New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-09
THREE GEE1T RELIGIOUS NOVELS

lHOSc Iuftc Wlucly Ttdu anu HluCu ulScuS>cu
novels Robert Esmere,' John Ward, Preacher"
and " The Story of African Farm" owe their
vogue not so much to their acknowledged literary
and artistic merits to the fact that they
throw into concrete form three distinct attitudes
of current thought toward traditional Christi
anity. They might, indeed, almost be called the
Gospel Of the modern doubter; for they reflect
in the most life-lilSe colors the salient features
Of that profound religious unrest which is so
characteristic of our times. In Robert Els
mere = an honest attempt is made TO save some
thing, however small, out of the wreck Of religious
opinion, and TO satisfy the doubter with beauti-
full ideal of altrusm. The benignant figure Of
the Son of God is deity painted out by master
hand. and in its stead there appears the palld
and shadowy outline of Jesus. the Man. 1t is
the artistic incarnation of the modern destructive
German criticism, which would alike expunge
from Christianity both miracle and revelation.
In John Ward, Preacher a picture of the
old Calvinistic theology is drawn, monstrous
and forbidding as to chill the heart of the read
er. The whole book is a protest against ecclesi-
asticism embodied in dogma, and a plea for
the less artculated religion now striving to find
an utterance in the so-called new theology"
And lastly, in " The Story of an African Farm"
the semi-tones of questioning doubt, which ex-
lists even in the Church, gradually become shaded
INTO the black darkness of despair out of which
a human soul is heard to curse the day on which
il was born
Heretical these books may be, and doubtless
are, from the strictly orthodox point of view;
and the philosophy of life which they teach is in
some respects both hopeless and pernicous But
for that reason only they cannot be ruled out
of court For In the first place they reflect in a
measure the vague thoughts and aspirations of
a multitude of Christians who have not broken
with traditional Christianity. and who are now
engaged in the task Of bringing orthodox be-
lief into harmony with the thought of the age.
To this extent therefore, the spcculations of
these books are the direct result of the secthing
fluX Of religious opinion which is such marked
characteristic of modern Christian thinking.
Robert Elsmerc" is an especially noteworthy
book in this respect 1t is brilliant transcript
of the intellectual and religious agitation that
is to-day going on among the clergy Of all the
churches with reference to the crcdibilty of
revelation. II is an epOch-marking as well as
an epoch-mal1ing book becal it at once
veals the religious doubt and unrest
Of the age, and brings into a well-deined focus
the vague speculatons 10 which that doubt and
unrest give rise 1t attempts TO answer the quos-
tion Whittier shall all these things tend ?7 by
showing that the essential rcSlduum OF Christian
truth, shorn Of super-naturalism may become a
vital ethical force in the moulding Of human
character. To the Robert Elsmcrcs who are now
covering in doubt and fear in many rectorieS
and parsonages it says Fear not; the higher
criticism will doubtless destroy much that you
have learned to love. The historical and scien-
tifc method when applied TO Christianity, may
prove much that you hold dear to be no more
than beautiful myth But God of wisdom and
goodness yet remains You can still believe in
a Power not ourselves which makes for righteous
ness, and in a religion whose cornerstone is the
Divine brotherhood of man.
And the message of the book, hopeless though
it may seem TO the orthodox believer is without
doubt sending its appeal home to the hearts
of many Christians both among the clergy and
the laity. IL may result in creating
religious force in the world outside the lines of
organized Christianity; it may fail even in
giving new form and tendency to the traditional
beliefs Of the Church. But in any it is an
sign OF the times, which thoughtful
man can afford to overlook.