New Britain herald., 1925-03-02
AT YOUR LIBRARY


 its sprInkling of things we want 10 do drags us on with such relent- less speed that only by the most breathless effort can VIC keep our footing and q reasonably calm ex- terior. When one gets into such frazzled. putterIng frame of mlnd' reading is like stepping from the | confused chatter of n warm crowded room into the cool wishtulness Of a spring evening.
 This is especially true of such an understanding, releasing booK as Beauty in Religion" by Maude Royden. This is a collection Of ad- dresses made to an audience whose perception of the Eternal was some what obscured by the sticky dis comfort of August in London. She succeeds somehow in reminding one of all the enduring, wise and beau tiful ahings that have made lire worthwhile and talks about each in turn: Beauty in religion, poetry and religion, beauty of common things. religion and laughter, love the creator and Our Lord Jesus Christ.
 Rediscoycring the Bible
 Such a book starts one to think ing of past Lenten resolutions, not the negative ones like giving up movies or candy, but perhaps ones childish endeayor to read the Bible from cover to cover; a worthy aim which was sadly prone to ship- wreck in the book of Numbers'
 If one were to renew that resolve this year for instance, Human Ma ture in the Bible" by William Lyon Phelps, would be a fine book to whet ones appetite, He shows what lovable, fallibe and highly individ- ual people there are in the Bible ' and what extraordinarily dramatic experiences some of them had. II you need a bit more persuasion his "Reading the Bible" will certainly be effective.
 And now that in your adult wis dom you know that the Bible is no' a book but a lib ary you will with out regret skip anything that seom' dry and unprofitabe. The best wa, to do this without missing any
 thing is to use the Modern Read :. CTS Bible," arranged by Moulton This retains all the dignity an' beauty of the authorized verslol s but the stories are given in chrono
 logical order with songs and lyrlc
 from the Psalms placed near tn |, events to which they refer
 If Bible language" has throug |, so much repetition lost its mean 'i ing, a startlingly fresh impresslo Il of the Gospels is gained by readln s Goodspeed's New Testament, A
 American Translation" This is writ " ten in "ordnary American "l' ,s no dstracting verse divisions Al ie though very worthwhile, 1t ca
 hardly take the place of the Kin ia James version as far as ilterar ,- value is concerned.
 How Our Hymns Were Made l. Hymns like the Bible we simpl T. take for granted with little notlo in of how they came to be "rltte'
 "Famous Hymns of the World" [ s- Sutherland, tells why IS of our be S loved religious songs were con ,p posed and gives human and toucl
 ing bits from the story of their d Id soclations and influence. Some ye those included are Abide WI of Me-" Jesus, Lover of my Soul
 Just as l Am" Rock of Ages Id "Onyard Christian Soldiers al i'll "Nearer My God to Thee"
 ak "The Hymn as Literature"
 Reeves, tells about the ditfere st neriods of hymn writing and wi he some songs survived while othe ey fell into disuse. It contrasts t
 very personal clement of medieV ill religion with the social emphasis he today and suggests some ot L ri- great themes which have IT
 through the hymns of all ages. tin Hardly to be distinguished fro in bvmns are some of the unsu as nocms in Worlds Great Religio s" Poetry" compiled by Caroline Nil 'es Hill. Poets of every age are in. cluded from an unknown Assyri me of 200O E. C. to Carl sandbu nd These are carefully grouped unG in topics and show an interesting ed velopment in religious ideas. I gut cheap and sentimental has be Fa!s only the sincere and beautiful
 " Poets Life of Christ" by Al
 is another very satisfying colIectl
 in which the poems are grouped
 inc event suggesting them. some
 the headings are: Nativity, Chl
 hood. Sermon on the Mount, Pa us bles, Trial, CrucihXion, and Res
 rection. There is also a long d ing matic poem by Surge Moore Judas which has recently been p'
 lished and a play by Don Marc
 called Dark Hours"
 1ng Modernizing Our Faith -
 It is really rather tragic that the can hardly mention religion tot
 without starting up a discussion
 the so-callcd age old conflict
 science and religion Before our gets so very warm about it, it
 only fair to read something VII? Coulter's "Whcre Evolution
 Religion Meet" This sgives .,,o excellent and understandable s' '-' mary of what the modern eve .., tionary theory is, how 1t has ''''N nucnccd other branches of scle
 and it's relation to the Biblical
 count. Evolution and chris' Faith" by Lane, gives much sine same material in an equally
 tr3ctive form. ." christianity nd M d
 Thought" is q symposium by 8
 well known religious leaders ot
 day. Typical chapters are keel .e;e the Faith, by Charles k. Bro 'ois Evolution and Religion, by lstcl