The Consuming Fire. Harris Elliott Kirk

1920 The Biblical World  
THE BIBLICAL WORLD weight to the primitive religions, but is not indifferent to the fact that the higher forms of religion are also to be studied as well as the primitive. One can believe that this latter topic would have been more thoroughly treated if the limits of space had permitted a full discussion. The final paragraph upon "realities" is one to be commended to all those who are obsessed with the idea that philosophy and theology are to be submerged in psychology. Attention may also be
more » ... led to Professor Denney's discussion of "Righteousness and the Teaching of Paul." An elaborate, exegetical study, it is an illustration of the limitations of a method which comes to Paul through some other gate than that of history. We shall never fully understand Paul's reference to righteousness until we cease to think of the term as philosophically abstract and conceive of it as a phase of the juridical conception of messianism. The discussion of "Sacraments" includes a reasonably complete exposition of the non-Christian mysteries and their extension into the Christian church. The discussion of this latter fact is hardly more than a few sentences. It is to be regretted that there should nothave been more recognition of the transformation of Christianity from a non-mystery religion into a mystery religion through the influence of contemporary practices and beliefs and the rise of the conception of the church and the priesthood. But these differences in opinion are no exposition of weakness. Rather are they simply the personal obverse of admiration for a work of such notable worth.
doi:10.1086/476343 fatcat:cgei5liqjfeydfhm3dtstxt24m