New-York tribune., 1909-07-10

the kingdom of God in Christ a kingdom re-
vealed in love and law considers the apphca-
ton, individually and socially Of this principle
to problems Of the marriage relation. friendship
work, economies science and art and clVlc NE
Preliminary to the main discussion the author
makes a survey Of what he calls the opponents
of distinctively Christian ethics. namely. the
utiitarian. evolutionary, postivist and pesslmlst
views. Where no question Of Christian ale
glance is at stake such method of comparison
and opposition may have its advantages but Ii
we do not mistake their temper most students
of ethical theory would prefer to work out q
philosophical basis of morals without adven-
titious aids. and then to decide the measure Oh
its harmony with the Christian imperative re-
membering that the latter is not philosophy
as such, but a moral programme. An ethlcai
idealism on the ground of which so many people
discover finality in the moral teaching OF jesus
may we'll be the philosophy most rrlenoiy TO
Christianity, yet that fact of itself would hardly
warrant the drumming out of camp OF Volun-
teer who found in let us say, utilitarianism a
personally satisfying rationale of the Christian
law of life An indulgence of this sort being
guaranteed. there remains Dr. Haerlng eI-
fectfvely shows. a powerful tendency Of the
present time running counter to the good as
Christianity defines it, and clamoring for
"devauation of all values" on the "thither side
Of good and evil" All needed commentary on
the immoraist position is supplied, the author
suggests. in the exclamation of Ntetzsche him.
self Thy danger is no small one. thou free
spirit and wanderer Thou hast lost the goal.
and so hast lost thy way, too
The documents of rabbinic Judaism compose
so vast literature as to make impossible, at
the present stage of inquiry. any orderly and
complete system of theology. For this reason
Professor s. Schechter urges caution and So
briefly upon students. that they may not repro
duce the amazing certainty and confidence with
which our manuals and histories of religion re-
port on such topics Jewish legalism ana
Jewish transcendentalism. In Some Aspects Of
Rabbinic. Theology" DR.. Schechter presents sum-
maries of some Of the simpler fundamental
truths concerning God in his relation to Israel
and the world-the Kingdom, the Law, Sin, Re
pentance and Reconciliation. AS a source Of in
formation about Jewish doctrine the old liturgy
has been urwarrantably neglected. Critics who
dwell too fordly what they have called the
mechanical tendencies Of the rabbs seem to
overlook the fact that the very trainers of the
petty laws were the main composers of the
liturgy; and who can say what the rabbits feel
ings were when ne wrote for instance. For
give us, our Father, for we have sinned'? The
copying of rubrics is an easy affair:
They float on the surface Of the so-called Sea Of
@ ecae o nina ana Or IT ws qss Kenan oRS mSud have a
the vplgarity Of cTluclsm TO SKIM tneI OF t6 aa6
synagogue life. II Life-andTimes writer's would
dip only little deeper into this sea they would
notice how easily the rabbis could disregard all
these rubrics.
Among nobler minds Zion the motives of
reward and punishment were lost sight Of in
the enthusiasm with which the Law was re-
ceived It was well understood that neither
burnt offering nor meat offering was required
of them, but the heart as the real altar and the
service Of the heart as the real sacrifice.
In these authoritative studies Professor
Schechter. who writes entirely from the Jewish
standpoint has brought together material that
will have value for those who would study the
rise of Christian ideas well as for students
of the religion Of Israel
The second edition OF Professor Adolf Har
nack's The Mission and Expansion Of Chris
tianity in the First Three Centuries has been
added by the Putnams to the Theological Trans
lation Library. When the findings Of critical in
vestigation are steadily presupposed the literary
sources available for the history OF primitive
Christian missions appear fragmentary, but
Professor Harnack points out that, even so, they
are extensive when compared 10 the extant
sources at our disposal for the history OF any
other religion within the Roman Empire. and
are sufficient to afford a sketch coherent and
complete in all essential features This impor-
tant monograph explains how and why and
where, within less than three hundred years. AN
Oriental religious movement which was origi-
nalIy mere ripple on a single of dissent
in the wide sea of paganism rose to breaker
which swept before ii the vested interests,
prejudices, traditions and authority of the most
powerful social and political organization that
the world had hitherto known"