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and feelings, and their own methods of gratifying these. They made their divinities in their own image, and projected out of themselves the elements of character which they ascribed to them. And thus, as the poet has not more strongly than truly expressed it, they made their "Gods partial, changeful, passionate, unjust, Whose attributes were rage, revenge, or lust."

-The Jewish Messenger says:

"The time is fast approaching when it will be necessary to organize a new party in American Judaism. That the people are weary of the torpidity of the old and the madness of the new cannot be disguised. We want a Judaism which shall be Jewish, not German, or Polish, or Portuguese, or Nihilistic, and not opposed in spirit and form to the culture and refinement of the time. It must be founded on the principles for which our fathers sacrificed their lives; it must be true to the historical character of Judaism; it must emphasize the idea of Jewish nationality as opposed to cosmopolitanism, and confide in the God of Israel as an intelligent, working Being, and not any metaphysical abstraction, or pantheistic conception; it must be tolerant, and reverent, and full of sympathy for human suffering and weakness in other sects. On this platform it is possible to array a number of our ministers and congregations who want Judaism to be not an antique, but a working force in our age."

- The Albanians, who have lately attracted so much of the world's attention, are mostly Mohammedans, with a sprinkling of Roman Catholics and Orthodox Greeks. There is among them a secret society, with regular signs and pass-words, called the Order of Bektashi Dervishes. They have a somewhat peculiar creed, and are regarded by the Moslems as heretics, and by foreigners as free-thinkers :

"They believe that Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed, was God incarnate, and that he performed a mediatorial office for all Mohammedans. He performed meritorious works, and uttered prayers vicariously for his followers, so that no Moslem need make prayers or do good deeds with the object of winning favor with God. The Bektashi statement of the case is, 'Our prayers have been said' (by Ali). Whoever has faith to believe that he has permanently been introduced by Ali to the favor of God may act as he pleases without sense of sin. The Bektashis divide mankind into two classes: 'raw souls'—those who are still in bondage to ceremonial observances; and 'cooked souls' - those fully ripened characters who enjoy the freedom which arises from the knowledge that it is impossible to offend God.”

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- A distinguished materialist is reported by the Tribune as saying, "Dr. Tanner's fast has done more to shake my belief in materialism than anything that I have ever known of. We materialists believe mind to be simply a function of the brain, and that at every thought certain brain cells are destroyed. If the brain be affected, its function-thought

is impaired. But Dr. Tanner has undergone a terrible nervous strain, as shown by the large waste of the phosphates. Still, despite this drain

upon the brain, his mind has remained clear and active. I cannot reconcile this with my belief."

We recommend him to read the article in Scribner's Monthly for December last, entitled, "A Study of Apparent Death." If he can believe its statements, it will still further strenthen his faith in this direction.

- Lately there has been a parliamentary inquiry in Belgium into the conduct of the Roman Catholic clergy in relation to the free public schools, and the methods adopted by them for defeating the purpose of the government to establish a system of education free from their control. We lately saw the report of a sermon from one of our preachers lauding the Catholic Church. The facts given below, brought out by the inquiry, may increase his admiration of a hierarchy whose priests employ such means to sustain their rebellion against the laws of the land that gives them shelter and protection :

"The vicar of Izel, to take one instance, has been 'instructing' the boys and girls in his confirmation classes that it is a religious duty to disobey their parents, if their parents tell them to go to the Government school. The parish priest of Cross-Fays informed his congregation from the pulpit that fathers and mothers would do much better for their children if they allowed them to run about the streets and the fields all day, than if they sent them to schools which were not under the religious rule of the Church. If wives cannot succeed in persuading their husbands to remove their children from such schools," said he, “it is the duty of the wives to separate from such husbands." In many places the priests directly inform their hearers from the pulpit that every educator who derives his or her mission from the State is a reprobate and a castaway, living under the curse of God; and the children are taught that there is nothing wrong in insulting, disobeying, or injuring those whose existence and occupation offend the Almighty. A complaint has been lodged against the pastor of Vievres that he has organized a system of persecution against the schoolmistress of the commune. She is a pious Catholic, and insists upon going regularly to the church; the clergyman encouraged her fellow worshippers to push her out of her seat; the children from the rival "Catholic school" were told by the pastor to draw her seat from under her just as she was going to sit down, and to follow her with screams and yells when they met her out of doors. The priest of Chiny gives odd instructions to the children of his parish who attend the communal school. He told them that the schoolmaster belonged to that class of sinners who sold their souls to the devil for a couple of francs; and he ordered them, as a religious duty, to stop their ears and make a noise while the teacher was giving the lessons, in order that none of his devilish doctrines might destroy their souls."

