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the Flesh"? 'The form," says Swete (The Apostles' Creed, p. 89)," in which this article is cast in the Western Creed is not biblical." It may be, as Swete suggests, that that form is as it is because "Gnostic subtilty could find no way to evade the plain meaning of the phrase carnis resurrectio." If so, those who adopted it were emphasizing one part of human nature in opposition to Docetism. When this danger had passed, there was a return at Nicea to the biblical phrase resurrection of the dead."

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had is

Dr. Darragh's assertion that "the Greek Bishops forgotten the Hebrew parentage of the word for flesh,' not convincing; though no doubt the words that follow are true-namely, that they " wished to protect their people from a word which in its purely Greek sense could lead to misunderstanding."

Such misunderstanding there was, whatever may have been the origin of the adoption of the words resurrectio carnis in the Creed. It is a defect in the present book that the author fails to present fully instances of such misunderstanding. Attention has been called to this by a critic in the Church Times (November 26, 1921) who refers to passages from St. Hippolytus, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and St. Epiphanius. Rufinus, the earliest commentator on the Apostles' Creed, might well have been added. In the Creed of Aquileia the words ran: "hujus carnis resurrectionem," and of this clause Rufinus says, after a quotation of the words "quia resuscitabit pellem meam " from the Book of Job:

"Nonne aperte dicit hujus carnis resurrectionem futuram, hujus, inquam, quæ tribulationum et tentationum cruciamenta nunc sustinet? Sed et Apostolus cum dicit, Oportet enim corruptibile hoc induere incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induere immortalitatem, numquid non corpus suum quodammodo contingentis et digito palpantis est vox?"

It has seemed necessary to write thus fully on this point, as it occurs constantly throughout the book.

That the mystery of the Sacramental Presence of the Risen Body "illuminates the mystery of the resurrection" is another of the author's main contentions. It is the subject of Chapter XVII., and is mentioned in many other places also. The argument depends not on the Real Presence, but on a special theory as to what the Real Presence is. Such an argument might have serious consequences in apologetics. Put as it is by Dr. Darragh, it might be but a short step from the position: "I can believe the mystery of the resurrection, for believe in the Sacramental Presence of the Risen Body," to another and a very different one: "I cannot believe in the

Sacramental Presence of the Risen Body, therefore I cannot believe in the mystery of the resurrection.'

Other points to which some objection might be made are not of such first-rate importance. On p. 28 Dr. Darragh writes: "It becomes necessary to warn the reader that the Fourth Book of Esdras may not be a pre-Christian compilation .. the date of the book is still disputed amongst scholars." The exact date may be a matter of dispute, but does any scholar now put it in pre-Christian times? Again (p. 70), we have the statement that "the exact date [of the Apostolic Fathers] is not known to a year or two." This is a little too optimistic. A "decade or two" might stand in the case of some, but, if the newest school is to be taken into account, the Didache would require a century or two."

of ' flesh

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In a note on p. 224 the statement of the evidence does not seem quite satisfactory. The words are: Body' instead was inserted in Matins and Evensong in 1552 for the first time in a public service." It might be inferred from this that in 1549 the word was " flesh." This is not the case. In the 1549 Book the Creed was not printed in either Matins or Evensong, but in both there was a direction given that it should be said, and in all probability the form used was that which is found in the Necessary Doctrine and Erudition of a Christian Man (1543), which has the word "body."

Lack of space forbids comment on other matters.

If exception has been taken to some of the positions of this book, it is not because its importance has been underrated. On the contrary, it is a valuable contribution to the study of a most important subject. The catena of passages here presented will always be important, even if some which should have been given have been passed by. Of special importance are those collected from the writings of Aphraates, the "Persian Sage."

The work as a whole is well printed, but there are a few misprints-e.g., "Totenburg" for "Zotenburg" (p. 110 n.), μεταβαλλὼν for μεταβαλών (p. 232), “spritual" (p. 262); and the passage quoted (p. 149 n.) from Julianus Pomericus seems unintelligible as it stands.

