The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-06-07
Recent Publications.

To understand well the New Testament, 1t is
obviously necessary to place ourselves as tar as
nossible in the midst of the age in which Christ
anneared and in which the evangelists and the
orostles wrote. Tounderstand fully the sayings
Of Christ and the language of the apostles we
should reproduce as vividly as possible the
thought and the daily life which environed
them. We have had great deal of light thrown
On the New land the Old Testament Scriptures
by the learned works which have been pub
lshed in illustration of the manners, customs,
geography, and archaeology of Palestine and the
ancient world. There has been a singular neg
lect to study with the same attention the thought
of the Jews of our Saviour's time, and especially
the wider forms of theological belief which pre-
vailed among them during the centuries imme-
dately preceding and following his appearance
The Jews had a not inconsiderable theological
literature during this period, and the common
tators who have written on the New Testament
have, surprising as it is, made exceedingly little
use of it, especially our English commenta-
tors Excepting that remarkable man, Moses
Stuart, of Andover). The so called apocryphal
Christian literature of the second and third cen
turtles of our era has also failed to receive that
study which it deserves, if we would gather to-
gether all the rays of light which may be thrown
on the sacred writings. Notably we may men
ton in this connections the Tcstamepts of the
1'oelre PatridrchS written in the early part of
the second century, and, in our Judgment, the
well known epistle of Barna5as, and the col
lection known as the Pastor Of Hermas, have
been unduly deprecated and ignored by stu
dents who have undertaken to write the history
of the planting of the Christian Church. There
are still extant various Jewish writings of the
period Immediately preceding the Christian era,
or coincident with'it beginnings, which are also
of greater or less value in this connection One
ofthese is the Book of Jtbilees, probably written
about the middle of the first century another
is the Assumption of Noses, written about the
time OF Herod the Great; another is the Psalms
Of Solomon, supposed to have been written
short time before the destruction of Jerusalem :;
another and the most important is work which
has Just appeared in a new English translation
(from the Ethiopic) from the press of F. w.
Draper, Andover, by the Rev George H.
Schodde, Phi. D., Professor in Capital University,
Columbus, Ohio, with copious notes and refer
ences. This book, imputed to the patriarch
Enoch, had wide circulation in the early
Church, and is frequently referred to and quoted
by the early fathers. 1t seems to have been
known to the apostle Jude, and even to have
been made use of by him in the well-known pas
sage in his epistle oversees IA, 15); it was made
use Of by Justin Martyr and Irenaus in the
second century, and Tertullian even regarded
1t as an inspired production. Clement of Alex
andria "a. D. POO and Augustine also refer to
1t. 1t is divided into one hundred and eight
chapters, and consists of series of revelations
which are said to have been made to Enocb
The date of the work has been disputed, and is
to be determined by the historical vision found
IN chaps. lxxxv-xc, which ranges over the whole
history of Israel from Adam to the time OF the
author The great majority of critics deny that
1t IS the work of one author; but the whole Of
1t was, as many think, written before the time
OF Herod the Great, and if this be the fact. it
gives the work very high importance indeed.
The ChrlstolOgy Of portions of the book is so re-
markable. that other critics think these sections
were added IN the first century of our era Pro
lessor Schodde entertains the first opinion
We are exceedingly glad to have this new
translation OF such work, with the benefit Of
all the light which has been thrown upon it by
such scholars as Dillmann, Ldcke, Ewald, Hill
genfeld, VOlkmar, Tideman, and others.
The volume is limo of 278 pages, with
ccoPlouS explanatory notes, and special Intro
dactory chapter. DR.. Ezra Abbott speaks very
highly OF the scholarly character of the annota-
tons BY the editor. We are grateful to Mr..
Warren F. Draper, Andover, Mass. for having
brought it out. Price $1.75.,