- In a course of lectures on the Doctrines of Swedenborg and the New Church, by Rev. James Read, "pastor of the Boston Society of the New Jerusalem," the following statements regarding the conditions of the future life occur in the Lecture on "The Spiritual World":

"One who passes into the other life is in all essential respects precisely the same human being as before. He exists in human form, and

possesses every bodily as well as mental faculty. But his body is now spiritual, not natural. He finds himself surrounded by men and women, who, like himself, began their life on the earth. There are no angels but human angels, no devils or evil spirits but those who have gone from the natural world. When God made man in His image, after His likeness, He reached the crowning work of His creation. It is not possible that there should be any creature higher than the image and likeness of the Creator."

The Methodist Quarterly, in an editorial on the Parsees, furnishes the following interesting statement regarding their belief. As will be seen, it flatly contradicts the popular opinion touching their Dualism:

"In reply to an English clergyman, J. Wilson, who some forty years ago wrote a work aginst the principles of the Parsee religion, two Parsee scholars denied that the sect had a doctrine that everything existing in the world had proceeded from two principles. One of them, Doshabhai, maintained that the words found in the Vendidad on Ormuzd and Ahriman were only a parable of their prophet Zoroaster, describing the good and bad qualities in man. According to the other Parsee writer, Aspendiardjee, Ahriman is not a real being, but only a symbol for vice and evil. The doctrine for Dualism is also opposed in the VadsharKart, a book which is ascribed to Mediomah, the uncle of Zoroaster, but which probably dates from a very recent time. According to this book, Ahriman is a powerless creature of Ormuzd, who has created all creatures, useful as well as hurtful, each of which, however, serves for some purpose in the creation."

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The Lost tribes of Israel have been found again; this time in the Caucasus by a Russian traveller and journalist, W. J. RemirowitchDantschenko, who has written a book about them. They were found in the mountains of Daghestan, where travellers never went before. They are warlike, and resemble the Cossacks in appearance, but they follow the old Mosaic law as it existed before the time of Ezra and the second building of the temple, without any knowledge of Talmudic traditions and forms, and they claim to have lived where they now are ever since the time of Psalmonassar.

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE.

1. Indirect Testimony of History to the Genuineness of the Gospels. By Frederic Huidekoper. 2d Edit. New York: James Miller.

The direct testimony for the genuineness of the gospels has been often given in extenso; this admirable volume aims to gather to one point of view the many indirect evidences that they were written at the time and under the circumstances assumed in the narratives. We have read it with large and ever-growing interest, and can bear cor

dial testimony to the argument as scholarly and logical, and one that ought to be conclusive to any fair-minded reader. If this notice shall induce any of our readers to obtain and carefully study the book, we shall have done them a good service. We have not known much of Prof. Huidekoper's writings heretofore, but we propose now to know something of two other works of his mentioned and quoted frequently in the notes,- -"Belief of the first Three Centuries concerning Christ's

Mission to the Underworld,” and “Judaism at Rome."

The argument may be stated as follows: It is affirmed by certain critics that our gospels were not written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but were composed by others, in whole or in part, at a later period. The several theories are,

1. That they were written toward the close of the second or the beginning of the third century.

2. That they were at that period selected from a number then in circulation composed by unknown writers at unknown dates.

