Divinity and incarnation of Christ, the expiation on the cross, and the resurrection of the dead, we have not rid the subject of mysteries, mysteries as profound and inscrutable as those we have rejected. Nay, let a man become an utter atheist, and he surrounds himself with a darkness more deep and terrible, a darkness illumed by no stars, followed by no dawn. He multiplies the secrets of nature a thousand fold, and loses himself in the abyss of a horrible and everlasting mystery.

"Had Christianity been a system without a mystery, no thoughtful man could believe it. Every such man, hungering after the perfect and the eternal, must rejoice that faith and adoration can advance, where science and philosophy are compelled to pause. Sometimes, nay, during his whole life, he may walk in darkness, but the stars are overhead, and the dawn of everlasting day is yet to break upon his vision. In the Gospel there are mysteries; but how magnifi cent and thrilling! Shadows, but shadows from the infinite, shadows gloriously penetrated with light supernal. How profound the secret of the Godhead, especially of the Godhead incarnate; but how august, how beautiful! Dark, indeed, but dark from excess of light; and it is only in lowliness and adoration we can see it, or feel it, in its all-transforming power. The highest intellects have adored it! Millions upon millions have trembled with joy, under its influence. In the night of time, these voyagers, storm-driven upon the ocean of life, have looked up into the infinite depths above them, and beheld that glory-beaming star,' radiant as at the first, when it was hymned by the angels on the plains of Bethlehem, and under its guidance have passed on, through tempest and darkness, to the haven of everlasting rest.”—pp. 148, 151, 155, 157.

On the subject of the Atonement, Mr. Turnbull takes the ground of a vicarious or substitutionary expiation, a real sacrifice or propitiation on the part of Christ, on the ground of which God may be just and justify him that believeth in Jesus. This view he defends with no little ability, in opposition to Dr. Gannet, of Boston, and Dr. Bushnell. He shows that the divinity of Christ gave worth and efficacy to his sufferings for the redemption of man; that the sacrifice of the Son was the sacrifice equally of the Father; and hence, that in some modified, perhaps not fully revealed sense, the Divine' partook of or at least sympathized in the sufferings of the human.' Without adopting the theory of Mr. Griffin, so strikingly and ably set forth in his work entitled, The Sufferings of Christ, by a Layman,' who affirms that Christ endured the agonies of the lost, or those who but for him, would have been lost, 'pang for pang, spasm for spasm through all eternity,' and that the absolute Godhead of Jesus suffered all this, Mr. Turnbull insists that we have no right to separate the Divine from the Human in the crowning act of our redemption, nor to press the metaphysical, and, it may be, false assumption of the Divine impassibility.

It will be observed,' he says, 'that thus far we have endeavored to establish a fact, without discussing the mode of it. We have affirmed the proposition that Christ suffered in his whole nature, but we have not ventured to affirm in a dogmatic way, what it was, or how it was he suffered. The external aspects of his suffering-the marred visage-the failing eye--the flowing blood -the contorted limbs-the agonizing cry-the drooping head-and the ghastly paleness of death are obvious to all. But these, it seems to us, are merely images and expressions of deeper sufferings within. His soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death." His soul was made an offering for sin.' What, then, was his agony? How, especially, did his pure and infinite spirit endure such suffering? To this we frankly reply, we cannot tell. The subject transcends our reasoning. We cannot speculate upon it. Better, far, kneel down in Gethsemane, with the suppliant sufferer, or, placing ourselves, in hum

ble contrition, beneath his cross, exclaim with St. Thomas, my Lord, and my God!"-p. 236.

"Since the issue of the first edition of Theophany," Dr. Bushnell's God in Christ,' has made its appearance, and produced no little commotion in the theological world, from the novelty and boldness of his speculations, and the almost universally pronounced heretical tendency of his views, emanating as they do from so distinguished a source, and from the heart of New England piety and orthodoxy. Mr. Turnbull has subjected these Discourses to a sifting criticism, in a supplement to the second edition of his work, in which he shows, we think conclusively, that Dr. B. has greatly erred both as to matters of fact and matters of opinion. As to matters of fact, he shows that Dr. B. has grossly misrepresented the views of the orthodox or evangelical portion of the church, particularly those of Irenæus, and Calvin. As the following, touching the case of Irenæus, who is represented by Dr. B. as teaching, that "the death of Christ was a ransom paid to the devil," possesses a historical and theological interest, we give it a place.

