30 JUNE 1906, Page 12

CAN WE BELIEVE?

Can We Believe ? By the Rev. C. F. Garbett and the Rev. F. 0. T. Hawkes. (Masters and Co. 3s. 6d. net.)—" The task of the Apologist," say the authors of this excellent little book, " must be to restate and defend the historic Faith in the terms of modern thought." Accordingly, to take examples, we have the doctrine of design restated. Paley's old argument is untenable; but a cosmic teleology has occupied its place, and strengthened the position of belief. Then we have, in another province of apolo- getics, an excellent summary of the results of criticism as it has been applied to the Gospels. Here, again, the position has been strengthened. "An original Mark, very possibly written under Petrine influence, Matthew and Luke put together out of Mark and another document, possibly two documents, and John, not improbably Apostolic, though the Evangelist has often rendered freely the words of Christ, and restated His teaching in his own language," is a theory of the Gospels which there is nothing in criticism to hinder us from accepting.