New-York tribune., 1873-05-23
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
,pNo, n,c 1TERATTRE AND DOGMA,


m ;s related in the history Of a certain ancient
war that the walls of beleaguered city were over
throUn nv n blast from rams horns. sinnllaf
strategy is adopted by Mr.. Arnold In hls ATTACK ON
.ha received theology of Christendom, to which the
-osont ,olpme is devoted with the difference that
he has selected musical weapon of softer tone ana
undertakes TO prostrate the towers and battemehIs
ef the Church by the breathings OF tute' lie
I;Do the graees of culture to his internecine con-
,st with the traditions of ages, and strives to de-
,oolish the dogmas which form the basis of modern
civilization by fostering taste for literature 1t is
evident that he is engaged in an enterprise more
ehimerical than that of the worthy Mrs Partngton'
who sought to stay the invasion of the ocean ny
sweeping ont the water with broom
The reader may be curious to know the process ny
which Mr.. Arnold attempts TO introduce pe''', az
prehension of the Bible, and of the doctrines "hCu
have been embodied from its teachings III the cIeeu
Of the churches. Lest may be charged WIN M lloU
seizinc the true import Of his work, we VIII mere
present succinet statement of his views III regaiu
N the existing condition Of religious faith, ana the
means nv which he hopes to establish better order
Of thought
Areyolution he tells us, is now in progress among
all classes of society in England The clergy are
soud in their lamentations the spread OF skep-
tieism. Religion has. in great measure, lost It's
hold on the masses of the people. Many OF the most
intelligent workingmen reject the Bible as an ex-
nloded superstition MI Arnold shares IN the regret
of the clergy over this state of things. Yet he be-
Heyes il no less impossible to restore the Bible on
the basis of the current theology than 1t is to re-
instae the feudal system, belief in witches. Ii
the people are again to receive the Bible, IT will not
be according to the explanations of the clergy A
basis must be found in something which can be
verified and not in something which has TO be as
sumed The prevailing dOgmas Oh which the Bioie
has been made to rest have foundation IN reality
new construction must be placed on ITS teachings
and an experimental basis substituted IN the place
of arbitrary assumptions But the condition of this
improvement is the diffusion of culture. BY that
term Is understood an acquaintance with
the best that has been known and said IN
the world and thus with the history OF
the human spirit The lack Of comprehensive
culture disposes the people to conclude from any
mistake or imperfection of the Bible that IT Is
priestly impOsture. The man OF no range III MS
reading must almost inevitably misunderstood the
Bible He cannot take in the broad scope OF its
contents sand will treat every word as OF equal con-
sequence and interpret it in literal sense. lie has
not had sufficient experience OF the way IN when
men have thought and spoken to appreciate the de-
sign of the writers of the Bible, to read between the
lines and to discern where he ought to rest with his
whole weight and where he ought to pass lightly
Our mechanical theology, says Mr. Arnold, with its
wild license of affirmation on the deepest mysteries
of the Universe, arises from the poverty and empu
ness of our minds. Because we cannot trace God IN
history we stay our cravings with fancy account
Of him, made up from scattered and hguratve ex-
Pressons of the Bible In like manner, because we
have such scanty sense of the life of humanity we
construct scheme of the future state founded, not
OF proof, but on imagination.
The first step toward a correct apprehension Of the
Bible according to Mr. Arnold, is to recognize that
lts language is luid popular, passing and not rigid
fixed, and scientific But in order to take this step
we must have some experience of how men have
thought aud expressed themselves some largeness
aud hexibility of spirit, and this is culture The
diffusion of purely scientific spirit leads men TO
question the schemes of theology that are drawn
from the literal Interpretation of the Bible and
they have not yet anything to put in their place.
Mr.. Arnold comes back then to the old remedy of
culture or as he defines it, knowing the best that
has been thought and known in the world" This
enables men through reading TO estimate the pro-
portion and relation of what they read If we read
7Dut a very little we naturally want to press it all;
If we read a great DEAL we willing not to press
the whole of what read and we learn what
ought 10 be pressed and what not. Thus Is the
foundation of all sane criticism. The moment we
press the whole of what any writer says, we fall
into error. But we shall never be content not to
use the whole of what we read unless we read
great deal We thus learn to know the inner spirit
of the writer where he is all himself and his best
self where be shows his power, where he goes to the
heart of the matter where he gives what no other
man gives us, or gives us so well.
Itwas never so necessary as at present, Mr.. Arnold
insists to control what reads by of the tact
that clear and fair mind derives from a wide expe
eience. Especially is this important in the England
of our own day, and in theology, and in what con-
Germs the Bible For facts in all matters of science
and in Biblical learning we have to go to Germany.
Without the exact knowledge of facts, no fairness
or clearness of mind in study can be of the least
avail But English religion does not know the facts
of it's study. 1t depends for them upon Germany.
The advantage of knowing the facts of a study is
immense that when student comes to a man who
knows them he is tempted to put himself altogether
into his hands Thus English students when they
have recourse to the theOogians of Germany apt
TO give them their implicit confidence and take all
that they Offer both facts and conclusions. But this
is wholly wrong for man may have the facts and
still not be able TO draw from them the right
cIusions Dr. Strauss for example, ably applied the
historic method TO the criticism of the New Testa-
Inent But his mind was too deficient in imagina-
ton and insight to deal with the reality that re-
mained. The quality needed for drawing the right
conclusion from the facts is delcacy of perception.
This can be attained by no mere specialist. Culture
Ss required IN addition to the knowledge Of special
branches. But many theologians both in Germany
and elsewhere, are nothing but specialists
The faculty of subtle perception, necessary in
every department of theological study, is peculiarly
nee led in the study of the Bible. We have been
trained TO regard the Bible not book of unequal
- al narfa hufa "A cal