ARTICLE XI.

LITERARY AND CRITICAL NOTICES OF BOOKS,

BY THE EDITOR.

1. Theophany, or the Manifestation of God in Jesus Christ, with a Supplement touching the Theories of the Rev. Dr. Bushnell. BY REV. ROBERT TURNBULL. Second Edition. Hartford Brockett, Fuller & Co. New York: G. P. Putnam. 1849.

In the January number of the Repository, we gave a brief notice of this work, in advance of its actual publication, at which time we expressed a favorable opinion of it, both as it respects its doctrinal soundness and its literary merit. The discussion of the subject of Christ's incarnation and atonement, caused by Dr. Bushnell's "God in Christ," the manner in which that subject is treated of in "Theophany," and the obvious fact that these and other cardinal doctrines of our Faith, are to be subjected, in this country, to a new and most searching re-examination with a view to a re-modification of our Theological Systems, from the infusion of Germanism into our philosophy and theological literature, warrant us in referring again and somewhat at length, to this book.

Some years ago, while a pastor in Boston, Mr. Turnbull published a little volume, entitled "Claims of Jesus," the object of which was to vindicate the incarnation and atonement of Jesus Christ, and bring these great truths home to the hearts of thoughtful inquirers. Theodore Parker had just published his celebrated discourse on "The Transient and Permanent in Christianity," while Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mr. Ripley, and others, were laboring to bring into contempt the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel. That little popular and highly useful treatise was the germ, we believe, of Mr. Turnbull's Theophany. Having served well its day, it was suffered to go out of print, using such portions of it only as were deemed of permanent value and general interest in the preparation of a larger work.

The attention of the public having been called afresh to the Divinity and Atonement of Christ by the speculations of Dr. Bushnell and others, Mr. T. rightly judged it a fitting opportunity to issue the work in its present enlarged and re-adjusted form. The speedy appearance of a second edition, is proof that it has already found many readers, although it has not the novelty and mysticism, nor the peculiar ability of Dr. B's work to commend it.

The form of the work is rather literary than theological; that is to say, it is not written in the ordinary technical style of the theological and religious works, but in a language somewhat freer and more natural, and possessing, as we think, a fresher and deeper interest. Indeed one aim of Mr. Turnbull seems to have been to avoid the deadening influence of hackneyed ideas and modes of expression-the formal and scientific method of the schools for one more congenial to the heart of Christian piety. It is entirely evangelical in its matter and spirit, but has the cast and appearance rather of a literary than of a theological treatise.

It may be stated, also, that the Author claims for it rather a practical than a polemical character; still is it true that while it sedulously avoids a dogmatical and denunciatory spirit, it fearlessly and ably exposes various popular errors, and enters with some thoroughness into the discussion of those great truths which lie at the foundation of all religious life. It meets, not only the errors of Strauss, Parker, and others, but those of the semi-orthodox and speculative school of Schleiermacher, Neander, and Bushnell. He evinces no little knowledge of German Theology, and while he treats it with fairness and with liberality, he is no slave to it, no servile imitator, but escapes the virus of

German neology, and retains the freedom of thought, and the integrity of the truth. He has gone also somewhat into the literature of the subject of which he treats, and given a comprehensive account of the various opinions and theories of the Incarnation, particularly on what may be termed the metaphysical and imaginative side of theologoical speculation. Some curious and interesting quotations may be found in the fourth chapter, from Plato, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Bossuet, and others.

Mr. Turnbull says: "Our views of the Incarnation and Atonement of Christ may be found in some features, peculiar, though not differing in any essential particular from those usually styled orthodox. It has been our aim to clear away from the subject some popular misconceptions and misstatements, and to place it, if possible, upon a scriptural and defensible basis."-Preface. We know not that the Author's views upon these high subjects are at all peculiar; for they are the views which have been held by the church universal, and defended with consummate ability by such men as Taylor, Hooker and Howe, Robert Hall, and Tholuck. If peculiar, it is only in the form of the argument and mode of expression. Evidently Mr. T. is familiar with the works of the old divines, and sympathizes with the more ancient as well as the simpler and profounder theology of the early church. Though neither Armenian nor a hyperCalvinist, he has vindicated Irenæus and Calvin front the misrepresentations of Muenscher and Bushnell, and spoken respectfully, at least, of the theology of the "Princeton Divines."

