himself subscribe.

Unlike theological expositions, this is unsectarian in general drift and bearing, though the author is a Congregational minister and might be supposed to harbor special theological prepossessions. He is an independent thinker, rich in his scholarship, and is not the exponent of any school of thought, except as he advances in his work, studying the truth in its compass and as a revelation, he unconsciously adds to the Arminian safeguards and guarantees of the doctrine in question. A Calvinist by inheritance, he is to some extent an Arminian by intellectual necessity and as the result of a free and warm communion with the truth. When he must

grapple with "election (pp. 189-218), he diverges from the New England school of Calvinists and marches toward the Arminian conception of that theological dogma. It occurs to us that logic triumphed over inherited faith, and the result is a strong and sensible putting of the doctrine on which, if on any doctrine at all, the final agreement of Christians may be expected.

Some of his positions are open to challenge, and he will have something to do to maintain them. We cannot surrender on his ipse dixit, though

it is entitled to more than ordinary respect, Butler's distinction between natural and moral government, or readily acquiesce in the doctrine of substitutional suffering, though we do accept the doctrine of a substitutional offering, or yield to not a few other points which, stated incidentally, are yet of primary significance. On the other hand, we quite agree with him when he says that no probation after death is possible to those who die in sin; that God's government is not merely paternal, but is positively moral in its relation to intelligences; that there is a difference between natural and retributive consequences of obedience and disobedience; and that the exclusive purpose of the atonement was, not to show God's abhorrence of sin, but to establish conditional relations of an eternal fellowship between God and man. The work embodies the results of years of labor and inquiry, pursued by the author with confidence in the truth, and is commended to the attention of all who would study the doctrine from another and higher view-point.

System of Christian Ethics. By Dr. I. A. DORNER, Oberconsistorialrath and Professor of Theology, Berlin. Edited by Dr. A. DORNER. Translated by Professor C. M. MEAD, D.D., formerly Professor of Hebrew in Andover Theological Seminary, and Rev. R. T. CUNNINGHAM, M.A. 8vo, pp. 616. New York: Scribner & Welford. Price, cloth, $3.

Because the present is an ethical period of inquiry, it is fitting that Professor Dorner's invaluable work be re-read, and theories respecting human conduct be modified in accordance with the Gospel standards so ably expounded and defended by this German author. An exacting student, endowed with rare intellectual gifts, ever seeking to know the truth, he devoted his energies and abilities to the elucidation of the principles of the Gospel, especially in their bearing upon the theanthropic Christ and the doctrine of justifying faith. Dissatisfied with the empirical and utilitarian theories of morality, which are essentially materialistic, and therefore antagonistic of supernatural morality, he gave himself to diligent study of the Scriptures, that he might set forth the true ethical ground of life, and also the goal of the moral system, as intended by its divine Founder and Teacher. In this search he employs a priori and intuitional methods, tracing the notion of morality to its divine source and then finding its expression in objective law, to which all men so soon as they apprehend it are amenable. He emphasizes moral order in the universe as the end toward which all things are working and to which all teachings point. The fact of law and the authority of law are urged against all theories of life based upon eudemonism, utilitarianism, and every other phase of empiricism, as recognized in philosophy. But the learned professor does not stop with the destruction of empirical ethics, but goes on to show the imperfection of law, the instrument by which he routed the materialists, as the sufficient ground of ethical action, claiming that the principle of love, illustrated throughout his career by the Saviour, precedes every other principle and supersedes every other notion or ground of morality. This is the acme of ethics taught in the Gospel, and is in spirit and form an

advance over all systems of ethics that science, philosophy, and other religions have propounded for the government of man in his relations to the race. In order that the principle, as he formulates it, may seem practical and available he applies it to society, the individual, the family, the nation, and to various temporal conditions, showing that it is neither fictitious nor Utopian, but adapted to progress, and if obeyed will contribute more to the advancement of mankind than any other single principle, or any institution of religion. The work is fundamental; the translation, though not exact at all times, is approximately perfect; and the teaching is elevating, wholesome, and full of comfort.

