New-York tribune., 1909-07-10
RELIGIOUS STUDIES.
Some Nee Books by Representative
Scholars.
Scholars.

SONGS FOR TIE CHAPEL. Arranged for Male
Voices, For Use in Colleges AG&aesnlfT' &ys H
Morse and Ambrose White Vernon. D. D. Svo,
pp. XII 45e. Charles Scribner's Sons
STUDIES IN CHRISTIANITY. By Borden Parker Pa,d5s1
Bovine. I2mc, PIP. Vii 399- Houghton Mlhiln
Company
JESUS AND THE GOSPEL. Christianity Justified Justified
ir the MHd OF Jesus Cagist BY James Ielerey
THE ETHICS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. BY
II. Theodore Won HaeilnE Irans1'tteG LLTii' Iytii
the second German edition by James , M H.
Pgjnam's sous.
SOME ASPECTS OF RABBINIC THEOLOGY. BY BY
3S4 The Macmillan COMPANY
THE MISSION AND EXPANSION OF CHRIS HRS
TAHFEf BH BT ,dd 4E HdnsSk rTInzated and
ited BY James MGf4t u ID d, s. Second OF, sS s9d eG
P Putnarn's Sons
If, as President Ticker remarks in his intro
duction, the elimination of some hymns and
tunes is legitimate part of the process OF re-
ligtous education then the editors Of Songs for
the Chapel' show themselves alert TO their re-
sponsibility They have taken account OF
changes and advances in literary and musical
expression as well as in spiritual sentiment. and
they have been daring and wise enough to act
in accordance with their findings One result IS
that some familiar hymns have been rescued
from inferior and too long sacrosanct settings
and we have "AI Hail the Power Of Jesuss
Name" given with the tune Miles Lane While
Just as 1 Am Without One Plea" appears 10
Sir George J. Elveys accompaniment No al
tentative tunes for these hymns offered.
The like courage of omission on the part OF
compilers Of our church hymnals might help
congregations TO a more spontaneous and con-
WINGED unanimity in musical expression. In ar
ranging this attractive and usabe book the
editors have been guided by a first hand ac-
quaintance with the requirements OF worship in
a college community OF men. As they have
comprehended it the need is for the classic
hymns Of spiritual exaltation and chiefly for
hymns expressive of normal and constant
Christian experience. How such an experience
is construed may be gathered from the titles OF
the Inair divisions under which the Jwo hundred
and fifty hymns are arranged: The Day and It's
Work. The Day of Worship, The Days Srug-
gle with Sin, The Faith of the Day and The
Larger Work.
The range of selection reflects generous
mind. Here for example. is John Mason Neaie's
translation of the thirteenth century 20
QuaEta qualia sunt lila Sabbata," with the mel
ody from La Feiee; Henry Wottons How
happy is he born and taught that serveth not
another's WILL and Frederick W. Fabers Faith
Of Gu, Fathers" This hymn is in the tinkered
version, however, conceding to Protestant neces-
sites. and the appropriate tune, st Catherine"
is inexplicably cashiered in favor of brand
new setting. Room is found for Theodore Par
ker's noble lines, 20, Thou great Friend to all
the sons of men," and there are several hymns
voicing the aspirations Of social service like
John Hays Not in dumb resignation We lift
our hands on high" and Felix Adlers Sing we
OF the Golden City" Despite the schisms that
threaten Zion il would seem that whenever be-
levers sing the hymns Of faith the unity Of the
Church is then a life and not phrase.
Professor Borden P Bovine is TO be numbered
among those entirely human metaphysicians
who. when the Immediately practical concerns
OF mankind are being considered. speak in
a plain and straightforward way In his stud
les in Christianity he foregoes the use Of the
philosophers trade apparatus and talks to and
for the man who finds himself in a strait be-
twixt the revised theology to which his intellect
inclines and the old religion TO which his heart
yet clings There is sign that the mother
speech Of religious experience viii ever be out
grown. Such speech is based On metaphor and
must be taken not for what it says but for what
it means In the individual life the central fact
is the will. Let that be directed 70 Gods will
as the highest good. and the problem Of per
sonal salvation is solved We have indeed to
ploG along the dusty road of daily routine, yet
not without a growing sense that We are not
alone and that the spirit of Christ is with us
in the way The possession of a religious ex
perience does not. in Professor Bowne's tudg-
rneDt entitle believer to instruct the Church,
and he regards g pathetic the fact that per
sons can be found harping away on obsolete
knowledge in the idea that thereby the ark can
be saved. 1t is not uncommon to find nominal
leaders in our church organizations who have
I.r-T,o
to cover up their ignorance, by authority or by
assumption. or by the various forms of ecce-
siasticaI imposition which familiar to the
student Of ecclesiastical history" Such profes-
sional ark savers while claiming to be defenders
Of the faith are really betraying it in the house
OF its friends.
Whether by Christianity is meant the life of
religion as the Master lived it or religion of
which Jesus is Himself the object is old
question given fresh consideration by Professor
James Denney Of the Free Church College.
Glasgow, in Jesus and the Gospel The docu-
rnents OF the New Testament go to prove that
Christianity never existed d religion in which
men shared the faith of Jesus. To all believers
he belonged to the divine well as the human
sphere and in tbs practical sense Of believing
they al confessed his Godhead. The religious
experience portrayed in the New Testament has
its justification and historical basis III the self
revelation of Jesus and the Resurrection. Apart
rom the Resurrection. says the author. nothing
that Jesus was or did car justify or sustain the
religious life which we in the primitive
church, and he adds:
Those who reject the apostolic testimony al his
point may. indeed have the highest appreciation
fo- the memory OF Jesus: they !nay reverence the
ideal OF humanity, the supreme attainment OF the
"a -rgf hat fu ss-r