ART. X.-SYNOPSIS OF THE QUARTERLIES AND OTHERS OF THE HIGHER PERIODICALS. American Reviews. AMERICAN CATHOLIC QUARTERLY REVIEW, July, 1884. (Philadelphia.)-1. The Beginnings of Geography; by Prof. Charles G. Haberman, LL.D. 2. The Nature of the Human Soul; by Rev. J. Ming. 3. The Duty of Catholics in the Face of Modern Unbelief; by Rev. R. F. Clarke, S. J. 4. Quid est Homo? A Query on the Plurality of Worlds: by Rev. Thomas Hughes, S. J. 5. The Progress of the (Roman Catholic) Church in the United States; by John Gilmary Shea. 6. The Life and Times of Frederick the Second-The Kingdom of Italy by Prof. St. George Mivart, F.R.S., etc. 7. The Irish Question, Present and Prospective: by Thomas Power O'Connor, M.P. 8. Martin Luther, and his American Worshipers; by Rt. Rev. Mgr. Corcoran, D.D. 9. Book Notices. A. M. E. (African Methodist Episcopal) CHURCH REVIEW, (Quarterly,) Vol. 1, No. 1, July. 1884. (Philadelphia.)—1. Thoughts about the Past, the Present, and the Future of the African M. E. Church; by Right Rev. Daniel A. Payne, D.D. 2. A Scriptural View; or, the Statement Concern ng Paradise that was Lost, Regained; by Right Rev. Jabez P. Campbel, D.D. 3 An Inside View of the Great Methodist Ecumenical Conference of 1881; by Right Rev. Wm. F. Dickinson, D.D 4. The Register of the United States Treasury; by Hon. E. K, Bruce. 5. Lincoln; by Right Rev. T. M. D. Ward, D.D. 6. The Greek of the New Testament; by W. S. Scarborough, LL.D. 7. The Dying Bondman; by Mrs. F. E. W. Harper. 8. Correspondence: Letter from Bishop H. M. Turner, D.D. 9. The Republic of Hayti, and the Revolution of 1876; by Rev. J. II. Durant. 10. The Negro in Science, Art, and Literature; by D. Augustus Straker, LL.B. 11. The Ministry we Need; by the Rev. Wm. II. Thomas. 12. Ripeness in the Gospel Ministry; by Rev. T. G. Steward, D.D. 13. That Text; by the Editor, (Rev, B. T. Tanner, D.D.) 14. Editorial Notes. 15. Our Book Table. 16. The Higher Periodicals. BAPTIST MISSIONARY MAGAZINE, July 1884. Seventieth Anniversary of the American Baptist Missionary Union. Seventieth Annual Meeting of the Board of Managers. Seventieth Annual Report. Recapitulation. General Statistical Table. Report of the Treasurer. Officers of the American Baptist Missionary Union. Preachers at Financial and Annual Meetings. Honorary Members for Life. CHRISTIAN THOUGHT, July and August, 1884. (Rev. Charles F. Deems, Editor. 9. The CHRISTIAN WORLD, July, 1884. The American Church, Paris, (Illustrated;) by Rev. L. T. Chamberlain, D.D. Revolution of Massachusetts General Associa tion. Special Amusements. Echoes from Paris; by Rev. A. F. Beard, D.D. Eden, (a poem ;) by M. Saillins. A Million Fraucs for a Million Souls; by Pastor Frossard. Work among Italiaus in Marseilles; by Signor Piovallini. Testimonies Respecting France. Theological Seminary at Geneva; by Professor Bardi. Protestantism and French Politics. Monthly Receipts. JOURNAL OF CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY, July, 1884 (New York.)-1. Visual Memory; by Professor Henry F. Osborn, Sc. D. 2. Claims of the Apostles as to Inspiration; by Rev. C. S. Thwing. 3. God's Method in the Bible; by D. W. Faunce, D. D. 4. The Fruit of the Spirit; by Rev. W. H. Cobb, D.D. 5. The Physiological Features of the Crucifixion; by Thomas A. Hoyt, D.D. 6. Miracles versus the Continuity of Nature; by Rev. Francis W. Ryder. 7. Is the Bible Free from Historic and Scientific Errors; by Rev. Addison P. Foster. 8. Is Evangelical Christianity Obsolete; by Rev. Charles Lowell Cooper. 9. The Cause and Tendencies of Popular Skepticism; by Rev. William Smith, (Hudson, N. Y.) 10. The Old Testament Tested; by Rev. W. F. Crafts. 11. A Naturalist in Egypt; by Principal John W. Dawson, LL.D. NEW ENGLANDER, (Bimonthly,) September, 1884. (New Haven.)—1. Jonathan Edwards and the Half-way Covenant: by Rev. George Leon Walker. D.D., (Hartford.) 2. Jonathan Edwards as a Man, and the Ministers of the Last Cent ury; by Rev. I. N. Tarbox, D.D., (Boston.) 3. Conditions of Success în Spelling Reform; by Prof. H. N. Day, (New Haven.) 4. Qualities of Matter, as Related to Perception; by Rev. E. Jones, (Oakland, Cal.) 5. The First Church of Hartford, Conn.; by Rev. I. N. Tarbox, (Boston.) 6. The Auti-Christian Use of the Bible in the Sunday-School; by Rev. J. M. Whiton, (Newark. N. J.) 8. The Condition of the Laboring Classes of England; by Rev. C. S. Walker, (South Amherst.) 8. Immortality and Evolution; by Miss Vida D. Sendder, (Magnolia, Mass.) 9. Underground Russia; by Marion Wilcox, (New Haven.) 10. Taxation in the United States. 11. Notices of New Books. NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW, August, 1884. (New York.)-1 The Encroachment of Capital; by Justice James V. Campbell. 2. The Origin of Comets: ly Richard A. Proctor. 3. Are We a Nation of Rascals? by John F. Hume. 4. Man and Brute; by George J. Romanes. 5. The Drift toward Centralization; by Judge Edward G. Loring. 6. The American Element in Fiction: by Julian Hawthorne. 