miah. In the eighth chapter of the book of Nehemiah we read, that on a certain day at the feast of trumpets, in the year four hundred and forty-four before Christ, the people being assembled at Jerusalem desired to hear their law. And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate: and they spake unto Ezra the Scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. And Ezra brought the book of the law before the congregation, and he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until mid-day, before the men and the women and those that could understand, and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. And Ezra the Scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose.' At his side stood thirteen of the principal elders of the nation whose names are given. 'And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and when he had opened it all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands, and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.' Then thirteen of the Levites, whose names are also given, 'caused the people to understand the law, and gave the sense,' that is, interpreted it from Hebrew into Chaldee.

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"Then and there, in a street of Jerusalem, growing out of the circumstances, nay, the difficulties of the time, was born the great instrument of the spiritual regeneration of the world, the invention of preaching; an institution which has done more to change the face of the world, and to elevate the level of society above anything which was known in ancient times, than anything else that can be named. For after that in the wis dom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.' The synagogue was modelled upon the assembly of Ezra, the Christian church was copied in a great measure after the forms of the synagogue, and the very pulpit in which I now stand is a lineal descendant of the one which they built for Ezra two thousand two hundred and eighty-five years ago in the street of Jerusalem.". pp. 114-117.

We next come to John the Baptist, who forms the subject of one Lecture; then to "Christ's first discourses;" and the "Apostles Christ's witnesses." Mr. Burnap very properly states the office of the apostles, which was to testify to facts, not to teach the metaphysics of creeds. We commend the

following passage to the attention of those, who are anxious and distress themselves about questions relating to the metaphysical nature and rank of the Son.

"Such is the testimony of those twelve witnesses, on whose evidence the faith of the Christian Church has rested from the beginning. And nothing can be plainer than that their testimony, being founded on what they saw and heard, goes no further than the life, the doctrines, the miracles, and the resurrection of their Master, and these all bear upon his office, what he was made by God the instrument of effecting. They have no bearing on his nature whatever.

"If the Christian Church had been contented with this, what boundless miseries might have been saved, what useless controversies, what unspeakable malice and uncharitableness! Arians and Trinitarians, Sabellians and Athanasians, might have met in peace around the table of their common Lord. That men should have differed in their opinions of the metaphysical rank and nature of Christ was natural, and perhaps unavoidable. The Messianic and Oriental phraseology of the New Testament was necessarily liable to misinterpretation in remote nations and ages. There is no possibility, except by perpetual miracle, of restraining the human imagination. It was natural, particularly among the converts from Paganism, into whose hands the Gospel soon fell, that they should have placed him in every rank, from that of simple humanity to supreme divinity. But the misfortune was, that they should not have had the discernment to see that these opinions had nothing to do with Christianity, they must therefore be left open, and suffered to cause no alienation of feeling between those who entertained them. The ground of these questions is not covered by the Apostles' testimony. Their testimony goes to this extent and no farther, that Jesus lived, and taught, and wrought miracles, died, rose again, and ascended to heaven. Now this is equally true, and equally the foundation of Christianity, whatever hypothesis we adopt as to the metaphysical rank and nature of Christ. And now, after eighteen centuries of controversy, the only way in which peace can be restored to the torn and bleeding church, is to return to the simplicity of the Apostolic testimony. There always has been, and there probably always will be, the widest differences of opinion as to the metaphysical rank and nature of Christ. This will do no harm so long as they are held merely as matters of opinion. But they become the cause of unspeakable mischief, as soon as one attempts to force his own opinions upon another. The question which is VOL. XXXIII. · 3D S. VOL. XV. NO. II.

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vital to Christianity is not what Christ was metaphysically, but whether God did or did not send him to enlighten and save the world. The Apostolic testimony, the facts to which they bear witness to all ages, go to this extent and no farther. Just so it is with the doctrine of the Trinity. On this point, as a doctrine of Christianity, I can have no dispute with any man. To me it is a matter of abstract speculation. It has nothing to do, except incidentally, with Christianity. A man tells me, that he believes that Jesus of Nazareth was the Infinite Jehovah. I do not reproach him, I do not blame him, I merely tell him, that to my apprehension his belief goes beyond the facts of the Apostolic testimony. I go back to the record of Peter's testimony after having been with him during his whole ministry, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all manner of sickness, for God was with him." I ask him in turn, if he believes that God sent Jesus of Nazareth to be the Saviour of the world? If he answers in the affirmative, I welcome him as a Christian, I give him the right hand of fellowship, because he believes the very proposition which the twelve witnesses, whom Jesus summoned about him, were sent to testify to the world. I could not do otherwise as a conscientious man, whatever might be my private opinion, whichever of the thousand hypotheses I might adopt of the rank and nature of Christ. For I read in the second chapter of Acts of the admission of three thousand into the church for their assent to a discourse of Peter, in which not one word was said of the nature of Jesus, other than that he was a man approved of God by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him," and that "God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ." After this, I dare not propose any conditions of admission into the Christian Church, which should involve any hypothesis as to Christ's nature." - pp. 191 – 194.

