Page 5959 – Christianity Today (2024)

Andy Hardy And The Divine Percentage

It’s odd how often profundity sneaks in where you least expect it, making you wonder sourly whether it was intentional, or why you didn’t think of it yourself. At least that’s how I tend to react, and it does me no credit. I mention this after having perused press reports in different places of interviews with three movie stars. Perhaps I was wrong in anticipating meager intellectual fare, for who are potentially more equipped to recognize reality than those given to make-believe?

Here, first, was Jerry Lewis defending himself against critics who praise the slapstick classics yet ignore his movies. “It’s their loss,” he commented, “that they don’t examine the film carefully enough.… It takes a great deal of intelligence to understand what life is all about, and life does include slapstick.”

The point is irrefutable. Charlie Chaplin, who proved it once for all in City Lights and other moving pieces, underlined it last year when asked for an octogenarian’s advice to the young. One could sense the poised pencils as the maestro pondered. Then came the accumulated wisdom of eight decades: “Don’t go to Harvard University without a steel helmet.” Anti-climax? No, sir!

But what interested me even more than the others was the account of a newspaper interview with Mickey Rooney. The former boy wonder, Hollywood’s most popular star (they said) three decades or so ago, has a story and a philosophy both pathetic and revealing.

Nudging his half century, divorced six times and now married yet again, Rooney is quoted as saying: “Thank heaven I’m a religious man. When things get too bad, even for me, I get my strength from meditating on Sundays.”

The words may fall strangely on the ear, but the man who made and spent millions has in some sense fastened on a tremendous truth. “God,” he declared, “gave me everything and more—much more—than a single human being has a right to expect on this earth: talent, fame, and fortune … but I knew they were only on loan to me; that soon they would all pass. Trouble is, what I hadn’t realized was how high the interest on God’s loan was!”

Well, some might have expressed themselves rather differently, but the impact of the whole confession suggests that those Sunday meditations may yet bring Mr. Rooney nearer the God whose workings he so clearly acknowledges. It reminded me of James Melville’s words long ago: “No man can show the right way better than he who hath oft-times chanced upon by-roads.”

EUTYCHUS IV

Aye—And Nay—To ‘Eye’

Congratulations to you on the issue of January 2 and particularly on “Young Churchmen Eye the Seventies.”

It is reassuring to read statements by young Christian thinkers, lay and clergy, who appear to be in touch with their own times and at the same time alive to the Christian Church.

JOSEPH H. HEARTBERG

Executive Secretary

New Jersey Baptist Convention

East Orange, N. J.

What they are saying, if I read them correctly, is that establishment evangelicalism is going to have to be more compassionately involved in social and environmental problems, and less rigidly defensive about a specific set of doctrines, if it is not to lose many of its most dedicated and alert young people.

ROBISON B. JAMES

Associate Professor of Religion

University of Richmond

Richmond, Va.

The Age of Aquarius, it appears, will shortly give way to the Age of Ecology.… Indeed, one of the youthful editorialists (Howard Moffett)—my own age, incidentally—admonished believers that they were poisoning their streams with filth and their hearts with hate. I thought, Poor boy, he does have a pretty bad hang-up.…

The very idea that anyone would think that the task of the Church is in any way related to purification of air and water, important though this may be, seems to speak volumes for the lurid confusion which now reigns as to the real mission of the Church. Perhaps one of our problems is the hesitance to come to grips with theological pollution in our own ranks.

RICHARD H. MACKAY

Watertown, Mass.

Mr. Moffett has sensed very correctly that our problems … are not alone rooted in Viet Nam, inflation.… But, in seeing “no panacea—Christian or otherwise,” I wonder if Mr. Moffett has placed a finger on what is really our basic ill—that of not knowing the extent and power of Christianity.… A converted society, possible only through conversion of individuals, can make matters different.… The basic doctrines of Scripture, which we’ve neglected … must again be made clear from the pulpit, clear in our lives.

DAVID W. SLATER

Delmar, N. Y.

I was amazed at a statement made by Howard M. Moffett, “I believe that one of the most serious sins of the Church has been to suggest that to convert our society would be to save it.”

I am not unmindful that there are tremendous injustices in the world today and that many persons who are nominal members of churches contribute to these injustices. However … I truly believe that if we could convert “our society,” this very conversion would literally impel all individuals to try to live according to the teachings of our Saviour and thus to lessen the injustices of the world.

A. A. PAGE

President Emeritus

Pikeville College

Pikeville, Ky.

It is readily apparent to the younger generation, of which I am a part, that if Christianity is to survive and maintain its service to God, many changes must be made within the thought-patterns and lives of its leaders.… To live the “abundant life,” one must … make decisions from the viewpoint of love (Phil. 1:9–11).… This means that as a disciple of Jesus, one must use biblical principles (and for sure they exist) in decision-making.

PHILIP D. HOLLEY

Oneonta, Ala.

Really, I’m surprised. I suspect Dr. Reidel is, too. Ecology is a topic in biological science, not physical science. The distinction is not social science/physical science but social science/science.

JOHN A. CRAMER

Instructor in Physics

Wheaton College

Wheaton, Ill.

I regret that the one with whom I must take issue is the son of your illustrious Editor-at-Large when he says, “The under-thirty generation rejects the sectarian tendencies and the overly personalistic ethics of establishment evangelicalism”—whatever that means. To answer him I quote from your lead article by Dr. John A. Mackay in his excellent reminiscence, “In quest of the most effective way to make Christ and the Gospel real and relevant I learned the incarnational approach to the human situation,” and his following comments. Mr. Henry closes with a conservative statement, for which we are glad. Also in answer to his first statement I would quote from another of the younger writers, Ensign Peter M. Smith, “It seems to me the best vehicle for spreading the Gospel of Christianity is on the personal level.”