J. M. HARDEN.

NOTICES

IMPASSE OR OPPORTUNITY? By Malcolm Spencer. Student Christian Movement. 1922. 3s. net.

THIS is a noteworthy eirenicon on the subject of Reunion. Writing as "a Free Churchman," who has had "unique opportunities of entering intimately into the Catholic position," the author discusses the Lambeth proposals with a view to discovering how far they are capable of application. And the result is something so different from any other criticisms of them which we have seen that we ask for them serious attention.

After dwelling on the profound impression made by the spirit of the Lambeth Appeal on all who had been working for Reunion, Mr. Spencer justifies it also in those matters where it has caused disappointment. The refusals to permit interchange of pulpits or intercommunion, or to "recognize" non-episcopal Orders, are, he says, "instances from the Anglican side of that unwillingness to build on conscious ambiguities which our own Free Church spokesmen have in another connection insisted upon, as essential to true fellowship and progress." The strength of the Lambeth plea for episcopacy as necessary to a united Church lies in its adoption of "that estimate of the facts which, by the illumination of the Spirit, God is discovered in history to have taken and to be taking in the life of to-day "; and he shows how the Student Christian Movement ministers to a similar habit of thought.

Mr. Spencer does not object to the insistence upon Creeds, so long as their inadequacy as an expression of Divine truth is not forgotten; but he claims that communions which have been without them have preserved an orthodox faith notwithstanding. Is this true, we wonder, in countries other than our own, where the influence of Catholic standards of belief permeates through so many channels? In regard to Baptism, he insists that the rite alone, unless it is followed up by pastoral care and symbolizes fellowship in the body, savours somewhat of the magical. Here Mr. Spencer has put his finger unawares on the reason why the Church sets such high store by Confirmation-a reason plainly set forth at the end of the Baptismal Office. Progress towards Reunion will falter, unless this problem is fairly faced. The purpose of the two Apostles' visit to Samaria, recorded in Acts viii., was precisely to ensure that Christians whose antecedents made it probable that they would carry over the old schism into the new Church should not do so. It was the first sacrament of Reunion, and is therefore of the highest significance for our present purposes.

Mr. Spencer approaches the Eucharist along psychological lines, omitting doctrinal issues. "The sacramental rite of any particular Church conveys, indeed, the spirit of Christ to the recipient, but not without any admixture of other influences." This "admixture" differs according to different rites; and he claims that the particular effects and benefits imparted by the Catholic rite would not be imparted if it were compromised by confusion with others which mediate other effects. From this standpoint the priest is part of the rite; and the Catholic doctrine and practice of the Ministry coheres with this. Harm arises only when exclusive claims are made on behalf of this rite, as, for instance, when the benefits mediated by other rites with more limited range are denied. At the same time the Eucharist of the united Church must

have a common structure of rite and ceremony if it is to mediate the sense of universality; and it is therefore proper that only those should celebrate it who are "qualified" for it by episcopal ordination. Mr. Spencer suggests that individual ministers should seek this qualification with the consent of their respective Communions; and that the "reciprocity" implied in the Lambeth proposals should be secured by the use of a new rite of Ordination, in which existing Nonconformist ministers should take part.

This little book, brief as it is, has all the weight which comes from honesty, fairness, and patient thought. The author wonders "whether the Bishops could be satisfied with this limited response to their suggestion." We do not know. But that it is a real response cannot be gainsaid; and the fact that it is limited is not a disadvantage, since the limits are set for it by circumstances. E. G. SELWYN.

COMMUNITY: A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY. By R. M. MacIver, D.Phil. 2nd Edition. Macmillan and Co., Ltd., London. One vol. Pp. 438. 15s. net.

