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debated is whether the main stock of it is Jewish or Christian. Völter holds that it is Christian; but he here maintains that xii. 1-10, and xix. 11-xxi. 8, are inconsistent in many respects with the rest of the book, and proposes to see in them the chiliastic Apocalypse of which several Fathers speak as a work of Cerinthus. Dr. Loman follows with a paper on John the Baptist in Josephus and in the Synoptic Gospels,' in which all the data of this complicated problem are acutely examined. It is acknowledged by many that the statements of the Synoptics about the circumstances of the death of John the Baptist cannot be accepted as historical. Herodias was not the wife of Herod's brother Philip, and the scene of the banquet presents numerous impossibilities. Dr. Loman argues from the dates in Josephus that the murder of John can have no connection with the marriage of Herod. The same view is in substance expressed by Holtzmann in the Short Commentary, i. 173.

THEOLOGISCH TIJDSCHRIFT.-The July number has just reached us. It opens with a short paper on Habbakuk by Dr. Oort, who maintains against Stade and Kuenen that the work is by one author. The first verse is an editor's; otherwise there is nothing that cannot be attributed to a writer in the end of the reign of Jehoiakim.-A long paper on Priscillian follows by Dr. Brandt, and then an article by Von Manen on Misunderstanding in the Fourth Gospel.' The instances are gone through in which words are used which are capable of two meanings, and discussion then proceeds by one person taking them in their internal material sense while the other interlocutor is thinking of the spiritual. The discussions are able, but sometimes with some straining of points, as is natural in such an undertaking.

DE GIDS. Diverse Literary Criticism,' two interesting articles (April, May) by Polak, in which Huet and Potgieter, the greatest critics ever produced by Holland, are compared to the disadvantage of the latter. The earlier work of the former, political and theological criticisms, is, however, rather inferior, he only reached his full power when he wrote as a purely literary critic, and may be called the creator of Dutch criticism. The latter has a narrower range, and is often fatally common-place.'French Poetry' (April, June), by A. G. Van Hamel, is a discussion of the subject in general with illustrative quotations. After following the history of the structure of French verse as to rythmic accents and feet, he ends by homologating the dictum of Théodore de Banville La rime est l'unique harmonie des vers français, elle est tout le vers.' He traces the history of rhyme from its adoption from the Latin, notices several peculiarities,

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and concludes with some advice as to how to read French poetry aloud. Recent German Drama' is continued (April) with a review of Gerhard Hauptmann's plays, which are extolled as full of promise, though, as yet, he is too much a disciple of the naturalistic school to be a great artist.-Careful analysis of two plays is given. In this number, after a year, Dr. Pierson continues his Conversations,' in which a Russian girl discusses with a doctor the history of her rather abnormal, moral, and intellectual development.--(May) 'Pretty Mary,' a rather touching story of peasant life, similar to Mrs. Wood's Village Tragedy.'— Sachse continues 'Northmen in Literature,' his last work, as he died of typhus in April. He takes up here Ernst Ahlgren (Mrs. Benedictsson), a Swedish novelist, unhappy in her life, and whose stories are spoilt by a too insistent preaching of her views on marriage. A high position is, however, due to her as a romance writer, and her lesser stories are remarkable for a strong sense of the humorous.-Max Müller as Gifford Lecturer,' by De la Saupage, who commends the lecture, but says that Müller's admirable literary gift covers many defects, his definition of religion, excluding as it does the social element, is one-sided, and it is doubtful if it seizes on what is really characteristic of religion. Tallyrand's Memoirs by the Duc de Broglie,' gives material for a paper by De Beaufort, whose judgment of them, so far as they go, is that they must be used with the utmost caution as sources for history, that they probably have been slightly altered from their original form, but still are most interesting and valuable.—A curious article follows by Eymæl, John Donne's influence on Constantine Huygens,' an influence alleged in some recent magazine articles by Polak and Jorisson to have been great and detrimental. That is denied, and evidence is adduced to prove the contrary.-(June) Dyserinck does for The Arquebuisier's Banquet' of Bart van der Helst, the same service he rendered to Rembrandt's great picture Sortie of the Banning Cock Company,' which two pictures, by the way, are most unhappily again placed together in the new national gallery. The former has suffered equally from mutilation and restorations, so that now it is impossible to realise its pristine beauty. Docked of two-thirds of its height and part of the foreground, the distribution of light on the figures appears now unaccountable and the figures stiffly in line, whereas a glance at an old sketch of the picture by Jacob Cats, 1779, shows the banqueters grouped in a curve under a lofty window, with an ample soft dark background. Photographs of this, and of the picture as it is, are given. Dyserinck had infinite difficulty in finding proofs of the mutilations, but no one reading his article can doubt that he has