JAMES A. ADAMS

Salisbury, Mo.

Breathless Discoveries

Any testimony and observation offered by Dr. John A. Mackay, (“Life’s Chief Discoveries,” Jan. 2), is always appreciated.

FRANKLIN M. SEGLER

Professor of Pastoral Ministry

Southwestern Baptist Seminary

Fort Worth, Tex.

Please! I am holding my breath waiting for the rest of John A. Mackay’s third discovery. Please have him write it and then you publish it before he dies or I do.

DOUGLAS H. STIMERS

Mona Shores Baptist Church

Muskegon, Mich.

Chill From China

“It Can Happen Here” (A Layman and His Faith, Jan. 2) is compelling to the thoughtful American—it is also chilling.

WALTER A. OLSON

Longmont, Colo.

It is a pleasure and inspiration to read i “It Can Happen Here.” I fully agree with its emphasis as I was in China during the takeover and left to have freedom after three years through a divine deliverance.… My father was the Presbyterian minister in Nanhsuchow for twenty-two years until he was killed during the Japanese occupation in 1943.

LUKE H. C. SHENG, M. D.

Brighton, Mich.

Desperate Dreams

In my estimation Dr. Espy’s proposal for the creation of a “General Ecumenical Council” (News, Dec. 19, Jan. 2) is another well-baited trap for evangelicals. It is another effort on the part of desperate NCC leaders whose inclusive ecclesiastical dreams have not succeeded in bringing all together into one organization. How could evangelicals sit in fraternal relationship with those who deny the authority of the Bible and salvation by faith alone in the shed blood of Jesus Christ any more in this new proposed organization than they could in the old?

These are days to be alert and remember that the enemy will use every means possible to weaken the voice of truth and to deceive the very elect.… When are we going to stop trying to impress the world by agreeing with it? We only make fools out of ourselves and show ourselves to be spiritually weak and anemic, lacking in conviction, depending upon power of influence with men rather than on the power of God available in our lives through the fulness of the Holy Spirit.

BILL COWELL

Emmanuel Baptist Church

Marion, Kan.

Enjoyable Parts

I want to compliment you on your fine magazine. The articles, editorials, and the news from a Christian point of view are the parts I enjoy the most.… As I will be eventually entering the ministry, I feel that your magazine will benefit me greatly in the next few years at college. I also have plans to attend law school. I am sure a Christian magazine will help there, too.

PAUL STEBELTON

Milligan College, Tenn.

Who’s going to buy religious books in the seventies? During the sixties religious books rolled off the presses in record numbers, but a jittery feeling about the future is robbing publishers of most of their satisfaction over past successes. And their concern is well founded.

Already some religious houses have been dissolved; others have been forced into mergers or have found it necessary to diversify in the direction of non-religious publications. Trade publishers are finding the religious market increasingly less fruitful.

Why the apparent decline of interest in religious books? There are many possible explanations, and any attempt to provide one is pretty well confined to the realm of speculation. But certainly, part of the answer is to be found in the current revolutionary changes in the world of religion. Problems in the book trade are but symptoms of problems in the Church. Three developments are especially worthy of note.

Revolt against the institutional church. No one can foretell just what will happen to the institutional church in the coming decade; but if it is to reclaim a place of substantial influence in society, it must come to grips with the fact that form without content has left many disillusioned and disinterested. They feel the Church has done little to meet their own personal needs or to deal with the problems of contemporary society. No doubt some who are essentially irreligious use the Church as a scapegoat for their rebellion against God, but there are others who affirm their sincere dedication to Christ and impatience with the Church in the same breath (e.g., Malcolm Muggeridge in Jesus Rediscovered, one of the most intriguing books of the past year).

This dissatisfaction with the Church will have a continuous effect upon book publishing. Institution-oriented books will give way to books dealing with the more personal side of religion and books that relate the Church and its message to the great social concerns of our day. In this connection it is interesting to note that some of Billy Graham’s books have been translated into thirty-eight languages and dialects, and sales of his works are many times those of other religious authors by the same publisher. Several factors may contribute to this success, but no doubt the most important is the common hunger of the human heart for some word on how to find a right relationship with God and with other men.

Rebellion against authority. This phenomenon is not confined to the Church, of course, but it has been strikingly evident there. Rebellion against church authority has been most apparent in the Catholic Church; however, the even more significant denial of the authority of Scripture is affecting Protestants as well as Catholics. In the past, most religious books at least made some claim to be based on Scripture, but this is no longer so. Many people, it seems—even those who call themselves Christians—are not greatly concerned about what the Bible (or the Church) has to say, especially if it conflicts with their own ideas. (However, Bibles continue to sell very well—it would be interesting to know just who’s buying them and who’s reading them, and why). The question of authority has provided material for many a book during the past year; but the subject is already at its saturation point. And increasing defiance of authority is going to work against publication success with books that can really be called “religious,” as that term has commonly been used.

Rejection of the transcendence of God. With the breakdown of biblical authority, it is not surprising that God himself has been called on the carpet to face the charge that he does not exist—at least not in the way the Church has generally defined his existence. The trend has been toward humanizing God and deifying man, a process that found its clearest expression for a time in the “death of God theology” but is also reflected in Bishop Robinson’s Honest to God, Bonhoeffer’s “religionless Christianity,” the “secularization of Christianity,” humanistic existentialism, the worship of science, and even in much of the recent “theology of hope.” When God’s existence is questioned, or when he is divested of his deity by whatever theologian may be on center stage at the moment, religious publishers find slim pickings in their search for material. (A partial solution has been the use of the term religious to describe anything even remotely related to religion.) Some of these theological fads have sold many books, but publishers are still left with a shaky foundation on which to build their plans for the future.

