Book Notices by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jun 17, 1908

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 34, No. 25.

Book Notices.

By Editor

"Is the Bible the Word of God?—Yes." By Rev. Thomas Duncan, D.D. The Neale Publishing Co., New York and Washington, D. C. The object of this book is to set forth in a series of essays, first that the Bible is a gift from God; and secondly, that it demands a simplicity of worship and service which is not found in the tendency of ritualism at the present time. The writer holds, erroneously, we think, to the inspiration of the thought, instead of the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. The view that the books of the Bible are written in different styles is no indication that they were not inspired by the Spirit as to their words. God used the human material that He had; He played His music on the strings, or thru the cords, of the best instruments in His service. These, sounding differently, show the same Master Musician behind them all. Mr. Duncan shows that the holy Catholic Church does not apply to the Roman Catholic, but to the church of Jesus Christ wherever it may be found. He feels that the cathedral system is antagonistic to the best work in the Christian church, and in proportion as this system developed, strict discipline, zeal, self-sacrifice, and brotherly love ebbed away. The book is written from the standpoint of a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and is a plea for simplicity of doctrine and teaching. Many true Biblical believers would wish to go a great deal farther than Mr. Duncan goes, and yet we ought to welcome every voice that is pleading for simplicity and for the authority of the word of God.

"The Next Step in Evolution; the Present Step." By I. K. Funk, D.D., LL.D. Price, sixty cents. Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York and London. This is the fourth edition and revision of a work written six years ago. It is an endeavor to harmonize the Bible with the author's ideas of evolution regarding the second coming of Christ. He says in his preface: > "Christ's second coming should not be understood to be a literal, physical coming, but His reappearance in the spirit and characters of His followers and in the world at large. Thomas said to Christ: 'How can we know the way, since we know not whither Thou goest?' Christ replied, 'I am the way; no man cometh to the Father but in the way I come; he must be as I am and do as I do, and then he will find the Father and he will find Me. He who willingly serves others and is kind-hearted and is pure in heart, shall see God. And in the very nature of things, none other can.'" This states clearly the character of the work. All the promises of the Scriptures concerning Christ's second coming, the analogies between the two advents, and the vicarious atonement of Christ as revealed in the word, are set aside as utterly unimportant. Beautiful sentiments, nicely expressed, are made to obscure truth. No one disputes that Christ desires to live in His followers. A part of His purpose in going away was that He might more effectively do this by His ever-present Spirit; that Christ living in them would be His witness to the world of the efficiency of His sacrifice and mediation; but these do not in any wise annul, set aside, or supersede the literal second coming of "this same Jesus." The little much-lauded book is an utter perversion of almost every Scriptural truth which it touches. The great half-truths only make the error the more potent for evil. We do not wonder that New Thoughtists, Higher Critics, Spiritists, Unitarians, Evolutionists, and skeptics generally laud this book. It can never satisfy the man who knows in his own experience the personal, spiritual Christ.

"Passing Protestantism and Coming Catholicism." By Rev. Newman Smyth, D.D. $1.00, net. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. This is a striking, thought-compelling title apart from its alliterative terms. Is Protestantism which changed the face of Europe in the sixteenth century and has affected the whole world since, or is Roman Catholicism itself, to pass away? Is Catholicism, which many Protestants have considered as dead, to be the coming religion? Dr. Smyth is a Congregational minister, and the author of several presumably orthodox Protestant works. Has he lost faith in Protestantism? The book is divided into three parts: "Passing Protestantism," "Mediating Modernism," and "Coming Catholicism." The author's thought is that Protestantism has accomplished its work, that it no longer has authority. Among Protestants religion "has lost authority in the family life." Rome's hold is much stronger on the family. Protestantism is losing influence over communities. She loses her children. Religious education is wanting, and there are other causes for weakness. In brief, his theory is that in Protestantism there is no hope for the world; but that Modernism will so affect and modify the doctrines and discipline and spirit of the Roman Church, that out of this movement there will come a rejuvenated, living Catholic Church which will unite both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Dr. Smyth expresses himself very lucidly and hopefully, but he who is versed in the "more sure word of prophecy" and in the lessons of history knows that union between Romanism and a decaying Protestantism is impossible, save to the utter destruction of the latter. The book is instructive as well as destructive.

"The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah." A new and critical translation, by Charles Rufus Brown, D.D. American Baptist Publication Society, 1630 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. We have not read it thru, but the translation seems excellent, and the poetical parts are thrown into metrical form. If the translator had made less attempt to edit the work by his single, double, triple, broken lines, to mark off what he assumes comes from some other source, it would have been of more value. How does he know, or why should he even assume, for instance, that the line "Before His fierce anger" does not belong to verse 26 of chapter 4, and that the words are the words of Jeremiah? If they are quotations from other prophets, let the reader find it out; this book does not inform him. These many lines injure the typographical appearance and help no one.

"The Book of Job; or the Problem of Suffering." Prepared by the late William Rainey Harper. The American Institute of Sacred Literature, Hyde Park, Chicago. This pamphlet is a section of the Outline Bible Study courses of the Institute, selected from the longer course on the work of the Old Testament Sages, which includes a study of the Book of Proverbs, the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and a general study of the relation of the work to the sages, to that of the priests and prophets and to the Messianic thought of the Old Testament. The fee of fifty cents paid for this material entitles the student to membership in the Institute for one year, with privilege of correspondence, question sheets, and certificate for his work if satisfactorily done. The study covers a period of three months. One will not always agree with the thought suggested in the questions, but the Institute outlines for the student a field of broad study which can but be beneficial.

"Between the Testaments." By the Rev. David Gregg, D.D., LL.D. Price, 75 cents, net. Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York. This little volume is an abstract, or compendium, of the interbiblical history of the Jews, or for the period between Nehemiah and New Testament times. The work deals with the three great subjects: (1) The Jews of the Dispersion during the period between the Testaments; (2) The Jews of the homeland during that period; (3) The Old Testament Apocrypha, or the book of that period. Dr. Gregg has wrought for us a good work. There are minor errors; as, for instance, making the seventy weeks of Daniel 9 (490 years) extend from B.C. 458 to A.D. 39. But the work in general is a good bridge over the chasm of Biblical history.

"A Century of Bibles." Edited and compiled by a Sunday-school teacher. Griffith Rowland Press, Philadelphia. This little booklet is dedicated to the Sunday-school teachers in the United States of America. It gives statistics as to the number of Bibles that have been published; has little chapters on, the one Book; the Bible above all things else; the Bible in History; Bible societies and the work which they have wrought; the number of languages in which the Bible has been translated; its circulation and its effect in the countries where it has been circulated. There is a chapter on rare copies of Bibles; the many editions; the various Bible publishers; its influence upon the legal profession; the Bible in literature; and a list of translations. We can not give the price, but it can not exceed fifty cents, may be less.

"The Bible as Good Reading." By Albert J. Beveridge. 94 pages; price probably about 50 cents. Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia. This little book by Senator Beveridge starts with a story of two men on a vacation in the wilderness, with nothing to read. One suggests the Bible; the other thinks it dull. But they begin, and find it of thrilling interest. The unlettered guides are interested, and the whole book, considered as a human document, was of intense interest. He counts the short stories of the Bible the best to be found in any literature; and the practical common sense of the Bible excels all. It is well worth a half-hour's reading, and is full of helpful hints.