[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.