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penalties must fall on the denomination which, through false humility, or religious mawkishness, practically plants itself on such a position? The penalty of inconclusiveness as to the practical finishing of her faith; to be ever establishing premises, but failing of conclusions; to be always heaping up materials, but never building the house; perpetually to spell the syllables, but never to pronounce the word; to find often her sons and daughters brought to the doorway of the Christian church, yet not daring to enter; their thoughts discovering in some of the highest doctrines and institutions of Christianity, only duties which they dare not assume to perform, or privileges which it would appear presumptuous in them to claim; to have them remain friends or servants of the Christian household, but not sons and daughters of the family. Is there not a very considerable portion of our people who if closely questioned would find it quite impossible to say what they are? They are not heathen, for they have been trained in the light of Christianity, under the influence of sermons, amid the efforts of Sunday schools, with a free church, and an open Bible. They will hardly in the fullest sense call themselves Christians; for there seems an assumption in so doing from which they shrink back. We can only consider them to be a kind of christian raw material, waiting some finishing process or plastic hand of power to shape them into some finished product.

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But is the preacher to select in his congregation those who are in either of the two classes designated in the Scripture, and separate them from each other? Surely But he is to declare the tests, and trace the division on this subject. He is to encourage those who are worthy, by fairly stating the Scripture doctrine as to this mat ter, and making them feel what great privileges are theirs. He is to recognize the important fact, in one word, that there is a large portion of the gospel addressed to the righteous; and that it should be faithfully preached, reasonably applied, and heartily received.

26*

E. F.

ART. XXII.

Literary Notices.

1. A Translation of the Gospels. With Notes. By A ton. Vol. i. The Text. Vol. ii. Notes. Boston: Little, Company. 1855. 8vo. pp. 443, 565.

2. Internal Evidences of the Genuineness of the Gosp Remarks on Christianity and the Gospels, with particular Strauss's "Life of Jesus." Part ii. Portions of an Unfini By Andrews Norton. Boston: Little, Brown, & Comp 8vo. pp. 309.

THESE two publications have long been waited for; and they at length appear, they appear as posthumous and Happily, however, the Translation was brought into a sta tory to the author, before his death; and the first part of nal Evidences was so nearly perfected as to want nothin last revision. Mr. Norton was a writer who never wil fered any thing from his pen to go before the world, received the highest finish that he was able to give it. I of Notes on the Gospels, and the second part of the In dences, were not so far advanced towards completion. these, however, the general plan seems to have been mostly though sometimes in a rough sketch only; and the Editors evidently done their work with a great deal of care and v judicious tact, have supplied the vacancies that occur, here with appropriate extracts from other works of the author. whole, notwithstanding he did not live to complete the prep these volumes according to his own high standard, we m confident that we have, in them, even as they now appear and most mature thoughts on the several points which the brace. Thanks to the good sense and faithfulness of the is only in the dress, rather than in the substance, that w regret a want of completeness.

The volume on the Internal Evidences may be regar sequel to the author's former work on the Genuineness of the That work has always appeared to us to be in many res best that we have read on the subject. Though we are not by some of its criticisms on the text, and though we can n some of its negative hypotheses, the proof which it sets fort authenticity of the Gospel narrative seems to us de tion, while the clearness with which it exposes the absurdi current infidel objections and theories, is unsurpassed in a apologetical writings that have come to our knowledge.

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The same excellences distinguish the present work. In the first part of it, the author examines the theory of Strauss, and shows, in his clear, common-sense way, the impossibility of fitting a mythic hypothesis to the acknowledged nature of the case. At the close, he gives us an insight into the Pantheistic, or, more properly, Atheistic, philosophy of Hegel, which Strauss and his school wish to substitute for Christianity, and some observations, are added, that are evidently designed for the benefit of certain "Transcendentalists," in our own country. In the second part, entitled, "Portions of an Unfinished Work," he enters a field that has hitherto been seldom recognized. Perhaps we may the most intelligibly designate it as the Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels, analagous to Paley's Undesigned Coincidences in the Epistles. His general statement of the ground, (for we have not space to follow him into his luminous amplifications), is as follows: "In the narratives of the Evangelists, the existence of many facts which are not expressly mentioned is implied. In order to understand fully what is told, and to perceive its bearing and application, we must take into view much that is not told. There is to be found in almost every part of the Gospels & latent reference to some existing state of things which is not described. But when we attend to the character of those facts with which different portions of the narrative are thus connected, we find that they are all probable or certain; that we have distinct evidence of them from other sources; or that, supposing the truth of what is related in the Gospels, and viewing this in connection with all our other knowledge on the subject in question, they are such as must or might have existed. The inferences from these histories, though many and various, are all consistent with the histories themselves, and with whatever we can learn from other sources. In tracing out the necessary or probable bearing of those actions and discourses which are recorded, or in assigning their probable occasions or consequences, we detect no inconsistency with the history itself, and find no contradiction of known facts, but, on the contrary, we are con tinually perceiving new marks of probability and truth. This coincidence between what is told and what is implied, this correspondence between the action and discourses related and that state of things and series of events to which they refer as existing contemporaneously and running parallel with them, does not appear here and there only, but discovers itself throughout the Gospels. But this consis tency of the narrative with itself, both in what is told and in what may be inferred from it, and its consistency with all other known facts having a bearing upon it, is evidently not the work of study or artifice. It is not worth while to inquire whether it could in any case be produced by such means; because there is no dispute that the whole character of the Gospels is opposed to such a supposition. They are very inartificial compositions. If, moreover, the coinciden