Although evangelicals are unhappy with the institutional church, they want no part of any movement away from biblical authority or the transcendence of God. And publishers geared to the evangelical market find themselves in a more stable position than other religious publishers. Perhaps the most noteworthy development in evangelical circles is the increasing concern to relate the Gospel to social issues, a trend reflected in recent evangelical book lists.

But evangelical publishers are not without their problems, and perhaps the most disturbing is the apparent lack of evangelical readers for solid, meaty books. Although a number of very useful evangelical books appeared during the past year (see Choice Evangelical Books, page 21—a list limited at least partially by lack of space), many others are not worth the time it takes to read them. Among these are theologically shallow “inspirational” books that do not come to grips with either Scripture or the world, and sensational books on prophecy that do little or nothing to establish Christians in the faith and challenge them to action. The Christian should spend his time on books that will help him assimilate the Word of God and meet the sweeping challenges and opportunities of life in today’s world. A book diet that leaves out meaty instruction in the Scriptures will stunt the growth of faith, leaving it inactive and weak. Some evangelicals say with a certain pride that they “don’t know any theology,” and evangelicalism has at times reflected the shallowness that comes from such a lack. If some churchmen are in danger of sacrificing theology at the altar of unbelief under the pretense of being relevant, evangelicals must not be guilty of sacrificing both theology and relevance at the altar of apathy under the pretense of interest in more “spiritual” things.

Publishers will publish what people will buy. Evangelicals will probably continue to buy religious books in the coming decade. We hope they will request and read more and more books that are deeply rooted in biblical theology and relate that theology to the problems they will face in the seventies.

The Freedom To Destroy Freedom

During the recent seizure of the president’s office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the invaders followed the now established pattern of destroying property and making a general nuisance of themselves. Their ostensible purpose was to force MIT professors to stop using their considerable talents in the service of the federal government.

What struck us as important was that these students and non-students, claiming freedom to do their thing, were using that freedom to attempt to restrict the freedom of the university and its faculty members to do their thing. The inconsistency points straight back to the peculiar ethics of Marxism. The Communists say: “We demand freedom when you are in control, for that is your principle. We take away freedom when we are in control, for freedom is not our principle.” The outworking of this philosophy has been evident in Czechoslovakia and more recently in the suppression of writers in the Soviet Union.

Freedom is the trademark of democracy, which, in turn, is related to the Christian faith, from which true freedom springs. With Christianity rapidly losing its vitality, we have reason to fear that freedom will ultimately be a casualty as well.

Inflationary Pains

The January Notes from the Foundation for Economic Education pointed out that inflation is a cruel and unjust tax. Few of us would disagree. But at the same time most of us are afflicted with cupidity. We want higher wages for less work; we want more government benefits and lower taxes; we condemn rising prices while we condone greater government expenditures. To put it simply, we want to have our cake and eat it too.

Do we ever learn from history, or are we bound to repeat endlessly the follies of earlier generations that paid dearly for economic ineptitude? How it is possible to spend ourselves into riches has never been explained—and never will be. It is a fairy tale for kiddies, of little value for adults in a real world.

Certain basic economic principles can be deduced from Scripture. One is that inflation is a form of theft. Another is that neighbor love is violated when those least able to protect themselves are victimized by the cruelties of inflation. Still another—one that is plainly stated—is that as men sow, so shall they reap. We are now reaping the economic plight we have sown, and there is no painless way to stop the process. A solution is going to be costly. Most of us give little evidence of being earnest enough about stopping inflation that we are ready to pay the price.

The Shape Of Collections To Come

Reflection on the recent speculation about religion in the seventies reveals what is surely a glaring omission. Someone, wethinks, should have forecast the demise in this decade of those typically round, felt-bottomed church offering plates. They are, after all, a bit anachronistic now that gifts come typically in rectangular checks, envelopes, or dollar bills instead of circular pieces of gold or silver. Relevant receptacles, it seems, would be similarly shaped, but even corners on collection baskets have had their day in church—on the ends of long poles passed by beadles.

Real relevance may have to coin a pay-as-you-pray plan like that of the Vermont church that now has in its vestibule a credit-card machine for contributions. “We’re moving into a credit-card age,” charges the pastor, “and there’s no reason the church should remain aloof.” And for the eighties, oracles envision computer centers that will simply deduct from the parishioner’s account his preplanned contribution and pass it into the account of the church of his choice.

What such procedures will mean to “the worship of tithes and offerings” is a question to ponder these long winter evenings. Could it be that giving will be cheerier unfolded, unspindled, and unmutilated?

Christ, Christians, And Christianity

A recent newsletter from the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship struck a responsive chord. On college campuses, says Inter-Varsity president John W. Alexander, “Christians lack vision and vitality. There appears to be little of anything going on in personal evangelism, in group evangelism, in campus prayer meetings or Bible study.” He goes on to speak of his concern for “the increasing lack of biblical awareness in United States Christians, their weakness in understanding scriptural truth—and in living it out to the full in their intellectual, social, and cultural aspects of life. Because of this many non-Christians are turned against Christianity—for they don’t see the image of Christ in those who profess his name.”

Alexander then quotes Lew Alcindor, famous Negro All America basketball player, who graduated from UCLA last year and said of his experience there: “… The Bible had no further meaning for me. The Bible and its teaching had produced all these hate-filled people.… It seemed to me that there was nothing in the world as unlike Christ as Christians.”

