“FIFTEEN BIBLE NUTS OPENED AND PROVED SOUND.” By Rev. Cameron Mackay. Glasgow: William Asher.
THIS is a booklet by a minister of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, in which some unaccustomed views are given on several points of divinity. The author is a hyper Calvinist of a peculiar type, by turns being more narrow and more liberal in his sentiments than the standard theologians of that school. We quote the proposition laid down in Nut 10 to show how divergent Mr. Mackay is from the received interpretation of a common Scripture “Faith” in the 11th of the Hebrews, and in the case of those who came to Christ for bodily healing was not necessarily “saving faith.” With respect to all the cases of those who were miraculously healed by Christ in the days of His flesh, it cannot of course be affirmed that they were endued with saving faith, but in respect to the cloud of witnesses specified in 11th of Hebrews the text forbids us to doubt their standing as elect regenerated persons. Mr. Mackay, it seems to us, has not sufficient reverence for the authority of the Church—we mean the divinely enlightened Church. There is, of course, nothing final in any consensus of merely human opinion, still when a man finds himself at variance with the immemorial Christian mind, it is suitable for him to pause and ask if he is right. Now, Mr. Mackay is thus at variance with twenty centuries of Christian thought when he doubts, for example, the spiritual state of Rahab, of Gideon, or even of
Samson. There are other highly disputable views in Mr. Mackay’s book, in fact, it fairly bristles with questionable topics, and therefore it is impossible for us to review it in extenso. We suspect Mr. Mackay is pretty far wrong in some things, and believe his usefulness would be increased by following a less erratic line of scriptural interpretation.
A Tract for the Times.—A. Mackay, 3 Buccleuch Street, Glasgow, has reproduced a booklet by the late Dr. Kennedy on “The Doctrine of Inspiration in the Confession of Faith.” The intention of the booklet is to vindicate the statement of the Confession from the charge of laxity and obscurity. The Dr. has some interesting thought on the “Spirit bearing witness for and with the word in our heart.” This memorial of the “dead hand” is very worthy of perusal at the present time. The price is 1 $\frac{1}{2}$ d. post free.