canurnr~ta UJ4rnlngtrul flnut1Jly Continuing LEHRE UNO WEHRE MAGAZIN FUER Ev.-LuTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol. X March, 1939 No.3 CONTENTS Page The Means of Grace as Viewed by the Reformed. J. T. Mueller .. . 161 Christi Selbstzeugnis von seiner Person und seinem Amt F. Pfotenhauer ______ . __ .. ___ .. __ ....... _. 175 The Doctrine of Justification According to Duns Scotus, Doctor Subtilis. Theo. Dierks _ ..... _ .... _ ..... _ .... _ .. __ ._ .. __ ... _._._. ____ . ____ _ ._ . 179 The Institutional Missionary and the Sick. E. A. Duemling _. __ .. _._. 187 Predigtentwuerfe fuer die Evangelien der Thomasius- Perikopenreihe __ .... _ .... _ ... __ ... __ ._ .. ___ ... __ . ___ . ___ ._. _____ ._. ___ .. ___ ._. ___ . _._. ___ 195 MisceUanea _. __ . _____ ... ____ ._. _ __ _ __________________ .. ________ . _________ .. ___ ._ .. _______ 203 Theological Observer. - Kirchlich-Zeitgesehiehtlicbes __ .... ________ . _____ 218 Book Review. - Literatur ________ ... ______ .. _._. _________ ._ ... _ .. ___ .... _. 233 ElD PredJger mUllS n1cht alleln fDd- den, al80 dass er die Schafe unter- weise. wle sie rechte ChrIsten sollen Ieln. sondern auch daneben den Woel- fen fDeh1'4!n, dass s1e die Schafe nlcht angrelfen und mit falscher Lehre ver- fuebren und Irrtum elnfuebren. Luther. Es 1st keln Ding. das die Leute mehr bel der KJrche bebaelt clam die gute Predlgt. - Apologlc, An. 24. If the trumpet give an uncertain sound who shall prepare hlmIe1f to the battle? -1 C01'.14,'. Published for the Ev. Lath. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States CONCORDIA PUBLISHING BOUSE, St. Louis, Mo. ARCHIVE Book Review - s:Jiteratur 233 Book Review - £tteratur Studies in the Book of Daniel. Second Series. By Robert Dick Wilson, Ph. D., D. D., LL. D. Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, London, and Edinburgh. 286 pages, 5l!2X83k Price, $2.50. Order through Concordia Publishing House, 3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, Mo. In the "Kleine Danielstudien," published in six consecutive numbers of the last volume of the MONTHLY, we repeatedly called attention to the excellent studies in the Book of Daniel of the late Prof. Robert Dick Wilson of Princeton Theological Seminary and Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia (May, 1938, pp. 339, 346) . Wilson was indeed one of the foremost authorities on the Book of Daniel and a defender of the divine character, authenticity, and inerrancy of this book, which has been assailed so often since the days of Rationalism. Even critics that take an entirely different standpoint in Biblical matters acknowledge this. Three professors in the University of Chicago, Gerald Birney Smith, Shirley Jackson Case, both theologians, and the Assyriologist D. D. Luckenbill, stated in a review of the Biblical and Theological Studies by the Members of the Faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary: "'The Aramaic of Daniel' is the title of his [Professor Wilson's] very valuable article on Aramaic philology. There can be no doubt that he has disposed of many, if not most, of Professor Driver's linguistic arguments for the late date of Daniel"; and the German scholar Baumgaertner, himself an authority on the Aramaic chapters in Daniel, calls Wilson's article "eine ohne Frage gruendliche und umfangreiche Studie." Most of Professor Wilson's studies appeared in a number of articles in the Princeton Theological Review, and he had intended to elaborate them in three volumes; but only the first volume of these Studies in the Book of Daniel appeared in book form and was favorably reviewed on its appearance in 1917 in our Lehre und Wehre, 64, 180. This first volume dealt with the various historical questions connected with the Book of Daniel. The second volume was to deal with the linguistic problem, the objections raised by the critics on the ground of "philological as- sumptions based on the nature of the Hebrew and Aramaic," in which the book was written. Undoubtedly that volume would have been an elaboration of his article on the "Aramaic of Daniel," in which he had maintained against the higher critics, especially