The Biblical Illustrator; or, Anecdotes, Similes, Emblems, Illustrations, Expository, Scientific, Geographical, Historical, and Homiletic, Gathered from a Wide Range of Home and Foreign Literature, on the Verses of the Bible. By Rev. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M. A. Vol. II, St. Mark. 8vo, pp. 742. New York: Anson D. F. Randolph & Co. Price, cloth, $2.

The author has undertaken the Herculean task of illustrating the books of the Bible, not by engravings of any kind, but by homiletical and scientific comments on each verse, the comments being in part original, but on the whole drawn from various eminent scholars both in Europe and America. The plan is without limit; hence, a large volume may be ex-. pected on each book. The second volume is a monument of labor, exegetical in a general way, but historical, geographical, anecdotal, and homiletical in almost every chapter. The list of auxiliary writers is too long to report; but it includes H. W. Beecher, Lyman Abbott, H. M. Luckock, R. Parkinson, A. Maclaren, F. W. Robertson, C. M. Southgate, G. Brooks, C. J. Vaughan, A. Bibby, J. Morison, C. H. Spurgeon, A. Barnes, Francis Jacox, Dr. Talmage, Canon Liddon, S. Clarke, and Henry Varley. Enriched from these sources, so large a volume has been produced that few will take the time to read it from cover to cover; but its classification and sermon-like treatment of the verses will enable one in search of the latest interpretations to find, perhaps, exactly what is desired. This, if any, is the criticism to be made upon it: that it is overweighty in material, and with its divisions and subdivisions too much like Matthew Henry's Commentary to attract the rapid worker or the diligent reader. The treatment of "The Sigh of Jesus" (pp. 296-300) is suggestive of this exuberance of style and matter. St. Mark, however, is a valuable treasure, and should be placed on one's list of reference books.

Analysis of Sacred Chronology; with the Elements of Chronology, and the Numbers of the Hebrew Text Vindicated. By S. BLISS. Revised, with Notes. Together with The Peopling of the Earth; or, Historical Notes on the Tenth Chapter of Genesis. By ALONZO T. JONES. 16mo, pp. 298. Price, cloth, $1. Oakland, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing House.

While Mr. Bliss has consulted the works of Prideaux, Jackson, Usher, Blair, the Duke of Manchester, and others, and is deeply indebted to Dr. Hales for suggestions, he has patiently studied and carefully traced the Hebrew chronology, with all the accessory light from pagan history, furnishing a reliable chronological chain from the Creation to New Testament

times. Every Bible scholar has felt the need of a revised scheme of dates. and events, as given in the Old Testament, especially from Adam to Abraham, "the great disputed field in chronology;" and this monograph, if not complete in every respect, is more satisfactory than many diffusive works on the same subject. Mr. Jones's recital of the original distribution of the inhabitants of the earth is borrowed from Lenormant, Gibbon, Anthon, Grote, Josephus, Herodotus, Rawlinson, Kitto, Labberton, and contains nothing new. Condensed into brief space, it is interesting; but, lacking originality, it adds nothing to an intelligent reader's resources.

Christ in the Bible. By Rev. A. B. SIMPSON, Pastor of the Gospel Tabernacle, New York. Vol. I. Genesis and Exodus. 8vo, pp. 394. New York: Word, Work, and World Publishing Company. Price, cloth, $2 per vol.

The Old Testament is symptomatic, directly or typically, of the leading truths of the New Testament. Not every reader or student, however, is able alone and unguided to pick his way through the pentateuchal wilderness, or along the highway of the prophets to the Beulah-land of Christ and the apostles. Nevertheless, the path, though hidden from common view and circuitous enough to bewilder the expert traveler, may be found, and will lead ultimately into the larger spaces of the new dispensation. The author of this work is especially felicitous in discovering hints of the redemptive plan in the various dispensations of the old régime, and this without straining a figure beyond warrant, or reading into the Pentateuch what evidently was not originally intended to be there. He finds less of Gospel foreshadowings in Genesis than in Exodus, though Genesis lays the foundation for redemption in the fall of man, while Exodus typifies his deliverance. The main thought of the book is steadily followed, and is rich in its tracings, developments, combinations, and applications. Its homiletical portions and the historical and geographical supplements are of minor value, and not essential to the direct purpose in the light of which the Old Testament seems almost like a new book.