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proved his case, and that a tardy justice has been done to Van der Helst, on whose life also much light is thrown by these researches. His great picture, that has been called a necklace of pearls, splendid as a whole as well as in detail, must now be looked upon as a necklace not on a lovely bosom but cramped into a narrow sheath.-The New Antwerp Museum,' by Max Rooses, author of the Antwerp School of Painting. He describes this magnificent new picture-gallery, and takes the reader on a tour through its priceless treasures, but desiderates a better representation of Antwerp art.-Hooijer reviews Tolstoi's comedy, The Fruits of Civilisation,' which is not properly a comedy but rather a bitter satire on modern society, though, unlike the Ibsenite gall, this is tempered with much humour and tender feeling; the pity is that Tolstoi should waste his genius in this way.

DENMARK.

AARBÖGER FOR NORDISK OLDKYNDIGHED OG HISTORIE (Yearbook for Northern Archaeology and History, Vol. 5, part 4, 1890). This part contains much interesting criticism and some vigorous polemic. F. Jónsson objects to Mr. E. Magnusson's conclusions as to the date and place of composition of the Málsháttakvædi: he is inclined to make it Norse, not Icelandic, and as dating from about 1200, agreeing also with Egilsson that it is primarily a love-poem, and not a mere collection of proverbs. -Two articles relating to ecclesiastical history are contributed by Carl Neergaard and G. L. Grove, the former writing on the obscure question as to the date of the foundation of Maribo convent, the latter on the history of King Erik's charter to Næstved. -A very interesting article is Dr. S. Müller's criticism of the opponents of Worsaae's division of the stone age. The author takes as his text Hr. Zinck's Studies on the Stone Age, and discusses the matter point by point in an unsparing manner. The article contains a number of illustrations of flint implements. -Hr. Löffler contributes a few pages in reference to Professor Lange's previous article on Roskilde Cathedral, disagreeing with his views as to its date and mode of construction.-The last article, by Professor Storck, gives additional information on the arched roofs in certain village churches of Jutland, which were noticed by Dr. Müller three years ago.

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE.

Critical Studies in St. Luke's Gospel: Its Demonology and Ebionitism. By COLIN CAMPBELL, B.D. Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood & Sons. 1891.

