Books on Religion

300 T HE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY 3. Books on Religion W. S. MCCULLOUGH Professor S. M. Gilmour of Queen's Theological College, Kingston, Ontario, has performed a good service in translating into English, under the title of The Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount, the late Professor Hans Windisch's book, Dcr Sinn der Bergpredigt (2nd ed., 1937 ). This work has a twofold importance. First, it is a vigorous plea for the primacy of historical criticism in approaching New Testament problems, and especially in attempting to construct a biblical theology. All dogmatic theologians should be required to read what is said in chapter IV on "The Meaning of Theological Exegesis." Second, the author presents his own exegesis of the Sermon on the Mount. The following quotation will suggest the general lines of his interpretation: "The Christianity of the Sermon on the Mount is therefore pre-Johannine and pre-Pauline. Salvation means becoming a child of God, withstanding the judgment, and participating in the Kingdom. The way to be saved is to imitate God, to hear and to do the words of Christ, to trust in him as the divinely commissioned prophet and world judge, to call him 'Lord,' and to be obedient to his commands." (pp. 170--1 ) This approach to the Sermon is not entirely new, but it is marked by freshness and clarity, and while few will agree with it in toto, and while others will feel that Jesus' words are not viewed sufficiently against the background of the early Church, this study cannot be neglected by any serious . student of the New T estament. The Truth of the Gospel, by Professor G. B. Caird of McGill University , is Part III of "A Primer of Christianity," the first two parts being by other authors. The book is an honest effort to present the claims of Christianity to the modern man, and it does so with force, lucidity, and apt illustration. T o deal with most of the major theological issues in a diminutive volume necessitates a good deal of compression , but Dr. Caird has maintained a nice balance between the various aspects of his subject. This apologia for the Christian faith should be very useful in college circles. An S.T.D. dissertation, submitted to the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., by the Rev. W. M. Bedard, is a meritorious treatment of The Symbolism of the Baptismal Font in Early Christian Thought. Examining both Eastern and Western usage, the author finds baptism symbolic of a mystical dying and rising again in Christ (Rom. 6:3-5, Col. 2: 12), and thus the baptismal font is a mystical tomb. On the other hand he also observes that, inspired by the Johannine tradition (John 1:12-13, 3:3-5 ), baptism is looked upon as a kind of rebirth, and hence the font is a mother or womb. LETTERS IN CANADA, 1951 301 The Western tradition often speaks of the font, in the words of Augustine, as "the womb of the Church." An infonnative and well-written book by Sister Mary Agnes entitled The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph gives the story of this order of sisters. The "volume is a contribution to the centennial anniversary of the coming of the Sisters . .. to Toronto," and therefore the origins in France in the seventeenth century and the establishment of the Congregation in the United States in 1836 are treated somewhat lightly, the bulk of the book being given over to the history of the Congregation in Canada. It was in 1851 at the request of the Bishop of Toronto that the first four Sisters came to Toronto from Philadelphia , and in 1863 the present convent on Wellesley Street was opened. The subsequent growth of the order, with its benevolent, educationa !, and hospital undertakings, is fully chronicled, and altogether the record is an impressive one. (On p. 104 "the Library of University College, Toronto" should read "the Library of the University of Toronto.") Two biographies of prominent Canadian clergymen appeared during 1951. Although the life of Neil McNeil (1851 -1934) covered a longer span than that of Alfred Gandier (1861-1932 ), they were contemporaries during an...