against Dr. Driver, that the Aramaic of the Book of Daniel is of the character which we would expect to have been spoken in Babylon in the Neo-Babylonian and early Persian period. About a year before Dr. Wilson's death in 1930 lVIr. Harold H. Rowley published a book on the Aramaic of the Old Testa- ment (Oxford, 1929), in which he took issue with Dr. Wilson's conclu- sions regarding Daniel and defended the critical views of Dr. Driver. We are told that Dr. Wilson spent much time during the last summer of his life in studying this book, and from casual statements made to members of his family and to his colleagues at Westminster Seminary it was inferred that he had practically completed his investigation, that 234 Book Review - SJitc!atUt he felt that he could satisfactorily answer Mr. Rowley, and that his reply was practically ready for publication. But unfortunately, as Prof. Oswald T. Allis states in the preface to the present work, "search for the manuscript of the reply was unsuccessful," and either Wilson's state- ments as to the shape in which his material stood were misunderstood, or the manuscript material was lost or accidentally destroyed, and so the second volume of the work will never appear in book form. But with regard to the third volume the situation fortunately is different. Dr. Wilson had stated: "In a third volume I shall discuss Daniel's rela- tion to the canon of the Old Testament as determining the date of the book and in connection with this the silence of Ecclesiasticus with refer- ence to Daniel, the alleged absence of an observable influence of Daniel upon postcaptivity literature, and the whole matter of apocalyptic litera- ture, especially in its relation to predictive prophecy." These matters Dr. Wilson had already covered to a large extent in articles in the Princeton Theological Review, and since his plan was never carried out, and since with the lapse of years magazine articles tend to become in- accessible, Dr. Allis and others deemed it advisable to gather all these studies together and present them in the form which was originally intended by their author. This has been made possible through the generosity of a personal friend of Dr. Wilson's, who is unwilling to have his identity disclosed. Very properly Dr. Allis was commissioned to prepare these articles for the press. He had close and intimate associa- tion with Dr. Wilson in a friendship begun in his student days and extending over a period of more than a quarter of a century. Dr. Allis himself is an outstanding scholar in the Old Testament field and a firm defender of the canonicity, authenticity, and trustworthiness of the books of the Old Testament. He has also had the advantage of access to copies of these studies which contain Dr. Wilson's notes, comments, and corrections, and so these very valuable studies are now accessible in book form. We read all these articles when they appeared in the Review, have occasion to refer to them continually, and regard them as excellent. The titles of the different chapters are as follows: "The Book of Daniel and the Canon; Daniel Not Quoted; The Silence of Ecclesiasticus Con- cerning Daniel; Apocalypses and the Date of Daniel; The Origin of the Ideas of Daniel; The Influence of Daniel; The Background of Daniel; The Prophecies of Danie1." At the end of the book we find a very helpful index. We earnestly recommend these studies to all who are especially interested in the critical questions with regard to the Book of Daniel and look for a scientific defense of the faith. Nothing better has been written since the days of the valiant Hengstenberg and of the "Hengstenberg of North America," William Henry Green, than Wilson's Studies in the Book of Daniel and the English scholar Boutflower's In and around the Book of Daniel. L. FUERBRINGER The Church and the Christian. By Shailer Mathews. The Macmillan Company. 