ces of which we speak had been factitious, and intended air of probability to the narrative, they would not have latent and obscure as they often are. The writer would care that they should be noticed by the reader. On t .those to which we particularly refer are obviously unde then, the appearances which have been described really can be accounted for only by the truth of the history. sible that a fiction pretending to the character of a t especially a fiction relating to such events as are recorded pels, should be so consistent with itself, with probabilit known facts, in such a number and variety of latent co pp. 192-194. We conclude our notice of this work b commending it to the study of all who doubt the authent Gospel narrative.

Of the other work, the Translation and Notes, we only in very general terms. The Translation is the patient study and long deliberation, by an eminent schola cal learning. It would therefore be vanity in us to assum of it critically after a cursory examination. Still, it unbecoming to state the general impression we have rece character. We think that Mr. Norton, as a translator, invades the peculiar province of a commentator, giving text, but his explanation of the text as an equivalent. W all cases to have the text itself, as nearly as the idioms languages will permit, and then, if an explanation is need that separately, with the grounds on which it rests. Th stances, we think, in which he has unwarrantably made the form to some of his distinguishing dogmas. He is too ad an interpreter. Though not so daring in this respect Wakefield, whose recklessness has deprived his translati weight, yet it is not improbable that the example of the lat he once admired, affected Mr. Norton unfavorably at an and that he never recovered from the influence. It is w that he rejects the two first chapters of Matthew's Gospel ous, without any authority for so doing, save that of remote from uncertain premises. We may observe also that to sages he gives a more modern air and less simple form found in our current version. This, however, is but a taste. After all, notwithstanding these faults, his translat important contribution to Biblical interpretation, deserving attention from all theological scholars.

Many of his Notes are valuable; and many of the extra the editors have taken from his other publications, embo useful information. If, in his comments and expositions, Mr often seems to strain the text to bring it into coincidence doctrinal views, we have less reason to complain in such ca

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in those cases where he seems to do the same thing in his translation. An expositor has unquestionably the right to offer his opinion, whatever it may be, of the meaning of a passage, though he should always be required first to give us the passage itself without distortion. We have intimated that he is too adventurous to be a safe translator; we think he is too adventurous also as a commentator. And yet, in some of his Notes, he appears to adhere, without any discoverable reason, to the beaten track of more Orthodox theologians. We were surprized to find, in his Notes on Matt. xxiv., that he makes Christ to have passed, at ver. 42, from a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem to an account of a future judgment, and that he explains the warning, "Watch, then, for you know not the day nor the hour," (xxv. 13,) thus, "the day or the hour when you may be summoned, and should be prepared, to meet, in the future life, the consequences of your conduct in the present."

Mr. Norton's theological learning was extensive and exact. He devoted himself through life to the study of the Bible and of theology, with remarkable singleness of purpose. For this, we cannot but honor him. And the ability, perseverance, and success with which he so patiently labored to vindicate the authentic gospel of Christ merit the thanks of every believer in Christianity, and should secure him from all bigoted severity with respect to his lax notions even of the inspiration of the Scriptures.

The mechanical execution of these volumes is in the very highest style of beauty and elegance,—a choice example of the perfection to which Messrs. Little, Brown, & Co., have carried the publisher's

art.

3. A History of the Christian Church, by Dr. Charles Hase, Professor of Theology in the University of Jena. Translated from the seventh and much improved German edition, by Charles E. Blumenthal, Professor of Hebrew and Modern Languages in Dickinson College, and Conway P. Wing, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1855. 8vo. pp. 720.

We cannot introduce a notice of this portly volume more appropriately than by an extract from the Translator's preface:

"This translation was undertaken because its authors knew of no work in English which precisely corresponded with it. The histories of Milner, Waddington, Milman, Stebbing, Hardwicke and Robertson, and the translations of Mosheim and Neander, Dollinger, Thiersch and Schaff, have severally specific merits with reference to the objects of their composition; but many of them are incomplete as general histories, most of them were written so as to give undue prominence to some single aspect of the characters and events of which they treat, and all of them are too large to be used either as

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