The Press. — London, England, 1853-11-12 00:00:00

- current theology, that to disentangle these, and eliminate from our modes of thought and speech the traces of a bygone and now un meaning philosophy,—to restore anew the essential dogmas of the Church in the more exact and truthful forms of recent science,— has come to be regarded, alike by sneering foes and timid advocates, as an undertaking tantamount to the speedy extinction of dog theology altogether. It is not the least admirable quality of the work under notice that its writer has succeeded in performing. and that easily and safely, that perilous but really no longer avoidable process : the Nor th- West Passage (if our readers will indulge us) of theology in our day. lie hits found in a deeper study of the facts, at once of the physi sal universe without. and of the s pi r itual world of man's nature within, a point of con tact with the revealed truth of 604, mot a basis for its evidences, broader and more certain than the i priori Illethml of other d a ys could by any dialectic subtlety provide ; at taining to the rudiments at least of that system we so earnestly long to see drawn out—of positive theological truth, which will be hailed as the norunt orronm, of religious philosophy. We cannot conceive a more healthy impulse to be given to the youthful minds of the uni versity, on the breaking up of that narrow and enfeebling system which has of late yearn reduced so many of the most promising of her rising children to the alternatives of degrading superstition or listless infidelity, than that which may be expected from addresses like Close befirre us, shaming the apathy of selfish doubt by their manly earnestness of tone, and turning the petty thrusts of the would-be sceptic with the well-weighed weapons of reasoning and truth. Mr. Tinenson feels, with reason, that - • • As many of the cement of j eetiou. v l out with 71 denial of tl►e hiliaitailtial truth of the word tit t,od, it ataliii not help their solution to otter scriptural proofs and illustra tions only ;--p. 2. but he has shown how much may be done to dissipate I►rejudice and error, and promote the recel►tion of thal's word, by critical attention to the facts of revelation, and seholarly ac quaintance with its language. We proceed, however, to lay before our readers some out line of the author's method and course of ar gument : It is proposed, therefore, to show, that there aro unfits m our nut tie•, rea l s o prcsothes, which this eitHirille world satisfy ( Lect. 11: that Pagan religions have recog nised the same wants, and worked out methods of meet ing them which show no obscure analogy teethe doctrine o f the Cross t?..1 ; and that the law of __tows, being tilde a revelation sent filial Coal, faarshwlow • ed distinctly that which the later r•velat' of the gospel set forth in sub- MAIM, ). Then it will lw nt•t•essary to state accu rately the doctrine as put forth by o ur blessed L o r e i in th e Gospel., vindicating liar them on the tale hand their hist° rind character, and distinguishing on the other between those divine statements and human additions and explanas lions of later date t 4 I. Next we ninst inquire, with the Same exactness, what was the tenor of the apostles; preaching w•l►en they carried abroad to Jew and ~ r eek the ,message of salvation, and wind place the doctrine of the Cross held now with those 1111'11 MllO had lately been so reluctant to believe in a muttering Messiah (tel. Ibllow•ing this &whine down into later times, we must inquire• how it. was preserved, modified, obscured, or altered, as it came into contact with new modes of thought, and as a restless curiosity endeavoured to penetrate the depths of the mys tery, and to unfold the hot.' and the a hy of that which holy Snipture had put forward as a Met t it I. Lastly, we shall state ,mew• the scriptund doctrine of the Atonement (71, and inquire into the chief hintletalleCli to a cordial belief in --- --- The first and fundanwntal step of the argu ment is to establish that an atonement is necessary and possible : it is plain that three ideas arc necessary to a right appiehensiou of the doctrine of the Atonement ;—the idea of (mod, the conviction of sin, and the b u tia that, m spite of sin, Uotl and the sinner can be again reconciled.—p. 1. Not feeling it necessary to devote much apace to the first of these positions, the author finds room notwithstanding for a masterly statement of the several modes proposed by different classes of thinhers in proof of the being of Clod : and points out their mutual relation to each other as parts of a cumulative series of inference. Prfogf, indeed, in the strict sense, cannot apply to an essential idea like this, any more than to the existence of matter, or of our own free will.---(See p. 1 3.) No single argument can establish the existence of Deity ; inasmuch as no efl'ort of reason can gishaubt the ides of (lod. or be even adequate THE PRESS. to it, and no possible induction from finite data can construct the Absolute and Infinite. The idea of infinity, like that of necessity, transcends all objective experience, and is in tact logically anterior to it, being itself the ultimate condition and latent ground of all finite ideas. Whether, indeed, the attributes of the Godhead admit of being deduced at once by simple analysis of the original conception of Deity, 01• are attached to it by the strictly synthetical process of investing Him with those moral characteristics, which we con• ceive by an infinite expansion of our own, is a question into which the writer has not felt bound to enter. But if man cannot look out of himself without becoming conscious that God exists, so neither can he turn inwardly and not perceive the existence of Sin. In truth, Mau first becomes conscious that there is a divine law when he deviates from it, as he is insensible of the existence of his own bodily organs till their healthy action is disturbed.