special obligation to verify the references. Fortunately he is able to console himself by cultivating acquaintance with a more genial class of writings, to which this book belongs. And it is to the representative divines of the Church of England-men like Hooker and Butler and Paley-that one looks for classic examples of that right temper and attitude of mind which Professor Kirkpatrick desires to propagate with respect to Old Testament questions. That we are "in no sort judges beforehand" of what form a revelation should take, but have to investigate patiently the features of a revelation that is given, is a sentence which contains the charter of believing criticism, if believing criticism there is to be. This is the ground taken by Professor Kirkpatrick in the volume before us, and it would be difficult to find anywhere an abler, more lucid, or more persuasive statement of the case for criticism than we have here. It ought to be a matter of thankfulness to all lovers of the Bible that in this country the lead in Old Testament scholarship is as yet in the hands of men who not only themselves believe in revelation, but who labour to heal the breach that threatens to open between the religious and the scientific use of the Scriptures. Their task will not be an easy one, for it is vain to deny that to many men the acceptance of the critical position carries with it grave questions, at once too numerous and too personal to be removed by any general discussion of the issues involved. Yet, as Mr. Kirkpatrick well points out, the difficulties of the reconciliation are unduly exaggerated. People sometimes talk as if belief in the inspiration of the Old Testament had been the simplest matter in the world until critics arose to disturb the faith of the Church. In point of fact, the inspiration of the Old Testament has always been held in the face of objections which some have felt to be formidable; and although the new difficulties are different in kind from the old, it is premature to assert that they are insuperable. The real hardship of the present situation may be found to lie in the transition from one view of the Bible to another, and in the surrender of cherished ideas which early association leads us to identify with its claim to be Divine. One may well wish, in the interests of religion, that those days of transition should be shortened. If any human effort can shorten them, it will be the outspoken utterances of men who, like the writer of this book, combine a believing attitude towards the Scriptures with a clear outlook on all that has been accomplished in the domain of criticism.

Of the five lectures contained in this volume, the first three are historical, and deal with the origin and preservation of the Old Testament. The treatment of these matters is thoroughly, and in the best sense, popular; but it conceals much learning. The thing that will tell most, next to the statement of indisputable matters of fact, is, perhaps, the unobtrusive assertion by the author of positions which he has won for himself through study of the Old Testament. The religious public is not greatly helped by discussions of the abstract rights of criticism. It cares less for methods than for results; and, moreover, it has a shrewd suspicion that if the critics are allowed to sharpen a sabre they will not use it merely to cut bread and butter. Professor Kirkpatrick shows that even a believing critic does not bear the sword in vain. His opinions are moderate, but they are critical; and on all the burning questions that agitate the Churches, such as the unity of Isaiah and the authorship of the Pentateuch, he will be found amongst those who have broken with tradition. The fourth lecture, on the Inspiration of the Old Testament, is a forcible presentation of a view which is not new, but which will probably commend itself increasingly to thoughtful minds. Professor Kirkpatrick holds that no formulated theory of Inspiration is possible; but he finds that the canon approves itself as a providential selection, and for evidence

of its inspiration he relies mainly on the unity and self-consistency of the historical revelation on the one hand, and the response of the soul to its message on the other. The last lecture, on the Permanent Value of the Old Testament, is, perhaps, the most seasonable of all. It is a protest and warning against the tendency to neglect the Old Testament, and, at the same time, an admonition to those who fear that if critical views should come to prevail, the Bible will no longer be fit for general use.

To special students of the Old Testament the most interesting part of the volume will be the short note at the end, where the author joins issue with Professor Cheyne as to the origin of the Psalter. No one will be surprised that Professor Kirkpatrick declares himself "unconvinced" by the ingenious but too subjective arguments of his distinguished fellow-worker in Oxford. As expressing the judgment of an expert, Professor Kirkpatrick's remarks will carry weight; and he has certainly laid his finger on some of the weakest parts of Cheyne's book. We doubt, however, if it was wise to touch on so intricate a problem in the appendix to a popular work. We note, for one thing, that the Psalms which may be most plausibly regarded as Maccabæan (xliv., lxxiv., lxxix.) are not even referred to.

