votion to the salvation of souls, and to devote our Christian labor to the improvement of the temporal condition of men and of society. And that holy city, which is to descend from God out of heaven, for which good men have looked ever since the days of Abraham, is caricatured by a dream of better earthly municipalities and an improved condition of church and state for mortal men; the final outcome of redemption being a kingdom without a king, a kingdom where sin and death will still exist and funeral trains will pass over streets of gold, as "men die and go to heaven" from the New Jerusalem, where, as we had fondly thought, death is to be no more and the overcoming believer is to go no more out forever.

It is evident that a great defection from the faith is in the air, which, if unchecked, will bring on an apostasy worse than that of Rome. Whether after a time the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against the enemy, or whether these are the "perilous times" so solemnly foretold in the New Testament, and we now see "the beginning of the end," it is impossible to say. But, beyond all doubt, worldliness and error are coming in like a flood, and in the same proportion the hope of a union of professed Christians in the truth. is receding before our eyes like the mocking mirage of the desert.

It may be that in days to come the question discussed in this article will cease to be of interest to the mass of nominal Christians. Indeed, of what consequence is it with whom men commune, or whether they commune at all, if every thing that makes the communion significant and precious is abandoned? It is of little use to guard the casket after the resplendent and priceless jewel is gone.

Be this as it may, and whatever may be the future of my own or any other denomination, in one thing I am serenely confident, the foundation of God stands fast, having this seal: The Lord knows those that are his. He will have a faithful people to the end, even if it be a little flock. And the greater

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the defection from the faith, the more separate must this people be, and the more emphatic their testimony to the truth. The greater the prevalence of error, and the more complete the perversion of Christianity, the more certain and necessary must it be that restricted communion shall remain, as a witness to the truth, until the Lord come.

Then restricted communion, like everything else that is "in part," will be done away. The church will embrace all the regenerate, purified from sin and error, beyond the possibility of misunderstanding or separation. It will be perfected, glorified, enthroned. For now we see as in a mirror, obscurely, but then face to face. Now we know in part, but then shall we know fully, even as we are fully known.

ARTICLE VI.

PRESIDENT HARPER'S LECTURES.

BY HOWARD OSGOOD.

PRESIDENT HARPER, of the Chicago University, delivered in Chicago, during the winter of 1894, a series of lectures on the earlier chapters of Genesis. They aroused a great deal of interest and some severe comments. These lectures have now been published in the issues in 1894 of the Biblical World, of which President Harper is the editor. They fill between 130 and 140 pages of the periodical, and are easily accessible to all who have an interest in learning his views on a very important part of the Bible.

By great natural abilities, indefatigable labor, and his unfailing geniality, President Harper has reached a high position among the educators of America. He has done a great

work in arousing an interest in Semitic studies by his enthusiasm and power in teaching, and has won to his following large numbers of bright young men who have come within his influence. He stands at the head of the chief seat of learning in one of the greatest centres of the life and wealth of our land. In the boundless labor of directing and building up that new and promising university, he ought to have the sympathy and aid of all who believe in the higher education. The large generosity which founded and maintains the institution will be supplemented by untiring effort and all the resources of his fertile mind.

The ardor of his youthful professorship has not deserted him in his more mature years. In taking the high office he now fills, he could not consent to lay aside the work of

teaching, but to the work of President, enough for any man, he adds that of professor in the Semitic department. When such a man comes forth to give his thoroughly considered opinion on any subject, both his ability and his position lend all their influence to make that opinion of interest to thinkers; and when the subject on which he speaks is the most important that ever engages the attention of men,-the revelation of God, and man's relation to God,-both position and ability are enhanced by the dignity of the subject.

These lectures are set before the public for its calm. judgment upon them. The appeal is constantly made to the reasonableness of the views maintained. "I have presented you a reasonable view. It is based upon scientific evidence. It has come from an examination of the facts. It covers the facts as does no other hypothesis" (Dec.). This is a call upon hearers and readers to prove that what is said,.is reasonable, based upon scientific evidence, in accordance with and covering all the facts.

No scientific or critical student can logically object to criticism of himself. It is only by free discussion that the truth can be maintained. It is proposed in this article to examine the statements of these lectures only on what is said in them to be fundamental positions, that it may be clearly seen what are their teachings on these points. These lectures are not free from very severe strictures upon Dr. Green by name, and upon others, who do not agree with the views here set forth. If no answer is made, many may think that no answer can be made. But while criticism is exercised upon these lectures, there is not the first spark of heresy hunting. Sooner or later, only a fair, impartial, large decision will be accepted in matters of supreme moment. We . are to consider the opinions, and not the man. If there is any special pleading, any misjudgment of a passage or the context or the thought, it is not intentional, and will be withdrawn when pointed out. It ought to be, and it is, pos

sible to discuss the very foundations of faith without heat or 'malice.

These lectures follow the chapters (Gen. i.-xii.) in order, and comment upon special points as they occur in the text. The statements on what is said in them to be fundamental are scattered through the twelve discourses. To gain a clear view of the teaching on these fundamental questions, we must bring together the scattered statements.

GEN. I.-XII.-FUNDAMENTAL TO THE OLD AND NEW

TESTAMENTS.

In summing up in the November lecture the previous discussion, it is said, "No one will deny the intimate relationship of these chapters with the remainder of the Pentateuch or Hexateuch. This relationship is not only literary but logical. . . . It is not the character of the earlier stories of Genesis that is in debate, but that of the entire Hexateuch. . . . This same line of argument applies also to the Old Testament as compared with the New. As has been said so many times, the two are inseparable; they are bound together by ties which may not be broken. . . . The material of Gen. i.-xii. is preparatory and fundamental to the whole plan of salvation as revealed by God in the Old and New Testaments." "It is only necessary to note that the plan which runs through the entire Bible would have no beginning, and would be utterly inexplicable without these earliest steps. . . . One need only to make the effort to conceive this plan without the earlier portion of it to understand how impossible is such a conception." We very fully agree with these statements.

THE DATES OF THE TEXT AND THE WRITERS.

None of the present text of the Old Testament, it is said, goes farther back than 950 B. C. (Mar.), for literary production was not possible in Israel until "the times following