—p. Mr. Thomson seems to us, however, to have lost sight for the moment of his usual accuracy, when he states (p. 10), that "all profound " conceptions of sin are derived directly from " the contemplation of Him who bath no sin, of " God himself." To this end God must be re garded through the medium of something else, viz., the thinking self; producing, through the reflex act of comparison, the sentiment of hu perfection, demerit, and Sin. It would surely not be correct to say that the direct view of light suggested darkness, or that of beauty gave gi itself the notion of the ugly. The analysis of Sin, however, we otherwise especially commend to our readers attention. The author has gained here a point of view from which he takes in at once nll that has been done by the best writers in this important hut difileult field. The separate notions of Sin, as a priva tion of good (p. 17), as personal selfishness (p. 11 4 ), and as a violation of the divine law (p. '10), are traced to their due position as consti tuent elements in the one harmonious scriptural representation of the subject. The mutual action of these two antagonistic ideas in man awakens in him a third, that of Reconcilement or Recovery, both as a need and a possibility. The evidences of this craving in man are ably drawn out from the sponta neous recourse to sacriliees among the heathen of every ntee and creed, and from the divine sanction of the same under the Mosaic law. Then the New Testament doctrine is deve- loped of Atonement through the incarnation and work of Christ, the antitype of Jewish figures, the realization of Pagan yearnings: —" God in Christ, reconciling the world " unto himself." We cannot do justice to the systematic and condensed yet copious reason ing by which this outline is filled up, and con firmed by an "appeal to the testimony of " Christians of all ages, in proof that the Re " deemer we have found enlightens all those "blind wants, and satisfies those obscurelong " lugs" (p. 170). Neither can we set fairly be fore our readers the argumentative method of the book, and the tokens with which it abounds of carefhl rending and vigorous thought. It is written throughout in a sus tained and nervous style; rising in appropriate places into eloquence, rather through a disci plined taste and deep earnestness of feeling than a poetical imagination. As laudably free from scholastic subtleties and minute criti cisms, we can urge the perusal of it upon our friends, with the certainty that they will rise from it, as we have done, with pleasure and sat istattion. _ . The form of addresses from the pulpit— didactic mid disconnected—is scarcely that most suited to the discussion of a subject like the present, complex as it is and beset with speculative difficulties. One advantage, how ever, which this method presents over the more systematie fonn ot'a treatise, Mr. Thomson has not failed to take advantage of, viz., to vary his arguments with many sound and timely reflections upon the practical bearing anti spiritual results of the great truths which he is presenting to his hearers. We conclude with a passage of this kind, which refers to the chilling effects of the new Pyrrhonism spread ing amongst us of late from abroad : A criticism lis loni; been at w“Tk upon the Onapele which will 'wither fullvw Christ n. r fursaliv hitu, whi‘la SATURDAY, professes to found religion on the Bible, yet transforms every historical fact w►itten there which deals with such topics as the salvation of men through the blood of Jesus with a colder spirit and temper than a Kepler carried eveu into the calm regions of astronomy. When we hear that Christ's teaching about his death was bat an afterthought, or that his miracles, discourses, agony, and resurrection never in fact took place at all, are we nut justified in warning all to choose between It humble acceptance of our Lord's tea. hug as to himself, and a total avoidance of th e subject ? For when we have walked with irreverent feet in that holy temple which to many millions of hearts Christianity has been and yet shall be ; when we hare thrown down its altar, and set there the abomination of desolation ; when we have taken away Christ from it, and left in his stead a mistaken man, compared with whom Mohammed was truthful and accurate, or an idea w hi c h might as well have taken Apollonius or ~curates for its historical gn,und as our blessed Lord, perchance a deeper and more reverent view of it may dawn on us afterwards, when the needs of our heart are greater and the pride of our ingenuity less; and we shall bitterly regret that we did not pass by in silence that which we could not credit ; that we hardened our hearts, and confounded the faith of others, in trying to find under the words of Coal things not written there.—p. The Correspondence i ! f Thomas Gray and William Maxon ; to which are added Sonic Letters addressed by Gray to the Rev. James Brown, D.D., Master of Pembroke ('ollege, Cambridye. With Notes and illustrations by the Rev. John Mitford, Vicar of Benhall. London : Bentley. This collection of letters is supplementary to that already published in Mason's edition of Gray's works, consisting of all those docu ments which prudence, or delicacy to persons then living, or the necessity of confining his publication within narrow limits, induced the earlier editor to omit. For such suppression on Mason's part there were sufficient reasons. Many of the letters contain comments, much more free than courteous, on the leading pub lic characters of the time, sonic of whom sur vived Gray for many years. J)thers refer to the private and literary affairs of' his friend, and could not be given to the world under the sanction of that friend without incurring a just imputation of egotism. Gray's own elm meter, like that of Mason, was reserved and fastidious : no nian would have deprecated mom earnestly the notion of having his confi dential correspondence exposed to all eyes. Such unreserved disclosure., moreover, were not then the Melton ; nor had Gray, as a poet, attained the full measure of his subsequent popularity. Hence, though at first sight some prejudice may exist against a work put toge ther wholly out of the rejected materials of a former publishing enterprise, there is really, on consideration, no ground for objection on that score. The letters are, in style and sub stance, not unlike those already in our hands — easy, familiar, passing from topic to topic with a very pleasing discursiveness, occasionally epigrammatic in their satire, and always, so far as we can see. bond fide what they profess to be, confidential communications between intimate friends, not dissertations intended for posthumous disclosures. In this respect the celebrated men of a century ago had an advantage over their successors. No author of note can now put pen to paper without an ticipating, however little he may desire, the possible publication of his correspondence after death ; and it cannot be but that this consciousness should react unfavourably upon him, if it does not induce him (as we know it has induced some) to confine his letter-writing to the most necessary occasions and common place subjects. There is nothing in the volume before us (which, we repeat, is essentially of a supple mentary character) whence fresh light is thrown on the private character of Gray. The poet's jealousy not only of his own literary reputation, but also of that of his friends, is testified by the minute and unsparing criti cisms with which he visits the MSS. of Mason —criticisms under which the latter, though profiting by, and taking them in good part, seems now and then to have winced. Some thing, too, appears of that overstrained sensi tiveness which during all his life tormented the academic recluse, and which hindered him from taking a doctor's degree, lest he should thereby be confounded with another Gray, the dull though laborious editor of " Hudibras." But on the whole this collection so closely