DIVINE FORGIVENESS— ST BASIL 



Forgiveness and Suffering. A Study of Christian Belief. By Douglai 

 Jf-'hite, M.D., Trinity College, Cambridge. 



Crown 8vo. pp. xii + 134, Price 3^. net. 



Divine forgiveness, the subject of this little book, is claimed by the 

 author as " the central theme of religious thought." " It represents an 



instinctive need of man It is not a specifically Christian conception... but 



Christianity did purport to offer a satisfaction of that need, which previous 

 systems of religion had entirely failed to supply." 



After a sketch of the medieval theologians' view of the problem and of 

 the modern tendency "which sets steadily towards the shoals of pantheism," 

 Dr White maintains that the doctrine of Divine Immanence alone will 

 not satisfy the mind, since " the meaning of Christ's sufferings is the very 

 nucleus of the Christian system." Accordingly, he considers briefly the 

 true meaning of such terms as Law, Punishment and Evil, and shows the 

 madequacy of a mere "substitution" theory of the Atonement ; and, after 

 insisting upon ihe free forgiveness of sins as taught and practised by Christ, 

 its vitality and its intimate connection with the passion of Christ Himself, 

 he concludes that " If the passion of Jesus be regarded as an unveiling of 

 the heart of God, a recital before humanity of the music of the divine and 

 not as an artifice or plan to alter that mind, or to change the motive of 

 that music — then, I am convinced, one of the most powerful causes of 

 antipathy against the Christian belief will have been removed." 



St Basil the Great. A Study in AAonasticism. By Jl^. K. Lowther Clarke, 

 formerly Felloiv of jesus College, Cambridge : Rector of Cavendislj, 

 'Suffolk'. 



Demy 8vo. pp. xii + 176. Price 7s. 6ii. net. 



"So far as I am aware," says the author, "there exists no account of 

 the ascetic writings of the great archbishop of Caesarea, that discusses their 

 problems with any fulness. And yet St Basil forms an important link in 

 the history of monasticism and deserves more consideration than he has 

 received hitherto." 



Mr Clarke, after a brief discussion of the general problem of asceticism, 

 treats of the ascetic ideals and writings of St Basil and of his subsequent 

 influence in the East and in the West. 



In an Appendix, a Table of Dates and a Bibliography are included. 

 The book is described by The Times as "a very excellent, solid piece of 

 work." 



