troduction_, pp. xxi.-xxvi.

[159] _Theological Essays_, p. 61.

[160] The date of this Sentence was Oct. 28th, 1853.

[161] _Sermons on National Subjects._ First Series, p. 14. London
Edition.

[162] _Modern Anglican Theology._ By the Rev. J. H. Rigg. Second
Edition. London, 1859. The student of contemporary theology will find
this work the best summary of the opinions of Coleridge and his school.

[163] _Christian Life_, p. 14. American Edition.

[164] _National Review_, Oct. 1856.

[165] _Life of Sterling_, p. 334.

[166] _Essays and Remains_, vol. i., pp. 7-8.

[167] _Sebaldus Nothanker._ Second Edition. 1774.

[168] October Number, 1863.

CHAPTER XXI.

ENGLAND CONTINUED: CRITICAL RATIONALISM--JOWETT, THE ESSAYS AND REVIEWS,
AND COLENSO.

The devout disciple of Christ regards the Scriptures with profound
reverence, for they contain the doctrines which show him his path to the
pure life of heaven. His theological opponents are not blind to this
attachment, nor are they ignorant of the service of the Bible in
supporting the entire Christian system. It could not therefore be
expected that, while literature and philosophy were affected by
Rationalism, the Scriptures should escape with impunity. There lies a
deep destructive purpose beneath the brief utterance of Dr. Temple: "The
immediate work of our day is the study of the Bible.[169]" The Critical
Rationalism of England which is now attracting the attention of the
civilized world is of recent growth, but the energy with which it has
been cultivated is unsurpassed in the annals of skepticism.

Professor Jowett's commentary on the _Epistles to Thessalonians,
Galatians, and Romans_, was published in 1855. Coming from a highly
respectable source, and assailing the doctrines of revelation boldly, it
was a clear indication of what might be expected from the Critical
Rationalists as a class.

The doctrine of the atonement, according to this writer, is involved in
perplexities whose growth is of more than a thousand years. Christ did
not die to appease the divine wrath, and "sacrifice" and "atonement"
were accommodated terms used by the apostles because they had been
reared among the Jewish offerings and were familiar with them. The great
advantage we derive from Christ is his life, in which we behold a
perfect harmony of nature, absolute self-renunciation, pure love, and
resignation. We know nothing of the objective act on God's part by which
he r