the ministry. It was his aim that the Lutheran exegete, preacher, and catechete availing himself of the English language as a medium would be kept within sane confines through the study of Luther, and that our English- speaking Lutherans would have sane and edifying reading matter. And, indeed, this is an aim worthy of the highest endeavor. It is an entirely different question, whether this work is well planned, whether it is placed on a scientifically satisfactory basis, and whether it is harmoniously executed. But even if this work lacks in many directions, the Lutheran Church in America still owes Lenker a great debt for his labors.
On account of these wants, it is to be welcomed with great joy that five members of the Pennsylvania Ministerium (C. M. Jacobs, A. T. W. Steinhaeuser, W. A. Lambert, J. J. Schindel, and A. Steimle) have united for a new attempt. In those volumes, "Works of Martin Luther with introductions and notes" (first volume appeared in April, 1915), published by A. J. Holman Company at Philadelphia, we find an accomplishment, well worthy of mention and excellently considered in all its aspects. Notwithstanding the fact that it generally follows the Braunschweig-Berlin edition, a decided improvement over this edition is to be noted in this, that it has elected to give the different writings in their chronological, instead of their systematic, order. Only in this manner the gradual development of Luther's personality and of his conception of the truth will be understood. The texts, which the translators used, are, thanks to the reproduction in the edition of Weimar and the appearance of Clemen's edition, far more trustworthy than those of the Braunschweig-Berlin edition The translations are good, without being too literal. The introduc-
