The herald., 1897-12-12
CHURCHLY NOTES

our daily bread" In the Coptic version
the phrase still in use Is: "Give us this
day the bread Of tomorrow" This quaint
rendering OF the petition by the Chris
tian descendants of the ancient Egypt
ians was adopted by the Alexandrian
church, where spiritual and not a
material Interpretation, he tells US, was
always placed on the petition. At the
present time the rendering quoted
exists only In the Coptic church, "as a
last echo OF an exegesis which dates
from the earliest Christian times, and
which, whatever It's scientific value.
does not lack a certain noble beauty at
once intllectual and moral
There Is a legitimate principle at the
base Of the theory that Biblical criti-
cism-narrow and barren criticism-is
to be condemned. The distinguished
Professor Kirn Of Leipsic, in a recent
address touching the Biblical criticism
Of the day, refers to the necessity Of an
undoubted authority as foundation OF
faith. Among other things he says:
ut would prove fatal to all edification
from the Scriptures II. in using por-
ton fit for this purpose, the question
would first have to be answered whether
1t had stood the test of citicism or not.
The historical conception Of the Bible
can be brought into harmony with the
needs Of the church only where the
authority of the Scriptures remains un-
assailed. Only when men began
to read the Scriptures for the purpose of
finding in them passages for the needs
Of dogmatics and polemics was the de-
sire awakened for doctrine concerning
the origin of the Scriptures" Still Pro-
fessor Kirn admits that "the apostles
are not free from the traditional errors
and prejudices; that the Scriptures are
by no means characterized by a pedantic
accuracy. With what freedom" he ex-
claims. paul cites his quotation. But,
he adds, "the chief thing, Christ's testi-
mony, does not suffer thereby. Christ
Is the embodiment of the authority of
God appearing in history"
70 Hallam Lord Tennyson, in his recent
biographical work, speaking of the
gradations by which his father reached
the heights of moral philosophy, tells
us (Tennyson: A Memory that in youth
he (the poet) sang Of nature; then he
sang the songs of his country and Of the
joys and griefs Of the people, but by
degrees, having learned the real phil
osophy of life and Of humanity-"he
celebrated the glory of human love and
human heroism and Of human thought" :"
The epic, king Arthur" was intended
to typify the life Of man. Representing
therein some of the great religions Of
the world" In I'm Memorian" the poet
expresses victorious hope and faith
faith and hope that never forsook him
through the future years. "Up to the
end" says the son and biographer, "he
faced death with the same earnest and
unfailing courage that he had always
shown, but with an added sense Of the
awe and mystery Of the infinite"
An essentially American Journal of
Theology has been started in Chicago
quarterly publication issued by the
University Of Chicago press. The lib
eral scope and spirit Of this periodical
may be cleaned from the announcement
made in its first issue that writers upon
all theological subjects and of every
school of theological opinion will receive
a welcome" In the initial number is,
among many very able papers, fine,
manly, Christian and common-sense
article by President Strong Of Rochester
Theological Seminary. touching the
drift Of the current of modern theology
as affecting the immediate future Of
Christianity. Back to. Christ" Is the
motto under which DR.. Strong argues
for the return Of the Christian world to
the original in thought, archetypal in
creation, Ito the logos Of God, who is
not only omniscient Reason, but also the
personal Conscience and Will at the
heart Of the universe" The following
brief sentences furnish the keynote of
DR.. Strong's article: II would reach the
true Christ, not by q process Of exclu-
sion. but by process Of inclusion. And
this I claim to be an application Of the
methods of science, when science pos
sesses herself of all accessible facts and
uses all her means Of knowledge"
"Let us go back to Christ with the new
understanding Of Him which modern
thought was given us. We propose to
go back from deism to Christ, the life
Of nature; from atomism to Christ, the
life Of humanity; from externalism to
Christ. the life Of the church,"
4 + +
Lady Cook (nee Claflin) has been
studying religious antiquarianisms
and writes (The American Antiquarian)
that she has discovered that the cross
as religious symbol is far older than
Christianity. The Edinburgh Review
had already stated that from the dawn
OF paganism to the time Of Christ the
cross was one OF the ecommonest and most
sacred of symbolical monuments, land
is SO still in every land where that Of
Calvary is unrecognized or unknown" :"
1t was from time immemorial every
where regarded as q significant token
of brotherhood and the point of contact
in every system Of mythology. The
cross, says Lady Cook, had a special
meaning: 1T was the sign Of genera
tion whether divine or human, the en-
blem Of the ever vigorous fecundity of
nature, and therefore Of the life that is
and that which Is to come. ~. And
when in the fulness Of time Christianity
made It's appearance and developed or
ders and hierarchies, it incorporated
within itself almost every feature of
paganism. including the supreme phallic