J. SKINNER, M.A.

THE LAW IN THE PROPHETS. By the REV. STANLEY LEATHES, D.D. ("The Bible Students' Library," No. 2.) Eyre & Spottiswoode, London. 1891. The Law in the Prophets, which forms a companion volume to Canon Girdlestone's recently issued Foundations of the Bible, owes its existence, in part at least, to a request of the late Canon Liddon, that Dr. Leathes would write a book, "putting the Law back into the chronological and authoritative place from which the new criticism would depose it, and so incidentally reasserting in the main the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch." The special object of the work is sufficiently indicated by this extract from the Canon's letter, quoted in the preface; some further remarks of the author, however, are calculated to raise a suspicion in the reader's mind as to whether Dr. Leathes approaches his task in the calm and judicial spirit which investigations of this kind demand. "In view of much that passes for criticism in the present day," he says, in the penultimate paragraph of the preface, "one is tempted to exclaim with Laurence Sterne: 'Grant me patience, just Heaven! Of all the cants which are canted in this canting world, though the cant of hypocrites may be the worst, the cant of criticism is the most tormenting.'"

Our author's plan is a simple one, much too simple, in my opinion, for the complex problem which he seeks to solve. Taking the prophets in the order in which they stand in our English Bible (Daniel, therefore, included), Dr Leathes goes through each book, chapter by chapter, noting in full the words and phrases which, in his opinion, constitute unambiguous and undeniable evidence, that the writers were acquainted with the Pentateuch as we now have it, the corresponding passages of which are printed alongside, with, when necessary, a word of explanation or comment. Now, it is unquestionably most desirable that at this particular crisis_ the traditional view of the Old Testament, and especially of the Pentateuch, should be represented by an approved champion, but in the interest of the cause to be defended we have a right to demand that its champion's weapons shall be of the best, and his mode of attack fair, straightforward, and scientific. Dr. Leathes unfortunately does not approve himself in either respect as the ideal champion.

In the first place, his chosen weapon is defective in the extreme. In the absence of express marks of quotation, it is next to impossible to decide to which of two

NO. I.-VOL. I.-THE THINKER.

D

authors, whose dates are otherwise undetermined, in any given case the priority belongs. The critic says A quotes from B, his opponent maintains the reverse; and who shall decide between them? It is now fully admitted that in discussions as to the dates of all but a very few of the Old Testament books, linguistic evidence of this nature must occupy a subordinate place.

In the second place, Dr. Leathes has elected to conduct his defence of the Mosaic authorship on an utterly unscientific plan. If the critics are ever to be vanquished, they must be met on their own ground. If a New Testament scholar of advanced critical views questions the legitimacy of the three orders, it is surely "beating the air" to try to convert him by an appeal to the Pastoral Epistles. The same holds good of the Old Testament critics. Dr. Leathes can scarcely expect them to listen to a man who persists in ignoring in toto the results of the critical study of the Old Testament for the last hundred and fifty years, for our author's standpoint is essentially that of the synagogue and the medieval church. He would, I am convinced, have vastly increased his chances of a patient hearing on the part of the critical students for whom he cherishes such a thorough contempt, had he expressed his willingness to accept provisionally their analysis of the Pentateuch and the dates assigned by some well-known scholar, say Professor Kuenen or Canon Driver, to the various documents. He could then have set himself to prove-not, however, by his present unsifted collection of hundreds of more or less relevant passages, but by means of a comparatively few carefully selected instances-first, that the admittedly earlier prophets - Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah (in his genuine chapters) were familiar with (a) Deuteronomy (D), and (b) the Priests' Code (P). In this examination the greatest care would have to be taken to prove that the similarity of thought or expression under discussion was such as could not be accounted for, either by an acquaintance with those parts of the Pentateuch (JE) which all critics admit to be older than the oldest literary prophet, or by familiarity with the mass of unwritten popular tradition. A second chapter might have dealt in the same way with the later pre-Exilic or Exilic prophets (including Second Isaiah), showing that certain phenomena in these books are inexplicable save on the hypothesis of an acquaintance with P. Assuming that Dr. Leathes succeeded in defeating the critics on their own ground, he would then be entitled to lay aside the limitations which he had provisionally imposed upon himself, and to smite them hip and thigh from the vantage ground of his own, the traditional, position. Whether Dr. Leathes would have succeeded is another question. It is rather ominous that the most formidable living opponent of the Wellhausen school of critics on their own ground-my revered teacher, Professor Dillmann of Berlinis compelled to admit that "passages to prove a considerable circulation and use (of the Priestly Code) in prophetic circles are non-existent." Certain it is that the entire absence of scientific method in The Law in the Prophets renders the book almost worthless as a weapon of defence against the spread of critical views of the Old Testament.