How dark the night, how great the sloth that has overtaken us! We are needy people who cannot give to others what we do not have ourselves. Shall we not pray: O God! Do it again! Come in mighty power.

The Lenten Season

February 15 is the first Sunday of Lent, a period long observed by Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches as well as Anglican and some Lutheran churches. By and large the Protestant churches have not celebrated the whole season of Lent but have concentrated their attention on Holy Week.

In earlier times Lent was observed for forty days, in keeping with the temptation of Jesus. When Sundays were ruled out as fast days, the period of time was extended so that there were forty fast days in addition to the Sundays through Easter. The season was used not only for fasting but also for celebrating the rite of baptism of new believers (who had been instructed to engage in penance, of which fasting was a visible outward sign), and for considering the passion of Jesus Christ.

The custom of fasting seems to have been lost to most Christians, particularly in those countries where people have the most to eat and where abstaining from food would serve a useful physical function. Fasting has value as a way of turning attention from material to spiritual things and heightening the believer’s perception of God and of the still, small voice that speaks to man.

The attention of the world has been centered in Biafra, where it is apparent that millions of people have been fasting, not by choice but by grim necessity. The war is over but hunger still abounds. The sight of suffering children who—if they manage to survive—will be damaged for life by malnutrition should arouse our consciences and cause us to respond quickly. By foregoing one meal a day or even desserts for the Lenten period, we could gather millions of dollars to help these fellow human beings to whom our hearts go out in sympathy. Pick your relief agency and send your gift—now!

Church Property Rights

In America congregations have never had any problem withdrawing from their denominations, except when they wanted to take their church buildings with them. At that point, setting aside Paul’s prohibition against litigation between Christians (1 Cor. 6:1–8), the denomination has often gone to court to claim the property. Usually the central organization has acted in behalf of a minority of the congregation’s members that wished to stay loyal to the denomination.

Court decisions have been wildly inconsistent, even within states. Reversals of lower-court decisions often seem to be the rule rather than the exception. Historical affirmation of congregational polity have often not made much difference, as Baptist churches around the country have learned over the past few decades. What has mattered, and will even more in the light of a recent Supreme Court action, is who explicitly owns the property according to civil law.

Usually courts have not inquired into doctrinal matters to judge whether changes in the denomination generally permit a dissenting congregation to leave and take its building with it. Now the courts may not inquire into matters of ecclesiastical polity either. In the recent action, two Georgia congregations formerly with the (Southern) Presbyterian Church in the U. S. had their property held by trustees. The Georgia Supreme Court upheld their claim to the property on the charge that the denomination had changed doctrinally. The U. S. Supreme Court, rightly, we believe, told the Georgia court that the constitution forbade it to claim competence in theological matters. So the Georgia court changed its basis for allowing the congregation to claim the property. If it lacked competence theologically, it said, it was also incapable of examining the ecclesiastical claims of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. that, according to presbyterian polity, an “implied trust” granted the property to the denomination in case the local trustees wanted to leave. The denomination again appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court, which this time refused to hear the case, allowing the Georgia court decision to stand.

We applaud this decision in what may well be a landmark case. While it seems to hinge on a technicality, the principle is clear: Church property disputes are to be handled like any others; there is no “religious” property law. No claims regarding theology or church polity can be evaluated by the courts. Congregational attempts to keep property because the national body has changed are vain. Denominational claims to property on the basis of reversionary clauses should the congregation depart from “customary usages” are not likely to work.

Connectional denominations certainly will be affected by the action to the extent that the property is not fully owned by the central body itself, as was the case with the Georgia Presbyterians. Often the property is owned by the bishop or diocese or conference or presbytery. The Supreme Court’s action seems to indicate that if such a regional jurisdiction wished to dissociate from the national body it could take its property with it. Claims that, for example, Roman Catholic dioceses must act in accordance with papal wishes on such matters could not be entertained. Religious laws not only do not apply but cannot be examined by the courts.

One implication is clear: Congregations should be at least as scrupulous about their legal titles as they are about their fire insurance. One hopes that fire does not strike. Similarly, congregations that are presently happy about their denominational relationship hope that this continues indefinitely. But it may not.

Christian responsibility calls for setting one’s legal affairs in order. The documents that pertain to ownership of church property should be carefully reviewed, and all references to theological or ecclesiological matters, including statements of faith, should be so arranged that they bear no relation to ownership. If there ever is a dispute, the courts will disregard the religious elements anyway, so title to the property should be as independent of such considerations as fire insurance already is.

The Liars Among Us

Why all the credibility gaps? On what grounds can the public be deliberately deceived?

The principles of the so-called new morality suggest a way in which a public official can completely misrepresent a situation and still convince himself he has done well. All he has to do is be persuaded in his own mind that such fabrication will be in the best interests of the public.

To be sure, situation ethics has a built-in attractiveness. It is particularly easy in the social sector: who is to know what is ultimately good in the corporate sense? Virtually anything can be justified if one tries hard enough.

We wonder if the new morality hasn’t been making something of an impression upon politicians. A recent New York Times Book Review article asserts that there was “so much official lying” during the past decade that there is now a striking radical temper among the best young historians. The article declares that there is “more skepticism than ever of traditional academic perspectives on history.”

The free world must ask itself seriously whether it is going to surrender objective standards of right and wrong. To do so would be in effect to subordinate truth to political bias—as the Communists do. Such capitulation invites the wrath of God both in this world and the next.

Is Your God Too Big?

In certain ways most of us have too small a concept of God, but in other ways, we may think of him as too big. How is that?

