598 



jRetrofpeSf of Domejiic Literature. — Theology, bfc. 



THEOLOGY, MORALS, AND ECCLESI- 

 ASTICAL AFFAIRS. ' 



At tVie very frcnt of this enumeration 

 we place '« Tie Chrijiiatt Syjlem unfoUcii, 

 in a Courfe ofPi-adical Ejfays on the prin- 

 cipal Dohrines and Duties of Chriflianity, 

 by Thomas Robinson ;" prei"cntii,g 

 j|>an orderly fei iesof diftin6l p^rts a com- 

 prehenTive body of theological inftruftiun. 

 The unieiTiiiting laliour and dilcriinina- 

 tion of Mr. Robinfon as a divine, sre 

 confpicuous throughout ; and we are 

 confident that his work will not only he 

 Acceptable to connmon readers but to the 

 clergy. 



Mr. Innes, of Dundee, has publifhed 

 •• A Summary Fieiv of the leading Doc- 

 trines of the IVord of God, difigncd chiefly 

 for the Benefit of thofe ivho propofefor the 

 firfl Time to join a Chriflian Church " 

 It is written in a fimple and perluafive 

 fiyle ; and as it has bten entered at Sta- 

 tioneis'-Hall, is probably intended lo 

 circulate in London. 



Dr. Less, in his work oh " The Au- 

 iheniicily, unccrrupted Prefer-vation, and 

 (iredtbility, of the Nezv Ttf anient,'" has 

 delivered his ("entiments in a comprefTed 

 form i and though he has taken much 

 from Dr. Ltidner's Hiftory, has endea- 

 voured to ci>nhne liiml'elf to fuch proofs 

 only as appeared to preclude the poffibi- 

 lity of cavil. His work is divided into 

 two books i the firll on the internal evi- 

 dence of Chrirtianity, and the fecond on 

 its eftablifhment and propagation ; form- 

 ing together a work of much intrinfic 

 value. 



It is the objei5t of Mr. jERNiNts ham's 

 eflay on " The Dignity of Hii7nan Nature," 

 to prove that man, after the fall, funk, 

 not into a guilty, but an imperfect 

 ftate ; a doflrine which we fuppofe the 

 pride and felf-fufhciency of fome of his 

 readers will lead them to adopt. 



We cannot recommend " The Plain 

 Man's Epijile to every Child of Adam." 

 It is true it is written in a manner both 

 popular and perfuafive, but prefenisonly a 

 gloomy and fuperltltious view of the di- 

 vine nature and difpenfation. 



" A Letter to a Country Clergyman on 

 the Subje£l of Methodifm" prelents but 

 one fide of the piiS ure. 



The tendency of ^^ Difcurfory Conjidera- 

 iions on St. Luke's Preface, and other Cir- 

 cumflances rf his Gofpel, in 'Three Letters 

 from a Country Llergyman" is to eftabiifh 

 the infpiration of St. Luke ; and the re- 

 fult of the Inquiry fecins to be, that 

 though he does not declare himfelf to have 

 been a difc'pleof Chrilf, oc an eye-witn«fs 



of his miniftry, yet that he claims for his 

 Gofpel a certain degree of high and origi- 

 nal authority, which involves an intima- 

 ti in that he was an eye-witnefs of many 

 even of the principal fafts he has re- 

 corded. ^ 



Mr. Card's work on '^The Rife of the 

 Papal Povjer" is ably written, but on the 

 principles of high-church. 



" An Inquiry whether the Defcription of 

 Babylon contained in the Eighteenth Chap- 

 ter of the Revelations agrees perfedljf 

 Tvith Rome as a Cityf by Gi?.anville 

 Sharp, is a curious publication. It is 

 referred torn- an modern Rome, and her 

 cornipied Church wherever it extends. 



" The Dejirudion of ferufalan an ab- 

 flute and irrefjiible Proof of the Divine 

 Origin of Ckri/lianity," is the title of a 

 very pious, liriking, and impreffive pam- 

 plilet. 



Mr. Fellowes's '« Brief Trtatife on 

 Denth, pbilofpkically, morally, and prac- 

 iiially confdered," is a found production ; 

 and though his ideas have little that is 

 novel, he has exprcfl'cd them with conli* 

 derable addrefs. 



Mr. Burgh's " Attempt to adapt Sa^ 

 cred Hijiory to the Capacities of Children," 

 though well intended, is flight and infuf- 

 ficient j a littie care might eafily improve 

 it. 



Had we been well pleafed with, we 

 fhouid hivetsken aneailier no:iceof Mr. 

 Burton's •• Refearches into the Phrafe- 

 ology. Manners, Hiftory, and ReUg:on, of 

 the ancient Eajlern Nations, as illujlrati've 

 of the Scriptures, and into the Accuracy of 

 the Englifh Tranflatton of the Bible.''' 

 Thel'e reliearches are little more than fe- 

 leftions, with occafional original addi- 

 tions by the author. He is not' the firit 

 commentator to whom we have recom- 

 mended revif-il. 



Mr. Reeves's " Propofal of a Bible- 

 Society for diflributing Bibles on a nevi 

 Plan," delerves our commendation. In- 

 (tead of giving them in their prefent foiin 

 in a bad print and worfe paper, he would 

 have them fuch as fhouid, from their very 

 outward appearance, attrafl the notice of 

 the pofl'tflors of them j fuch as fhall fur- 

 pafs, both in price and figure, every other 

 volume in the poor man's library. 



Among the publications of a wild clafs 

 we may leckonthe ^' Letters of St . Paul 

 the Apofle, ivritten before and after his 

 Converfon, tranflated from the German of 

 John Caspar Lavater," — an exercife 

 of imagination which can hardly be ac- 

 counted for by fober reafon. What 

 could be the mo'.ive for fuch an under- 

 4. taking 



