The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-23
LIBERAL THEOLOGY
Fly CARL IT MILAN
 Director Pu bile Library

l Director Pt l What do you believe?
 The newspapers are giving much space
 of Dr. H. M. Edrnonds. Whatever may bt the effects on the man and the church l concerned, 1t will at least make many | folks think and talk about their own be- liefs. Perhaps 1t will make some of them read popular books on theological ques- tions.
 The books listed below are already popular, some of them having been in cir culation almost constantly since they were added to the public library shelves year or two ago.
 The notes given are quoted from au- thoritative reviews. The list does not snclude everything in the library on these subjects.
 George Arthur Andrews. What Is Es- sential?" 1910. "An effort to ascertain the bedrock bottom of our religion; to make few soundings. in the hope that some human craft, in danger of relig- ious shipwreck, may be piloted to place of firm anchorage"
 Lyman Abbott, Christianity and So- cial Problems" 1896. "Its value lies in it's wide range of suggestions, its earnest spirit of humanity
 John Bagnell Bury History of Free dom of Thought" 1913. "As historian, Professor Bury is always comprehensive, if not broad-minded accurate, if biased under the stress of moral indignation"
 The Rev. R. J. Campbell, ''The New Theology" 1907 'The 20 chapters of this volume present in a clear and earnest manner the leading points that dfferen- tiate the new theology from the older do6mas. The whole work is a prophet s high appeal to the highest and best in man. Here We have an admirable exposi- ton of the newer and, we think, high CT concept of the atonement-an explan- alton that does not affront the reason or outrage the sense of justice Here, too, our author shows how the higher critics of the orthodox churches view Jesus"
 Rudolf Eucken. Can We Still Be Christians?" 1914. The substance of Dr. Eucken's essay can best be summed up by quoting his final answer to the ques- tion of the title We not only can but must be Christians-only, however, on the one condition that Christianity be rec ognized a progressive historic move ment still in the making, that 1t is to be shaken, free from the numbing in- fluence of ecclesiasticism and placed upon broader foundation. Thus here lies the task of our time and the hope of the future.'
 FisSe, John. Through Nature to God" 1S99 Contents: The mystery of evil The cosmic roots of love and self sacri- flce-The everlasting reality of religion An argument for theism from evolution ary standpoint Destiny of Man" bo not deny many of the conclusions of evo- lution, yet who fear its effects on reli- gious beliefs"
 Gladden., Washington. How Much Is Left of the Old Doctrines? 1899. This little book, like Who Wrote the Bible?" is not for the scholars, but for the people. No claim to special theological or scien- tific knowledge can be set up by the writer; he has only sought to bring to- gether the terms of the theological equa ton as they are understood by many well instructed men of the present day.
 Harris, George. "A Century's Change in Religion 1914 ''Dr. Harris is pecu- liary qualified by his varied experiences as pastor, professor of theology and col lege president to handle a theme like this in way at once scholarly and popular; 2 dealing as it does with both the ere da md practical aspects of religion, both
 aHalogy and life it presents a very in- et ing book to the general public.'
 Ai iiffert, Arthur Cushman. "The Rise ag odern Religious Ideas" 1915. ''The hoeA is a scholarly presentation of the aisln9 sgration of ancient and the rise of m aaIn religious ideas
 tin, Alfred Wilhelm. 'The Life of Jesus in the Light of Higher Criticism" 1913. ''To readers with an open mind and spiritual outlook the book is healthful and stimulating; while to believers in the infallbility of everything as it appears in the Bible today 1t will seem the acme of infidelity.''
 Mathews, Smaller. "The Gospel and the Modern Man" 19l0 ''Dr. Mathews starts with the strictly evangelical data which have been worked into the corpus of doc Urine, conducts his reader over the course of methodica reasoning which follows closely evolutionary development and ar rives at the conclusion that spiritual life Is not social surplus to be enjoyed by those who have shared in the economic surplus
 Mains, George Preston. Modern Thought and Traditional Faith" 1911. 'Dr. George Preston Mains has en- ddeavored, so he tells us in his preface, to show that biblical scholars and critics have for some time realized that despite traditions, nothing in the last resort is of value, and nothing will finally stand save the truth The Bible, in it's passage to us from the early middle ages, has had foisted upon it many traditional errors and false interpretations It has been the mission of criticism to free the Bible from these obscuring errors .the church ought to welcome and to encour- age a reverent, yet a free, untrammeled. critical investigation in all fields of re- ligious truth"
 Walter Rauschenbusch, Christianity and the Social Crisis" 1907. There is not room here to show the successive stages by which Professor Rauschen- busch builds up his structure of thought to it's continuation; we can only say that