Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-11-26
BOOK REVIEWS.

This volume is calculated TO supply long,
felt wait. 1t is a popular history of the first
two centuries Of Christianity, written entirely
from the standpoint of unprecedented inquiry.
OF histories of Christianity the world has
seen many examples, but there is not in the
English language, and accessible to the
masses of men, any work of the kind which
deserves the characterization Of impartial, or
which endeavors in candid and honest
spirit to present the facts of the case as they
appear in the light of contemporary history.
The circumstance that nearly every history
of Christianity has been written by men who
were entirely satisfied OF the truth of the
dogmas of that religion before they began to
write, no doubt has given consistency and
reverential feeling to their productions, and
has in the same way recommended them to
that Christian world which shrinks from the
bare suggestion of candid investigation into
the beginnings of it's creed. But there is a
very large and continually increasing class of
students WHO are unsatisfied with this kind
of history, and who feel that to get at the
actual truth, Invested Of all the CLOSES of
prejudice and superstition, it is necessary
to put aside all prsconceived ideas, and
examine the records with q single
eye to the ascertainment of the
truth These students perceive that the
history of party or sect written by a
member Of that party or sect must necessarily
partake of the prejudice and narrowness OF
the organization. Thus we have Tory his
tories of England, and Wing histories Of
England, and Catholic and Protestant his
tories of England and it is quite easy to put
ones finger on the parts which proclaim the
several writers Wing, Tory, Catholic Or
Protestant, because directly they find them
selves discussing events IN which the people
of their party or creed bore conspicuous
part, they begin to warp the facts so as to
favor the side they prefer.
The volume before us is not of this kind.
It is not written from the standpoint of pre-
vious conviction. It is written with the pur-
pose of gathering together al the facts regard
ing the first two centuries of Christianity, or
rather the facts Of Christianity from the death
of Jesus to the close Of the second century.
This space of time includes the period most
important for correct view Of the manner
in which the religion was formed, and espe
ciaily for correct view of the pretensions of
modern Christianity to divine origin. There
is no period which so much needs the calcium
light Of modern research. No succeeding
centuries have comparatively any Importance
for the student of Christianity. What was
done or said more than two hundred years af-
ter the foundation OF the faith can be of nc
significance. 1t is concerning the early times
that the world wishes to inform itself. Mr.,
Waite has addressed himself to this work.
and he has performed it very conscientiously
and thoroughly. He has gone to the very
roots of his subject. He has overlooked no
authority whatever. He has awaited himself
of the best German and English scholarship
also, aud has with great deal OF patience
and happy talent for compression and con-
densation, contriyed to put into one volume
the essential facts concerning the origin of all
Ile OIGiSLlan UCSLndS anu Iu6 OufiSsidG
canonical writings.
There are extant many histories of the
Bible and New Testament Canons, but for
the most part they are tainted with the same
bletnishes which make the histories OF Chris
tianity SO worthless to truth-seekers. They
are written in the spirit of advocacy. They
are written with a set purpose to favor the
earliest possible recognition of the Gospels as
we know them. This desire, and the diff
culties attending il, have led TO some very
discreditabie historical falsehoods, and one Of
the most singular of them has been perpe-
trated by the American publishers of the
revised New Testament, in the statement that
Matthew was written six years and Mark ten
years after the death of Jesus. When state.
ments of this unscrupulous character are put
forward thus boldly and authoritatively, it is
the more necessary that unprecedented inquir-
ers should be at hand to lay the facts of the
case before the world without any regard to
the consequences the disclosure of the truth
may have upon old theories, and this is one
of the services Mr.. Waite has rendered to his
generation in the preparation of the volume
before u.s. To scholars his book will convey
no new information. Indeed it is not in
tended for such readers, but for the common
people, who have neither time nor opportu-
nifty to make original researches for them
selves, and are therefore compelled to trust
to the honesty of others for the correctness of
II
based.
It must be said further that Mr.. Waite is
not to be classed with the positive and down
right assailants of Christianity whose works
have become so familiar in these days. He
is not an advocate in any sense, but simply
an Inquirer. He has investigated with no
other object than the truth, and having ascer.
tanned that to the best of his ability, he has
published it in as colorless form as posi-.
Bile, leaving the facts themselves to produce
their own impressions upon the mind of the
reader. His inquiry into the chronology of
the gospels leads him to the conclusion that
their production must be placed at the fol-
lowing dates Luke, A. d. 170; Mark, A. D.
175; John, 17S; Matthew, $50. 1t will be
seen from this that he places the produc.
ton of the oldest gospel one hundred and
forty years after the death of Jesus, and it
must be admitted that this is very long
time. We can realize the significance of the
difference in time better if we suppose that
one hundred and forty years after the death
of Washington book should be published
ascribing to him divine origin and powers.
But MIR. Wai5e's examination of the growth
of the belief in the divinity of Jesus, in the
doctrines of atonement, eternal punish
ment, and in the Trinity, is, if posi-.
BILE, still more interesting, for he brings
forward abundant authority to show that
none of these doctrines had existence
until long after the death Of Jesus, and that
they were utterly unknown to the primitive
Christians, and to the founder of the faith.
Those who are accustomed to base their
whole conception of Christianity upon the