7. Prohibition and Persuasion; by Neal Dow and Dr. Dio Lewis. September, 1884.-1. The Basis of Popular Government; by Bishop J. L. Spaulding. 2. The Demand of the Industrial Spirit; by Charles Dudley Warner. 3. Inspiration and Infallibility; by Rev. Dr. J. H. Rylance. 4. The Need of Liberal Divorce Laws; by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. 5. Our Remote Ancestry; by Prof. Alexander Winchell. 6. The Exclusion of the Chinese; by John II. Durst. 7. Evils of the Tariff System; by David Wells, and others. PRESBYTERIAN REVIEW, July, 1884. (New York.)-1. Rev. Dr. James Richards and his Theology, (II;) by Prof. R. B. Welch, D.D. 2. The Proper Training of Young Converts; by Rev. Francis F. Hamlin. 3. Melanchthon; by Rev. Prof. Schaff. 4. The Religious Belief of Shakespeare. 5. Notes and Notices. 6. Reviews of Recent Theological Literature. QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH, July, 1884. J. W. HINTON, Editor. (Macon, Ga.)-1. Animal and Vegetable Kingdom. 2. The Revival of Letters. 3. Greek Mythology and Philosophy. 4. Experimental Argument, etc. 5. Mormonism. 6. Theological Methods. 7. Mrs. Browning. 8. Incarnation of Christ. 9. The Category of Being. 10. Esthetics. 11. Limits of the Beautiful. 12. Paradox. Library, Table, Views and Reviews. Editorial Notes. UNITARIAN REVIEW AND RELIGIOUS MAGAZINE, July, 1884. (Boston.)1. Where are We in Religion? by Rev. Thomas R. Slicer. 2. The New English Dictionary; by W. C. Ernst. 3. Idealism in German Ethics; by Rev. J. G. Brooks. 4. A Daring Faith; by Rev. John W. Chadwick. 5. Relation of the Church of To-day to Education; by Rev. John H. Allen. 6. Editor's NoteBook. 7. Current Movements and Events. 8. Things at Home and Abroad. 9. Review of Current Literature. August, 1884.-1. Ezra Abbott, D.D., LL.D.; by Prof. James H. Thayer. 2. The Prolegomena to Tischendorf's New Testament; by Rev. A. P. Peabody, D.D. 3. Personality in Theism; by Rev. B. R. Bulkely. 4. Education of Women in France; by D. Charraud. 5. Editor's Note-Book. 6. Current Movements and Events. 7. Things at Home and Abroad; by Mrs. Martha P. Lowe. 8. Review of Current Literature. BIBLIOTHECA SACRA, July, 1884. (Oberlin, Ohio.)-1. Christian Doctrine and Life; by Rev. D. W. Simon, D.D. 2. The Study of the Hebrew Language among Jews and Christians; by the Rev B. Pick. 3. Commonplace Books: a Lecture; by Prof. James Davis Butler, LL.D. 4. Inspiration; with Remarks on the Theory Presented in Ladd's Doctrine of Sacred Scripture; by Rev. Geo. N. Boardman, D.D. 5. The Dialectic Method of Jesus; by Rev. Richard Montague. 6. The True Principles of Theological Progress; by President Fairchild. 7. Critical Notes. 8. Current Periodical Literature American, English. French, German. 9. Notices of Recent Publications. Article 4, filling nearly fifty pages, is an elaborate discussion of the doctrine of the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures as held and taught especially among Protestants, with special references to the system or theory set forth in his recently published work by Professor Ladd, of Yale College. The writer's views are apparently much less "advanced" than are those of the author whom he reviews, though he is still himself very far removed from the literalistic and mechanical theory which so long, and, until comparatively recently, was generally accepted by the evangelical Churches. He begins by setting forth that theory as one of the two prevalent, perhaps possible, views of inspiration, the other being that form of inspiration which operates exclusively through the mind of the subject by which he speaks and writes in his own proper and consciously selfdirected individuality. According to the former of these, the Bible is, in all its details, simply a transcript of the divine mind-God's thoughts expressed in human language-itself dictated by the controlling Spirit. This theory the reviewer quite correctly sets aside as altogether untenable, and no longer sustained by any respectable authority; and yet he appears not to be prepared to accept the alternative one, unless carefully guarded, and, indeed, limited, by such conditions as would change its identity. This latter is the theory of Professor Ladd, as wrought out in his elaborate treatise on "The Doctrine of Sacred Scripture." This method of viewing Scripture doctrines, in and through certain definite theories, is beset with very considerable disadvantages, which may also become perilous by compelling the acceptance of dangerous errors because of their association with indispensable truths. It may be also objected that neither of these theories, nor any other, is either directly, or by impli cation, taught in the Scriptures, which, however, do most certainly claim to have been given by divine inspiration Any possible conception of such a gift implies a communication between the divine and the human intelligence, but the method of the assumed intercourse need not to be always the same. The supernatural is a universal presence