The Church in the Highlands, or the Progress of Evangelical Religion in Gaelic Scotland, 563-1843.
By John MacKay, M.A., author of “Jonathan, the Friend of David.” London: Hodder and Stoughton. 280 pages. Price 5/-
The history of the Church in the Highlands is of deep interest. The Lord certainly showed His favour to a people who dwelt in the land and in the shadow of death when He visited the northern and western parts of Scotland with a day of His power. But if the history of the Church in the Highlands is an interesting subject, it is also one beset with more than ordinary difficulties, and the historian who will give a really worthy history of religion in the Highlands has not yet faced the great task. Mr. MacKay’s Chalmers’ Lecture may be regarded as a pioneer work in this direction, for though it contains no new information to those who may have more than a passing acquaintance with the religious movements within the Highland pale, it is undoubtedly an honest and successful attempt in bringing together within the compass of a volume many matters that are of more than ordinary interest. To the general reader—and it is to the general reader more than to the student that this book will make its appeal—the part of this book which will be of most interest is that describing the work of grace in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Mr. MacKay quotes from Robe’s Monthly History, a work of surpassing interest to all who delight in the mighty works of the God of salvation, to show how religion flourished in places where nothing but rude barbarism with many attendant vices flourished. The work of the S.P.C.K., in sending forth pious laymen throughout the Highlands, whose labours were signally owned of God, is worthy of record. It is to be hoped that some day the Minutes of the S.P.C.K., which are locked up in lawyer’s offices in Edinburgh, may be searched by some one competent for the work, as there must be a vast amount of valuable information hidden in these old records.
The book before us covers the whole period of Christianity in the north and west. There is a chapter devoted to each of the following periods—Columban, Roman Catholic, post-Reformation and Episcopal, and the post-Revolution. The Reformation did not take a very strong hold of the Highlands, and in the great Covenaning struggle, though the north produced some noble witnesses, it cannot be said that the Highlands were deeply moved by it. The freer customs of the Restoration Church suited the Highlanders better in those ancient times, and they were quite content to remain as Episcopalians when a change took place in 1688.
The book is beautifully printed, and the proof-reading has been well done, though here and there a few mistakes appear. In the first foot-note, p. 135, Pinkerton’s should read Peterkin’s; line 3, p. 246, Godh’na Hearradh should read Gobha na h-Earradh; line 4, p. 258, Antiburgher should read Burgher. In the quotations from or references to MacGill’s Old Ross-shire, the volume should be mentioned, as there are now two volumes. Is there a Shaw’s Ecclesiastical History of Moray (page 148, note 2)?
D. B.
A Plurality in the Godhead.
By Dr. Gill. London: C. J. Farncombe & Sons, Ltd., 30 Imperial Buildings, Ludgate Circus, E.C. Price 2d.; by post 2½d.
This is a booklet consisting of an extract from Dr. Gill’s Body of Divinity on the most important and fundamental doctrine of the Trinity. Dr. Gill was an able Calvinistic divine, and the present publication is timely in days when people are going astray in their ideas on almost every Bible doctrine. Dr. Gill shows that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments clearly teach that there are three adorable Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—subsisting in the essence of the one ever-blessed Godhead. The Father is God; the Son is God; and the Holy Ghost is God. Not certainly three Gods—a contradiction and absurdity—but one; and not merely three aspects or titles assumed by the one God, the ancient Sabellian heresy, but three glorious Persons and Relations essentially subsisting in the one Godhead from all eternity. This is a mystery which cannot be fully comprehended, but it is revealed in the Scriptures and received by faith. And reception of the mystery is not to the soul’s detriment, but to its deepest satisfaction and benefit, as well as to the praise of the glory of God.
This booklet has been issued by a Mr. J. G. Evans, of Crowborough, Sussex, who has given by way of preface a brief sketch of Dr. Gill’s life. Mr. Evans is to be commended for his manifest labour of love. The print is excellent. We trust the booklet will have an extensive circulation.
Protestant Tracts.
London: Imperial Protestant Federation, Cranmer House, 363 Clapham Road, S.W.
We have received some very useful Tracts which have been issued by the Imperial Protestant Federation. Three of them deal with the following subjects, “Protestant Prospects,” “The Religious Aspect of Home Rule,” and “England’s Fight with the Papacy.” We would strongly recommend their circulation as fitted to give much enlightenment at the present crisis. The Tracts are very neat and handy in size and are adapted for enclosing in an ordinary letter, without any folding up. The prices are the following, post free: 6d. for 10; 2s. 6d. for 100.
A BOOKLET, consisting of Extracts from the Diary of the late Rev. Jonathan R. Anderson, with a short Sketch of his Life by the Rev. Neil Cameron, is expected to be soon issued—price 1/. A fuller notice may be looked for next month.