The Framework of the Church. By W. D. Killen, D.D.
(T. and T. Clark, Edinburgh.)—This is a laborious and useful, if here and there dryasdustish book. " Amidst the din of theological war- fare," says its author, " there may be found in good men, all over the Church, a yearning desire for unanimity and peace," and he proceeds to say, "should this publication do nothing more than help to remove some of the causes by which real Christians are now separated, it will not have been written in vain." But is Dr. Killen quite certain that his work will fulfil this object when it con- tains such statements as : " Though it [Congregationalism] claims to be based on Scripture, it really unfits the Church for carrying out the instructions of the New Testament; " " the past history of the Church also suggests that the revival of religion appears to have been always associated with the decay of prelatic in- fluence; " and, " What a miserable substitute is the belief in the dogma of an apostolical succession for a cheerful trust in a living, an ever-present, an almighty, and an eternal Saviour " ? In short, The Framework of the Church is a long, learned, and able pamphlet, —in favour of what the reader will not take very long to discover. Dr. Killen is designated on the title-page as President of Assembly's College, Belfast, and Principal of the Presbyterian Theological Faculty, Ireland, and sustains his character ad- mirably in this book, which although controversial, will be found useful as a storehouse of information on the subject of the various kinds of Church-government.
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