herein is shewn the authority from which Moses derived his commission as a law-giver; and it was therefore probably written as preparatory to the promulgation of the law. It is likewise excellently serviceable to illustrate the great design and tendency of revelation; which is ever delivered in a manner conformable to the fallen and depraved nature of man. It describes the origin of man's immaterial spirit, derived immediately from God; and the first institution of the marriage union. On account of the dignity and importance of the subject, and of the serious attention which it deserved, the Jews were forbidden to read the beginning of Genesis, till they had attained the sacerdotal age of thirty years. A work, indeed, which describes the creation and lapse of man; which treats of God's counsels and intercourse with his creatures; which opens the prospect of redemption, and the grand scheme of prophecy; and which exemplifies the high obligations and interests of man, cannot be considered with too mature and deliberate judgment. The Jews divide the Book of Genesis into twelve parasche or larger sections, and forty-three siderim or smaller sections; in our Bibles it consists of fifty chapters. The following synopsis of this book, in which it is arranged in historical and chronological order, will assist the reader in studying its interesting contents : I. III. IV. V. VI. VII. The Creation (chap. i, ii.) Institution of the Sabbath, and Fall of Man (chap. ii, iii.) History of Adam and his Descendants till the Deluge (chap. iv.) State of the World immediately preceding the Deluge (c.vi.vii.1-5.) The Covenant with Noah (chap. viii. 13. to end; ix. 1-18) X. XI. The Life of Abraham (chap. xi. 27.-xxv. 11.) From the Death of Abraham to the Selling of Joseph (chap. xxv. 11.-xxxvi.) XII. History of Joseph and his Family in Egypt (c. xxxvii-xlvii. 27.) See Gray's Key to the Old Testament, pp. 89-92. Allix's Reflections upon Genesis, pp. 57-66. Townsend's Old Testament - Genesis. Characteristic Notices of Biblical Works. Theological Institutes: or a Review of the Evidences, Doctrines, Morals, and Institutions of Christianity, by Richard Watson. Part 1. Containing a View of the Evidences of Christianity: 8vo. pp. 288. Price 6s. Ogle. This work is intended for the use of young ministers, and students in divinity, to supply the desideratum of a body of divinity, adapted to the present state of theological literature, neither Calvinistic on the one hand, nor Pelagian on the other. The first part of Mr. Watson's work, which now lies before us, treats of the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures. Our author enters upon his work by offering several presumptive arguments in favour of the opinion, that Almighty God in his goodness has made an express revelation of his will to mankind. These arguments are drawn from the fact, that we are moral agents, and therefore under a law or rule of conduct—from the consideration that no law can be binding till made known, or at least rendered cognizable by those whom it is intended to govern-from the inability of the generality of men to collect any adequate information on moral and religious subjects by processes of induction-from the insufficiency of reason, even in the wisest, to make any satisfactory discovery of the first principles of religion and duty-from the want of all authority and influence in such discoveries, upon the majority of mankind, had a few minds of superior order and with more favourable opportunities been capable of making them-from the fact that no such discovery was ever made by the wisest of the ancient sages, inasmuch as the truths they held were in existence before their day, even in the earliest periods of the patriarchal agesand from the fact, that whatever truths they collected from early tradition, or from the descendants of Abraham, mediately or immediately, they corrupted under the pretence of improving them, so as to destroy their harmony and moral influence; thereby greatly weakening the probability that moral truth was ever an object of the steady and sincere pursuit of men. The whole of these topics are urged in a masterly manner, and some of them are placed in a new and commanding light. To these presumptions in favour of an express revelation, written, preserved with care, and appointed to be preached and published under the authority of its author for the benefit of all, wise or unwise, Mr. W. adds the powerful presumption which is afforded by the necessity of the case. This necessity of a revelation, he remarks, is to be collected, not only from what has been advanced, but from the state of moral and religious knowledge and practice, in those countries where the records which profess to contain the Mosaic and the Christian revelations have been, or are still unknown. A view of the philosophy, the religions, and the morals of the Pagan world, prepares the author's way for inquiring into the manner in which such a revelation as the one he has made to appear necessary, would be made most effectually to accomplish its ends. Such a supernatural manifestation of truth, Mr. W. argues, should, 1. contain explicit information on those important subjects on which mankind had most greatly and most fatally erred. 2. That it should accord with the principles of former revelations, given to men in the same state of guilt and moral incapacity as we find them in the present day. 3. That it should have a satisfactory external authentication. 4. That it should contain provisions for its effectual promulgation among all classes of men. The Christian revelation is then shewn to bear this character, and therefore to have the presumptive proof in its favour, not only of meeting an obvious case of necessity, but of conforming to all those particulars which are called for in such a case. Our author having pointed out the necessity of a divine revelation, and shewn that the Christian Scriptures come recommended to us in such a manner as we have a right to expect a revelation would be made, proceeds to discuss those evidences usually offered in proof of the divine authority of these books. These are divided into three classes, the external, the internal, and the collateral; each of which is clearly explained, and has its proper rank assigned in the argument. To these succeeds an excellent chapter on the use and limitation of reason in religion, the province of which, Mr. W. very properly states, is to in vestigate the evidences on which a revelation is founded, and fairly and impartially to interpret it according to the ordinary rules of interpretation in other cases. Its LIMIT is the authority of God. We beg, however, to differ from him, when he states, that, "human reason may be the reverse of divine reason." That it should differ in degree we can easily conceive, but not in kind, much less that it should be the reverse of the reason of God. After these preparatory discussions, Mr. Watson proceeds to establish the antiquity of the Holy Scriptures, and to prove their uncorrupted preservation. The credibility of the testimony of the Sacred Writers is next examined, and their inspiration proved from the miracles they wrought, and the prophecies they delivered; as well as from the peculiar adaptation of christianity to the state of men, its original propagation and establishment in the world, and its manifest tendency to promote the happiness both of individuals and of nations. The work concludes by an answer to various objections; especially those which are adduced from the science of geology. On each of these topics Mr. Watson expatiates with great clearness and force of argument, without making any of those dangerous concessions which have frequently marred the otherwise valuable works of his predecessors. He treats sacred subjects with a peculiar sobriety of manner, and pays the most implicit deference to the authority of Scripture. We are clearly of opinion that he has rendered essential service to the cause of Christianity, by the publication of that part of his work before us. It displays extensive reading, correct habits of thought, and the various energies of a powerful and discriminating mind. We cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of giving Mr. W's closing remarks:-Such are the leading evidences of the truth of the Holy Scriptures, and of the religious system which they unfold, from the first promise made to the first fallen man, to its perfect exhibition in the New Testament. The Christian will review these solid and immoveable foundations of his faith with unutterable joy. They leave none of his moral interests unprovided for in time; they set before him a certain and felicitous immortality. The sceptic and the infidel may be entreated, by every compassionate feeling, to a more serious consideration of the evidences of this divine system and the difficulties and hopelessness of their own; and they ought to be reminded, in the words of a modern writer, " If christianity be true, it is tremendously true." Let them turn to an insulted, but yet a merciful Saviour, who, as to blasphemers, even now prays, in the words he once addressed to Heaven in behalf of his murderers, FATHER FORGIVE THEM; FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO. Boetry. SPEECH OF ST. PAUL TO THE ATHENIANS. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mar's hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world, and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing; seeing he giveth to all, life, and breath, and all things: and hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth; and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. ATTEND, ye men of Athens, to the words Though unexplored their nature and their powers. Your temples marking, and your costly shrines With verdant wreaths and votive offerings crown'd, ACTS, xvil. 29~-31. |