"We have taken some pains to ascertain the real opinions of Irenæus, by a personal examination of his writings; and we do not hesitate to affirm that he nowhere teaches the gross absurdity ascribed to him by Dr. B. He everywhere represents the advent of Christ as a means of destroying the works of the devil, 'overturning Satan'-' overcoming the devil, and, in one place, destroying (destruers nostrum adversarium) our adversary, the devil. He figuratively speaks of Jesus Christ as God incarnate, who redeemed us by his blood,' who gave himself a ransom for the captives,' and rescued us from the dominion of Satan,' not by force,' but by 'justice,' speaking of this subject in a most edifying and scriptural manner.

"In justice, however, to Dr. B., to whose charge we are unwilling to lay more than is necessary, it ought to be stated here that he was probably led astray, with reference to the opinions of Irenæus, by Muenscher, a German writer on 'Dogmatics, translated some years ago by Dr. Murdock. But the passages relied upon by Muenscher to sustain his affirmation, though slightly ambiguous, contain no such idea. Nay, they seem to teach us the very reverse. Whether

he had personally examined these passages we know not; for, in the translation at least, nothing but the references are given. The principal of these occurs in Adver: Hares: Lib. V. Cap. 1.-Irenæus here teaches, in opposition to the Valentinians and Ebionites, that Jesus Christ, God incarnate, can alone instruct us in divine things, and redeem us from the power of sin. He shows,

therefore, that the Divine Word, perfect in all things,' being not only almighty,' but, also, truly man,' (verus homo) redeemed us by his own blood, in other words, gave himself a lansom for those who were led into captivity' by sin, (redemptionem semetipsum dedit pro his qui in captivatatem ducti sunt.) He then adds: Et quorum injuste dominabatur nobis Apostasia,' (he here uses the abstract for the concrete, meaning by Apostasia, or Apostasy, Aposta tus, or the Apostate, that is, as he explains it in another place, Satan the great Apostate,) et cum natura essemus Dei omnipotentis, alienavit nos contra naturam, suos proprics nos faciens discipulos, potens in omnibus Dei Verbum, et non deficiens in sua justitia, juste etiam adversus ipsam conversus est apostasiam, ea quæ sunt sua redimus ab ea (v. r. eo) non cum vi, quemadmodum illa initio dominabatur nostri, ea quæ non erant sua insatiabiliter rapiens; sed secundum suadelan, quemadmodum decebat Deum suadentem, et non vim inferentum, accipere quæ vellet, ut neque quod est justum confringeretur neque an

If the Scripture,' says Bishop Butler, with admirable wisdom, has, as surely it has, left this matter of the satisfaction of Christ somewhat mysterious, left somewhat in it unrevealed, all conjectures about it must be, if not evidently absurd, yet at least uncertain. Nor has any one reason to complain for want of farther information, unless he can show his claim to it."-Works, Eng. Ed. p. 179.

tiqua plasmatio Dei depiriret.' Now, in this passage, Irenæus simply teaches that Jesus Christ redeemed us from the unjust bondage of Satan, or of the great apostasia, apostasy, by which men fell under the dominion of the evil principle, not by absolute force or violence, but by moral means, thus vindicating justice, by the shedding of his blood, not as a ransom to the devil, but as a ransom to justice. The word suadela, used patristically, means moral argument or influence, rather than persuasion or eloquence, and covers the whole ground of what Christ did and suffered to redeem us from the bondage of sin. For Irenæus immediately adds, as if to put the whole matter beyond a doubt, 'Suo igitur sanguine redimente nos Domino, et dante animam suam pro nostra anima, et carnem suam pro nostris carnibus, et effundente spiritum,' &c. In this way, he shows that man, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and united to God incarnate, is restored to life and immortality; not by force or violence, but by a divine and moral influence, flowing to the soul through the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ. So far, then, from teaching the gross absurdity ascribed to him by Dr. B., he vindicates the essential truth of the Gospel, that in the very means to rescue man from sin, law and justice are maintained and established. Satan is vanquished, not by force, but by justice. His chains are loosened by the blood of the Son of God.

