6

From THE CHURCH TIMES, December 21st, 1883. "We have much pleasure in announcing the issue of The Gospel according to St. John, with Notes, Critical and Practical,' by the Rev. M. F. Sadler (George Bell and Sons), a companion volume to his gloss on St. Matthew, and a redemption of the pledge he gave therein to carry on his labours to the remaining Gospels. This is admirably done, being exactly what is wanted for that large and increasing class of readers who need the results of genuine scholarship and sound vigorous thought, but who are repelled by any surface display of erudition, and still more by dryness of treatment, The admirable lucidity, which is the distinctive quality of Mr. Sadler's style, comes out markedly in his annotations, whether they take the form of pithy clearings up of verbal difficulties or more elaborate dissertations on important points of doctrine; and he is a good judge in selecting the best matter supplied by his precursors, such as Olshausen, Stier, Godet, and, above all, St. Augustine, whose commentary on St. John is one of that Father's ablest works. This is much less of a mere grammatical inquiry than Professor Westcott's volume in the 'Speaker's Commentary,' but it is much more of a theological explanation, and that of a far sounder and deeper school."

From THE LITERARY CHURCHMAN, December 7th, 1883.

"... Apart from these longer and more continuous glosses, the reader constantly meets with single pithy notes, which by their clear common sense solve a difficulty at once, and satisfy the understanding promptly, so that this is quite the best popular commentary on S. John we know, without implying by that epithet that even advanced students of Biblical literature will not find ample profit in consulting it."

From THE CHURCH TIMES, October 3rd, 1884.

"We gladly chronicle the third instalment of Prebendary Sadler's clear and sensible Commentary on the Gospels, which exactly meets the needs of that large and increasing class, which, without pretending any interest in the more abstruse problems of scholarship in connection with the Greek Testament, is desirous of having in its hands a trustworthy guide to the actual meaning of the sacred writers, and some plain statement of the results accepted by that calmer type of scholars who understand the nature of evidence, and are not disposed to admit the validity of unsupported conjecture, however original and brilliant, as proof, The notes, as always with Mr. Sadler, are singularly lucid, pithy, and to the point."

From CHURCH BELLS, November 22nd, 1884.

"This is a work of a veteran scholar and divine to whom the Church owes much. Prebendary Sadler's writing is characterized by great clearness of style, and he has a remarkably persuasive way of putting things. His sermons, as well as his Church Doctrine Bible Truth,' &c., have done much towards furnishing the parochial clergy with materials for feeding their flocks. In this commentary he aims at a yet more important object, the instruction of the educated classes. He has carefully compared the original Scriptures with the authorized and revised versions, and has set himself to meet objections of scientific sceptics, and he has achieved great success..... The volume is full of thoughts and suggestions for preachers as well as for general readers."

From THE SATURDAY REVIEW, February 21st, 1885. "We can recommend his book to devout and cultivated Churchmen who want to read the Gospels for instruction as well as for edification."

From THE CHURCH QUARTERLY, January, 1885.

"The Notes are, like all Mr. Sadler's works, straightforward and to the point. The difficulties are not shirked, but are fairly stated and grappled with, so that the volume forms a welcome addition to the literature of the Second Gospel. In reading the notes upon the text, the feature which strikes us most in their intensely practical character. Mr. Sadler has a remarkable faculty of bringing the teaching of the incidents of our Lord's life on earth to bear upon the circumstances of our own time. Even where the points brought out are well worn and familiar, there is a freshness in his manner of treating them which adds greatly to the charm and value of the Commentary."

From THE CHURCH TIMES, July 3rd, 1886.

"Indeed, one great merit in this commentary and its companion volumes is the frequency with which notes are found, which are capable of being each expanded into useful sermons. They are like very strong essences or tinctures, which will bear considerable dilution before being employed medically, though for convenience they are usually kept in the more portable form."

From THE CHURCH QUARTERLY, July, 1886.

"We must begin our notice of this volume by offering Prebendary Sadler our hearty_congratulations on the completion of his work on the four Gospels. The previous volumes were all reviewed in our columns as they appeared, and we have no hesitation in extending the welcome which we gave to them to their present companion. It is no slight distinction for a writer, after having made his reputation by what is confessedly the best popular work on Church doctrine, to have produced what we hold to be the best popular commentary on the Gospel narrative. There is no other Occupying quite the same ground, and we cordially recommend these four volumes, in the now familiar blue binding, as for practical purposes the most useful to the general reader."

From CHURCH BELLS, July 2nd, 1886.

"Mr. Sadler's excellent qualities as a theological writer and expositor are so well known that we need only introduce the reader to this, his last Commentary on the Gospels, completing the series, by saying that it presents the same features as its predecessors. It is somewhat longer than any of the other three, a circumstance quite intelligible to those who consider how a commentator's view of his responsibility must enlarge as he proceeds with his work. To begin at the beginning, the Introduction is excellent, clear, concise, and full. In short, it says all that need be said on the authorship of the Gospel, and says it well."

From THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL GAZETTE, Nov. 6th, 1886. "Originality of treatment, depth of insight, and thorough grasp of the practical side of Divine truth characterize these commentaries of Mr. Sadler on the four Gospels."

THE ACTS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

From THE GUARDIAN, July, 1887.

