itself the seeds of inevitable decay; and that decay has come through its own inherent weakness more than as the result of those strokes inflicted on it by its adversaries. Nay, strange to say, the finishing blow has been given by its own hand. Not Schenkel, not Renan, not Ewald, not the revival of Rationalism nor the reaction of orthodoxy, has put the last touch on the demolition of the system; it has come from Strauss himself-from the hand of him who gave it birth, and who has latterly been its almost exclusive representative. The mythical theory has ended its days by suicide, and has given up in despair those conclusions and standpoints which at one time it regarded as the very elements of truth."

VOICES OF THE Prophets.*—The Warburton Foundation provides for lectures "to prove the truth of revealed religion . . from the completion of the prophecies in the Old and New Testament, which relate to the Christian Church, especially to the apostasy of Papal Rome." These lectures make no reference to this "Apostasy." The argument of the lectures is intended to draw out some of the internal evidences of Revelation, by comparing the personal character, times, and circumstances of the prophets with the nature of the special truths revealed to them. In the two first lectures the author meets the common objections against the possibility of the miraculous intervention implied in prophecy. In the third he gives a rapid sketch of the rise and progress of Hebrew prophecy, showing how it was from the earliest times intertwined with the national life and influential on it. In the fourth, he distinguishes true prophecy, which is the fruit of a living union between the Divine Spirit and the spirit of man, from unconscious prophecy, like that of Caiaphas. In the fifth and sixth, he argues that prophecy, so far as it involves a preparation to receive revelation from God both in the prophet and the people, is a natural outgrowth of germs already existing in the primitive religion of the patriarchs and preserved in the first chapters of Genesis. In the remaining six lectures he traces

* Voices of the Prophets. Twelve lectures preached in the chapel of Lincoln's Inn in the years 1870-1874, on the Foundation of Bishop Warburton. By EDWIN HAMILTOn Gifford, D.D., formerly Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, and Head Master of King Edward's School, Birmingham; Rector of Walgrave, Honorary Canon of Worcester, Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of London. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. 1874. Crown 8vo, pp. xxiv, and 264. New York: Scribner, Welford, & Armstrong. Price $2.50.

the growth of Messianic prophecy from the promise in God's Covenant with Abraham onward to its more complete expression by Isaiah.

The lectures are reverent in spirit and evangelical in sentiment; they mark out an interesting and important course of thought; but there is little vigor in the treatment of the subjects, and the thought is deficient in freshness, suggestiveness, and power of quickening.

OEHLER'S THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Vol. I.*Prof. Oehler, in his Prolegomena to the Theology of the Old Testament, published many years before his death, announced his intention to publish a Manual of Old Testament Theology. He did not accomplish his purpose, although detached portions of the theology were published, mainly in Herzog's Realencyklopädie. The work before us is posthumous, prepared by his son, Hermann Oehler, librarian to the Evangelical Seminary at Tübingen. The basis of the work is the course of lectures delivered and revised from 1839 to 1871, which had gained during that long time a thoroughness and depth making it worthy of publication. In these lectures the text of the principal paragraphs was fully written. The further elucidation of these, which the professor was accustomed to make extemporaneously, has been obtained from his own notes, from note-books of his students, and from his published articles; so that the work exhibits few of the defects of a posthumous publication, and appears to be a complete and trustworthy presentation of the professor's course of thought. In this volume, after an elaborate introductory essay on biblical theology in general and the theology of the Old Testament in particular, the subject of MOSAISM is discussed. The first section treats of the history of revelation from the Creation to the settlement of the Covenant people in the Holy Land. The second section treats of the doctrines and observances of Mosaism. Here the author presents, first, the Mosaic doctrine of God and his relation to the world; secondly, the doctrine of man; and, thirdly, the Covenant of God with Israel, and the Theocracy. The work has the characteristics of the best German scholarship, and will be

*Theology of the Old Testament. Ordinarius of Theology in Tübingen. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. 1874. 8vo, pp. xii and 428. Price $3.00.

By Dr. GUST. R. OEHLER, late Professor Volume I. Translated by ELLEN D. SMITH. New York: Scribner, Welford, & Armstrong.

of great value to all thorough students of the Old Testament. The first volume in the original contains the entire discussion of Mosaism. In the translation about one-fourth part of the Theology of Mosaism is reserved for the second volume. The translation, with some stiffness and occasional, infelicities, is on the whole very readable.

CHRIST AND OTHER MASTERS. -This work is designed to show the true position of Christianity in relation to other religions. This it does, not by loose talk about the fine sentiments in other religions, but by a careful investigation of those religions in a rigorously historical method. The religions considered are the following that under the Old Testament; the Religions of India, including Vedaism, Brahmanism, and schools of philosophy, including Buddhism; the Religions of China, Confucianism, Taoism, and Fo-ism or Chinese Buddhism; the Religions of the American aborigines; the Religions of Oceanica; the Religion of Egypt; and the Religions of the Medo-Persians. He also traces the alleged coincidences of these religions with revealed religion and their contrasts with the same. The work has attained an established reputation for thoroughness in plan and execution, and for scholarly excellence. We are glad to see it in its third edition. Prefixed is a brief biographical notice of its accomplished author, whose untimely death, occasioned by a fall in the Pyrenees at the age of thirty-eight, was a loss to Christian scholarship greatly lamented.