If there is any one peculiarity in the views of the Author which stands out with greater prominence than others, it is, that the whole subject of the Incarnation, lying within the region of mystery, and known therefore only in part, is no subject for philosophical speculation. Upon this point he has endeavored to ascertain the limits of human inquiry, and while he vindicates the mystery by a reference to its natural and moral aspects, its relations both to the finite and the infinite, he insists that it is rather a subject for adoration than discussion. We fully concur in this view and commend his chapter on "The Incarnation as a Mystery," to the special consideration of our readers. We quote a few paragraphs from it:

"As a manifestation of the Godhead, as a Being at once human and Divine, as the connecting link between Heaven and earth, the nature and mission of Jesus would naturally be a subject of difficulty to the reason and philosophy of this world. On this ground, adds the Apostle, Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition (teaching) of men, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power.'

"In these expressions is discovered to us the grand peculiarity of the Christian Faith. It proposes to unite the soul to God, the great end of all religion, by uniting it to Christ. For this purpose it presents Christ to us, as the sum and essence of all goodness, the source and fountain of all wisdom and grace, and thence made unto those who believe, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; as a Being, therefore, to be loved, revered and adored. This we call a mystery; but not a mystery entirely unknown or unnatural in any way. Nay, it is precisely what we might expect. It is, certainly, what we need. For religion, in its true sense, is not so much a doctrine as a life. Moreover, it is a life in the infinite and eternal; in other words, a life in God. Hence we cannot be saved by bare beliefs, traditions, or externalities of any kind. No 1 Coloss. ii. 8.

2 Doubtless it is both. The doctrine or the truth, apprehended by the mind, and received by the heart, produces the life, and the life sustains the doctrine. They act and react upon each other. The doctrine, indeed, may exist without the life, but not the life without the doctrine. To have light and heat, you need the sun. To have spiritual life, which is holy love, you must have the truth, which is the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. Faith worketh by love.",

system, however perfect and magnificent, can save us. We are estranged from God, and must return to God, in order to live. But how shall the finite, above all, how shall the fallen and the lost, reach God, but by the intervention of God himself? How shall we become one with him, unless, somehow, he make himself one with us? But the Gospel invites us to Christ. One with him, we are one with God. 'No man,' says he, cometh unto the Father but by me.' He that believeth in me shall never die.' It is only in this way that, practically and experi mentally, we come to the knowledge of God. This is life eternal to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.'

"But how shall God become incarnate? How unite himself with a finite form? Above all, how shall he suffer in that finite form? How shall the just become the unjust-the sinless, the sinful-the ever-blessed and immortal, the crucified and slain? Ah! these are the secrets, the mysteries which baffle the profoundest intellects, and leave the mission of Jesus in a sacred obscurity. Yet, light is gleaming through the cloud; and philosophy itself can discern its beauty and glory. If ever God manifested himself in all the splendor of his infinite perfection, it was in the life and character of Christ. Long were the heavens covered with shadows; but they opened at last, and, through the rent, the Sun of Righteousness poured his radiance upon the world. But that Sun is too bright, and stretches too far into the depths above us, to be narrowly scanned by human eyes. It involves a dread and fathomless mystery.

"We say, then, in the first place, that the doctrine of the Incarnation, or of the Godhead of Christ, cannot be fully comprehended; nor is it meant to be comprehended, except by the affections. If the intellect does not quite understand it, we are sure the heart does-clinging to Christ, as brother, Saviour, friend-and not only so, but as Master and Sovereign. If reason has a limit and a difficulty here, the heart has none. Nay, this great mystery has solved all other difficulties with which the heart has long struggled in darkness and sorrow, opening up for it a luminous and blessed pathway to God and glory. Here it has found-what it long sought in vain-the infinite, the perfect and immortal."-pp. 144-147.