Sociology is a subject which is now attracting more attention than ever before. Men who are weary of the meaningless misery of the last six years hope that a scientific study of the basis of society may do something to remove those misunderstandings between peoples which are at the root of war.

Community was originally printed before the war, but it was written with a full realization of those painful problems which the war has brought home to us. It is unsparing in its criticism of the " militaristic" outlook.

There are important ecclesiastical and religious problems which are really problems of sociology-the relation of Church to State, or the value of the conception of that community, wider than any religious association, which we call the Invisible Church. Though he only deals with them lightly and by way of illustration, there is much in Dr. MacIver's book which must provoke thought on such problems.

The author regards the phenomena of social science as ruled by law; but he distinguishes these laws from the kind met with in physical science. Social laws are "vital," as distinct from "material" laws.

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In Chapter II. he defines the essential terms of the subject-matter: the terms "society,' community," "association," and "State." Society" is used as the most general term, to include every willed relationship of man to man.

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By a community " is meant any area of common life which must be somehow distinguished from further areas. A community may be a part of a wider community, and all community is a question of degree. The author gives as an example the English residents in a foreign capital who may live together in an intimate community of their own, as well as in the wider community of the capital.

An "association" is an organization of social beings, for the pursuit of some common interest or interests, such as a trade union, or a debating society.

Thus community is something wider and freer than even the greatest associations; it is the greater common life out of which associations rise.

In his discussion of the State, Dr. MacIver rejects the view of Hegel or his followers, which treats the community and State as one. The world is partitioned into a number of exclusive and determinate States

with rigid territorial limits, but it is not similarly partitioned into isolated communities. Moreover, no man can owe allegiance to more than one State, but he may enter into the life of many communities. A State is not a community, but a peculiarly authoritative association within a community, controlling every other association. The essential feature of the State is political order, the primary instrument of the State is political law" (p. 30).

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The fundamental law of communal development (to which all its other laws are but corollaries) is expressed as follows: "Socialization and individualization are the two sides of a single process " (p. 219). By socialization is meant the process in which a being strikes deeper root in society, in which his social relations become more complex. By individualization is meant the growth of the power of self-determination and self-expression. As personality grows, non-individualized social interests are transformed into individualized social interests. At the same time community becomes more differentiated, each individual tends more to occupy a unique place in the social structure; thus each individual becomes more and not less socialized. Therefore sociality and individuality develop pari passu.

This differentiation of community is from a formless beginning in which the family and the Church were identical with the State. The god was the god of the community, as Jahweh was the god of Israel. The wider and ultra-social character of religion is now so clearly realized that we can hardly understand this original undifferentiation.

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The second law of communal development is "the correlation of socialization and communal economy. The term economy is used in the widest possible sense to mean the conservation of values not only material but spiritual; the conservation of life and of the intrinsic values of life. This law states that such economy is attained by increased socialization.

The third law of communal development is "the correlation of socialization and the control of environment." With increasing socialization, man must more and more seek to control his environment and refuse to be controlled by it. This law denies absolutely the value of that laissez-faire policy, in the face of the threats of hostile Nature, which is the product of a too hasty application of the conception of the survival of the fittest.

Although it deals with an obscure subject, the book is written with admirable lucidity. It is probable that most readers will find themselves in disagreement with Dr. MacIver on some points, as he does not spare his criticism of what he feels to be abuses; but they will always find that what he says is worth listening to.

His conclusions may be summed up in the words of his last chapter: "Blind impulses are superseded by conscious forces," and community moves forward "towards an age for which the records of this present time will be a memory of old, unhappy, far-off things.'

ROBERT H. THOULESS.

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PENITENTIAL DISCIPLINE OF THE EARLY CHURCH IN THE FIRST FOUR CENTURIES. By R. S. T. Haslehurst, B.D. S.P.C.K. 1921. One vol., 8vo. Pp. 162. 58.

"This is largely a catena of passages in which the theory and practice of the early Church is described." The author gives the history of the