150 pages, 5X7%. Price, $2.00. This writing takes a low view of Christ. "As the churches developed, there was a natural tendency for those Christians who were affected by current theosophical and gnostic thought to place the Lord Jesus in Book Review- SJitcl'atur 235 some current scheln(L of supernatural beings." (P.57.) The newly estab- lished World Council of Churches made a mistake in limiting its mem- bership to those "who accept Jesus as 'God and Savior.' That shuts out from cooperation churches that seek to perform their religious function by making the example and teaching of Jesus their final moral idealism." (P.73.) It takes a low view of the Christian doctrine, which is in the main a human growth, subject to new habits of thought, always in need of redefinition and revaluation. "By the end of the revolutionary period of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the political and social presuppositions which underlay the orthodox doctrines of salvation were replaced by newer presuppositions born of the rise of democracy." (P.70.) About every other page of the book expresses the idea that the doctrine changes as social experience changes and unfolds the thesis that "a re- ligion is as truly the work of its adherents as of its foundeL" (P.54.) Our book takes a low view of the Church. What is the function of the churches? "The particular fact with which we are now concerned is this: Just as human beings as peripatetic chemical laboratories depend upon those activities in the cosmic environment which we call chemical, so as persons they must maintain proper reciprocal relations with those personality-producing activities of the universe with which they are organically connected. Such adjustments involve social combination. Through such combinations, provided they embody the cooperative prin- ciple of love, cosmic activities reach individuals. In less oracular terms, a Church as a social group will enable its members to experience God in ways not possible for unsocial individualism. . .. As a social group a Church has for its particular function today that which it has had in the past. That is to say, it can further the help-gaining adjustment of individuals with those cosmic activities upon which we are dependent." (Pp. 82, 141.) The chief, rather the only, business of the churches is "social reform"; the churches are "God's agents in establishing a world order," "a better social order"; the churches must "include within their functions that of making nations moral units" and of "bringing nations into help-gaining relationship with a creative activity of the universe through the recognition of intelligent love"; "social action" - that de- scribes the program of the Church and is the real theme of our book. (See, for instance, pp.76, 129, 130, 134.) The following pronouncement reveals the spirit of the social-rehabilitation type of churchmanship: "What the world requires of the churches is not a revival of fourth- century Christology, but the impregnation of economic and political processes with love. Only then will Jesus have given meaning to their function. If Christians are to be interested in helping make a better world, the churches must make theology secondary to morality embody- ing the spirit of Jesus." (P.105.) - Certain sections of our book show that Dr. Mathews is capable of profound thinking; but his exegetics move on a low plane. For instance: "Jesus had relied upon love rather than violence. That thought of the latter was with Him is to be seen in His direction to His disciples to sell their coats and buy swords." (P.55.) So we are not surprised to hear him say that the expressions used in the early days "God, even Jesus Christ," "the blood of God," 236 Book Review - \.literalut and "the custom of evangelical preachers today to address praye:c to Jesus," "vocalize group practises born of a belief that Jesus was em- powered by the resident Spirit of God to be a savior." (P.61.) TH. ENGELDER Sl)cc UWlllcrlitief. mon G:mil SScunnel'. 150 6cilen 5% x8l/4. ~reis: ~attoe nieti, RM.2.80; Glian3leinen RM.3.70. Sl)ic $cttu!llliticfe unn ncr ~Unl1§bticf. mOlt ,\';)altlts \.liIje. 57 ullb 25 6eheu 5lj2X8l/4. ~reis: ~artoniert, RM.1.60; Glian3leinen RM.2.40. Gliuftab 6(~liiflmanns merlagslJlld)l)anbluu\l, 5.leiP3i9 unb .