While the Incarnation is admitted to be a mystery, profound and inscrutable, Mr. R. shows that, in this respect, it takes rank with other great facts in nature and science, and vindicates itself by its entire adaptation to the nature and wants of the human soul.

"But the difficulty to the intellect is not greater than is found in a thousand things beside-things, too, which all men instantly admit. Indeed, there are no subjects, whether in the science of matter or of mind, which are not environed with difficulties. Inquiries can be started upon all matters of abstract and philosophical speculation, beyond the grasp of the finite intellect; nay, more, a child can ask questions about himself, or about the world around him, which baffle the profoundest thinkers. A grain of sand,' says the philosophical Vinet, is an abyss. Every thing, indeed, in the whole range of animate and inanimate nature, is associated directly or indirectly with mysteries; every question in philosophy and morals can be run up to some insuperable difficulty, where the intellect must stop and confess its ignorance. Light and darkness, knowledge and mystery are associated in all the speculations of the finite mind. The day rests in the bosom of night. The stars are set in a firmament of gloom.

Our knowledge, so far as it goes, may be definite, and the language in which it is expressed, clear and intelligible; yet that knowledge, like the segment of an infinite circle, links itself, at all points, to mysteries. Facts may be ascertained, and constantly recognized, in the ordinary avocations of life; but, as to their origin and mode of existence, we may be plunged in the deepest ignorance.

"Life only can produce life."-Vinet. To which we add, God only can re-produce his own image. Union with God is the soul's life.

Furthermore, some of these facts may appear to involve contradictions, and give rise to inquiries, before which the mightiest intellects fall prostrate. The science of mathematics, even, involyes the infinite, and, in some cases, the impossible! It recognizes this sublime contradiction, that there may be two lines which ever approach, but never meet, and, finally, loses itself in the boundless depths of the infinitesimal calculus.' If chemistry does not involve, it cer tainly suggests the infinite. It has its agents imponderable and universal; its permanent basis, or substance, (id quod stat per se,) in which all physical qualities adhere its infinite divisibility of body, with its definite and immutable atoms. What is matter?-what its essence and mode of existence?-what its origin and its end? How does it link itself to spirit, and how can it give and receive impressions and motions? It seems essentially diverse from spirit, and yet they act and re-act upon each other. Matter, as it exists in space and time, the product of an infinite mind, from whom are all things,' is one of the profoundest mysteries that has ever engaged the attention of thoughtful men. What, moreover, is mind-spirit, especially as uncreated and eternal? What is our own mind, that mysterious something, which thinks, and feels, and wills, and suffers, and rejoices? What are its nature and essence, its mode of existence, its ineffable relation to God, and the creation around it? What, even, is the union of body and soul? How are they linked, and what strange power causes them to act in harmony?

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But if these things occur in human science, what may we not expect in divine? If man is a mystery, what is God? If the life that now is presents enigmas and secrets the most profound and awful, what shall we find in the life to come? If with propriety we can say, Great is the mystery of nature, mind is manifest in matter, may we not, with still greater propriety exclaim, Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh?

"We are so constituted as to believe that every event must have a cause-that every quality must have a basis, that over against phenomena, there must be substance-over against relations, absolute existence-over against the finite, the infinite-over against multiplicity and change, absolute unity and permanent being; in other words, an infinite, self-existing God, the cause of all things, the Creator of the Heavens and Earth. From the very constitution of our minds, we must maintain the unity, the perfect, absolute, unalterable unity of such a being. To us, in this respect, there can be only one God.' But what distinctions and peculiarities exist in that unity, or in the manifestation of that unity, are questions utterly beyond us. Whether there is not in the very nature of God himself, some basis for a manifestation of himself as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, we cannot tell. The Scriptures may indicate such a basis, but we cannot explain it. The subject is one upon which reason is incompetent to say a word. Here it has approached the region of mystery, and must pause until God reveal himself.