Future Probation Examined. By WILLIAM DELOSS LOVE, Pastor at South Hadley, Mass. 12mo, pp. 322. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Price, cloth, $1 50. Dr. Love has rendered a needed service to the Christian ministry by compiling, in brief form, the opinions of many writers, some of whom preceded and others succeeded, by centuries of time, the days of Christ, concerning the new dogma of future probation. He quotes from the Targums, Josephus, Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Tertullian, Origen, Lactantius, and also from the Scriptures, without which human opinion is valueless, to show that punishment, as taught by the Scriptures, was considered eternal, and that no other view obtained in those days except in isolated cases, and then such view was held as a speculation and not as a truth. Origen, as all know, was on both sides, and should be ruled out of the discussion. The weight of testimony, commencing three hundred years before Christ and coming down to our day, is against the heretical notion of another probation. The author deals valiantly with the heathen ques

tion, showing the possibility of the salvation of the unevangelized heathen, and establishing his conclusion on the Scriptures. He annihilates the doctrines of annihilation, soul-sleeping, and prayer for the dead, and confirms the orthodox doctrine of one probation by arguments, quotations, and scriptural teaching with such force that the reader of the book will not be tempted to plow with the new theology.

The People's Bible. Discourses upon Holy Scripture. By JOSEPH PARKER, D.D., London. Volume IX, O. T. Series. 1 Chronicles x-2 Chronicles xx. 8vo, pp. 364. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 18 and 20 Astor Place. Price, cloth, $1 50.

Like its companions, this volume is rather homiletical than exegetical, and, therefore, refreshing, spiritually nutritious, and intellectually suggestive. Dr. Parker is not a critical expositor; he rarely indulges in close investigation of textual harmonies and difficulties, but is transparent in his appreciation of the evident and inner beauty of the Scripture under consideration. He has not the assumption, solidity, and scholarship of a commentator, but the imagination, perception, and inferential spirit of a holy preacher. Without employing the canons of the mystics, he is a firstclass allegorizer; sometimes reading explanations, suppositions, and theories into the sacred word that are not there ab initio, and sometimes extracting honey from deeply hidden cells that other explorers have not found. These tendencies are quite manifest in his treatment of "Divine Interposition," and "Whose is the Battle?" and usually operative in his studies of Old Testament history. When completed the author will have furnished many volumes of rare excellence, some of them phenomenal for the hermeneutical richness of their contents, and others healthfully inspiring for the Christian reader.

Probation and Punishment. A Rational and Scriptural Exposition of the Doctrine of the Future Punishment of the Wicked, as Held by the Great Body of Christian Believers of all Ages, with Special Reference to the Unscriptural Doctrine of a Second Probation. By Rev. S. M. VERNON, D.D., Author of Amusements in the Light of Reason; History and Revelation, etc. 12mo, pp. 300. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company.

Controversial from the opening, the book addresses itself to the orthodox sense of Christendom touching the fate of the incorrigible, and is a powerful antidote for the poison of second probationism that threatens the peace of the Church. Regarding hell as the offspring of the love of God and the government of God, the author proceeds along scriptural lines to show its nature and extent, concluding finally upon its endless duration by arguments that have not been answered. In the handling of the Scripture passages used in defense of the new heresy of probation after death he is resolute, scholarly, and conclusive. His positions are the expression not only of conviction, which in matters of doctrine is not a sufficient test of their truthfulness, but also of profound insight of the scriptural sense, and of almost easy and incontrovertible argument from it. Firm and decisive, he is not a partisan; eager to announce the truth, he does not resort to strategy or finesse in supporting it; studying Canon