"Another passage referred to by Muenscher occurs, Adver: Hares: Lib. V. Cap. 21; but so far from proving his point, proves the very reverse; for, there, Christ is represented as fulfilling that ancient prophecy, that the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head,' and thus vanquishing forever our spiritual adversary. How clear and pointed, for example, the following: "Dominus factus ex muliere, et destruens adversarium nostrum, et perficiens hominem secundum imaginem et similitudinem Dei."-Supplement to Theophany, pp. 53 -55.

As to matters of opinion, Mr. Turnbull shows that Dr. Bushnell's theories of the Trinity, and the Atonement, are equally unsatisfactory; that they are based upon mere hypothesis and fancy, prove nothing, explain nothing; and while containing gleams and glimpses of truth leave the subject, to say the least, in a bewildering obscurity. As however, Dr. B. admits the Godhead of Christ, and professes, in a practical way, to rely upon His sacrifice as a means of life, Mr. T., while protesting against his dangerous errors, gives him in this single practical view, the hand of fellowship, and closes thus;

"Here, then, we cry out with Dr. B., meeting him once more on practical ground, and bending in reverence before the Cross of Christ, 'What infinite pains does he take to bring down His love to us! Here, O sacred mystery! he opens to us the depths of his heart, penetrated with the love and sorrow of the one great sacrifice for sin. Here he unites himself to our wretchedness, and takes us to his bosom. O that we understood it as we ought, and felt its transforming power! In order to which, let us pray with the Apostle Paul, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, that we may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every other name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet, and given him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all."--Supplement, pp. 76-77.

We have already transcended the usual space allotted to our short reviews, and can only add our hearty commendation of this work. We like its spirit;

we like its scriptural views on the great subject of which it treats; and, not least, we like its spiritual practical character. God manifest in the flesh,' is presented here not as a mere doctrinal abstraction or scholastic theory, fitted only to amuse the curious and bewilder the thoughtful; but as a Divine mystery and yet glorious reality-a momentous practical truth-to be received by faith, to be loved and cherished in the heart as the foundation of hope, and made the vital element of a religious life. Would that all of our theological literature and discussion partook more of the practical element, and the evangelical spirit of Christian Truth! There would then be exhibited far less of rash and unprofitable speculation, and noisy and angry controversy, and infinitely more of the sanctified intellect and holy living which are the legitimate fruit of the glorious gospel of the blessed God."

2.-The Complete Works of John M. Mason, D. D. In four vols. Edited by his Son, EBENEZER MASON. New York: Baker and Scribner, 1849.

DR. JOHN M. MASON possessed a mind of the highest order. Few men served their generation more effectively than he, or left a brighter and more enduring name to posterity. As a thinker, bold and original; in argument, logical and able; in manner, energetic and often highly eloquent; a varied and profound scholar; and honest and earnest in the utterance and vindication of the truth, -he made a deep impression while he lived, and has left, in his writings, a rich legacy of treasured influence to those that come after him. He seems to have been raised up for a special service, and nobly did he perform it. He was a man that discerned well his own times and wisely adapted himself to them. Many of these essays, addresses, and sermons were occasional in their character, i. e., they were called forth by special occurrences, or by something special in the public mind, and they were adapted primarily to meet these cases. And it is no mean proof of the power and greatness of the Author, that, while the exciting occasions have passed away, the interest and value of the writings remain.