"Whatever, then, has been revealed upon this subject in a well authenticated Revelation, must be received with implicit submission, however difficult or mysterious, however contrary to our preconceived opinions, however repulsive to our ordinary habits of thinking and reasoning. A contradiction, of course, we cannot receive; but a mystery we can and must. I may know in general, that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, but how he is such may baffle all my inquiries. My heart seizes the ineffable idea, and exults under its influence; but my intellect cannot penetrate it, far less explain it. All that can be said upon the subject is, And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh.'

"But it has been complacently said, that 'religion ends where mystery begins. The antithesis is striking, but the sentiment is false. For, as has been justly remarked, you might as well say that traveling ends where the sea begins. Nay, we go further, and maintain that religion cannot exist without mystery. A religion without a mystery is a religion without a soul, a religion without a hereafter, a religion without a God! When we have discarded the

Divinity and incarnation of Christ, the expiation on the cross, and the resurrection of the dead, we have not rid the subject of mysteries, mysteries as profound and inscrutable as those we have rejected. Nay, let a man become an utter atheist, and he surrounds himself with a darkness more deep and terrible, a darkness illumed by no stars, followed by no dawn. He multiplies the secrets of nature a thousand fold, and loses himself in the abyss of a horrible and everlasting mystery.

"Had Christianity been a system without a mystery, no thoughtful man could believe it. Every such man, hungering after the perfect and the eternal, must rejoice that faith and adoration can advance, where science and philosophy are compelled to pause. Sometimes, nay, during his whole life, he may walk in darkness, but the stars are overhead, and the dawn of everlasting day is yet to break upon his vision. In the Gospel there are mysteries; but how magnifieent and thrilling! Shadows, but shadows from the infinite, shadows gloriously penetrated with light supernal. How profound the secret of the Godhead, especially of the Godhead incarnate; but how august, how beautiful! Dark, indeed, but dark from excess of light; and it is only in lowliness and adoration we can see it, or feel it, in its all-transforming power. The highest intellects have adored it! Millions upon millions have trembled with joy, under its influence. In the night of time, these voyagers, storm-driven upon the ocean of life, have looked up into the infinite depths above them, and beheld that glory-beaming star,' radiant as at the first, when it was hymned by the angels on the plains of Bethlehem, and under its guidance have passed on, through tempest and darkness, to the haven of everlasting rest."-pp. 148, 151, 155, 157.

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On the subject of the Atonement, Mr. Turnbull takes the ground of a vicarious or substitutionary expiation, a real sacrifice or propitiation on the part of Christ, on the ground of which God may be just and justify him that believeth in Jesus. This view he defends with no little ability, in opposition to Dr. Gannet, of Boston, and Dr. Bushnell. He shows that the divinity of Christ gave worth and efficacy to his sufferings for the redemption of man; that the sacrifice of the Son was the sacrifice equally of the Father; and hence, that in some modified, perhaps not fully revealed sense, the Divine' partook of or at least sympathized in the sufferings of the human.' Without adopting the theory of Mr. Griffin, so strikingly and ably set forth in his work entitled, The Sufferings of Christ, by a Layman,' who affirms that Christ endured the agonies of the lost, or those who but for him, would have been lost, 'pang for pang, spasm for spasm through all eternity,' and that the absolute Godhead of Jesus suffered all this, Mr. Turnbull insists that we have no right to separate the Divine from the Human in the crowning act of our redemption, nor to press the metaphysical, and, it may be, false assumption of the Divine impassibility.

'It will be observed,' he says, 'that thus far we have endeavored to establish a fact, without discussing the mode of it. We have affirmed the proposition that Christ suffered in his whole nature, but we have not ventured to affirm in a dogmatic way, what it was, or how it was he suffered. The external aspects of his suffering-the marred visage-the failing eye--the flowing blood -the contorted limbs-the agonizing cry-the drooping head-and the ghastly paleness of death are obvious to all. But these, it seems to us, are merely images and expressions of deeper sufferings within. His soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death.' His soul was made an offering for sin.' What, then, was his agony? How, especially, did his pure and infinite spirit endure such suffering? To this we frankly reply, we cannot tell. The subject transcends our reasoning. We cannot speculate upon it. Better, far, kneel down in Gethsemane, with the suppliant sufferer, or, placing ourselves, in hum