Consider our leaders here on earth. We do not trouble them with small things; their time is reserved for the most important matters. It’s only natural, then, that this attitude be transferred to God. But this is just another way in which God is not like men. He is indeed far greater than we can imagine, but part of his greatness lies in his attention to the smallest detail. The Apostle Paul tells us we are to bring all our concerns to God, not just the big ones.

After commanding us to rejoice all the time in Philippians 4:4, Paul helpfully explains how this difficult command can be obeyed. He assures us that “the Lord is at hand” (v. 5), which means, as the context suggests, that he is accessible, not remote the way our leaders on earth are. Then in verse 6 Paul tells us that to rejoice always we are to be free of anxious concern; the two are mutually exclusive. Next he tells us what to do whenever anything appears to cause us anxiety: “… with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” How big must something be to be taken to God? No bigger than it must be to disrupt our joy! As we all know, trivial things have a way of causing considerable consternation: a traffic light turns red just as we get to it; the shopping list is missing just when we want it; the car breaks down just after we’ve had it repaired. We all have disturbances that are so minor we hesitate to mention them to others, but God wants us to bring them to him.

Whether a particular request is major or minor, an important adjunct is thanksgiving. Thanksgiving causes us to remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness in the past, how he stood by us in previous difficulties, how they were eventually resolved or we were given grace to bear them. This is probably the key to the marvelous promise that follows the call to pray. “The peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (v. 7). This constant peace, which permits the constant joy to which we are called, is not something we can easily explain; in fact, Paul says it passes understanding. But this doesn’t make it less real. Although most of us would have a hard time explaining light, we know it is available.

If we who are Christians do not enjoy peace and joy continually, then we should take stock of ourselves regarding the call to pray in everything. Perhaps we have been operating with too big a concept of God. Or rather, perhaps we do not realize that he is so big that he wants us to bring our little problems—and our little thanksgivings—to him just as surely as we bring the big ones.

Christianity is not a negative religion; it is a glorious Yes. The Apostle Paul tells us, “All the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Cor. 1:20a). Our Lord makes it plain that redemption means passing from a negative (“perishing”) state to a positive one—that of eternal life.

But when one has said yes to Jesus Christ, accepting him as Saviour and making him Lord of life, he comes to realize that there are negatives that are a part of the Christian’s daily life. Because he is in the world but not of it, he finds that no becomes a very important word and a very important attitude of life. Jesus says, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself [say no to self] and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24).

This saying no to self is a continuing requirement for the Christian. However, it involves a distinction many earnest believers fail to make. For such people, not doing this or that, not going to this place or the other, is the sign of whether or not a person is actually a Christian, and whether or not they may have fellowship with him. From this attitude to modern Pharisaism there is but a short step, and some unwittingly take it.

Being a Christian involves but two things—faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to his revealed will.

But obedience does involve the clear leading of the Holy Spirit as well as convictions about God’s will. The Apostle Paul makes plain in word and by example what being a Christian means: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). That means saying no to self. While life lasts we are confronted by temptations inherent in the flesh, and they must be dealt with by rejection.

As is true in so many aspects of the Christian faith, we find here a paradox. Jesus says, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 10:39). And again, “Whosoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Luke 17:33).

When confronted with an issue that requires a yes or no, what criteria do we have? We must say no to anything that (a) injures the body, (b) defiles the spirit, or (c) contaminates the mind. This is not an oversimplification but a practical basis for ordering our lives as Christians.

The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, but there is always the temptation to defile it. Therefore the Apostle Paul tells us, “You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19b, 20). Easy to comply with? No! But God always gives the grace to carry out his holy requirements. We do not know by what particular sins of the flesh the Apostle Paul found himself tempted, but he says, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:25–27).

The trend of the world is to defile the spirit, and we find ourselves confronted daily by things that would further this defilement. Unless cleansed by the blood of Christ, the heart is a filthy thing. Jesus tells us, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man” (Matt. 15:19, 20a).

If we are honest we must admit guilt in this area of our lives—unworthy thoughts, so easy to hide from others, that sometimes find expression in evil actions. We are born with contaminated minds, minds set on the flesh and not on the Spirit. That is why we must be converted, changed. The Apostle Paul tells us bluntly, “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:6–8).

It becomes obvious that for the Christian there are many things to which he must say no. Yet it is axiomatic that God requires nothing of us for which he has not made full provision—the convictions that make us say no, the way of escape when temptations come, the grace for every contingency of life.

For the Christian this means putting first things first. It means facing in the right direction. It means learning the lesson, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:1–3).

The “death” of the Christian is hard to understand; the “crucifixion” of self seems unattainable. But both are very real. One of the most sublime statements in the Bible is that of Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

This is the central teaching of the Gospel: Christ in us, and instead of us; a new way of life, a new set of standards, a new code of ethics—all in and of Christ. This is not asceticism but the appropriating of all that a loving and living Saviour provides for his own. Such living is by the grace of God, but there is also an act of the will whereby we appropriate and submit to God’s truth.

Submission to the will of an all-wise, all-loving God is the very essence of the Christian life. Many years ago Horatius Bonar put prayer for the grace of submission in these words:

Thy way, not mine, O Lord,

However dark it be!

Lead me by Thine own hand;

Choose out the path for me.

Smooth let it be or rough,

It will still be best;

Winding or straight, it leads

Right onward to Thy rest.

I dare not choose my lot;

I would not if I might:

Choose Thou for me, my God

So shall I walk aright.

The Kingdom that I seek

Is Thine; so let the way

That leads to it be Thine,

Else I must surely stray.

Take Thou my cup, and it

With joy or sorrow fill

As best to Thee may seem:

Choose thou my good and ill.

Not mine, not mine the choice

In things or great or small;

Be Thou my Guide, my Strength,

My Wisdom and my All.