3. That they were partly written perhaps by those whose names they bear, but were gradually enlarged and interpolated up to the close of the third century.

Now accepting any one of these theories, if correct, the gospels would, beyond question, be marked by the peculiar opinions, customs and speech of those who wrote them, or added to them by interpolations. It is impossible that the Christians of the centuries named, who were ongaged in violent controversies with each other, as well as with Jews and Pagans, controversies which were to them of vital importance, should have fabricated the Master's history, and never have put into his mouth one word regarding the opinions and practices which they were discussing with such intense feeling. If they were bad enough to forge in the name of Matthew, or John, they would have made them endorse the beliefs they were contending for, whichever party were the forgers. So far from this, there is not the slightest allusion to any of the peculiar opinions or theological phraseology, nor the least trace of the controversies, which were current in the closing portion of the second century, or at the beginning of the third. This point Prof. Huidekoper has elaborated at length, arraying his proofs under several heads, and has made a very strong and convincing presentation of the case. A single example of opinions will illustrate the argument: Among the early Christians it was believed, probably in the first century, that Christ, at his death, went on a mission to the Underworld, founded, perhaps, on 1 Peter iii. 18-20. This belief had taken strong hold of the Christian community, and shaped largely the preaching and writing of the church. The doctrine of Vicarious Atonement, or of the Trinity, is not more prominent to-day than was this of Christ's mission to the spirits of the Underworld in the second century. But the gospels make no mention of it whatever, not even an allusion to such a fact or opinion. Now if the early Christians fabricated them in the name of the Evangelists, this omis

sion is unaccountable. It seems impossible that they should not have made Jesus say something in all his teachings about such an important event; but he is not even made, after returning to life, to tell his disciples one word about the momentous work in which he was engaged between the time of his crucifixion and his resurrection.

The Appendix and Notes are full of the fruits of diligent study of Evidence, and are marked by equal learning, fairness and good judgment. The examination, in the 12th chapter, of the "Style of John the Evangelist," making verbal comparisons with the epistles of John, makes it difficult to believe that they did not come from the same hand. Note A, on the "Acts of Pilate," is a valuable addition to the work, as is that on the " Alleged Uncanonical Gospels"; but we have no space for further comment.

2. Observations concerning the Scripture Economy of the Trinity and Covenant of Redemption. By Jonathan Edwards. With an Introduction and Appendix by Egbert C. Smyth. pp. 97. Price, $1.00. Charles Scribner's Sons.

This work came too late for notice in the October number, and as to its real theological importance, it is hardly worth notice in this. Its publication was heralded with all sorts of predictions touching its heresy or its orthodoxy, and one who had read the many guesses respecting its contents, and noted the anxiety to know what Dr. Edwards did believe about the Trinity at the close of his life, would have supposed the salvation of the world depended upon it. Now that it is printed a very small body, furnished with a large head and a long tail by the editor the world moves on as quietly as if it had not been printed.

If we understand the argument, Dr. Edwards believed that the Father is first in the order of "subsistence," the other two persons of the trinity proceeding from, and dependent on, Him - at the same time they are not inferior to the Father! Each one of the three persons is equal to the other two, and himself beside; while the three together are only equal to one: in other words, 13, and 3 X 3 = 1. We trust that the publication of this profound work will end the controversy. We commend its lucid statements to our seceding brethren.

3. Greek Mythology Systematized. By S. A. Scull. Illustrated. Porter & Coates. $1.00.

This volume appropriately follows the preceding, though it differs from it in treating of Greek Mythology, and also in the fact that one discusses its theme from the ancient standpoint, the other from the modern. They agree in the effort to prove, the one a trinity in unity, and the other a plurality in unity, as regards the various names and offices ascribed to particular deities. As in the case of Edwards' theory, the same deity is known under various names, and as filling various offices; and in the section on "Central Ideas," the author gives the changing and varying phases of the conception of the special god or goddess under consideration. In this way he aims to systematize

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