into something more than finite, more than natural, more than conceivable; and thus grew in the end to be an Asura, or a living being; a Deva, or a bright being; an Amartya, that is, not a mortal, and at last an immortal and eternal being,-in fact, a God, endowed with the highest qualities of which the human mind could conceive at the various stages of its own growth." Henotheism implies "a successive belief in single supreme gods

. . each of which, while he is being invoked, shares in all the attributes of a supreme being;" and it is thus distinguished from Polytheism, in which the many gods are already subordinated to one supreme God, and by which therefore, the craving after the one without a second, has been more fully satisfied." The human mind would naturally pass from Henotheism through Polytheism to Monotheism. Some Vedic hymns the lecturer cites, bearing a remote resemblance to the Hebrew Psalms, and recognizing one God, the Creator and Lord. But in India the discovery "that the old Devas or gods were but names, though in some cases it led to Atheism and some kind of Buddhism, led in others to a new start, and to a new belief in one being, which is the self of everything, which is not only beyond and beneath all finite beings, as apprehended by the senses, but also beneath and beyond our own finite Ego, the Self of all Selfs."

The lecturer evidently is self-deluded in the belief that he has accounted for the origin and growth of religion without transcending the limits of knowledge imposed by the maxim, "nihil in intellectu quod non prius in sensu." Without doubt when man comes to the limits of his own perceptions and power, some consciousness is awakened, in his feelings and in spontaneous and unformulated beliefs, of the mysterious and unlimited beyond; and thus the infinite is the ever-present background of all his consciousness of the finite. But this very fact proves that man is constituted with "potential energies" of intelligence transcending sense, with a reason which is much more than the power of transforming percepts into concepts and general notions.

The author is too well known to our readers to need our commendation. The volume is both quickening and suggestive to thought, and full of information. We think it would have been still more valuable if he had presented the origin and growth of religion in India historically, instead of presenting it as a study in support of a theory.

VAN OOSTERZEE ON PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.*-This work contains a great amount of matter; for it is not only a bulky and closely printed volume, but the subjects are treated concisely. It treats successively: The Ministry of the gospel regarded in general, including a section on its history and present condition; Homiletics, including its history, literature, and present condition; Liturgics; Catechetics; Poimenics, or Pastoral Duties; and, Labors beyond the sphere of one's own congregation. The name of the distinguished author is a sufficient commendation of the book. The reader will find it rich in instruction, suggestion, and inspiration. It abounds in pithy quotations from writers in all the ages of Christianity. It is pervaded and animated by a devout, earnest, and loving spirit.

REV. DR. HENRY ON FUTURE PUNISHMENT.t-In this letter Dr. Henry declares that it is a doctrine both of natural religion and of the Scriptures that "a reality and severity of suffering are appointed for sinful men proportioned to every one's character, deserts, and needs." As to the duration of the punishment, neither natural religion nor the Scriptures teach anything more than "the hypothetical possibility of an endless self-willed individual persistence in evil, and the consequent endless misery it must entail." The question of the duration of the punishment has been left by our Lord an "open" one. He believes that the punishment is disciplinary and probationary, and avows the " hope" that all will eventually be saved. His exegetical argument is brief and consists chiefly of quotations from Dr. Whiton's "Is Eternal Punishment Endless ?" The whole is a testimony rather than an argument, as befits a letter to a friend. There are four appendixes: Modern Representations of Future Punishment; Mediaval Opinion; Recent Roman Catholic Representations; An Extract from Ross' Memoir of Alexander Ewing, Bishop of Argyll. The author's ability and scholarly attainments will command attention to his book.

* Practical Theology. A Manual for Theological Students. By Prof. J. J. VAN OOSTERZEE, D.D., author of "Christian Dogmatics," "Theology of the New Testament," etc. Translated and adapted to English readers by MAURICE J. EVANS, B.A., translator of "Christian Dogmatics." New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 743 and 745 Broadway. 8vo. xvi. and 620 pp.

The Endless Future of the Human Race. A Letter to a Friend. By C. S. HENRY, D.D. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 549 and 551 Broadway. 1879.

75 pp.

THE PAROUSIA.*-The author maintains that "the Parousia of Christ is his abiding presence among men in the exercise of his Messianic offices of king, life-giver, and judge." He argues that the Parousia, commonly rendered in the New Testament “ coming," properly means "presence;" and that the meaning of the verb from which it is derived, is "to be present ;" that the phrase rendered "at (Greek ev) his coming," properly means "in or during his presence." That the time when the Parousia begins is not definitely revealed; but it is declared both by Christ and his apostles to be then near. The scope of the Parousia must be determined by examining all the events which it is declared shall take place in or during the Parousia; and it is thus found to extend from Christ's assumption of his kingdom at his ascension and the descent of the Spirit on Pentecost, to its consummation in its triumph over the kingdom of Satan and in the glory of the latter days. During all this period our Lord is present with his people, as King, Life-giver, and Judge. The author holds that the binding of Satan (Rev. xx) is the restraint of the anti-christian powers from persecuting the Christians; the thousand years following is the thousand years following the conversion of Constantine; the armies of Gog and Magog are the Mahometan power conquering the Eastern empire and taking Constantinople; and the peace and blessedness depicted in the 21st and 22d chapters of the Revelation, denote the reign of Christ over his kingdom after all its enemies are subdued and the world is entirely Christianized. This reign of Christ will continue forever-his Parousia with his people in that happy period being a spiritual presence the same as it is now. The general judgment goes on continuously through the entire Parousia in the separation of the righteous from the wicked. The resurrection is the development from within the body of a psychical body, which, in the case of all who love Christ, is a spiritual body; this body invests every soul at death. In this he accepts the enswathement theory of Ulrici, or something like it.