Whether the reader accepts Mr. Campbell's theories or not, he will certainly admit that he has written a scholarly volume with a lightness and, if we may so say, brightness of touch which in theological writings is rare. Mr. Campbell deserves credit too, for calling attention to what may at least be called two of the apparent characteristics of the third Gospel. There can be no doubt that demonology has a prominent place in that Gospel, but whether the Evangelist had, when writing it, any set purpose in connection with demonology, or intended to work out any such theory as is here maintained is a different question, and one which is not so readily answered. Mr. Campbell has certainly adduced a formidable array of passages to prove that he had; but the non-specialist mind is apt to be sceptical in these matters, and to be haunted by the remembrance that Scripture can be used to prove many things, even the most diverse. But granting that it is possible to construct the theory that the Gospel illustrates the conflict between good and evil or that it bears substantial witness to the doctrines here set forth-and we are far from denying that it does-there is always the question, did the writer sit down with the conscious and deliberate intention of using the incidents connected with the life of our Lord for the purpose of proving or illustrating a theory, or was his object simply to narrate the things he had learned in connection with the most wonderful personality that was ever seen on the earth? St. Luke does indeed say that it has seemed good to him to set in order' etc., and of course betrays a purpose. But what purpose? Virtually to write a treatise on Demonology and Ebionitism? Besides, may not the Ebionitism and Demonology of the book be accidental rather than intentional, or due more to those from whom the Evangelist received the traditions than to any thought of his own? It is not at all improbable, notwithstanding all the passages here adduced, that the Evangelist may have been altogether unconscious of working out any such idea as is here attributed to him, though at the same time we are not disposed to say that he was not. To force one's way back into a writer's mind and say such and such was his purpose or motive is rather a difficult task, more especially when the writer was inspired. How many inspired men have worked at their own conscious and deliberate plans, only to find that they were fulfilling plans which were other than their own. On the other hand, how many who have had no plan, but have simply aimed at doing what came to their hands, have found that all they have done has tended, unknown to them, to the development of a plan. There is something which often works above the will. All the same there is no small value attaching to such work as the one before us, especially when worked out in the clear and skilful manner of which Mr. Campbell is master. They lead to a closer study of the Gospels, to clearer conceptions of their differences and agreements, and to a larger knowledge of their contents. Mr. Campbell's study as we have said, is bright and scholarly; it is also painstaking, thorough, and rich in suggestions. Scholars will welcome it and peruse it with pleasure, even though they may differ from its conclusions,

The Gospel of St. John. By MARCUS DODS, D.D. Vol I. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 1891.

This is the first of two volumes of exegetical discourses on the Fourth Gospel by the Rev. Marcus Dods, whose theological opinions have from time to time caused no little discussion in the Courts of the Free Church of Scotland. Textual questions are avoided, and the chief object of the discourses appears to be the spiritual edification of the reader. Neither is there anything in the shape of a discussion respecting the authorship of the Gospel, The discourses are such as might have been, and probably have been, addressed to popular audiences. Judged in this character they may be said to be full of spiritual and practical lessons. The author confines himself strictly to the text and seldom strays away from it into the region of speculation, and though from time to time he touches the higher points of theology, he rarely does more than periphrase the words before him. His language is bold and vigorous, and now and again a little loose and unguarded. The first discourse is a little confusing. One scarcely knows whether Dr. Dods intends us to read the first thirteen verses of the first chapter of the Gospel as a description of the pre-Incarnation activity of the Eternal Word or as descriptive of the Word of God Incarnate. As to the lessons, however, which Dr. Dods deduces from these verses, there is no dubiety about them. Here, as elsewhere in the volume, they are clear, sensible, and practical. Now and again too he rises into true eloquence, and though there may be nothing particularly fresh about his interpretation, one is often impressed with the beauty of his teaching. The purpose for which the Gospel was written is clearly set out, and a useful analysis of its contents is given.

First Epistle General of St. John: Notes of Lectures to serve as a Popular Commentary. By the Rev. CHARLES WATSON, D.D. Glasgow: James Maclehose and Son. 1891.

The most noticeable features in these lectures are the simplicity of diction and the exegetical skill which are employed on every page. It is rare that a theological work shows such an entire absence of technical terms and current religious phraseology. Dr. Watson has striven to make his discourses popular, and if good, plain, idiomatic English can make a book popular, his ought to be exceedingly so. His interpretations of St. John's language are such as commend themselves, and the lessons he draws are warranted by the text. Aiming at providing a commentary for readers unversed in the original, Dr. Watson has avoided reference to the Greek text, though he himself has apparently written directly from it. Critical points are not formally discussed, but the author shows himself to be acquainted with them. He has succeeded in bringing out the connection between the different sections of the Epistle, and while showing the formal purpose for which the Epistle was written, has followed with the greatest clearness, the very delicate and subtle turns of thought and expression in which the Epistle abounds. Few readers will not be profited by a perusal of the volume. It throws much light upon an Epistle which by reason of the simplicity of its diction, is often difficult to understand or fully appreciate.

The Massoretic Text and the Ancient Versions of the Book of Micah. By JOHN TAYLOR, D. Lit., M.A. London & Edinburgh: Williams & Norgate. 1891.

The efforts to get back to the real text of the books of the Bible are and

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