The controversies which have occasionally sprung up within the Society, have been subdued, rather than determined; and the influence of authority has been more powerful than that of knowledge, in maintaining the forbearance and quietude which prevail in their community. On the other hand, they display no solicitude to enlarge their denomination, and make no exertions to diffuse their principles. In this respect, the Friends of the present day greatly differ from their founders, who were unsparing in the manifestations of an ever-restless and adventurous zeal for the propagation of their opinions. The religious controversies of the times have publicly engaged but little of their attention. There have, indeed, been writers of the Society of Friends, who have given proofs of their application to the study of the Bible; but these have been but few, nor have they been distinguished for any essential services rendered either to the exposition or to the defence of evangelical truth. We have now before us almost the first erudite treatise in support of fundamental Scriptural doctrines, from which we can conclude that the cultivation of Biblical criticism is not wholly neglected by them. Mr. Gurney's volume, for sobriety, explicitness, and learning, must take precedence of the theological productions of the community of which he is an ornament, and is entitled to an honourable place among the numerous works of its own class for which we are indebted to Christian scholars. The contents of this work comprise Notes and Dissertations,1. On the Canonical authority of the Epistle to the Hebrews.— 2. On the pre-existence of Jesus Christ before John the Baptist. -3. On Christ, the Redeemer-the Living One-in the time of Job.-4. On the existence of Christ before Abraham.-5. On the existence of Christ when the world was created.-6. On the Eternal pre-existence of Christ.-7. On Christ pre-existent in the form of God, and on an equality with Him.-8. On the Chaldee Targums, and on the doctrine of their authors respecting the Word of Jehovah.-9. On the Creation of all things by the Word or Son of God.-10. God made the world by his Son.11. On the testimony of the Apostle Paul, that the Psalmist addresses the Son of God, as the Creator of the Universe.-12. The Son the Image of the Invisible God, the First-born of the whole creation, and the Creator of all things in heaven and in earth.-13. On the preaching of Christ to the Antediluvians.14. On the Angel who bore the name and displayed the attributes of God.-15. On the Deity of the Word.-16. On the prophecies of Isaiah, in chap. vii. viii. and ix. 1-6.-17. Christ the Branch is Jehovah our Righteousness.-18. On the Various Readings of 1 Tim. iii. 16.-19. Additional Observations on I Tim. iii. 16.-20. Jesus Christ our Great God and Saviour.——— 21. Christ who, in his human nature, descended from the Jews, is "over all God blessed for ever."-Conclusion. On the practical Importance of Faith in the Deity of Christ. As these are topics which have successively engaged the attention and employed the labours of the most eminent theological controvertists and Biblical critics, the inquirer will scarcely expect to meet in this volume with information or reasonings of a novel kind. After the extensive and minute researches into every branch of criticism, and the unwearied diligence in disposing of the results of their collations and discoveries, for which we owe so much gratitude to authors of reputation, it would be presumptuous to expect from a modern advocate of Christian doctrines, the gratification which is to be derived from original statements and unusual proofs. Yet, although the subjects themselves, and the evidence which belongs to them, are familiar to us, their supreme importance and their vital interest will ever prevent their being regarded as trite and common. The first of these Dissertations is On the canonical authority of the Epistle to the Hebrews.' The Epistle is anonymous; so are the epistles ascribed to the Apostle John, the name of the author not being prefixed to either of them. In this respect, the two cases are similar; but the circumstances in which they otherwise differ from each other, are numerous and important. The anonymous character of the Epistle to the Hebrews, is not the circumstance from which exclusively, or even principally, doubts of its being entitled to canonical authority, have arisen; since we find the authority of anonymous books admitted from the beginning; and on the other hand, there have been many who have denied the claim of books bearing their author's names to a place among the canonical Scriptures. Mr. Gurney is unquestionably correct in stating that, if there are sufficient reasons to convince us that Paul was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we must of course rest satisfied of its canonical authority. But we cannot say that we find in his arguments any better elucidation of the question, or any nearer approximation to a determination of it, than in the statements and reasonings of his predecessors, while he has not noticed in his Dissertation some of the strongest objections which lie in the way of his conclusion. In the first of the proofs by which Mr. Gurney supports the hypothesis of the Pauline origin of the epistle, we are unable to perceive any cogency or closeness of connection. Whatever be the subjects to which the Apostle Peter refers in his second epistle, as being included in the communication which the persons to whom it was sent had received from the Apostle Paul, it is evident that they were not peculiar to it, because they were to be found in all his epistles:-"Even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto The controversies which have occasionally sprung up within the Society, have been subdued, rather than determined; and the influence of authority has been more powerful than that of knowledge, in maintaining the forbearance and quietude which prevail in their community. On the other hand, they display no solicitude to enlarge their denomination, and make no exertions to diffuse their principles. In this respect, the Friends of the present day greatly differ from their founders, who were unsparing in the manifestations of an ever-restless and adventurous zeal for the propagation of their opinions. The religious controversies of the times have publicly engaged but little of their attention. There have, indeed, been writers of the Society of Friends, who have given proofs of their application to the study of the Bible; but these have been but few, nor have they been distinguished for any essential services rendered either to the exposition or to the defence of evangelical truth. We have now before us almost the first erudite treatise in support of fundamental Scriptural doctrines, from which we can conclude that the cultivation of Biblical criticism is not wholly neglected by them. Mr. Gurney's volume, for sobriety, explicitness, and learning, must take precedence of the theological productions of the community of which he is an ornament, and is entitled to an honourable place among the numerous works of its own class for which we are indebted to Christian scholars. The contents of this work comprise Notes and Dissertations,1. On the Canonical authority of the Epistle to the Hebrews. 