in the realm of the natural, and is able at any time to become manifest in men's natural consciousness; and, by virtue of this, "God, at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past by the prophets," and some of the forms in which he so spake will be found to belong to both of the categories included in the above theories. The mode in which God in any case reveals himself and his dispensations is incomparably less important than is the fact that he does it. The word "inspiration" is here, as in many other cases, soused as to lead to a wrong conception of the thing indicated. It seems to be thought of as a force like gravity or magnetism, which may vary in its intensity, and be present in greater or less degrees in different instances; and accordingly some parts of Scripture are absurdly spoken of as being more inspired than others. Inspiration, in respect to its efficiency, is the divine mind communicating thoughts and purposes to the human consciousness, and hence, as to its source, it is unchangeably infinite, but it is conditioned, in its manifestations, "according to the will of God." In some cases, as in the words of Christ, and in not a few utterances of the prophets and apostles, the divine lesson comes to us directly and unmixed, while in others it is mingled with human admixtures, and is presented in a human setting, yet so manifested that the quickened spiritual instincts readily apprehend and appropriate its teachings; and the written word is the record of the divine manifestations of the dispensations of Heaven to mankind, whether in revelations made to persons, or as indicated in the affairs of peoples. and communities. The reviewer with sufficient clearness indicates Professor Ladd's defective notions, but though presumably dissenting, yet his dissent is either left to be inferred, or at most is only hinted, and the views presented are almost never directly antagonized; as if the statement of an incorrect opinion were its sufficient refutation, or else that to oppose the truth to a pernicious error were a breach of courtesy. Professor Ladd states and elaborates the thought that while all spiritual truth comes from God to man, that which is recorded in the Bible differs in no important sense from that which is given to all the faithful at all times, so dispensing with the sole authority of the written word, and, indeed, rendering it, though still useful, yet not essential to the knowledge of God and his salvation; and his statements are here reproduced without being directly. controverted. Again, the distinction between inspiration and revelation is emphasized, shutting up the sense of the former to the subjective state of the soul, by which it is made capable of receiving the truth, while by the latter term is indicated the objective truth given by God to man. The distinction may be both real and valuable; but in its ordinary and almost universal use, the former term covers both these ideas. The idea of the inspiration of the Bible as generally entertained by the learned, as well as the unlearned, includes both the divine activity in revealing, and the supernatural apprehension by the human consciousness of truths and doctrines which men could not otherwise attain to. Both the things revealed and the modes of their revelation are unique; they are given in their own peculiar way, and for that reason they are especially profitable to men. CHRISTIAN (CAMPBELLITE) QUARTERLY REVIEW, July, 1884. (Columbia, Mo.)— 1. Genuineness of the Second Epistle of Peter; by Prof. J. W. M'Garvey. 2. Hermeneutical Criticism; by B. U. Watkins. 3. The Gift of the Holy Spirit, (Acts ii, 38, 39;) by Hon. James Beatty. 4. The Epistle of Paul to the Romans: A Paraphrase, with Notes; by Pres. B. R. Dungan. 5. The Church in its Idea and its Form; by Pres. W. K. Pendleton. 6. The New Congregational Creed; by J. Z. Tyler. 7. What is the Church of Christ? and What are its Numbers? by Pres. F. M. Bruner. 8. The Temptation of Jesus; by J. W. Monsor. 9. The Divine Mystery; by Henry Schell Lobingen. 10. Book Notices. Article 8 of the above, though brief, is a spirited paper, and as wholesome as it is vivacious; and, with other papers in this "Review," it clearly indicates a most gratifying tendency in the body that it represents to a wholesome orthodoxy in respect to some of the most important articles of the Christian faith. The following respecting the contact between Christ and "the Tempter" is certainly a happy putting of the case: Baffled humanity, writhing under the captivity of Satan, is now to renew its courage and inspirations by following One who, ever having done the will of his heavenly Father, comes not to this tremendous but necessary contest pliant and weak, but capable of coping with principalities and powers in high places. Such strength does one derive from constant obedience to the divine will. Nor must we be afraid to face this fact of God-the putting Satan to work on the character and life of Jesus. Augustine |