Christenen in de Antieke Wereld (Christians in the Ancient World) by Dr. A. Sizoo. Published by J.H. Kok N.V., Kampen, the Netherlands. Price f 7.50. 

In this book Dr. Sizoo presents different pictures of the life of the Christians in the world during the earliest centuries of our Christian era. The book consists largely of quotations from ancient documents translated by the author. He gives passages concerning the testimonies of early witnesses of Christ that seals their faith in death. He further describes the life in the ancient Christian community, the life of the monks, the bishop, the preacher, the work of the catechete, the life of the congregation and its problems and difficulties, the family and the education of the children, and closes the book with the report of a rather extensive journey by a certain lady.

I found this a rather interesting book, clearly and interestingly written. It is easily accessible to all that are able to read the Holland language. 

Blijf bij mij, Heer (Abide with me, Lord) by Rev. N. Buffinga. Published by J.H. Kok N.V., Kampen, the Netherlands. Price f 6.95.

This book means to be a “Bijbels Dagboek”, a biblical diary. It contains brief mediations, spiritual and practical, for every day of the year. Each one is based on a passage from holy write. Partly, these meditations are adapted for the Christian holidays, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost; partly, they are of a more general nature. Besides, there is one complete series of meditations on the Lord’s Prayer.

Naturally, the meditations are not all of equal value as far as form and contents are concerned. Some of them are very brief. But, on the whole, as a book for daily ready and spiritual edification, we gladly recommend it to our readers.

Jesaja (Isaiah) by Dr. J. Ridderbos. Published by J.H. Kok, Kampen, the Netherlands. Price f. 6.50.

This commentary belongs to the series “Korte Verklaring.” It is the second volume of Dr. Ridderbos’ commentary on Isaiah, covering chapter forty to sixty-six.

Rather in detail, Dr. Ridderbos discusses the question whether Isaiah is the author of this second part of the prophecy that bears his name. This, of course, in the introduction. It is not quite clear to me just in how far the writer assumes that Isaiah is actually the author of this part of his prophecy. To me the correct interpretation of the Cyrus-passages, and especially the answer to the question what purpose God had in introducing the name Cyrus prophectically, long before he actually appears on the stage of history, must be taken into consideration for the solution of this problem.

We gladly recommend this volume of “Korte Verklaring” to our Holland reading public.