The One who is the eternal Yes has said an eternal No on the Cross—Yes for man’s redemption, No to the power of Satan. It remains for us, by his grace, to walk as he would have us walk.

One of the precious paradoxes of it all is that his yoke proves wonderfully easy and his burden unbelievably light. If we say yes to him, he will enable us to say no to evil.

L. NELSON BELL

Although the editors of CHRISTIANITY TODAY do not endorse the total content of each of these volumes, the authors write from a generally evangelical perspective.

BABBAGE, STUART BARTON, The Vacuum of Unbelief (Zondervan, 152 pp., $3.95). These non-technical essays on a variety of subjects examine the role and status of Christianity in the spiritual vacuum of modern culture.

BARKER, GLENN W., WILLIAM L. LANE, and J. RAMSEY MICHAELS, The New Testament Speaks (Harper & Row, 445 pp., $6.50). A scholarly study of the background, development, and content of the New Testament.

BERKOUWER, G. C., The Sacraments (Eerdmans, 304 pp., $7.50). In the tenth volume of his valuable “Studies in Dogmatics,” this outstanding Dutch theologian expounds and defends the Reformed teaching on the sacraments and evaluates other views.

BLAIKLOCK, E. M., editor, The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Atlas (Zondervan, 491 pp., $9.95). Following the chronology of biblical events, this valuable reference work sketches the cultural and geographical background of the Scriptures.

BROWN, COLIN, Philosophy and the Christian Faith (Inter-Varsity, 319 pp., paperback, $2.50). This bird’s-eye view of the history of philosophy down to the present day and of its relations with Christianity will prove very helpful to the layman.

BROWN, HAROLD O. J., The Protest of a Troubled Protestant (Arlington House, 282 pp., $5.95). A committed Christian scholar candidly examines the many weaknesses and problems besieging the Church.

BRUCE, F. F., New Testament Development of Old Testament Themes (Eerdmans, 122 pp. $3.95). Originally presented as the Payton Lectures at Fuller Theological Seminary in 1968, this exegetical study investigates the New Testament’s continuing use of several Old Testament themes.

CLOUSE, ROBERT, editor, Protest and Politics (Attic Press, 271 pp., $5.95). A provocative challenge to evangelicals to seize the opportunities of Christian citizenship in controversial areas.

ELLIOT, ELISABETH.Furnace of the Lord (Doubleday, 129 pp., $4.95). This personal account of the city of Jerusalem—its historic sites and the sufferings of its people—portrays people and cultures in conflict.

ELLISON, H. L., Prophets of Israel (Eerdmans, 176 pp., $4.50). Sketches the political and religious context in which the prophets to the northern tribes ministered, and applies their message to the problems of present-day society.

FREEMAN, HOBART E., Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets (Moody, 384 pp., $6.95). Investigates the nature of prophecy and surveys each prophetic book, discussing the prophet and his message as well as introductory matters.

HARRISON, R. K., Introduction to the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 1,325 pp., $12.50). This major introduction to the Old Testament, including a review of Old Testament studies and a supplement on the Apocrypha, is sure to be controversial and will demand the attention of evangelicals.

HENRY, CARL F. H., Faith at the Frontiers (Moody, 204 pp., $3.95). These addresses by the former editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY demonstrate how evangelical thought can effectively confront the issues of contemporary society.

HOWARD, THOMAS, An Antique Drum: The World as Image (Lippincott, 157 pp., $5.95). The author of Christ the Tiger finds a “diagram of glory” in the humdrum experiences of life in a world that is “a dazzling pattern of images of the eternal.”

JEEVES, MALCOLM A., The Scientific Enterprise and the Christian Faith (Inter-Varsity, 165 pp., $4.50). This volume, based on ideas presented at a week-long conference of thirty-six scientists, emphasizes the harmonious relation between modern science and biblical Christian faith.

LINDSELL, HAROLD, When You Pray (Tyndale House, 182 pp., $3.95). In straightforward, understandable, and practical language the editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY outlines the biblical principles on which to build an effective prayer life.

MAIER, PAUL, Pontius Pilate (Doubleday, 370 pp., $5.95). A historically accurate biographical novel that offers some interesting insights into the character of the Roman governor under whom Christ was crucified.

MIKOLASKI, SAMUEL J., editor, The Creative Theology of P. T. Forsyth (Eerdmans, 250 pp., $6.95). Selections from the writings of this great English theologian introduce the reader to his major themes and reflect his devotion to Jesus Christ.

MONTGOMERY, JOHN W., Where Is History Going? (Zondervan, 250 pp., $5.95). This stimulating critique of several current philosophies of history sees the case for Christianity as founded upon objective historical facts.

MORRIS, LEON, Studies in the Fourth Gospel (Eerdmans, 374 pp., $8.95). An outstanding evangelical New Testament scholar carefully investigates, in the light of the available evidence, some of the problems associated with John’s Gospel.

NASH, RONALD H., editor, Ideas of History (Dutton, two volumes, 291 and 369 pp., $8.95 each). This analysis of selections from the major philosophies of history from Augustine to Toynbee affirms Jesus Christ as the center of world history.

POLLOCK, JOHN, The Apostle: A Life of Paul (Doubleday, 224 pp., $4.95). This stimulating biography of one of the central figures of church history is based upon careful scholarship and accurately reflects the biblical sources.

REES, PAUL S., Don’t Sleep Through the Revolution (Word, 130 pp., $2.95). This compilation of stimulating editorials from World Vision Magazine is designed to arouse evangelicals out of indifference to the problems of our day.

