written! We respectfully suggest that some of the (late) New School brethren of the Presbyterian Church, in the city of New York or elsewhere, might show a tender regard for their (late) Old School brethren of the same Church, and, at the same time, might give them an appropriate and a useful token of their newborn affection, by presenting or even lending to the Library of Princeton Seminary a few of the Commentaries which have been published within the last generation. The opportunity of examining them-even for a short time-might help the exegetical studies of the Princeton gentlemen in no small degree, and might, in this way, do something towards rendering permanent the union of the two branches of that Church. We think we might ourselves be induced to present a copy of Meyer's work of as late a date as that indicated above.

FOLSOM'S TRANSLATION OF THE GOSPEL.*-This volume is dedicated, first of all, to the author's former colleagues and pupils of the Meadville Theological School; then, to Christian disciples of every denomination; and, finally, to all who seek to know the truth and do the will of God. The reader who examines its pages will see that it is prepared from the standpoint of those who hold the sentiments of that Theological School, and that it endeavors to make all other seekers after the truth accept the same views. This endeavor is manifest in the translation, so far as the possibilities of the case allow, but in the notes, though they are brief, it is still more evident. We do not believe, however, that Christian disciples of other denominations, or those among them who honestly and earnestly study the Scriptures, will be convinced by the author's arguments, or that they will accept his interpretations, in those cases in which the teachings of Meadville are made the teachings of the Gospels. When Jesus says, for example, "Glorify thou me, Father, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was," men in general, who investigate the meaning of his words, will not understand him as saying "with the glory which I possessed in the divine purpose." They will not turn the words, "Before Abraham was [came into being] I am," into a declaration that Jesus was merely ordained of God to be

*The Four Gospels; Translated from the Greek Text of Tischendorf, with the various readings of Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Meyer, Alford, and others; and with Critical and Explanatory Notes. By NATHANIEL S. FOLSOM. Boston: A. Williams & Co. 1869. 12mo. pp. 476.

the Messiah before the birth of Abraham. Nor will they regard the exclamation of Thomas, in the twentieth chapter of John's Gospel, as being anything less than an expression of his belief that his Lord and Master was divine. We have no space or desire to enter upon the discussion of these or similar passages here, but we are persuaded that the advocates of these views can never impress their truth upon scholarly men who have not been educated in their own doctrines. And we have never yet seen any explanation or suggestion urged in support of these views, which, to our apprehension, did not manifestly fail to meet the demands of the passages in question or of the context in the midst of which they stand. On the word alúvios, in Matt. xxv., 46, the author says, "This word is used so often in the Scriptures to denote indefinite length of duration, that it seems presumptuous to affirm positively that any more was in the Master's thought here. The 'punishment' will last as long as the sin shall last; and the life,' too, will last as long, and only as long, as the character on which it depends shall last." On Mark ix., 44 ff., in connection with the words "unquenchable fire" and "hell," he says, "In quoting the greatest of the prophets who preceded him, Jesus spoke more nearly, if he did not speak exactly, in accordance with that prophet's thought (Is. lxvi., 24). It is questionable, even, if he meant chiefly the fires of remorse, real and terrible as these are. But he may have meant particularly those consequences of sin which, springing from the sources here alluded to in Mark, are a public warning to all who are tempted in like manner. Such a hell as we see men fall into in this life is often both fearful and fiery." These citations will indicate his opinions and method of interpretation in connection with the subject of future punishment. Of the Temptation he says, "Having separated from the narration those parts which are incidental [i. e., the forty days duration of the fasting, the Tempter in a personal form, &c.], the principal fact remains, that Jesus had tempting thoughts under the circumstances of place (though it is possible he went from place to place in thought only), and with the deprivations and exposures mentioned as occurring in the Desert, and that he triumphed over those thoughts, without incurring the charge or receiving the taint of sin." "The occurrence of such tempting thoughts to a pure mind," he adds, "may be accounted for, without supposing that they originated there. If the tempting thought simply tests the subject of it, and shows that one is incapable of

harboring and executing it, it is an adequate temptation, and he is sinless in it." The narrative is not, thus, to be understood literally in all its details; and, on the other hand, it is not "a parable misunderstood by the disciples and afterward confounded by them with Jesus' personal experience," but an account of thoughts which actually entered the mind of Christ under the influence of the circumstances in which he was placed. In respect to the great question concerning the time of the Last Supper, the author thinks that John's account may be reconciled with that of the Synoptics. In respect to the examinations of Jesus, he seems inclined to favor the view that there were two-that referred to in John being before Annas, and that mentioned in the earlier gospels being before Caiaphas. "This is the more plausible," he says, "if we may assume Annas to have had an apartment in the same house with Caiaphas, to which there was one court or yard where the denials of Peter took place." Some writers regard this last supposition as quite beyond the region of probability, but we are unable to see why it is necessarily so. We have quoted enough, perhaps, to excite interest in an examination of the volume. It has merits, and its author will doubtless find numbers of readers in his own section of the Church who will accept all his conclusions; while, outside of that circle, it will meet, as we believe, a scholarly consideration of its views and a just appreciation of what is good in it.