\)amDurg. ~ies finb ,wei lueilere SSanbc ill bel' 5etie I/SSi6cIgilfe fill' bie Glicmciubel/, tlie bou D. \reic!) 6tange l)crausgegci,en toc1'ben. ::Die \Jl1rlicgcnbl'n QlHd)et fore bC1'1l fel)ou SSeael)tull9 aus bem Glirnnbc, ludl i1)re iJetrcjfenbcn ll3c1'faiiet in legret ilcit auel) bem amcti!anifd)en .ITitel)enlueien ntil)etgettclell fiub, bet liicformicrte '!lnmner baburd), bali et im gegenloCittigen 6d)uljagr im ~rincetoner stfJeologie [(()et! 5eminar Ioitlen luirb, ultb bet 5.lutl)eraltet \.liiie burd) feillC tiiraliclje ~me; rHardfe, SSrultltets (!'rWirult\l bes miimerlltiefes entl)tilt auf lUenig 5elten cine itiWe bolt Gliebaltten, bie widlid) in bas ll3edtiinbniS bet groBen 5.lel)repiftel eine fiifjren, (!'S finbet fief) in ben ~lusfiil)cungcn bides, loas bie \Jo((e SSlliigl!ug iebc5 itttfJcri[cf)Cll stl)eoloGCll finben Ioitb, auel) ill ueaug aUf bie Glinabcnloa()l, ba SSrune Her einc bo~pelte ~tabcftinatiou tLlnblueg veriuicft. ~bet fo ief)iin \Jidcs in biee [cm .ITommentat ift, fo finbet rid) bod) ami) l1land)cs, Ioas uom lutf)erifd)eJl 5tanbe flllnft aus getabdt luerben mUD, ;;su bcr ~usiegung bOlt miim. G finben fief) manel)c ici)iine Gliebanlen; abet bie fulijcftibe 5eite bes butd) bie staufe gefci)ajfencu neuen ~ct~altniifes aU Gliott witb faft auf stoften bet bamit uerDunbencn Dlljeftioen 5egnttugen uetllUt. (5, c(2 fl.) ®ir tiinnen aud) bem niel)t bciftimmen, was '!lwltner aU 11, 25 Hun cine fd.Jliefllicl) ott crwattenbe allgemcine ;subenbde~t'tlllg [agt. (5.85 jf.) ll3gt ben ~(rtitel I/:!let Bleft ;;ssrae15 abet bas mal)re ;Jsrac!1/ im :;!llllH)eft 1925 \Jon l/5.lel)rc uno ®ef)rel/, ~icfet gan3e steil bes SSurf)C5 tragt ein dlnas fd)wiitmetifd)es Glie~tage, Unb [0 [el)iin manel)es in 'oem IllulJang I/(!'inige ~auvt6egrijfc bet 5.lcl)rc bes ~~oftcls ~aulus" ift, fo luiro man bod) ftullio, luenn lllall 6tille lieft wie: ,,::Die (!,rllfiinben(clJre bel' fpiiteren .ITitd)enle~te fuc[)cn iuit lici ~aulus betgclilid),1/ (6. 146.) 60 intctef( ant bet .ITommentar ift, f 0 mull er boer) mit morfid)t gellraud)t werbCll. - :;Sn bem 310eiten SSud), bon 5.lHje, finb lllLlndJe Gl'dfiittlllgen faft 5U fut3 geraten, um bem gellJiil)nlid)en S3cfer bas mere itiinoniS bet 6d)rift 3U iiffnen. SJJlerrwiirbig mutet uus bie Gl'tflCituttg \Jon 1 ~etr. ii, 19 f, an, tuo bet metfafiet bas batt crwiil)nte ,,~rebigen" Oem "eluigen Gliottese f 0 l)tt in feinem borger el)id) tli d) en :!la fein (~taC!;iften3) 1/ 3U[ d)reiut. ll3 iel ein fad)er Hltb auel) bet 6d)tift gemiiil ift bod) bet Gliebanle, ball (£~tiftus nad) [einet Ileiftlidjen, gotmcf)en 5einslvcife aIs steeD': feinen 5ieg ben lJiiUifel)cn ~nii(lJten tunbgetan ~at. ~. (!'. ,(1; ret m a IT n Every-Day Science for the Christian. By Theodore L. Handrich. Con- cordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. 154 pages, 5X7lj2. Price, 60 cts. We recommend this keen little apologetic to our pastors, teachers, and laymen. Written by a Christian day-school teacher, it shows every- where mature experience with classroom methods and prospectives. The title hardly describes the contents of the book, which critically discusses such topics as Present-day Anti-Biblical Trends, God and Chance, Mat- Book Review - SJiteratut 237 ter and Reality, The Age of the World, Evolution, The Flood Theory, Reasons for Accepting the Bible, The "Six Days" and Man's Fall, and a Brief Biblical Philosophy of Life. These titles indicate how well the book may be employed in our schools, Sunday-schools, confirmation- instruction classes, conferences with high-school and college students, and the like. We suggest that it be used in aU circles where our young people can be steeled in their faith against modern anti-Biblical trends. Should the edition become exhausted, it might be well, upon due con- sultation with others working in this field, to enlarge the book, including other subjects that ought to be discussed with our young people before they leave our instruction classes to mingle with an unbelieving world. Perhaps also the title could be changed to advertise more fittingly the contents of the book. Something like this might do: A Christian Look- ing into Anti-Biblical Theories. The book makes both profitable and interesting reading. J. THEODORE MUELLER The First Five Centm'ies (If the Church. By James Moffatt. Cokesbury Press, Nashville, Tenn. 