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February 14, 1884.] Iptwatm The p rom p t m e n tion in our list o f “Books o f the Week ” will be considered by us a n equivalent to their p u b lishers for all volumes received. The interests of our readers w ill guide u s in the selection o f works for further notice.] RECENT NEW TESTAMENT EXPOSITION.* W e confess a liking for Biblical in terpreters trained in the school of the prac tical ministry. Without abating any thing from the praises due to the great Christian scholars whose lives, spent in the stud}7 of Holy Scripture, have done so much to give the Church secure possession of its treasures, we have often felt that the pulpit work of Tholuck and the ministerial duties of Godet had opened their niinds to impressions from the Word which might otherwise escape them. In the company of John Henry Newman, and with his good support, wTe may even venture to own our delight in the leisurely exegetics of Thomas Scott, for the same reason. As a rule, English and American Biblical scholars have stood close enough to the heart of the Church to escape the danger of handling the Bible as a dead book. In Germany exegetics has fallen largely to scholars, and both the merits and demerits of German exposition are traceable to this kind of secluded study. Now and then there are bright exceptions, among which we reckon The Parables of Jesus , by Siegfried Goebel, Court-Ckaplain at Halberstadt. In the original German this work was published some five years ago, and met a favorable reception. The author’s good judgment, sound exegetical method, his skill and sense as an interpreter, were recog nized even by those who complained that he had not shown the highest deference to the results of that august process known as “ Criticism.” His deviations from the scientific line of procedure do not, however, injure the book for general use. They spare us the long introductions, that tremendous evolution of apparatus cHticus which lias grown into a feature of modern commentaries, and all perplexing reiterations as to what the text ought to be. For once at least we are per mitted to indulge the rare luxury of assum ing that the substantial sense of Holy Scripture may be collected from any fairly good text. The work wiiich Herr Goebel takes off his readers’ shoulders he has put on to his own. He has read widely and compared opinions on every point. He has worked out a rigorous method which is applied to the parables in succession. First he brings out all the indications the text of the para ble contains, as to occasion, connections, and audience. Next he follows the figura tive history down the course of its natural stream, word by word and step by step, seeking for the simple verbal sense lying in the sphere of physical or human life, but keepi ng to the main stream without asking, for the present, what is meant to be symbol ized, and so getting thrown out and misled in the understanding of its course and connection by inquiries about interpretation and supposed difficulties. After a secure basis for interpretation has thus been laid, the next step is to compare the course and contents of the narrative thus discovered with what was previously settled as to oc casion, connections, and to persons to whom the parable was delivered. This being done, it is assumed that the whole case as far as accessible is in the expositor’s hands, and he is now at liberty to return to the beginning of the figurative history, and, following it down once more, step by step, to bring out the significance of the paits and the pur pose and meaning of the whole. The merit of the work depends largely on the faithful and unwearied application of * T h e P a r a b l e s o f J e s u s . A M ethodical Exposi tion. By S i e g f r i e d G o e b e l , Court-Chaplain in H a lberstadt. Translated by Professor Banks, Head in g ey, E d inburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1883. 8vo, pp. x, 460. T h e P a r a b o l i c T e a c h i n g o f C h r i s t . A System atic and C ritical S tudy of the Parables of Our Lord. By A l e x a n d e r B a l m a i n B r u c e . D.D., Professor of Apologetics and New T e s tam e n t Exegesis, Free Col lege, Glasgow. New York: A. C. A rm strong & Son. MDOCCLXXXIII., 8vo, pp. xii, 616. T h e E p i s t l e s o f S t . J o h n . The G r e e k Text, with Notes a n d Essays. By B r o o k e F o s s W e s t c o t t , D.D.. D.C.L., Regius Professor of Divinity, Cambridge. Mac m illan& O o . London and New York: 1884. 8vo, pp. xri, 360. T H E I N D E this method to all the parables in succes sion. Each particular point, as it is touched in the exposition, gives the author a solid basis, where he can look about him at his leisure and make sure of everything within reach, before he moves on again, while at the same time, as it is planted in the middle of the stream, it enables him to keep its whole direction and sweep in mind. No commentary on the parables that we know has been able to approach as near as this does to a simultaneous and equally exact appreciation both of the details or particular ingredients and by-play of the parable and its general purpose. Herr Goebel is quick to detect extrava gance, and is never seduced into fanciful interpretations nor whirled off out of the main stream, to revolve helplessly in its eddies; nor, on the other hand, does he fall into the worse error of taking for mere by play or empty ornament what is meant for an essential feature of the parable. His method furnishes him, moreover, with a secure protection against fantastic allegoriz ing tendencies ; the temptation which is never so strong as in works of practical ex position nor so seductive as when one is dealing with the gorgeous apocalyptic im agery or with the figurative simplicity of the parable. In the grouping of the parables the chronological order is preferred to the log ical, and they are treated in three Parts, of which the first contains the Capernaum Series; the second the later parables, accord ing to Luke, and the third, those of the Last Period. Each of the groups is intro duced with a