The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-09-28

for the settlement or the Northwest Territory, visited Yale, and set down in his diary an interesting account here given-of the college and New Haven, comparing both with their condition at his graduation in 1765.
 Yale College is happy in having such a historiographer as Professor Dexter. His work is of more than To- cal interest and is valued by all who care for New England history and genealogy.
 THE FORMATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, by Rev. George Hooper Ferris, D. D., American Baptist Publica- tion Society Philadelphia, Pa, 291 pages. Cloth.
 This book is @ fresh treatment of an old subject that has always been in need of a more complete consideration. Th@forces that brought about the can on of the New Testament in its pres ent familiar form have always been shrouded in mystery or the vaguest sort of traditional accounts have been given Of it's formation,
 With the open-mindedness of the scholar, determined to know the truth only and to announce it as he learns 1 it. Dr. Ferris sets about the task of seeking his information at first hand in a study of the views held by those who were best qualified to speak, be- cause they had a part in shaping the | influences that determined the extent and form of the New Testament Canon the Ante-N -Nicene Fathers. From these the author quotes fully, presenting in coplous footnotes his citations from | their works.
 l Dr. Ferris does not claim an exhaus- tive treatment of his subject, but he has succeeded admirably in clearing it | of much extraneous matter that has usually attached to 1t, His method Is purely historical. as 1t should be. It l has been the fault of many writers of the arliest events of the Christian church to introduce theological diver sion or dogrnatism, when they set out to write history or claimed to be his- torians The historical method rlgidly followed Is sure to provide unpre1u- diced knowledge and So lay the foun- dation for building a truer theology. 1 History and dogmatism should not in such work be confused. Dr. Ferris has exceedingly well avoided the tempta- ton to which So many writers in this 1 field yield.
 1 Ills style iss Interestingly readable. There are no dull pages to the studi- l ous reader who finds himself easily and | pleasantly led along In the argument from page to page. A single sentence from the opening chapter says a great deal. "We hear much said about a New Testament church. but 1t is gen. orally forgotten that New Testament church is a church without a New Testament"
 The task which Dr. Ferris undertook is stated best by himself: What we are to seek in our investigation is not the origin of the separate documents, but the origin of the New Testament A canon is of necessity a homegeneity, 1 having one real Author, and not many To recount the history of the literature contained in 1t is altogether a different l task from the effort to give an account of it's formation. We are not trying tc discover when the documents were written, but when they came to be looked upon as the integral parts o1 single and authoritative volume.' From the next chapter on the First Norm of Authority" on through suc- ceeding chapters, "The Period of Con- fusion" "The First Theologlans," "Tht Resentment of the Church." and oth. CTS, twelve in all, the argument be. comes interestingly accumulative. The tracing of the influence of Greciar speculative philosophy on Christian thought could not well be left out in { study of the kind. The energies of the church were being drawn into meta- physics instead of Christian truth, The common Christian,' as Dr. Ferris happily terms those who somehow be- lieved that Christianity should be 6 life rather than "a philosophy, had nc spokesman.
 The author brings forth the inter- estlng statement that Tertullian made first the claim that Christ gave tC certain men the exclusive right tC publish the written gospel. This was in the latter part of the second cen ! tury. Here is TArtullian's claim: 'FWe lay 1t down as our first position thai the Evangelical Testament (Evangell- um Instrumentum) has apostles for its authors to whom was assigned by the Lord Himself this office of publish Ing the gospel" The manner in which this position was laid down by Tertul- Han and supported by others pr. Fer ris sets forth in his chapter on "The Catholic Fathers"
 To many minds interested in this subject of the formation of the New Testament canon it has ever been g question why some books written ir