The collection of parallel passages to which I have referred extends to about twothirds of the whole work, the remaining third being devoted to "Remarks on the foregoing Evidence," arranged under twelve sections. Here we find a very one-sided account of "The Wellhausen Theory of the Pentateuch," and of its " consequences" and "difficulties," in which its supporters are charged, with wearying iteration, of attributing" deliberate and wilful forgery," "imposture and deception," &c., to the sacred writers. The opening paragraph of the closing section may be quoted as a sufficient indication at once of the author's standpoint and of his impartiality!

There are certain ruling principles which characterize modern critical theology. 1. A rooted dislike of miracle. 2. An inherent objection to prophecy. 3. A disbelief in revelation." Because, forsooth, the younger generation of Old Testament students cannot see that Moses could have described himself as the meekest of men, or spoken of the plains of Moab as being beyond Jordan (Deut. i. 1), they are, therefore, of those who deny our Lord's resurrection and divinity, and scoff at the very idea of a Divine revelation. By no stretch of charity, I venture to think, can this be called argument, and when one reads on every other page of the "hypothetical bubbleblowing of critics," of their "arbitrary and unscrupulous ways," of their "subjective fancies" and "à priori principles," one begins to realize that literary courtesy and critical conservatism do not necessarily go hand in hand.

A. R. S. KENNEDY, B.D.

CORN ON THE MOUNTAINS. SERMONS by the REV. JOHN ROBERTSON, The Gorbals Tabernacle, Glasgow. J. Nisbet & Co.

In his preface the author assures us these sermons were severely criticized by his Presbytery, and by the newspapers, when they were "monthly flung about the country in penny pamphlet form." We are more surprised to learn that "each one of them the Holy Ghost has graciously vouchsafed to seal with His approval in the salvation of sinners." Part of the explanation is in 1 Cor. i. 21, and part in the common experience of the ministry, "One soweth and another reapeth." But these sermons, we fear, will be fruitful in another harvest than that of sinners saved, a harvest of the preacher's own sowing. Our main charge against them is their lack of Christian charity. For example, what can we make of the following ?-"Haven't you heard that the big-wigs and D.D.'s, and those Professors Dodge and Bounce [? Dods and Bruce], who manage so adroitly to eat the bread of the Church, and cut her throat at the same time, have found out inaccuracies and immoralities-hech me!-in the Bible." “The mathematical improbability of real grace in the deathbed cry of terror" is "1,000 to 1." "The Covenant of Judah is stolen, and 300,000 communicants," in the Free Church of Scotland, "are thieving themselves to hell!" Of hell Mr. Robertson speaks freely and frequently, but we mistrust him when we find his knowledge so deficent in matters that are more surely revealed. "Scratch the surface polish of education on the human heart and you'll find a full-grown devil!” A horrible and unscriptural view of human nature, and yet surpassed by some of the writer's thoughts of God. On one page he describes our Father God as wrecking two ships by an awful collision in which all things and men are lost, because the owner of one vessel says My ship." In another place he puts into the mouth of God Prov. i. 24 ff (cf. vers. 20, 21), as uttered against men whom Mr. Robertson chooses to regard in this present life as beyond redemption. And he tells us when men, whom he himself describes as "the poor blind souls" who crucified their Lord, cried "His blood be upon us and our children!"-in spite, we must suppose of the prayer of Jesus, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do "-"the eternal pen scratched and scraped its way along the eternal record, and the angels shuddered as He wrote down that cry, verbatim et literatim." Bad taste and worse divinity, but of this there is plenty. His theological whereabouts will be estimated by such statements as these :-" Hell has been suffered for me by my adorable Substitute." We have been bought, commercially, in part " from the devil," but mainly from "the grip of the offended justice of the Holy God." "Sinless sin." "Show me one real error in this blessed theopneustic God-breathed book and I'll fling it this moment in the fire, and go back to farming." A piece of advice the preacher gives to his hearers he

