The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-28

ments subsequently, founded in America, with
the exception of those established in New Eng
land. were, at first, Of the palatinate type.
We envy the undergraduate who shall derive
his first Impressions of American history from
such n book as this. That these and their COM
panion volumes arc intended for his service, as
well as for the pleasure and instruction of tho
general reader, is evident from the fact that wo
encounter here and there brief summaries or
retrospects of preceding chapters. which will DO
found singularly useful for purposes Of review.
NJ. w. H.
An American Contrabution to Religious Thought.
1t is perhaps not generally known that there
exists In this country n counterpart to the
hampton Lectures which have played SO
important a part in the evolution of religious
thought at Oxford. We refer to the Bohlen
Lectures. now delivered annually In Philadel-
phia. founded by the late John Bohlen, which,
it is expressly provided, shall have for their
subjects such as are set forth In the will
of tho Rev. John hampton. The Bohlen
Lectures for the year 1897 were delivered by
the Rev. L. II. SCHwAB. Rector of st. Mary's
Church. in the city of New York, and they are
now republished in a small octave volume,
entitled The Kingdom Of God tE. P. Dut-
ton & Co... The author tells US. in his
introduction, that his lectures are founded. to o
largo exte"t. upon Albrecht Ritschl's t~reatise
on Justification and Reconciliation. Mr..
Schwab. however. Is careful to point out
Ritschl's failure to distinguish clearly between
tho historical and the philosophical. or religious.
idea, and he. himself, has underworld to avoid q
similar error. The main part Of his book. In
deed. Is devoted to an extrication of Christian
Truth from the mass OF alien material with
which metaphysical reasoning has encountered
II. The salient points of this Truth arc shown to
be Forgiveness, Eternal Life, a God Of Love, the
Revelation OF Christ. These arc tho vital
truths, upon which rests the hope. tho comfort
and the strength of religion. and tho author
undertakes to demonstrate the connection and
the harmony between them. He does not over.
look the fact, however. that his reasoning Is
based upon the assumption Of the authenticity
of the Gospel. and. accordingly. In one of his
later chapters. he addresses himself to this
underlying question. 1t is what he has to say
upon this subject to which we shall hero conane
ourselves.
Already In his introduction Mr.. Sohwabh had
acknowledged frankly the impossibility of prov
ing Christianity in the ordinary meaning of the
word proof. Tho facts of the Christian Rcvela-
ton may be fortified by evidence; certain con-
sidcrations may be adduced. as has been done
by Bishop Butler In his Analogy" to make
the Christian Truth appear in accord with the
system Of the universe rs 1t is known to ua. All
this, rs Mr.. Schwab perceives. does not lift
Christian Truth beyond the sphere of the
probable. Tho faith. however, which is not
raised above the balancing of probabili.
ties is not a Christian faith. ITO gain
tho strong conviction which reaches the
level Of truo Christian faith. another way
must be taken. 1t must be by a spirit
ual appropriation Of Christianity as Christ
pointed out: II any man will do his will. he
shall know of the doctrine whether It be of God
or whether I speak Of myself II any proof oil
Christianity Is possible. it can be given only by
showing that the highest aspirations of mar
are satisfied by Christianity. and by that alone.
1t is to this species of demonstration of tn,
truth of Christianity to which the larger part
Of this book is devoted. Nevertheless. in his
sixth chapter, the author recognizes. as we have
said. tho necessity of inquiring whether thu
facts upon which Christian Truth is based ar,
trustworthy. "We cannot" he says. :" neglec
the historic basis OF Christianity. Other
wise. 1t would hang In the air. II Their,
were no sufficient warrant for these vita
truths In tho facts of history. We SHOULD
have to say: It Is q worry beautiful picture o
the imagination, but 1t is a dream and nothing
> more" Again. Should criticism succeed ii
proving that such a man rs Jesus never lived
. or that the record OF his life is Enthusiastically
we should be forced to reconstruct our theories
We cannot entirely spiritualize faith. 1t 1
> futile to pretend that Christianity Is quite in
, /, dependent OF criticism. Tho Christian faitl
: docs depend upon certain facts of on
knowledge. II there was no Christ. Their
can be no Christianity. 1t is. therefore
|. needful to take into consideration the ground
: for believing in the historic character Of Christ
! and. in 30 doing. we are brought face to fac
= with the immense labor which this and proceed
> ing generations have spent upon the problem.
The author proceeds to give with remarkabl
. conciseness a sketch of the drift of modern crit
. icsm and research touching tho authenticity O
- the Gospel. 1t is almost impossible to carry tn
process of condensation further than Mr.. Schwa
~ has carried II, and we shall reproduce tn
= sketch. for the most part, in his own words.
d Not until toward the close of tho last centur
It was biblical criticism undertaken in an organ
h lied and persistent way. since then 1t has gon
through many phases. One theory after anothe
has been propounded. enthusiastically received
1t and renounced. Such was the fate of tho earl