In consideration, however, of the fact that the treatment of a historical development by one who has made so extensive preliminary and detail studies is always "not without value," and in consideration further that it seemed scarcely right to remand to oblivion so much material laboriously gleaned from unpublished or almost inaccessible sources, he decided, as he further informs us, to proceed to the elaboration of the main work, "though in a less extended form than the 'Fore-history' would lead one to expect." The work is to consist of three parts. The one before us contains the history of "Pietism and the first stadium of the Aufklärung; ,"* the second is to give the continuation down to the commencement of the present century; the third the history of Rationalismus in the narrower sense from 1800 down to the reawakening of the Church, 1820-30. The part just issued falls into three sections: I. Church Orthodoxy in its expiration, pp. 3-9. II. Biblical Orthodoxy of Pietism till its extinction about the middle of the century, pp. 9-91. III. The Aufklärung in its first stadium from the beginning to the middle of the century, pp. 92-182. The first is very brief, and comparatively unimportant. The second contains the following chapters: 1. Halle Pietism treated in two periods, the first extending to 1724, the second to 1751. 2. Wirtemberg Pietism. 3. The Moravian Church. 4. Degeneracies of Pietism. 5. Extension and Influence of Pietism. The third treats of the "Influence from Abroad," and of "the inner Factors," to which he reckons : a, Thomasius; b, the Wolfian Philosophy; c, the Transitional Theologians, (Pfaff and Mosheim;) and d, the Ecclesiastical and Religious Life of the Time. To many the section on the history of Pietism will prove the most interesting in the whole work. It is well known that the most opposite verdicts are passed by different parties in Germany upon the character and influence of this historical phenomenon. Some hold it accountable in no small measure for the rise and rapid extension of neology, because it had laid less stress on strict orthodoxy than the old divines had done; others think that the recent reawakening of the German Church is directly traceable to the good seed sown by Pietism a century ago and carefully guarded in the bosom of the "Brüdergemeinde" and other associations of humble Christians through the drear winter of rationalistic ascend * This untranslatable word has become the classical denomination among Germans for that grand "clearing up" which commenced about a hundred and fifty years ago in the whole intellectual atmosphere of Europe, and of which German Rationalism was only a particular manifestation, namely, its manifestation in the sphere of theology. ency. Many regard it as the highest bloom to which the Lutheran Church has ever attained; Klieforth, on the other hand, pronounces it "an exotic growth." Hossbach writes up Spener, and Engelhardt Loescher; Gass treats the period from a Union point of view, Heinrich Schmid from a stiffly Lutheran one. Perhaps none of them are as well qualified to pronounce an impartial judgment in the case as Tholuck. His acquaintance with it from its first rise to the present hour is most intimate. His own spiritual birth iş almost directly traceable to its influence, his life has been spent in its birthplace and stronghold, his years have been devoted to studies of the period of its rise and development, its most voluminous archives have stood open before him, and have been faithfully used. An ardent lover of the Church, yet an equally ardent lover of genuine and vital religion wherever found; an eclectic in theology and a sage in experience; surely if any man is capable of impartially estimating the merits and the demerits, the excellences and the defects of Pietism, he would seem to be the one. And in point of fact, a more calm and just historic judgment has never been pronounced upon it than is found in this book. Many of its pages are full of solemn significance for our own branch of Zion, and should be thoughtfully perused on the one hand by those who dream that religion can dispense with learning, on the other by any who would limit the divine call of our Church to any class or condition of men. For both the phenomena of declining Pietism have lessons of sad and warning import. The only thing in the book to which we take exception is our author's occasional incorrect and catach restic use of the terms "Methodistic" and "Methodism," as, for instance, pp. 21, 26, 34, etc. No doubt it is wholly unintentional on his part, and in accordance with the usus loquendi of German theologians; but against all such unintentional falsifications of history, perversions of fact, and tacit defamations of a whole communion of Christian people, we must mildly but most firmly protest. May the honored professor live to substitute other and more suitable terms in a coming edition! Die Lutherische Dogmatik historich-genetisch dargestellt. Von DR. KARL FRIED. AUG. KAHNIS. Bd. I, 1861; bd. II, 1864. Within the past ten years several Lutheran works upon systematic theology have appeared which deserve the attention of all theological students. They are as follows: H. Schmid, Die Dogmatik der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche dargestellt und aus den Quellen belegt. 5te Aufl. 1863. F. A. Philippi, Kirchliche Glaubenslehre. 1 Theil, 1854, not yet complete. G. Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk; Darstellung der evang.-lutherischen Dogmatik vom Mittelpunkte der Christologie aus. 3 Bde., 1852-64. To the same class belongs the above-named work, by Dr. Kahnis. Schmid's work is a very convenient Repertorium for such as have not the old Lutheran divines at hand, consisting as it does of a skeleton of Lutheran doctrine supported under every head by numerous quotations from such old theologians as Gerhard, Calov, Hutter, Quenstedt, etc. Philippi is a pupil of Hengstenberg, a convert from Judaism, the Coryphæus of the "old Lutherans," stricter in his orthodoxy than Hengstenberg himself. In the department of systematic theology he stands alone. Will any one peruse an exposition of genuine old Lutheran theology, as incorporated in the Formula Concordia, let him get Philippi. Five parts have appeared, and the completion of the work may soon be expected. (By the way, it is high time that Knapp should cease to be regarded in America as standard exponent of Lutheran doctrine. He is as far from being such as Horace Bushnell is from being a fair representative of strict old fashioned Calvinism.) Thomasius of Erlangen is a strong man of the New Lutheran party, ardent in his attachment to the Lutheran Church, yet not insensible to the formal and