262 pages, 5IjzX8. Price, $2.00. This is one of the books of the London Theological Library, edited by Dr. E. S. Waterhouse. The author of this volume is Washburn Pro- fessor of Church History at Union Theological Seminary. Dr. Moffatt has a method of his own in treating the material at hand, and in general it appeals. He has arranged his book, according to the centuries under discussion, in five chapters. Each chapter then is in two parts. The first offers on opposite pages, in chronological order, first the secular and then the ecclesiastical events of the century; the second is an essay on the respective period. The author, however, experiences the same difficulty that others have had in keeping separate the secular and the ecclesiastical items. It is comparatively simple to do this with the events of the first two centuries, when State and Church were not only sepal'ate from each other but actually opposing forces. With the next three centuries, however, and the growing union of Church and State the difficulties increase. As a result the chronological tables are not wholly satisfactory, sometimes even confusing. Nevertheless the ad- vanced student will find them helpful and informative. As a whole, Dr. Moffatt's volume is satisfactory. He displays a fine scholarship, sound judgment, and a comprehensive grasp of the chief trends of each period during these important centuries of church history. His style is lucid and lively. Not the least important part of his book is the appendix of 151 pages, in which he lists books and references for further study. This list also covers maps, atlases, historical novels, and romantic sketches. A good index of persons, events, and places unfor- tunately is lacking; such an addition would have enhanced the value of the volume materially. W. G. POLACK G. Campbell Morgan, Bible Teacher. By Harold Murray. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Mich. 141 pages, 5X7Ij2. Price, $1.00. Campbell Morgan never attended a theological seminary. His eccle- siastical complexion has a varied hue, as we learn from his own words: 238 Book Review - mtcratur "I have been a Methodist local preacher. I am a thoroughly convinced and unrepentant Congregationalist ecclesiastically. I have had the joy of being a Presbyterian minister, and I have been brought up in my early years in Baptist surroundings." (P.139.) Morgan was born in 1863 in Tetbury, Gloucestershire; was master in a Jewish collegiate school; held various pastorates on both sides of the Atlantic, among them being his pastorate at Philadelphia and at Westminster Chapel in London; also lectured at the Northfield Bible Conference and at the Los Angeles Bible Institute. He has written more than seventy books. He preached 24,000 sermons. A recent book by him, PTeachingJ contains good advice in reference to the technique of the sermon. No doubt he was a remarkable man in the pulpit. He is known as a Bible scholar and as an expository preacher. But what about his theology? In the book which we are reviewing Dr. Mor- gan is quoted as follows: "What do I mean by 'coming to Christ'? I mean: Answer the gleam of light that has come to you concerning purity; answer the call that is welling up in your own life, declaring the beauty of the Christian ideal, suggesting that you begin the high and noble enterprise of rising to the higher life in the name of the Christ. The doctrines of grace? No man was ever yet saved by believing the doctrines of grace. You will understand them by and by. And you will never understand the doctrines of grace perfectly until you get to heaven. Thank God for that. I glory in the infinite mystery of incar- nation and atonement and the doctrines of grace. Oh, man, not by an intellectual apprehension of these doctrines is a man saved, but by answering the light, yielding to the immediate truth, giving myself to Christ as He says, Follow Me." (Pp. 106, 107.) Remembering Dr. Morgan's denominational shifts and his lack of theological training, we can somewhat understand such a pronounce- ment; but considering his fame as a Bible scholar and as an expository preacher, we are at a loss to offer any explanation