Author: Henry Boynton Smith

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-02

Total Pages: 518

ISBN-13: 9781330255414

Excerpt from Faith and Philosophy: Discourses and Essays The death of Henry B. Smith was felt to be an almost irreparable loss to the best culture and learning of our country. Whether regarded as a theologian, as a philosophical thinker, or as a general scholar and critic, he was confessedly one of the most accomplished men of his time. Such was the opinion of him often expressed by those best qualified to judge, both at home and abroad. And had his life and health been spared a few years longer, he would no doubt have furnished to the world, in ripe productions of his pen, still more substantial reason for this high estimate. As it is, with the exception of his elaborate and invaluable History of the Church of Christ in Chronological Tables, his writings consist chiefly of occasional discourses, essays, and reviews. But although occasional and m.ore or less fragmentary, they discuss some of the most important and vital questions of the age; and they do it with such exhaustive power, that in several instances the discourse, or essay, might readily be enlarged into a book, with no other change than that of greater fulness of statement and illustration. The opening paper of this volume, on the Relations of Faith and Philosophy, and that on Church History, may serve as examples. The strong points in each case are so vividly presented; the principles involved are set forth with such distinctness; the discussion is so luminous and complete, that a whole treatise on the subject could hardly add to the force of the argument. A conviction of the superior quality and permanent value of Dr. Smiths writings has led to the present selection. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.