9 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. BISHOP McILVAINE'S SELECTED SERMONS: Select Family and Parish Sermons: A series of Evangelical Discourses, selected for the use of families and destitute congregations. By the Right Rev. CHARLES P. McILVAINE, D. D. with a preliminary Address, by the same, to parents, on the importance of Family Religion and Christian. Education. 2 large sup. roy. 8vo volumes, of rising 1260 pages. Price, 4 50. The publication of this series of discourses will not seem, to the judicious mind, a superfluous work. Various as are the authors whose sermons have been published, there is in their discourses but little variety of subject; so that the pious reader must go to the expense of a large number of volumes, before he can obtain a collection of sermons on all the chief heads of christian truth and practice. For this great want of profitable variety, fulness and system, we know of no immediate remedy so good as that of publishing a selection such as that afforded to the public in these volumes. The principle regarded in the selection has been, to make it embrace the great doctrinal and practical features of the gospel, so as to exhibit evangelical truth pointedly and forcibly, in the spirit of its Divine Author, adapting it alike to the taste of the cultivated, and to the understanding of the uncultivated. The aim has been, to present the great subjects of revealed religion in their natural order, occupying a wide range of spiritual instruction; in other words, to present a coMPLETE SYSTEM OF DIVINITY, as far as the nature of sermon composition will allow, keeping studiously in view the exhibition of "the whole counsel of God," as entirely and particularly as the allotted space will permit. With the view of showing the estimation in which the work is held, the publish er has selected the following, from among a large number of favorable notices which have been taken of it: We consider this one of the most valuable and important works ever given to the Episcopal church in the United States. The most of this, (the first volume,) we have read with edification and pleasure. The discourses are of the most deci ded evangelical character. We know of no volume of sermons equal to them in this special respect-their simple and powerful delineations of gospel truth. We can, and do, cordially recommend this volume to our readers. It will be a rich treasure for a family, and of especial value to candidates for the ministry.—Episcopul Recorder's notice of the 1st volume. The name of Bishop McIlvaine has enough of precious ointment' in it to throw a sweet savor over any volume of which he is either the author or editor. It has not been in our power as yet to examine the contents of this 'SELECTION,' and pronounce an opinion of our own on the spirit and composition of the several discourses included within it, nor is it necessary, if it were even modest. Were it to be allowed that the character of the editor ought not to be regarded as alone a sufficient voucher for the evangelical, literary and useful character of the work, it must yet be admitted that the names of Bishop Wilson of Calcutta, Griffith of London, Simeon of Cambridge, J. B. Sumner, Bishop of Chester, Venn of Clapham, Joseph Milner of Kingston upon-Hull, Craig of Edinburgh, Bishop Bloomfield of London, Bridges of Suffolk, and a few others of like spirit, authors of the discourses selected, have weight enough to establish its claims to the respect and confidence of the whole christian community. It is most fervently to be desired, that this labor of love' on the part of Bishop McIlvaine, so far from disappointing his reasonable expectations, may find its way into hundreds of destitute congrega tions, and thousands of families, who will value it as a rich mine of intellectual and spiritual wealth.-Boston Recorder. If we are capable, as we believe we are, of thinking and speaking freely and 10 disinterestedly of the publications of Bishop McIlvaine-and wholly incapable of saying a word more of them than they would claim from us, in our connection with this journal, if coming from any other quarter-we take leave to say of this volume, and to challenge the attention of its readers-who will be many---to the justice of the criticism, that, including the PRELIMINARY ADDRESS, few if any works issued in this country for the edification of families and for parochial use, possess an equal degree of attraction and genuine merit.---Gambier Observer and Western Church Journal. The selection and arrangement evince judgment and care; and the spirit which breathes through the discourses is sound and evangelical. We highly approve of such collections, when judiciously made, as comprising the best portions of various volumes, which many would otherwise never see, and as affording very desirable facilities for salutary instruction to families and destitute churches. The PRELIMINARY ADDRESS on the religious training of youth, is worthy of all praise, as a sensible, practical and pious treatise, the perusal of which cannot fail to secure the reader's esteem for its author, the Bishop of Ohio.--- The Presbyterian. We have received a copy of this valuable work, from the enterprising publisher. It, (the first volume of the series,) comprises fifty-two sermons, taken from the works of the clergy of the Church of England, and is therefore not merely a selection but an addition of profitable sermons. As it is intended to present a system of divinity, we find the subjects ranging from "The Excellency of the Holy Scriptures," through the great essential doctrines of the Bible; such as "Sin, the Transgression of the Law," "The Corruption of Man," "Progress in Grace," "Christ the Resurection and the Life," "The Trinity in Unity," and finally ending in "The Power and Glory of Christ." Though the object of the Sermons is to present evangelical truth, in a manner "adapted alike to the taste of the cultivated, and the understanding of the uncultivated," yet, coming as they do from the good substantial writers of the English language, they must also be regarded as a valuable addition to American literature. In an age like the present, when so many books are issued, calculated alike to corrupt our morals ard our language, a work like this cannot be too much studied.--- The Cross and Buptist Journal of the Mississippi Valley. The first volume has been published some time. They are selected by Bishop McIlvaine for the use of families and vacant parishes, from a large variety of writers, some of whom are among the best living divines of the Church of England. We know that sermons are not popular works in our light day. But we esteem such volumes as these, important treasures in the Church, and we cannot but hope they will ultimately attain the influence which they deserve, and the circulation which will be proportioned to their claims upon public notice and regard.---Episcopul Recorder's notice of the 2d volume. We noticed with commendation the appearance of the first volume of the "Select Family and Parish Sermons," and the second, which completes the design of the excellent compiler, is every way worthy of its predecessor.The Presbyterian. BISHOP McILVAINE ON JUSTIFICATION: Justification by Faith; with an Appendix. By the Rt. Rev. CHARLES P. MCILVAINE, D. D. Bishop of the Prot. Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Ohio. 1 vol. 18mo, neatly bound in muslin. Price, 0 371. This work is just published. Its object is "distinctly to exhibit certain main truths involved in the great matter of a sinner's Justification before God, and to point out certain main errors in that connection." BISHOP McILVAINE'S LECTURES: The Evidences of Christianity; in their External Division; exhibited in a Course of Lectures, delivered in Clinton Hall, in the winter of 1831'2, under the appointment of the University of the city of New York. By the Rev. CHARLES P. McILVAINE, D. D., then Rector of St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, and Professor of the Evidences of Revealed Religion and of Saered Antiquities in the University of the City of New York. 1 vol. roy. 12mo. Price, 1 00 |