SCHAEFFER, FRANCIS, Death in the City (Inter-Varsity, 143 pp., $1.95). Exposes the hunger of a godless world and asserts the need for reformation (return to the teachings of Scripture) and revival (subjection of life to the Holy Spirit) in today’s Church if it is to speak to our culture.

SPITZER, WALTER O., and CARLYLE L. SAYLOR, editors, Birth Control and the Christian (Tyndale House, 589 pp., $6.95). Evangelical theologians, physicians, lawyers, and sociologists explore problems of life and reproduction.

VAN TIL, CORNELIUS, A Christian Theory of Knowledge (Presbyterian and Reformed, 390 pp., $6.50). Attacks all systems of thought that exalt the autonomy of man at the expense of the sovereign God of the Scriptures.

WIRT, SHERWOOD E., Passport to Life City (Harper & Row, 207 pp., $4.95). This modern Pilgrim’s Progress portrays allegorically what it means to search for the living God in our generation and confronts the reader with a challenging concern for twentieth-century problems.

Once again we present our annual Spring Book Forecast to give our readers an overview of the religious publishing field and to put them on the lookout for volumes that may be of special interest to them. Many of the spring titles focus on the host of problems and issues confronting both Church and society; we hope evangelicals will come forth with solid contributions in this area. Only time will tell whether promising titles can deliver the goods in content. As in the past we have asked publishers to designate what they feel will be their most significant publications; these selections are indicated by an asterisk. We have used the symbols (p) to indicate paperbacks and (rp) to designate out-of-print books that are being reissued.

AESTHETICS, ARCHITECTURE, MUSICABINGDON: Now Songs compiled by M. Stewart and Companion to the Hymnal by Gealy, Lovelace, and Young. JUDSON: Hymnbook for Christian Worship. PEGASUS: Aesthetics: An Introduction by G. Dickie. PRAEGER: Churches in Rock: Early Christian Art in Ethiopia by G. Gerster.

APOLOGETICS, PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCEARLINGTON HOUSE: *Christian Counter-Attack by Lunn and Lean. BAKER: Interpreting God’s Word Today by S. Kistemaker. BETHANY FELLOWSHIP: Damned Through the Church by J. W. Montgomery, The Bible and Spiritual Criticism by A. Pierson, and Questions on the Cults by W. Martin. CONCORDIA: Rock Strata and the Bible Record edited by P. Zimmermann. EERDMANS: All Things Made New by L. Smedes, Do You Understand What You Read? by H. Kuitert, The Man Born to Be King by D. Sayers, and *The Meaning of the City by J. Ellul. FORTRESS: * Who Shall Live? edited by K. Vaux. GREENWOOD: The Validity of Death and Other Essays in Existential Philosophy by P. Koestenbaum. INTER-VARSITY: Christianity: The Witness of History by J. N. D. Anderson (p). JUDSON: God’s Way with Men by N. Pittenger, The Hidden Face of Pain by J. Sarano, God in the New World by L. Geering (p), and Layman’s Answer by E. M. Blaiklock (p). MACMILLAN: Do Religious Claims Make Sense? by S. Brown. MOODY: Evolution on Trial by C. Reno. Answer for the Now Generation by C. F. H. Henry (p), Inspiration and Authority by R. Pache, and *Emit by R. Crane and G. Smith (p). OXFORD: Existentialism by M. Warnock. PEGASUS: Ethical Theory: An Introduction by L. Schwartz, Philosophy of Religion: An Introduction by W. Capitan, and Myth of the Ideal City by R. Mucchielli. PRAEGER: Islam in Africa: A Short History by J. Humphrey. PRINCETON: Yoga: Immortality and Freedom by M. Eliade. SCRIBNER: Philosophy and Religious Belief by G. Thomas and The Marxist Criticism of Religion by H. Gollwitzer. UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: The Letters of Josiah Royce edited by J. Clendenning. WESTMINSTER: Secularization and the Protestant Prospect edited by J. Childress and D. Harned (p), Hope in This World, by W. Baker (p), Positive Religion in a Revolutionary Time by E. Rust, We Believe in God edited by R. Davies (p), and The Magnificent Frolic by B. Wood (p). ZONDERVAN: The Protest of a Troubled Protestant by H. Brown (p). Who Moved the Stone? by F. Morison (p) (rp), and Heredity: A Study of Science and the Bible by W. Tinkle (p).

ARCHAEOLOGYEERDMANS: The Dead Sea Isaiah Scrolls by J. Rosenbloom. PRAEGER: Archeology in the Holy Land by K. Kenyon and Mexican Cities of the Gods: An Archaeological Guide by H. Helfritz. PRINCETON: The Highlands of Phrygia: Sites and Monuments by C. Haspels. ZONDERVAN: Archaeology of the New Testament by E. M. Blaiklock.

BIBLE COMMENTARIES AND DICTIONARIESBAKER: The Gospel of Mark by H. Hobbs, Exposition of Psalms by H. Leupold, Ruth and Esther by C. Anderson (p), and Book of Joel by M. DeGangi (p). BETHANY FELLOWSHIP: Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible (p) (rp). BROADMAN: *The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volumes 2, 3, 9, and 10, edited by C. Allen. CONCORDIA: (“Concordia Commentary Series”) Acts by R. Smith and Pastoral Epistles and Philemon by H. Moellering and V. Bartling. GREENWOOD: Subject Guide to Bible Stories by G. Garland. WESTMINSTER: *The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible by H. Gehman. ZONDERVAN: Zechariah: Prophet of Messiah’s Glory by M. Unger (rp), Ellicott’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (rp), and *A New Testament Commentary by F. F. Bruce et al.