The author presents his positions and arguments with clearness and force, and the discussion is conducted with sobriety, candor, and devoutness. Some of his conclusions seem to us incompatible with the true meaning of the scriptures. But we believe that

* The Parousia: A critical study of the Scripture Doctrines of Christ's Second Coming: His reign as King; the Resurrection of the Dead; and the General Judgment. By ISRAEL P. WARREN, D.D. Hoyt, Fogg & Donham. Portland, Maine. 311 pp.

every careful reader will find in the book much that is suggestive, and much that is helpful towards a correct and comprehensive understanding of this important but difficult subject.

LANGE'S COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH.* This is the eleventh volume of the Old Testament portion of this Commentary, all of which has now been published in the American translation, except the volume containing Numbers and Deuteronomy. It was certainly a great undertaking to introduce so extensive a work, covering twenty-four volumes and more than fifteen thousand pages, to the theological and religious public of this country, and to give it success. The energy of the editor and the publishers has, however, accomplished even more than was at first anticipated. After fifteen years the book is drawing near its completion, and is finding a place in private libraries everywhere. Whatever may be said, by the most competent judges, of its true value, it has met with great favor at the hands of many readers and has established a position for itself among works on Biblical interpretation. The general characteristics of the present volume are the same as those of the other portions of the Commentary, and with these our readers are already familiar. The author discusses at considerable length the question of the genuineness of the last twenty-six chapters, presenting the objections of leading German writers against the view that they are the work of Isaiah, and replying to them in full. He examines the text critically, and unfolds the meaning in carefully considered notes. The American editors have condensed and abridged the original, to some degree, owing to the very large amount of matter. They have, also, added valuable suggestions from the prominent commentators, as well as occasional remarks of their own. The Doctrinal and Homiletical sections are similar to those which are found in the other portions of the work, and are of equal value. The volume closes with a useful list of words by means of which the reader is able to compare the vocabulary of the earlier and later chapters of the prophecy, and thus to examine easily for himself the bearing of this point upon the authorship of the second portion.

*The Prophet Isaiah. Theologically and Homiletically expounded, by CARL WILHELM EDOUARD NÄGELSBACH, Doctor of Philosophy and Theology, and Pastor in Bayreuth. Being the XIth volume of the Old Testament Portion of Lange's Commentary. Edited by Dr. PHILIP SCHAFF. Translated from the German, with Additions, by Rev. SAMUEL T. LOWRIE, D.D., Philadelphia, and Rev. DUNLOP MOORE, D.D., New Brighton, Pa. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1878.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NATHANIEL BOUTON.*-This is a book not only of rare interest but of great value to the student of American history. Dr. Bouton, through a long life, was known and esteemed as one of the prominent clergymen of New England. He may be considered to have been in many respects a representative Congregational clergyman of the early part of the eighteenth century. He was born in Connecticut in 1799, graduated at Yale College in 1820, studied theology at Andover, and for over fifty years occupied an important position as pastor in one of the important cities of New Hampshire. It is a matter for congratulation that his children, in the later years of his life, were able to prevail upon him, though constitutionally reticent and not inclined to talk of himself, to write out so full and particular account, as is here given, of the events of his life. The insight which it gives into the social and religious life of the people of Connecticut sixty or seventy years ago-life in the family, in college, and in the seminary-is interesting now, and will be deemed more and more valuable as the years roll on.

HARMAN'S INTRODUCTION TO THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.--This work is the first of a series under the general supervision and editorship of Drs. Crooks and Hurst, which, as a whole, is to constitute a Theological and Biblical Library prepared by Methodist writers, and especially designed for the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is, in itself, an indication of the growing earnestness in scholarship in that church, and, when it is completed, we cannot doubt that it will be of great service to the ministry and students of theology within that particular communion. It is to be in harmony with the theological views and doctrines of the Methodist body, but is intended to be pervaded by an evangelical and catholic spirit. The first volume now before us is evidently the result of much study on the part of its author. He has gone to the original sources of information and has examined a great variety of authors. He has brought the spirit of free investiga

* Autobiography of Nathaniel Bouton, D.D., former pastor of the First Congregational Church of Concord, and late State Historian of New Hampshire; also tributes to his memory by Prof. Henry E. Parker, D.D.; E. E. Cummings, D.D.; and Rev. F. D. Ayer. Edited by JOHN BELL BOUTON. New York: A. D. F. Randolph. 1879. 8vo.

87 pp.

+ Library of Theological and Biblical Literature. Edited by GEORGE R. CROOKS, D.D., and JOHN F. HURST, D.D. Volume I. Introduction to the Holy Scriptures. By HENRY M. HARMAN, D.D., Professor of Ancient Languages and Literature in Dickinson College. New York: Nelson & Phillips. 1879. 8vo. 738 pp.