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These are views which cannot be too often reiterated, and can never be out of place as long as the world shall stand.

The gradual illumination of the Apostles furnishes the subject of the next Lecture, which is followed by one on the character, history, and preaching of Paul. The topics of the remaining Lectures are, the first controversy in the Christian Church; faith in Christ; the Epistle to the Hebrews; Epistle to the Romans; and to the Corinthians; analysis of the New Testament.

Mr. Burnap is no seeker after novelties. He is content to

go back for his religion to Jesus of Nazareth, and to the New Testament, as containing a record of his teachings and life, carefully distinguishing, however, between facts and doctrines, on the one hand, and opinions and phraseology, or mere forms of speech, on the other. In this connexion we give a single extract, not as containing anything new, but as furnishing suggestions which may not be familiar to every reader of the New Testament.

"Christ came as a religious teacher, to make known to us on satisfactory authority all that is necessary for us, as religious beings to know, in order to obtain eternal happiness, He came not to anticipate the discoveries of science, or to correct the false opinions which had prevailed in consequence of the want of science, upon the subjects of astronomy, metaphysics, physiology, &c. It was necessary for him to use the current language of the time upon these subjects. Any departure from it would have involved him in vexatious and profitless controversy with his contemporaries, entirely foreign to the purposes of his mission. And if he had thought it necessary to set the world right on every collateral subject before he could teach them religion, the last sun of his ministry would have set before he would have prepared the way for the commencement of his real mission. When, therefore, he uses the language of the age, which implies the truth of certain opinions, in illustration of the truths which he taught, neither he, nor his religion, can justly be made responsible for the truth of those opinions. Hence arises the necessity of drawing a distinction between the doctrines of Christ, and the opinions adverted to in the New Testament. The former are to be received as a part of our faith, the latter as opinions belonging to the time, and are to be received or rejected according to their own intrinsic probability. For instance, in the parable of the sower, Jesus speaks of the rising of the sun. This expression is conformed to the astronomy of the time, which supposed the earth to be placed in the centre, and the sun, moon, and stars to revolve round it. Modern astronomy has discovered that this is not the fact. It is an optical illusion. The sun is stationary, and neither rises nor sets. The earth turns on its axis, and produces that appearance. But was it necessary for Jesus, before he uttered that exquisite parable, so full of truth and beauty, to pause and explain the true nature of the solar system? His audience would have either disputed his assertions, or laughed him to scorn. Are we then to make it an article of Christian faith, to be forced upon men's consciencies upon the authority of Christ,

that the sun actually rises, and that the modern system of astronomy is false, because such an inference may be drawn from the language of Christ?

"Just so it was with regard to the language which he uses concerning demoniacal possession. It was supposed that many diseases, particularly derangement, were caused by the devil, or were the work of malignant spirits, just as our ancestors a few hundred years ago believed in witches. The progress of science dispelled this superstition, and attributed these phenomena to their real cause, the disorder of the brain or nervous system. Is Christ, because he adopted the language which was based upon this superstition, to be made responsible for the truth of this hypothesis? By no means. He never made it a subject of direct teaching. He never made a positive assertion concerning it. It was an opinion which had prevailed long before his ministry, and one which he saw fit neither to assert nor deny. It may be said, that he used language which seemed to imply the truth of the hypothesis of demoniacal possession; and so he did with regard to the sun's rising. But as it was no part of his office to teach astronomy or physiology, he naturally and properly adopted the language which was in common use at that period upon these subjects, leaving to the progress of science to correct the errors which then prevailed."

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pp. 358 It is highly creditable to Mr. Burnap, that in addition to his arduous duties, - the more arduous from his somewhat isolated position, - he can find time for services which are, in some sort, extra-professional, but which have for their object to promote the moral and intellectual welfare of his fellow beings. We honor his industry; we honor still more the spirit which animates him; and if our voice can cheer him in his labors, we would gladly utter an encouraging word, and bid him go on with heart and hope.

A. L.