2. On the pre-existence of Jesus Christ before John the Baptist. -3. On Christ, the Redeemer-the Living One-in the time of Job.-4. On the existence of Christ before Abraham.-5. On the existence of Christ when the world was created.-6. On the Eternal pre-existence of Christ.-7. On Christ pre-existent in the form of God, and on an equality with Him.-8. On the Chaldee Targums, and on the doctrine of their authors respecting the Word of Jehovah.-9. On the Creation of all things by the Word or Son of God.-10. God made the world by his Son.11. On the testimony of the Apostle Paul, that the Psalmist addresses the Son of God, as the Creator of the Universe.-12. The Son the Image of the Invisible God, the First-born of the whole creation, and the Creator of all things in heaven and in earth.-13. On the preaching of Christ to the Antediluvians.— 14. On the Angel who bore the name and displayed the attributes of God.-15. On the Deity of the Word.-16. On the prophecies of Isaiah, in chap. vii. viii. and ix. 1-6.-17. Christ the Branch is Jehovah our Righteousness.-18. On the Various Readings of 1 Tim. iii. 16.—19. Additional Observations on 1 Tim. iii. 16.-20. Jesus Christ our Great God and Saviour.— 21. Christ who, in his human nature, descended from the Jews, is "over all God blessed for ever."-Conclusion. On the practical Importance of Faith in the Deity of Christ. As these are topics which have successively engaged the attention and employed the labours of the most eminent theological controvertists and Biblical critics, the inquirer will scarcely expect to meet in this volume with information or reasonings of a novel kind. After the extensive and minute researches into every branch of criticism, and the unwearied diligence in disposing of the results of their collations and discoveries, for which we owe so much gratitude to authors of reputation, it would be presumptuous to expect from a modern advocate of Christian doctrines, the gratification which is to be derived from original statements and unusual proofs. Yet, although the subjects themselves, and the evidence which belongs to them, are familiar to us, their supreme importance and their vital interest will ever prevent their being regarded as trite and common. The first of these Dissertations is' On the canonical authority of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The Epistle is anonymous; so are the epistles ascribed to the Apostle John, the name of the author not being prefixed to either of them. In this respect, the two cases are similar; but the circumstances in which they otherwise differ from each other, are numerous and important. The anonymous character of the Epistle to the Hebrews, is not the circumstance from which exclusively, or even principally, doubts of its being entitled to canonical authority, have arisen; since we find the authority of anonymous books admitted from the beginning; and on the other hand, there have been many who have denied the claim of books bearing their author's names to a place among the canonical Scriptures. Mr. Gurney is unquestionably correct in stating that, if there are sufficient reasons to convince us that Paul was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we must of course rest satisfied of its canonical authority. But we cannot say that we find in his arguments any better elucidation of the question, or any nearer approximation to a determination of it, than in the statements and reasonings of his predecessors, while he has not noticed in his Dissertation some of the strongest objections which lie in the way of his conclusion. In the first of the proofs by which Mr. Gurney supports the hypothesis of the Pauline origin of the epistle, we are unable to perceive any cogency or closeness of connection. Whatever be the subjects to which the Apostle Peter refers in his second epistle, as being included in the communication which the persons to whom it was sent had received from the Apostle Paul, it is evident that they were not peculiar to it, because they were to be found in all his epistles:" Even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things." This passage does not, we think, ascribe a superior degree of wisdom in reference to one epistle more than to another, though this is assumed, and is said to apply with peculiar force to the Epistle to the Hebrews. The Apostle Peter addresses his epistles to the "elect strangers of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." But, if the epistle to the Hebrews was written to the Jewish Christians of Palestine, as Mr. Gurney supposes, we do not perceive how it can be said to be written to persons in any of the countries enumerated in Peter's dedication of his epistles. We might, with more appearance of probability, fix upon the Epistle to the Galatians, or that to the Ephesians, as the one intended; since in these, it cannot be denied, there are some things hard to be understood." 66 From the expression, "they of Italy salute you," Mr. Gurney infers, as others had done before him, that the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews was in Italy at the time of his writing it; and that the epistle was written from Rome; but the words oi ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰταλίας, would rather seem to indicate that the writer was not in Italy, but out of it, accompanied by some persons who belonged to that country. Nothing is determined by such an expression as to the place from which the epistle was sent; nor does the connection in which we find it, assist us to any probable conjecture on the subject. The evidence of ecclesiastical tradition on the Pauline origin of the epistle is much less satisfactory than the statement, that the Greek and Eastern fathers are unanimous in ascribing the epistle to Paul, would lead the reader to conclude. It is evident, from Origen's accounts, that doubts were entertained, even in the East, about its authorship; and the manner in which some of the earliest of the Greek fathers, including Origen himself, have delivered their sentiments on the point, ill accord with the explicitness of a direct testimony or an unhesitating opinion. On the internal evidence, much has been written; and Mr. Gurney follows his predecessors, in collecting examples of co-incident sentiments and verbal agreements from the acknowledged epistles of Paul and the epistle to the Hebrews, with the view of deducing from the comparison, the proofs of a common origin. Many of these examples have but little relevance to the question. For instance in Heb. i. 3, 4., it is said, that the Son of God, "when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." This, it is remarked (p. 16), 'is precisely the doctrine of Paul; who declares that God raised Jesus "from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, |