summary review of the cir cumstances under which they were de livered. In the treatment of all these topics—special and general—Herr Goebel shows a remarka ble combination of patience and freshness. He shrinks from no pains, but comes up fresh and cheerful from all his tasks. He makes no display of erudition as such. It is never an object with him per se to state how the authorities stand, nor to display the opinions of scholars. He is what we should call a good reader. He knows what he wants in books, goes to them for what he wants, and makes good use of what is to his purpose. This is more the way of a man of practical interests than of a scholar, but none the less good for its end. In the older commentaries and in the most recent he is well read; we notice, for example, the frequent citation of Weiss. The general theological tone of the w«rk and method of handling the topics is such as to commend it to the Christian public of this country, who will find it in close accord with their own way of looking at these subjects. In taking up Professor Bruce’s work on the same subject, we are puzzled whether to give the emphasis to resemblances or dif ferences, as compared with the volume just noticed. It is like it in having the practi cal purpose of unfolding the didactic sig nificance of the parables. It is like it in throwing overboard the burdensome lum ber of critical editions, in avoiding compar ative citations of authorities and in seek ing help rather from the moderns than the ancients. Its general method of interpre tation is the same, though less definite and not carried out so thoroughly nor with as much exegetical skill. It differs in its more friendly attitude to the results of Modern Criticism, especially in the settle ment of the text, as to which Professor Bruce avails himself of the best he can get, drawing principally on the Revised Version, and on Westcott and Hort. As to the arrangement of the parables, it is neither chronological nor strictly logical. They are collected in the three general groups of “ Theoretic Parables,” “ The Parables of Grace ” and “ The Parables of Judgment.” The largest difference lies in the attitude toward the theological inquiry which is now agitating both British and American Christianity. Herr Goebel who, by the way, is not infrequently quoted by Pro fessor Bruce, and whose general influence on him is very perceptible, pursues his way without reference to what is in the air, ex pounding the parable, interpreting its figur ative meaning, and unfolding its implica tions. But Professor Bruce has his eye on the Christian world as well as the parable. He permits us to see what is in his mind by what he does not say as well as by what he does say and by a certain amplitude of elas tic treatment which adjusts the parable to the modern theological environment. His exposition is full and flowing, not so terse nor so rugged as his German co-worker, but, on the other hand, free from his obscu rities aod involutions of style, and both at tractive and popular. The Glasgow Professor wrote with the luster of a brilliant work before him which his will not displace, though it is marked by defects which give occasion enough to retraverse the ground in English. Dean Trench wrote before the method of parabolic interpretation was settled. He too often allows the parable to fire his fancy and carry him into the mazes of allegory. No one is likely to follow him in the easy and graceful command of the subject nor, like him, hold to the treasures of patristic litera ture in his hand. But the intellectual bril liancy of his achievement and the poetic allegorizing character of much of it leaves plenty of room for others in the same field. Professor Bruce repeats none of these faults. He goes directly to the point. His method is sound, and it is in general applied with discretion and judgment, though per haps we are occasionally tempted to com plain that the exposition does not cover every point raised in the parable. The volume is, on the whole, more likely to attract common readers than Herr Goe bel’s. The exposition of each parable is complete in itself and is in good literary form, with the strong points thrown out in forcible and taking phrases. Professor Bruce is well known among us by his treatise on “ The Humiliation of Christ,” as well as by his general activity in the affairs of the Scottish Free Church. This volume is written in the full, round style which we have learned to connect with him, and is a happy combination of de vout and vital evangelicalism with free and liberal methods. Professor Westcott, in his recent commen tary on The Epistles o f St. John, adheres to the same practical method as closely as a commentator so richly endow ed with the natural instincts and the learning of the scholar could. He follows the general plan sketched out in his notes on the Fourth Gospel in “ The Speaker’s Commen tary ” and, without discussing “ the con flicting opinions which have been held on the structure of the writings or on the in terpretation of separate passages,” does what he can to “ help the student by giving the results” and “ by indicating the lines of inquiry by which they have been reached.” The essential feature of the method of interpretation pursued is that it begins by “ interpreting the Epistles as I should ‘ interpret any other book.’ ” This is the one sound method which is now yielding the Church such a rich har vest. Says Professor Westcott: “ I t has pleased God to reveal him self in and through life ; and the record of the revelation is literary and not dogmatic. From first to last God is seen in the Bible conversing with man. He speaks to m a n as m an can hear, and m an re plies as he can use the gift of the Spirit. But word and answ e r alike are according to the tru th of life. All th a t has been w ritten for us has been p a r t of real hum a n experience, and therefore it has an unending value. Thus, in the m ain, the Bible is the continuous unfolding in m any parts and m any ways of the s p iritual p rog ress of m a n k ind. It may be a law, a n a r r a tive, a prophecy, a psalm, a proverb, but in each case it comes from fife and enters into life ; it belongs to a distinct epoch ; i t is only in its vital context, so to speak, that it can be perfectly understood.” Of the scholarship of this commentary we need say little, except that it will be found to answer the needs of most students, and in general to go beyond the modest disclaimer of the author in critical fullness. Its special merit lies, however, in the ripe and rich exposition of the three epistles. It represents a work whioli has been going on twenty years, and has little in common with those raw and rapid productions which are done by contract in three months to meet a public demand which is to be created by that time. There is a mellow7 richness in the Epistles o f St. John, like that which might be expected to linger in the light of the sunset of Revelation. Professor Westcott notes this, and his commentary is (203) 11 a reverent attempt to interpret for the Church, without exaggerating or distorting them, these last words in the whole series of the divine revelations to man. This best thing may be said for his wrork—that it has been done in the light and under the im pression of this feeling, and that in this respect the epistles and their exposition are one. Numerous brief excursus or notes on special topics are distributed through the work, as, for example, “ The Idea of Christ’s Blood in the New Testament.” and “ Of Sin in St.John,” “ The Powers of Evil,” “ The State of Man,” “ Sin Unto Death,” etc. The volume also contains three more elaborate essays—on “ The Two Empires, the Church and the World” ; on the question how far the Incarnation en tered into the eternal plan for the creation of the world, and on “ The Relation of Christianity to Art.” We h ave lying on our table a num b e r of practical religious works which our exam ination shows to be good, safe and sensible, b u t which require from us little m o re than brief m ention. Must the Old Testament Go ? by the Rev. W ilbur F. Crafts, D.D. (Jam e s H. Earle), is an earnest plea for the Old Testam e n t in the daily needs and uses of spiritual life. The only criticism we h ave to make on this book is th a t it puts a case which does not exist. Not even Kuenen or W ellhausen have a thought of driving the Old Testam e n t out o f use in the c h u rches nor in religious life. The Messrs. R o b ert C a rter & Brothers republish an excellent little practical m a n u al on a subject o f the first im p o rtance from the pen of H o ratius Bonar, D .D., How Shall 1 Go to God a n d Other R e a d ings. The Messrs. F u n k & W agnalls republish, w ith an introduc tion by the Rev. Edw ard P. Hamm ond, a treatise on The Blood o f Jesus, by the Rev. William Reid. A.M., w h ich has had great currency and proved an efficient evangelistic tract, as used in G reat B ritain, w h ere m any thousand copies have been sold. The Lutheran Publication Society brings out in good form L ife Thoughts f o r Young Women, a series of ad dresses o n p ractical topics to y o u n g women, by the Rev. Dr. Rhodes, of St. Louis. This publication is the com p anion volume of a sim ilar series of addresses to young m e n . The Messrs. A. D. F. Randolph & Co. publish, am o n g th e ir aids to devotion, a collection of H y m n s for the Church on Earth, containing 366 hym n s and spiritual songs, for the m o st p a r t of m o d e rn origin, selected and arranged by the R ight Rev. C. Ryle, of Liverpool, and republished in a new American edition with an addition of 66 hym n s selected by the American editor, all arranged to give a suitable s p iritual song f o r every day in the year. There is at least one p a r t of old Bishop Thomas Wilson’s voluminous works which it concerns the world to preserve and for the reason that the m o re it gets into itself of the life of th a t treatise the larger and the better will its own life be. We lefer to the Sacra P r ivata, the Private Meditations, Devotions and Prayers of the Bishop of Sudor and Man p u b lished, with his theological works, at London, in 1699, often republished since, and now again brought out in a pocket edition by Mr. Jam e s P o tt for general use, w ith the parts specially for the use of the clergy om itted. The strong p o int of these “ d e v o tions” is the quality of C h ristian good sense which the P r o testan t Reform ation added to the previous types of C h ristian charac ter. The key to the whole lies in the m axim of this saintly B isho p : “ He th a t has learned to pray as h e ought has got the secret o f a holy life.” I t is n o t o f ten t h a t a g e n tlem a n so deeply engaged in public affairs as Mr. Charles Nord* hoff lays them aside to give h is time a n d thought to the com position of a serious juvenile m anual like his God a n d the Future L ife: theReasondble - ness o f C h ristianity. (H a rper & B rothers.) Som ething deeper than the proposal to enter the m a rket with a new book has inspired the a u thor ship of this volume ; a n d th a t som ething is th e sim p licity of a serious p urpose which gives a very distinct character to the whole book and makes it one of the best for its purpose which has re cently been addressed to young readers. Mi’. Nord- hoff has the advantage of knowing men and the world, in th a t k ind o f a c q u aintance which comes from the daily study of them in their relation to motives and movements a n d the g reat q u estions of hum a n affairs and policy. He has to under stand w h at s o rt of considerations affect men and make their way down in juvenile versions of them to the youthful m ind. He undertakes in this little volume to approach it not only in a com p rehensible way, b u t w ith argum e n ts whose force it will recognize. He has been influenced in preparing the book by the hope th a t he would be able to send i t into circulation not only among young people who do not ordinarily care for such things b u t am o n g others who prefer to rem ain absorbed in the am b itions and pleasures of a worldly life. W ith that p a r t of the book which is designed to m eet the skepticism th a t may have