other than the fact that in the Reformed group of churches the central doctrine of the Scriptures and of the Christian religion, justification by faith, is more or less obscured and even denied. Speaking of Morgan, Murray, the writer of our book, says: "You never think of him in connection with 'ists' and 'isms.''' (P.21.) Murray believes that to be complimentary to Morgan; we do not. Murray's book gives a brief biographical sketch of Campbell Morgan, presenting some interesting facts from the life of a preacher widely known in church circles throughout the world. To get a better insight into the ministry of Campbell Morgan and to evaluate it, one must read his sermons. JOHN H. C. FRITZ ~n1J ,f.leU lJon Q\olgatfja. mOlt Sjermann 5Be33el. '!l. ®unbetbmetlag, I5tutb gart. 1938. 108 l5eiten 4x6. ~reis: .reattoniett, RM.1; in 53einen RM.IAO. tJ'tit bie ~afjions3cit miid)ten mit 5Be33els fed)s 5Bcttad)tungen tibet bie ?illode am .reteU3 hlatm emlJfef)len. '!licfe Illnbad)ten fJat 5Be33e{ im :;SafJre 1913 im '!liafonijfenfJaus in Iffitind)en geljaUen. '!lie I5jJtad)e ift bHbetteid), bie '!lat~ fteliung tilietau!; jJadenb, bet :;SnfJaH anregenb. 5Be33e{ jJreiligt {';fJriftum, ben ®eftcu3igten. ~inige 5BeifjJie{e toetben gentigen, um Mefe Heine l5ammlung bern Book Review - mtetatUt 239 \lefe! an3ujlreifen. "lins tvenbet Gl;griftus bie mehe 3U unb fief) ben 80m; uns golt er bie ®nabe unb fid) bas ®etid)t." (6. 11.) ,,~n biefer 6tunbc {)at bie gan3e lllieIt bet 6itnbe unb bie gan3e 6itnhe ber Illieit rid) aUf biefen e i n e n ge\Dorfm." (6. 62.) ~n bet ~ettacl)tung iiber Gl;gtifti Illiott an ben ~iinger: ,,'IlaS ift ~(:I;fu Illrt, ba~ er S)Jlenfcl)m butd)s ,\l;teU3 untet bem ,\l;rcu3 3u[ammenliinbet. JI (6. 48.) "Illienn Illi! aud) bie :tiefen nid)t ermeffen fo([en nod) fonnm nod) biiro fen, in tve1c!)e bie ®ottbeda[fengeit un[ern Beftm \'Yreunb [enfte, [0 [o([en unb biirfen uns bod) titglid) bie \'Ytiebensjla{men, bie aus igren :tiefen gerborgefjlroffen filtb, triiften./I (6. 64.) ~eim letten Illiort \Deift ~ew{ barauf gin, baB Gl;grtftus btcimal am ~tClt3e bas illIte :teftamen! anfiigd unb fag!: /I'!ler 6ieger befennt, luelc~e Illiaffe i9m biefen 6ieg enultgen flat. . .. 60 Midt unfet S'd(:l;rt in biefet 6cgeibcftultbe aUf bas 6ef)tvert bes giittltc!)en Illioties. . .. Illield) cine S)Jla{)ltung an bid) unb an mid)!/I (6. 93.) \'Yrcilicl) btHf ntd)t iibet[egen tverben, ball ~e33et mallCl)mal etlvas ml)ftifcl) i[t. lins [tnb namentfid) ,toei 6te1len aufgefaHctl, 6.17 unb 57. \'Y. (:1;. S)Jla~et The Bond of Honor. A Marriage Handbook. By Burton Scott Easton and Howard Chandler Robbins. The Macmillan Co., New York. 112 pages, 4lj2X6%. Price, $1.50. According to the introduction this book "is a manual of instruction for instructors. Its views are so irenic and ecumenical that ministers of every faith will find treasure in its pages." (P. IX.) The first part treats of the essential principle of marriage and of the history of the service, offering some interesting information. The second part explains the marriage service, while the third part offers three marriage services, a Lutheran service, a Presbyterian one, and the marriage service of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In the second part we are told that "as the American marriage service now stands, it consists of the three tradi- tional parts: betrothal, marriage, and benediction. The betrothal contains the prefatory addresses and the mutual promises." (P.36.) "The mar- riage proper consists of (1) the renunciation by the bride's family of their authority, (2) the mutual vows, - the essence of the rite, - (3) the groom's gift and declaration." (P.51.) We cannot agree with the dis- tinction made between the obligation of the mutual promises at the betrothal and the mutual vows made at the marriage proper. On page 46 we are told: "In themselves the betrothal promises are not permanently binding but express only a willingness for the future. Occasionally couples make these promises in church to give religious expression to their engagement (a practise hardly to be recommended); but if the engagement is broken by mutual consent, the promises are automatically