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES.*-We are glad to see the complete work of Hagenbach presented to English readers in their own language. A partial translation has before been printed from another hand. The difficulty with all abridgments is that the reader cannot be certain that the best things are not left out. This is one objection, but others of equal weight might readily be stated. The volumes before us contain the best account which we know of, of the progress of theology, literature, and culture in Germany for the last century and a half; the best account, that is, for cultivated readers, whether clerical or lay. Hagenbach is evangelical without being narrow, and he writes, in these lectures, without the stiff

* History of the Church in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. By K. R. HAGENBACH, D. D., Professor of Theology in the University of Basle. Translated with additions, &c. By JOHN F. HURST, D. D. New York: Charles Scribner & Co. 1869.

ness and pedantry which are often characteristic of German treatises of this nature. The translation appears to be substantially correct. That it lacks the force and flavor which belonged, in old times, to English translations from foreign tongues, is a failing which it has in common with most other efforts made, at the present day, in the same line. There is a lack of freedom and idiomatic richness and strength, which make it evident, in every page and almost every sentence, that the book was not written in English.

THE FORMATION OF CHRISTENDOM.*-The first of these volumes, from the pen of a thoughtful English writer of the Roman Catholic Church, describes the effect of Christianity upon the individual, or the moulding influence of the Christian religion in its historical influence upon man, considered as an individual. The second volume takes up the social man, from a similar point of view. Both are parts of a more comprehensive plan which remains to be carried out. There is a good degree of learning, a spirit of moderation and candor, and no inconsiderable degree of philosophical power, in these discussions. Yet they are thoroughly Roman Catholic in their conceptions of the course of civilization and in the theological ideas that underlie them. Occasionally we mark an uncritical acceptance of documents as genuine which are not so: as in Vol. I., p. 340, where the Clementine Epistles on Virginity-spurious productions-are referred to as authentic. The entire work will repay a perusal for those who wish to acquaint themselves with Roman Catholic theories as to the philosophy of history.

COLEMAN ON THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.-The new edition of this carefully-written manual has been revised by the author. The book is a compact, correct, and instructive exposition of the polity of the churches in the Apostolic Age and of the changes resulting in the prelatical system. There are statements occasionally oc

* The Formation of Christendom. Part First and Part Second (Two vols.) By T. W. ALLIES. London: Longman & Co. 1865 and 1869. New York: Catholic Publication Society. 1869.

Government, Informal
Carefully revised and

The Apostolical and Primitive Church, Popular in its in its Worship: A Manual in Prelacy and Ritualism. adapted to these discussions. By LYMAN COLEMAN, D. D., Professor in Lafayette College, &c. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1869.

curring which are open to criticism. For example, on page 159, it is said that the terms bishop and presbyter are used by this ancient father [Irenæus] as perfectly convertible terms. Irenæus calls bishops presbyters, but he does not call presbyters-meaning the second grade of Church officers-bishops. His use of terms shows that the bishop had come to be an officer distinct from and elevated above the presbyters, while he still had essentially the same functions.

THE JESUS OF THE EVANGELISTS.' *This work has been published for a year, but is little known as yet in this country. It is of sufficient merit to entitle it to the attention of the theological public. It is, in some respects, original in its construction of the argument for the truth of the evangelical history. Taking the portraiture of Christ which is presented in the Gospels, it shows that "this portraiture cannot be an ideal or mythical creation." The impossibility of accounting for this portraiture on any other supposition than that of its authenticity, is the proposition which the author ably and successfully defends. The following are the titles of the chapters: I. Introduction; II. The Portraiture of Jesus as it is exhibited in the Gospels; III. The Portraiture of the suffering Jesus of the Evangelists; IV. The union of Holiness and Benevolence in the person of the Jesus of the Gospels; V. The Moral Teaching of the Lord; VI. The Law of our Religious and Moral Development; VII. The Preparations made in the Gentile World for the Advent of Christianity; VIII. The Preparations made by Providence for the Introduction of Christianity through the Development of Judaism; IX. Messianic Conceptions in the Old Testament; X. The Development of Messianic Conceptions between the Prophetic Period and the Advent; XI. The Development of Judaism between the Termination of the Prophetic Period and the Advent; XII. The Portraiture of Christ as it is depicted in the Gospels constitutes an Essential Unity; XIII. The limits which can be assigned to the historical Jesus in the relation of Christianity on the supposition of His purely Human Character; XIV. The Jesus of the Gospels no Mythical Creation; XV. The Moral Aspect of our Lord's Character an Historical

* The Jesus of the Evangelists: His Historical Character Vindicated; or, an Examination of the Internal Evidence for Our Lord's Mission, with reference to Modern Controversy. By the Rev. C. A. Row, M. A., of Pembroke College, Ox ford, &c., &c. London: Williams & Norgate. 1868.