material defects of the old orthodox theology of the seventeenth century. The method of his work would be intolerable to any but a Lutheran, but it is so profoundly learned, and yet at the same time so modest and candid, that its study is a treat. Despite all his qualifications on the point of the relation of grace to nature or to the will, before, during, and after conversion, he in fact abandons the Lutheran view and adopts the Methodistic, though, of course, without "giving credit." In the doctrine of the sacraments, however, he is still essentially Lutheran. Kahnis belongs to a somewhat younger generation. A brilliant disciple of Tholuck, he soon rose to notice as a spirited combatant of rationalism, and distinguished himself by a mighty zeal for Lutheran orthodoxy by the pen, on platform and cathedra. The Lutherans set great hopes upon him. It was about this time that he wrote the work by which he is chiefly known among English readers, "Inner Development of German Theology," etc. Even this was found a little too liberal for many of his party, but the grand breach between him and the strict confessionalists came in 1861, on the publication of the first volume of the work mentioned at the head of this notice. In it he gives up portions of the canon as uninspired, abandons the orthodox form of the doctrine of the Trinity, and finds much fault with traditional Lutheranism. Dickhoff, Delitzsch, and Hengstenberg published jeremiads of moving pathos, and solemnly excommunicated him from the ranks of their party. By virtue of his original method the two volumes now published contain properly nothing but Prolegomena; the renovated Kahnis-Lutheran system is to be presented in the next and concluding volume. A critical notice of it may be expected as soon as it shall appear. Das höhere Schulwesen in Preussen. Historisch-statistische Darstellung im Auftrage des Ministers der geistlichen, Unterrichts und MedicinalAngelegenheiten herausgegeben. Von DR. L. WIESE. Berlin. 1864. We briefly notice this work for the benefit of American educators. The Prussian system of national education has for thirty years been the study of all civilized nations. And with good reason. Taken all in all it has no rival either in the Old or New World. The primary schools of New England and of some emulating western states may equal in effectiveness those of Prussia, individual institutions of a higher grade in France and England may accomplish as much as any similar German ones, but as a system for the education of the whole nation the Prussian is far ahead of all others. The elaborate reports of C. E. Stowe, A. D. Bache, Horace Mann, Joseph Kay, Henry Barnard, Cousin, and others, have done much to diffuse in our country accurate information touching the organization and working of its primary schools, while the letters of tourists and American students have rendered most readers more familiar with the German universities than they are with the English. Between these two grades of schools, however, lies another class of institutions answering to our colleges, and as yet comparatively little studied. It is with this class, embracing the Gymnasium, the Progymnasium, the Realschule, the higher Bürgerschule, and the Alumnat, that the above work has to do. It gives us in its first part (pp. 1-16) a full account of the administration of these institutions, their connection with the provincial and national government, and the present administrating personnel. Part II explains the different kinds of high schools and wherein they are distinguished, closing with a complete classified list of all, illustrated by a map showing the location of each. Part III contains a short description and history of each arranged according to provinces. This fills pp. 50-410, very closely printed. Part IV gives the statistics of attendance as far back as could be easily ascertained: pp. 410-476. Part V gives a sketch of the laws and regulations in force at different times touching the final examination and dismissal: pp. 478-524. Part VI is an exceed ingly interesting and instructive account of the teachers' preparation, appointment, duties, and rights: pp. 525-597. Four Appendices follow, the first exhibiting the expenses incurred in supporting 'these schools, the second the present regulations touching tuition, etc., the third the privileges of graduates, the fourth a very rich and extensive selection from the laws, ordinances, and instructions by which the Prussian system has been brought to its present state of perfection. This alone fills pp. 622-744. It would seem as if nothing which an educator would care to know about these schools had been omitted. You will find even the formula employed in dismissing a director, how long a teacher is allowed to be absent from his post in term-time, what he has to do before he can be allowed to marry, etc., etc. One might spend a year in the personal inspection of the schools here treated of without being able to collect half the information here offered. The charm of it is that it comes fresh from the State Department of Instruction at Berlin, and is, therefore, absolutely reliable. It also contains the very latest statistics, rules, etc., coming down to the close of 1864. Every college president should have the work. History, Biography, and Topography. History of the Planting and Training of the Christian Church by the Apostles. By Dr. AUGUSTUS NEANDER. Translated from the German, by J. E. RYLAND. Translation revised and corrected, according to the fourth German edition, by E. G. ROBINSON, D.D., Professor in the Rochester Seminary. 8vo., pp. 539. New York: Sheldon & Co. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. 1865. The general voice of the scholarly world seems to have placed Neander at the head of Church history in his day, and we suppose that the work before us would be placed at the head of his productions in that department. There is a rare blending of a lax gentleness with an iron independence in Neander. As Strauss and his fellows approach our Gospels from the stand-point of Pantheism, and so work like destructive giants to reduce the whole evangelic structure within the bounds of the ordinary and the natural, so with quiet firmness Neander, from an à priori Christian standpoint, Christian even in coming to Christ, animated by anticipation with the "theologia pectoris," simply examines the sacred documents in the light of their best cotemporaneous history, and in the true spirit of the best modern thought finds what is rationally to be held as the true character of the events, the actors, and the doctrines of that divine movement. The question he answers is: What can a true philosopher pronounce upon the pentecost, |