canceled." It is not quite clear whether these statements refer to the .first engagement promise or to the "betrothal" in the service or to both. Concerning the vows at the marriage proper we are told: "The vows necessarily repeat, verbally or in substance, much of the betrothal promises, and the differences are not of great moment. But in place of the vague future 'I will' the vows set a specific moment, 'From this day forward.' Once these words are spoken, there is no drawing back. ... The couple are now married." (Pp. 61, 62.) In connection with the ring ceremony we read: "As the marriage is already complete, 'I thee wed' must be understood in the sense 'I publicly acknowledge our marriage 240 Book Review - ~itetatUt and admit you to your full share of all I have or shall ever have.''' (Pp. 63, 64.) We ask, Why, then, must not the marriage promises in "betrothal" and the vows in "marriage proper" be understood in the sense of a public acknowledgment of the original promise to be husband and wife made in the first engagement? This question receives special emphasis when we read on page 10: "The marriage service, consequently, is no essential part of Christian marriage at all; this also should be made very clear. No one can 'marry' a couple: they marry each other . . . . It is altogether desirable that the avowals should be made in church, before a clergyman, who will add the Church's blessing. But no Christian responsibilities can be avoided by omitting the service; the mutual duties are not one whit the less when the officiant is a magistrate or when the marriage is entered into by the less formal methods of the old common law (still in force in certain places)." The relation of the promise and its obligation, as far as marriage is concerned, does not seem to be very clear to the authors. After all, consensus, non con- cubitus, non sponsalia, tacit matrimonimn. THEO. LAETSCH BOOKS RECEIVED From Fleming H. ReveU Company, New York, London, and Edinburgh: Talks to Young Adventurers. By John Edmund Brewton. 112 pages, 5l/4X 71J2. Price, $1.25. The Name Above Every Name and Other Evangelical Addresses. By Robert G. Lee, D. D., LL. D. 182 pages, 5l/4X71J2. Price, $1.50. The Individual i\'1 Our Present-Day World. Making the Grade To- day. By Cecil V. Crabb, M. A., D. D. 93 pages, 5X71J2. Price, $1.00. Voices of Twelve Hebrew Prophets. By G. Campbell Morgan, D. D. 127 pages, 5x71J2. Price, $1.25. F1"Om Wm. B. Eerdmans Pl!blishing Company, Grand Rapids, Mich.: The Crucible of Calvru:y. Seven sermons. By Harry Rimmer. 140 pages. Price, $1.00. NOTICE TO OUR SUBS CRIDERS In order to render satisfactory service, we must have our current mailing-list correct. The expense of maintaining this list has been materially increased. Under present regulations we are subject to a "fine" on all parcels mailed to an incorrect address, inasmuch as we must pay 2 cents for every notification sent by the postmaster on a parcel or periodical which is W1deliverable because no forwarding address is available or because there has been a change of address. This may seem insignificant, but in view of the fact that we have subscribers getting three or more of our periodicals and considering our large aggregate subscription list, it may readily be seen that it amoW1ts to quite a sum during a year; for the postmaster will address a notification to each individual periodical. Our subscribers can help us by notifying us-one notification (postal card, costing only 1 cent) will take care of the addresses for several publications. We shall be very grateful for your cooperation. Kindly consult the address label on this paper to ascertain whether your subscription has expired or will soon expire. "Mar 39" on the label means that your subscription has expired. Please pay your agent or the Publisher promptly in order to avoid interruption of service. It takes about two weeks before the address label can show change of address or acknowledgment of remittance. When paying your subscription, please mention name of publication desired and exact name and address (both old and new, if change of address is requested). CONCORDIA PUBLrSIDNG HOOSE, St. Louis, Mo.