to the world, which doctrine is so treated as to show how God's theocratic and revealed relation is rooted in the Mosaic idea of God; the doctrine of man and his relation to God, in which it is shown that the presupposition of the covenant relation in which God is to stand to him is given in the idea of man; the law covenant and the theocracy, in which is completed the Mosaic stage of communion between God and man.

After a history of Israel from the close of the Mosaic era till the close of the prophetic, in which the various influences that could tend to bring about modification of religious views are carefully traced, the author passes on to the theology of prophetism. The theology of Mosaism is shown to have been "further developed by prophecy, especially in the following respects: 1. With regard to the doctrine of God and his relation to the world, the idea of Jehovah develops into the divine name of THE LORD OF HOSTS, with which is connected a further expansion of angelology. 2. In its conflict with the legal externalism and the apostasy of the people, the intrinsically moral nature of the law is further developed by prophecy, and greater depth thus given to the view of man's religious and moral relation to God, which Mosaism involves; in other words, the doctrine of sin and righteousness is further unfolded. 3. The communion of man with God culminates in prophecy" and is "represented as the continuation of what Mosaism teaches concerning the forms of divine revelation. 4. The progress of the kingdom of God forms the essential matter of prophecy." The section on the wisdom of the Old Testament is inferior. in interest to neither of its predecessors, but it must be passed by without further notice.

It will be necessary to treat still more summarily the methods of New Testament theology as exemplified in Weiss's treatise. Suffice it to say that, after the usual introductory sections, he divides the New Testament age of doctrinal development into the following periods: 1. The teaching of Jesus according to the earliest tradition. This he

does not identify, without more ado, with the entire body of teachings contained in the four Gospels, but makes use of such materials only as he supposes criticism to have proved to belong to the earliest tradition. Here he discusses under almost every imaginable aspect the message regarding the kingdom of God, the testimony of Jesus to himself as the Messiah, the Messianic activity, the righteousness of the kingdom of God, the Messianic Church, the Messianic consummation. 2. The original apostolic type of doctrine previous to the time of Paul. This he finds in the discourses of the Acts of the Apostles, in 1 Peter and in James. Every doctrine touched upon in these portions of Scripture is drawn out with great acuteness. 3. Paulinism. He is not content to consider Paul's writings as a whole, but distinguishes carefully between Paul's earliest preaching, as seen in the Acts and the theology of the four great doctrinal and controversial epistles, and between this and the doctrinal method in the pastoral epistles. He traces the development of doctrine in the great apostle's mind. with as much confidence as if the apostle had gone through this developmental process before the author's eyes, and the author had been possessed of the faculty of mind-reading. From Paulinism he passes to 4. The early apostolic doctrinal system in the post-Pauline period. Here he introduces the Epistle to the Hebrews, 2 Peter, Jude, the Apocalypse, and the historical books (synoptical Gospels and Acts). 5. The Johannean theology. These periods are all treated in the most independent and thorough manner, the author's critical labors having settled, for himself at least, all questions of authorship, chronological order, etc.

PERILS.

It remains to point out, in conclusion, what may be regarded as the dangerous features of Biblical Theology. The uses of it are obvious. To understand the truths of revelation in their historical setting, to be able to grasp the whole course of religious and doctrinal development from

the earliest time to the consummation in Christ Jesus, is of incalculable value. Only in this way can the most perfect knowledge of God's revelation be secured. Yet Biblical Theology is, like all good things, and more than most, liable to abuse. The following are the rocks on which young cultivators of Biblical Theology are most likely to be wrecked:

1. There is danger lest differences in the manner of approaching and expressing doctrinal truth be taken to involve radically different views; lest, while we free ourselves temporarily from the obligation to harmonize the various portions of Scripture and investigate each document as if no other were in existence, we drift into the opinion that no harmony exists, or conceive a distaste for efforts at removing apparent discrepancies; lest, while we occupy our minds with the diversities of doctrinal representation we lose sight of the essential unity which is presupposed in the very idea of divine revelation.

2. There is danger lest, while we are occupied with the human and the temporal, we lose sight of the divine and eternal, apart from which Judaism and Christianity alike would be mere nature-religions; lest, while we trace the development of religious opinion and religious rites among the people of revelation, we forget the developing and guiding power through which alone the glorious results of the process of development could be attained.

3. Closely connected with 1. is the danger of ignoring the important, but much abused, hermeneutical principle, that Scripture is to be interpreted by Scripture, the obscure by the clear. This principle can be safely applied only after Biblical Theology has done its work; but it has its function to perform, and should be allowed to perform it.

4. Similar is the danger of supposing that Biblical Theology supersedes Systematic Theology. Biblical Theology furnishes the best possible material for systematic theology, but by no means takes its place. Biblical Theology ex

hibits divine revelation in its gradual unfolding. Systematic theology takes the material furnished by Biblical Theology, historical theology, philosophy, and personal experience, and seeks out of the whole to form the most perfect system of divine truth.

Great as may be the perils of studying Biblical Theology the advantages are still greater, and it is to be hoped that henceforth far more attention will be given to the subject in England and America than heretofore. With such guides as Oehler and Weiss the dangers are reduced to a minimum and the advantages are incalculable.

BOOKS-REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

The Lord's Prayer; A Practical Meditation. By NEWMAN HALL, LL. B.* No passage of Holy Scripture is more precious in itself, and no passage lends itself more readily to the purposes of the preacher than the "model prayer." The subject of prayer involving, as it does, man's means of communion with God, is one of the utmost importance. That Christ should have given in a few simple words a model of prayer to be followed by his disciples is something for which the Church has ever been devoutly thankful. The prayer itself is a marvel of condensation and comprehensiveness. On no equal number of consecutive words, probably, can so much that is edifying be said without transcending the scope of the passage. Volumes of sermons on this portion of Scripture have appeared from time to time since Augustine. The volumes by our own brilliant, scholarly, and devout Dr. Boardman, and Dr. Baldwin, the model pastor, especially the first, are worthy of prominent position in this ever-lengthening list. Mr. Hall's treatise is among the very best, and can not fail to add considerably to the fair fame which the author has for years enjoyed as one of the foremost of London preachers. The volume is not published in the form of sermons, though it would not be difficult for the experienced critic to dissect the chapters into the separate discourses of which they were evidently composed.

The introductory chapter treats of general questions connected with the subject of prayer. The author undertakes to show that prayer is reasonable and useful, and to answer the various objections that are commonly urged against its reasonableness and utility. "Prayer and piety are inseparable. Religion is the intercourse of the soul with God, of which prayer is the expression. Prayer is not, therefore, simply one of many other features or duties of religion; but it is essential to its existence, and the practice of it has always been co-extensive with any thing worthy of its name. . . . Human nature is so constituted that the acknowledgment of a superior Being by adoration and petition harmonizes with our *Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. New York: Scribner & Welford. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co.

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