As a controversialist, Dr. Mason was preeminent and always successful; while as a divine and preacher he had few equals. After reading such sermons as "The Gospel for the Poor," "Messiah's Throne," and many others which might be named, we can appreciate the remark of Robert Hall, himself the prince of preachers, after hearing, we believe, one of the sermons named above, that he could never preach again. There is a breadth and depth, a grandeur and energy of thought, in many of these sermons, that is truly refreshing and stiring, even when read. We rank him with Hall and Chalmers, for massiveness and strength of thought, and energy and power of diction; and regard his writings as among the most valuable of the theological literature of the Ameri can Church. We regret that we have only the earliest and the latest efforts of his pen. Twenty-five years, during the prime of his days, he lectured and preached without writing, and consequently the memorials of these years are to be found only in living hearts.

The present is a complete edition of Dr. M.'s works. It embraces, besides an Introduction by his Son, Rev. Ebenezer Mason, his celebrated Plea for Holy Communion on Catholic principles: Letters on Frequent Communion: Considerations on Lots; his celebrated Essays on Episcopacy, unrivaled to this day in power and excellence, and also those on the Church of God; together with many of his best sermons, and various addresses and orations delivered on special occasions.

The edition is brought out in a very neat and substantial style. The four volumes embrace nearly 2400 octavo pages, and are sold for the low price of 1 This was the sermon with which the "American National Preacher" started on its useful career, in June, 1826.

$6.50. We commend these volumes to clergymen and students as among the most valuable of the recent issues of the press.

3.-Gospel Studies. By ALEXANDER VINET, D. D. With an Introduction by ROBERT BAIRD, D. D. New York: M. W. Dodd, 1849. THIS book is a feast for thinking minds. It is full of philosophical, evangelical, and original thought. It is written in a style of remarkable simplicity and beauty. While the topics introduced are not new, the manner of treating them is fresh, striking, and often exceedingly happy. The book contains no new or novel views of Christian truth as a merely theological work it possesses no extraordinary merit; there is no parade of learning, none of the dryness or stiffness of the schools, although these discourses were doubtless originally delivered as lectures to theological students while the lamented Author occupied the chair of Theology in the Academy of Lausanne. The peculiar excellence of these "Gospel Studies" consists in the philosophical manner in which the received truths of Christianity are presented. Dr. Vinet was an eminent metaphysician, not a great theologian, according to the English or American standard of judgment, and hence his thoughts always take the philosophical form still are they scriptural, decidedly evangelical, and uniformly expressed with great simplicity. His writings will make one think, and impart new and striking views of many truths to those who read him attentively. His discourses on various religious subjects, which Mr. Turnbull translated and introduced to the public some years since under the title of "Vital Christianity, by Vinet," made the author favorably known in this country. But the present work will serve to increase our estimate of his ability and excellence, and to embalm his memory in the hearts of all who love the gospel in its simplicity and purity.

4.-Is Christianity from God? or a Manual of Bible Evidence for the People. By Rev. JOHN CUMMING, D. D. Minister of the Scottish National Church. With an Introduction by HoN. THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN. New York: M. W. Dodd, 1849.

THIS work is not designed for the learned but for the common reader of the Bible. It brings to light no new sources of argument in favor of the Bible; produces no original investigations of matters of evidence, and has nothing novel in its mode of treating this important and much-written-upon subject. Still it possesses decided merit, and is well adapted to secure the end it proposes. It is a condensed and happily-arranged summary of the well known argument for the truth of Christianity. The argument is presented in a clear," simple, and methodical manner, and is made perfectly intelligible to common minds, and even to children. It embraces all that is really needful to the mass of minds in the more extensive and learned works which are already before the world. It is just such a Manual of Bible evidence as is needed; and we hope it will quickly find its way into every family, Sabbath-school, and Bibleclass in the land. Its brief and striking statement and elucidation of the common argument can scarcely fail to deepen the conviction of believing minds, and furnish them not only with the armor of defense, but also, with the weapons of successful assault upon infidelity.

5.-The Genius of Italy; being Sketches of Italian Life, Literature, and Religion. By REV. ROBERT TURNBULL, Author of "Genius of Scotland," &c. New York: George P. Putnam, 1849.

We anticipated something fine from Mr. Turnbull, on Italy, and we are not at all disappointed. The present work, we think, will compare favorably with