THE SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT.-The author proposes to treat the subject not dogmatically, but inductively;

* Christ and other Masters; an historical Inquiry into some of the chief parallelisms and contrasts between Christianity and the religious systems of the ancient world, with special reference to prevailing difficulties and objections. By CHARLES HARDWICK, M.A., late Archdeacon of Ely, and Christian Advocate of the University of Cambridge. Third edition, edited by Francis Proctor, Vicar of Witton, &c. แ Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage." 2 Kings, v, 12. London: Macmillan & Co. 1874. Crown 8vo, pp. xviii, and 592.

The Doctrine of Holy Scripture respecting the Atonement. By THOMAS J. CRAWFORD, D.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of Divinity in the University of Edinburgh; author of "The Fatherhood of God," "The Mysteries of Christianity," &c. Second edition. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London. Scribner, Welford, & Armstrong, New York. 1875. 8vo, pp. x, and 538. Price $4.50.

deferring all theories and assumptions, he begins with an examination and comparison of the representations of the work of Christ in the Scriptures, and from these collects the elements of the doctrine. In Part I (pp. 3-202) he examines the doctrine of the New Testament. As the result of this examination he reaches the following conclusions: Christ is the divinely-appointed Saviour and Mediator; his sufferings were an expiatory sacrifice for sinful men; they were vicarious; by his obedience unto death he has secured our reconciliation to God; he is the Redeemer of his people, his blood being the ransom by which their deliverance is secured; his sufferings and death are a satisfaction for sin, or a satisfaction to divine justice (although this has no affinity to the "satisfaction" which a vindictive man may demand for an injury or indignity); our sins were imputed to Christ, in the sense that he was made liable to endure their penalties, without any transference to Him of their moral turpitude or culpability; his sufferings were penal in their character, that is, were judicially inflicted in the execution of a law which denounced punishment on the sins of men; the atonement originated in God's love, and is the consequence, not the cause of God's willingness to save sinners; the mediatorial work and sufferings of Christ were intended not only to obtain for us redemption from the guilt and penal consequences of sin, but also to secure our personal sanctification; the Scriptures teach the efficacy and completeness of the mediatorial work, not merely as removing obstacles or affording facilities in the way of our being saved, or as making salvation attainable on certain conditions, but also as providing that these conditions shall be fulfilled, securing not only a possible salvation, but an actual salvation "to all those for whom Christ hath purchased redemption;" the Saviour and the benefits of his atonement are freely offered to all sinners, so that the atonement is sufficient for all, suitable for all, and pressed on the acceptance of all.

In Part II (pp. 203-284) he examines the Old Testament and finds its teachings on the subject corroborative of the teachings of the New Testament.

In Part III (pp. 285-401) he examines thirteen different theories of Christ's work, varying more or less from his own; among which are the Governmental theory, and the peculiar views of Maurice, Alford, Campbell, Robertson, Young, and Bushnell.

Of these theories he remarks that almost all of them contain a portion of truth; that the portion of truth which they express has

been unhappily neglected or overlooked by defenders of the Catholic doctrine; that whatever truth they contain is not in the least degree inconsistent with the Catholic doctrine, but may be maintained in the fullest extent along with it; and that whatever truth they contain is incapable of being maintained, either on reasonable or scriptural grounds, apart from the Catholic doctrine of the atonement.

Part IV (pp. 403-489) is devoted to answers to objections.

The remainder (pp. 443-530) is an appendix containing excursus on various related questions. There are also a full table of contents, an index of subjects and authors, and an index of

texts.

The work is not written in the spirit of a partizan or controversialist, but is kindly and candid in tone. Whatever exceptions may be taken to particular points in the author's conclusions, the work as a whole must be valued for the ability and thoroughness of the investigation, and for the fulness of the presentation of the subject.

THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST ON EARTH.*-This is a noble argument that grows as it goes, expanding, like an abounding river, into broader and broader stretches of thought. It was evidently inspired by the spirituality, grandeur, and unlimited comprehensiveness of the theme. The Kingdom of Christ-how great a theme for the contemplation of a pure and philosophic mind! The idea of Christ's kingdom on earth, in itself and in its history, is shown to be from God. It is ever in essential antagonism with the kingdom of evil. The nature of Christian virtue, comprehending but rising above the idea of duty in its free spirit; the divine agency in redemption, and the spiritual, organic outgrowth of the Church; the human agency involved in the advancing of Christ's kingdom; the correlated qualities of Christ's sacrifice and the Christian law of self-sacrifice; the progress of Christ's kingdom in its relation to civilization; the scriptural doctrine of the triumph of Christ's kingdom as distinguished from Millenarianism; the relations of Christ to the spirit of the present age. these great topics are treated with patient thought, a wide

* The Kingdom of Christ on Earth: Twelve lectures delivered before the students of the Theological Seminary, Andover. By SAMUEL HARRIS, Dwight Professor of Systematic Theology in Yale College. Published by request of the students. Andover: published by Warren F. Draper, Main street. 1874.