PUBLICATIONS

New Zealand Tablet, 9 November 1916, Page 55

PUBLICATIONS

The Signs of the Times ; A course of Lenten sermons by the Rev. 11. Nagelschmitt. Price, 2s; pp. 69. Wagner, New York; Linehan, Melbourne.’ Short Sermons on Gospel 'Texts by the Rev. M. Bossaert. Price, 4s 9d; pp. 147. Wagner, New York; Linehan, Melbourne. J. Retreat for Women in Business. Fourteen Conferences by the Rev. J. A. McMullan, C.SS.R. Price, 3s 6d ; pp. 182. Wagner, New York; Linehan, Melbourne. Of the making of sermon books the end is by no means in sight—a few exellent, some passable, most frankly impossible. No doubt the author of these sermons makes them telling and instructive in the pulpit, but as they appear in cold print only a few discourses seem really worth while. If a speech read well it must be a bad speech, an English Parliamentarian of note assures us, and in the light of this principle wo handle sermon books. A sermon book, if it is to be of use, should be lucid in thought, instructive, clear and easy in style, and packed lull ot illustrations. Scriptural illustrations by preference. Judged by this standard .Signs of ike. limes and ,Short Sermons on Gospel Texts fall far below what we expect, and cannot honestly be recommended. The Conferences by Father McMullan, C.SS.R., reach a higher level. They deal in an impressive manner with the many perils which surround women in business and in factories at the present day. The writer thinks it better not to ignore the dangers of modern life, but to deal with open eyes with temptations, occasions of sin, and other sources of serious peril to the sold. It is much to his credit that he touches all these matters in a most delicate manner. The Conferences are well calculated to create an atmosphere of good thought and pious feeling, and to brace the wavering will for the struggle and stress of life. The Chief Points of Difference ween■ the Catholic, anil Protestant Creeds , by (he Rev. F. Laun. Pp. 184. Wagner, New York: Linehan, Melbourne. Uiis is an attempt to discuss in an open but charitable manner the old 'but always new hindrances that outsiders feel in presence of the Church, her teaching, and her morals. Ihe book of course is controversial, being addressed in the first instance to inquirers from without, but is likely to be of considerable use to intelligent Catholics, anxious to know, , explain, or defend their faith. There are seven chapters in the little work ttt Where is the I rue Doctrine? 11. Holy Scripture. 111. The Church and Ecclesiastical Authority. IV. The Forgiveness of Sins. V. Faith and Good Works. VI. Ihe Veneration of Saints. VII. The Sacraments. At the head of each chapter and each section the writer sets forth Protestant ideas about the point in question and then proceeds to give the Catholic answer. The replies give abundant evidence not only of .an intense realisation of the many difficulties smothering the faith of those born outside the Church, but of keen penetration and much historical labor. The style, as may be expected, is rather cut-and-dried, but is always clear and often vigorous.— Ghimee. +i We have received the following publications from the Catholic Truth Society, Melbourne:-— Oar Duties to our Bead and How We Discharge Then, , by Right Rev. Mgr. Hallinan, D.D.; The Story of a Poor Relation, by Lady Gilbert (Rosa Mulholland) ; Are Catholics Intolerant ? by Rev. Peter Finlay, S. J. ; Woman’s Work in Die World, by Very Rev. W. J. Lockiiigton, S.J., with a foreword by his Grace Archbishop Carr; The Church and Woman, by the same author, also with a foreword by Dr. Carr; and Riches of the Rosary, by Rev. Vincent McEvoy, O.P. J J