The Great Harlot on the Seven Hills, the Enemy of Britain, by Albert Close.
London: Thynne & Co. Ltd., Whitefriars Street, Fleet Street. Price 6d.
Mr. Close has no difficulty in showing from the Book of Revelation that the Great Harlot mentioned in Revelation is the Church of Rome, and he has no less difficulty in showing that Rome by its intrigues and sinuous workings in the realm of diplomacy is a dangerous enemy to Britain. He has gathered together a great amount of material by which he proves his charges up to the hilt. In a short notice like this it is impossible to give an adequate idea of the amount of material he has gathered within a short compass. Much of that material must be an eye-opener to those who are not conversant with Rome’s devious ways. Mr. Close presents damaging statements against Rome’s complicity in its hostile intrigues against this country which are not mere declamation but supported by incontrovertible authorities. He rightly rejects the Futurist view of the interpretation of Revelation advocated by the Jesuit, Ribera, and the Praeterist advocated by another Jesuit, Alcasar. Unfortunately, quite a number of Protestants accept these views—the Plymouth Brethren to a great extent the Futurist, and many of the Modernists the Praeterist. At p. 46 Mr. Close states that the argument of the Apostle in Roms. ii. 12-16 indicates that the heathen to whom the gospel has not come may be saved if they live up to the light they have. This interpretation misses the point in the Apostle’s statement. The Apostle is contrasting those who have not the law with the Jews who have the law; the former, doing by nature the things in the law are a law unto themselves. But as many as sinned without law shall perish without law and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. Neither Jews nor Gentiles are saved by the law. Both are condemned by it.
Palestine Calling, by Dr. W. M. Christie, Mount Carmel.
Glasgow: Pickering and Inglis, Bothwell Street. Illustrated. Price, 6/-.
This is no common-place book. One would naturally expect something out of the ordinary from one with Dr. Christie’s knowledge of Palestine and such will certainly not be disappointed in reading this book. In a brief notice we can only refer to some of the subjects: Bethabara or Bethany Beyond Jordan; What the World Owes to Tiberias; Were There Two Bethsaiadas; The Site of Capernaum; Trades and Occupations in Palestine; The Haran of Abraham, Laban and Jacob; The Land of Goshen; The Barren Fig Tree; Did Christ Eat the Passover with His Disciples?; Golgotha; The Wailing Wall of Jerusalem; The Jews and Chronology; Bible Time, etc. These by no means exhaust the list of subjects dealt with but sufficient are mentioned to awaken interest in the minds of students of the Old and New Testaments; further it may be added that these subjects are dealt with in a fresh and informative way. One may, or may not, agree with all Dr. Christie’s conclusions (and we do not agree with all his conclusions). Some of the subjects dealt with are bristling with controversy yet we are greatly mistaken if the student will not find, in Dr. Christie’s fresh treatment, new light thrown on some of the questions discussed. Dr. Christie does not resort to the lazy expedient of so many modern scholars, when confronted with a difficulty, of unhesitatingly attributing it to a mistake in the sacred Scriptures.
Martin’s Luther’s Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, Edited by John Prince Fallowes, M.A.
London: The Harrison Trust, 49 Berners Street, W.1. Price, 5/-.
The Harrison Trust deserve the thanks of all who delight in good books in issuing this famous commentary. If ever a commentary came warm from the very heart of the commentator it was Luther’s Commentary on Galatians. The edition before us is a reprint of Middleton’s translation somewhat abridged. The present editor assures us that in abridging it that nothing of its doctrinal value was taken away. In his preface Mr. Fallowes has an interesting observation. “Martin Luther’s great commentary,” he says, “is now a book almost extinct and forgotten. Personally I only know of one man who had read it. He was a London physician, and a Roman Catholic nominally, but he attended Mr. Spurgeon’s ministry for many years with keenest appreciation, and seeing a second-hand copy of Luther on the Galatians, he bought it, and read it with admiration.” He could not have been a very convinced Roman Catholic or he would have found Luther on Galatians rather tough reading. In our own Notes and Comments we give a quotation from Dr. Buchanan in which a high estimate is given of Luther’s famous book. This edition is beautifully printed and nicely bound.
Samuel Marsden: Great Heart of Maoriland, by A. H. Reed.
Illustrated. Glasgow: Pickering & Inglis. Price 1/3.
This biography tells in an interesting way the story of Marsden’s work among the Maoris—that savage race which when converted brought out their finer qualities. Mr. A. H. Reed has told his story well. Samuel Marsden was a Methodist.
George Augustus Selwyn: Pioneer Bishop of New Zealand, by A. W. Reed.
Illustrated. Glasgow: Pickering & Inglis. Price 1/3.
This is another book telling of the labours of George Augustus Selwyn among the Maoris. He was the first Bishop of New Zealand and Mr. A. W. Reed has many interesting things to tell of the pioneer work in evangelizing the Maoris.