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is himself inclined to follow: "Lay the Westminster Confession most respectfully and reverentially on the theological shelf in the minister's library," and betake yourselves to "a whoop and a yell," all that there's time for "in this day of battle." After this, of course, we expect coarseness and vulgarity of expression, yet we are astonished at the irreverence that can speak of the Lord Jesus as the guaranteed concrete of the Blessed Firm of the Heavenly Trinity," and of Christian men as "the chums of the Almighty."

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Our author is evidently in earnest, and he has considerable power of imagination and ability to stir the finer human feelings of the roughest men who may chance to hear him (cf. pp. 203, 295); but the Gospel of pity for the sinner, the Gospel of the fifteenth chapter of Luke, might almost, so far as these sermons are concerned, never have been lived and written. The prayer of our old College tutor should be often upon Mr. Robertson's lips, "Give us more tenderness and power "-these graces and in this order. We might also add that the more frequent reading of and preaching from the Gospels would mitigate somewhat his severities. Of the fourteen sermons the book contains the texts of none are drawn from that source, and the references to the Gospel record are few and far between. C. M. HARDY, B.A.

FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST. By the REV. R. W. Dale, LL.D.

Hodder & Stoughton.

London:

ON opening this book hoping to find under such a title a full and Scriptural exposition of this vital fact of Christian life, the reader finds a check on the very title page, which adds, " and other discourses."

The title is one under which Dr. Dale would find abundant material for a book of this size, and certainly it is not a subject to be discussed in one missionary sermon, and then used as ballast to "other discourses." Without depreciating these, it is justifiable to premise that they none of them take the place in interest which chapters of the same length would on the nominal subject of the book. With a lively remembrance of the admirable series of lectures delivered in 1875, connected in plan, and sent forth together with the title The Atonement, we thought we had found a treatise of the same character on the stupendous fact which the Atonement has rendered possible to man. It is to be hoped that Dr. Dale will rather be led by the disappointment evoked, to take up the theme of this volume as the best subject possible for his study, than be deterred by the fact that he has already used up the title.

The very sermon which discusses the subject suffers from the fault which mars the book. It is wordy and unreal; the author feels that he has chosen too big a subject for the allotted space, and so he talks round it; as if the subject were not of itself sufficient, he touches on "Universalism" and "Eternal Hope," ""Election " and "Grace," with a padding intended to make it a missionary sermon. It is really necessary to protest against this. There is too much hollow unreality in men's thoughts on this most practical subject. Christian men have many of them yet to learn that union with Christ is the all-absorbing factor in life.

Wherever he touches on this subject he makes us feel he dare not let himself go. What is necessary is that his pen should have freedom to go into the very penetralia of the Temple.

From another man or in another volume we might welcome the thirteen other discourses. For example, "Faith and Physical Science" (No. VII.) proves that the claim of Jesus Christ to be the only source of knowledge has been verified by history. Intellectual and moral life have followed Christianitv. Man is superior to nature,