"We find, however, in the notes on St. Luke and the Acts the same freshness in thought and style, the same direct and independent consideration of the themes brought up on the sacred pages, the same knowledge of what has been said by others, the same masterly use, alike without subservience and without neglect, of the great and varied stores which our predecessors have left to us of these days who study the New Testament. The result is that Mr. Sadler's Commentary is decidedly one of the most unhackneyed and original of any we have. It will often be found to give help where others quite fail to do so, and its special value will be to the preacher or teacher who has to give oral and practical instruction; Mr. Sadler's strong point being decidedly in pointing the application to contemporary thought and to life, its trials and its duties, of the divine words with which he has to deal."

From CHURCH BELLS, July 8th, 1887.

"We can hardly imagine a commentary better adapted than Mr. Sadler's for giving to the reader an antidote to that unsettling influence which is now going about in the world, making people have a different set of religious opinions every month or so."

From THE CHURCH QUARTERLY REVIEW.

"There is vigour and freshness about his writings which makes it a pleasure to read them, while there is certain to be much that is instructive, and their tone and tendency are equally certain to be sound and edifying. This short commentary on the Acts of the Apostles is no exception to the rule, and it well supports the established reputation of its author."

From THE CHURCH TIMES, August 26th, 1887.

"Prebendary Sadler's useful commentary on the New Testament is advanced another important stage by the issue of this volume on the Acts of the Apostles, a part of Scripture whose interest and value seems to increase daily, as investigation into the beginnings of the Christian Church are pressed on with fresh vigour, alike by those who wish to prove Christianity a mere human evolution out of materials lying to hand in the Augustan era, and those who accept it as a divine revelation. Much of the work which has been done of late years in connexion with the Acts and other Pauline records has been devoted chiefly to the externals of history, geography, antiquities, and the like, rather than to the religious teaching which they contain; and this fact makes a gloss from a theologian like Mr. Sadler all the more welcome."

THE EPISTLES.

From CHURCH BELLS, May 18th, 1888.

"Mr. Sadler carries on his work with unabated vigour, and now we have some hope of his being able to give us a commentary on the whole of the New Testament. Undoubtedly such a work when completed will be of great value, as giving a well-thought-out exposition of the whole of the sources from which we derive the history of the founding, as well as the doctrines, of the Christian Church, and this, too, an exposition which supplies, not the mere personal opinions of its writer, although it is everywhere tinged by his individuality, but the historical meaning of the teaching of individual writers and of the Church at large. The introduction' to the present volume is excellent, giving all the requisite information without any unnecessary waste of words."

From THE CHURCH TIMES, June, 1888.

"There are three excursuses at the end of the volume, on Justification, on Election, and on the Christology of St. Paul, all carefully written, but with most pains bestowed upon the second. We do not know a better book than this Commentary to put into the hands of an intelligent Evangelical who is beginning to doubt the soundness of the system he has heretofore accepted, and is striving to find his way out and up into a higher and clearer atmosphere.'

From THE CHURCH QUARTERLY REVIEW.

"We hail with pleasure this addition to the Commentary on the New Testament. We think this volume will certainly sustain the high position which Mr. Sadler has gained as a practical interpreter of Holy Scripture."

From THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL GAZETTE, April 18th, 1890. Incomparably the best Commentary on the New Testament extant."

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From THE BANNER, May 23rd, 1890.

"Ordinary readers could hardly have a better exposition of the sacred books."

From THE LITERARY CHURCHMAN, February 6th, 1891. "This volume will be found to present all the characteristic excellences of Mr. Sadler's method; and it would be hard, indeed, to find any points of objection to these terse, thoughtful, Church-like notes."

Uniform with the Church Commentary.

Second edition. Crown 8vo, 5s.

SERMON OUTLINES

FOR THE CLERGY AND

LAY-PREACHERS.

321 OUTLINES ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE

CHURCH'S YEAR.

This book, a book of suggestions rather than of mere divisions, or skeletons as they were formerly called, has been composed with a view to meeting the objection heard on all sides that sermons at the present day are very deficient in setting forth Christian doctrines.

From THE GUARDIAN, April 12th, 1893.

We

"It is easy to prophesy a considerable sale for this volume. meet here all the well-known characteristics of his writings. The style is straightforward and vigorous. There is never any doubt about his meaning. His remarks are always pointed, and the arrangement of his material is excellent."

From THE CHURCH TIMES, February 17th, 1893.

"This volume differs in three respects from most similar volumes: (1) It aims, primarily, at supplying sketches of sermons on Christian Doctrine, couched in clear, definite language. (2) It is a book of' suggestions, rather than of mere divisions or skeletons.' (3) It includes lists of texts and subjects for courses of Lenten and other sermons. The well-earned reputation of its author will be a sufficient guarantee for the soundness and usefulness of the work."

From CHURCH BELLS, December 16th, 1892.

"They are adequate, and they are helpful; they set forth the elementary teaching of the Church's seasons, the redemption, salvation, and sanctification of mankind. Each Sunday of each Church season has several appropriate texts and heads of discourses, and these are rich in wise suggestions as to helpful teaching. There is much simplicity and strong meat for learners. Prayer-book lines are made the rule throughout-the best rule of all."

From THE ROCK, November 4th, 1892.

"We should think that it would be difficult to find anywhere such a real

help for preachers as these outlines afford. . . Such depth of spiritual

teaching is seldom to be found."

From THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL GAZETTE, Nov. 11th, 1892. "This should be among the most popular and useful of Prebendary Sadler's writings."

From THE CLERGYMAN'S MAGAZINE, December, 1892. "These outlines are both Evangelical and doctrinal. They occupy exactly one page of the book, and therefore afford ample opportunity for the preacher's own powers of expansion.”