BIBLICAL STUDIES, GENERALBAKER: General Introduction to the Holy Scriptures by C. Briggs. JUDSON: This Covenant People by H. Malmborg, G. Peck, and E. Taylor (p) and Postage Stamps and the Bible Story by A. Gould. OXFORD: The Bible as Literature by T. Henn. SCRIPTURE PRESS: *Know What You Believe by P. Little (p). SIMON AND SCHUSTER: The Bible Designed to Be Read by E. Bates. WORD: For God’s Sake, Be Human by J. Killinger. ZONDERVAN: The Strategic Grasp of the Bible by J. Sidlow Baxter, The Hidden Revolution: Toward A Recovery of Biblical Piety by B. Shelley, Love Is Now by P. Gillquist, and The Late Great Planet Earth by H. Lindsey and C. Carlson.

BIBLICAL STUDIES, OLD TESTAMENTABINGDON: The Hebrew Verbless Clause in the Pentateuch by F. Anderson, Translating and Understanding the Old Testament edited by W. Reed, and Yahweh War and Tribal Confederation by R. Smend. CONCORDIA: Luther’s Works, Volume 6: Lectures on Genesis and Volume 15: Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes and the Last Words of David.EERDMANS: Message of the Old Testament by H. Ellison, (“Scripture Union Series”) Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel by J. Wright, Isaiah, Volume III, by E. Young, and Old Testament Times by R. K. Harrison. INTER-VARSITY: (“Tyndale Old Testament Commentary”) Ezekiel by J. Taylor. JOHN KNOX: Proclamation and Presence: Old Testament Essays in Honor of Gwynne Henton Davies edited by J. Durham and J. Porter, and Essays on Old Testament Hermeneutics edited by C. Westermann. JUDSON: The Layman’s Introduction to the Old Testament by R. Laurin (p) and The Drama of the Psalms by D. Anders-Richards (p). MACMILLAN: The Relevance of the Prophets (revised edition) by R. B. Y. Scott. UNITED CHURCH PRESS: Time of Burning by B. Napier. WESTMINSTER: Proverbs: A Commentary by W. McKane. WORD: New Perspectives on the Old Testament compiled by B. Payne.

BIBLICAL STUDIES, NEW TESTAMENTABINGDON: Auxiliary Studies in the Bible by R. Montgomery and W. Stegner, John Celebrates the Gospel by E. Saunders, Jesus: Man for Today by T. Morton, and Kyrios Christos by W. Bousset. BROADMAN: John’s Letters—Light for Living by L. Leavell. EERDMANS: The Gospel of John by Leon Morris and (“Scripture Union Series”) I and II Timothy, Titus, Philemon, James, Hebrews by Leon Morris. FORTRESS: Literary Criticism of the New Testament by W. Beardslee (p), Luke the Historian in Recent Study by C. Barrett, and The Lord’s Supper as a Christological Problem by W. Marxsen (p). INTER-VARSITY: The Man from Outside by G. Bridger (p) and Studies in Leadership: Philippians by B. Boyd (p). JOHN KNOX: *The Good News According to Mark by E. Schweizer. JUDSON: My Lord Speaks by S. Benko (p). MACMILLAN: The Founder of Christianity by C. Dodd, Jesus 0’5 by W. Harenberg, and Questions About Jesus by J. Michl. MOODY: Romans: Power for Modern Man by C. Bartlett (p), Galatians: Freedom for Modern Man by C. Bartlett (p), The Gospel of Mark by R. Earle (p), The Gospel of Luke by G. Luck (p), The Epistles of John by D. Burdick (p), and Studies in Luke, Romans, Hebrews by I. Jensen (p). WESTMINSTER: Hope in This World by W. C. Baker (p), God’s Revelation: A Way Through the New Testament by U. Wilckens (p), and Which Jesus? by J. Bowman (p). ZONDERVAN: RSV Interlinear New Testament by I. Marshall, Witness and Revelation in the Gospel of John by J. Boice (p), The New Berkeley New Testament and A Survey of the New Testament by R. Gundry.

BIOGRAPHYABINGDON: I Remain Unvanquished by A. and D. Ward. BETHANY FELLOWSHIP: So Restless, So Lonely by B. Palmer. DOUBLEDAY: A Second Birthday by W. Stringfellow. EERDMANS: John Bunyan by R. Greaves and Karl Barth by T. Parker. FORTRESS: The Man Who Moved a Mountain by R. Davids. FUNK AND WAGNALLS: The New Mission of Pope John XXIII by V. Gorresio. INTER-VARSITY: My Parents Are Impossible by W. Trobisch (p). MCGRAW-HILL: Letters to His Family by Pope John XXIII. MOODY: The Small Woman of the Inn of the Sixth Happiness by G. Aylward, Walter Wilson the Beloved Physician by K. Gangel, and The Man from Steamtown by J. Adair (p). PRAEGER: *King: A Critical Biography (Dr. Martin Luther King) by D. Lewis. ZONDERVAN: Born Out of Conflict by B. Song, Discoveries by E. Price (new edition), Adventurers with God by J. Hefley (p) (rp), Tortured for His Faith by H. Popov (p), At Least We Were Married by T. Thomas, and I Wish l Had Known, a symposium (p).

CHURCH HISTORYABINGDON: Easter: A Pictorial Pilgrimage by P. Benoit et al., Thomas co*ke: Apostle of Methodism by J. Vickers, and Major Religions of the World by M. Bach. CONCORDIA: The Church of the Middle Ages by C. Volz and The Church of the Renaissance and Reformation by K. Dannenfeldt. DOUBLEDAY: The Farm Boy and the Angel by C. Carmer and From Fertility Cult to Worship by W. Harrelson (p). FORTRESS: Luther: An Introduction to His Thought by G. Ebeling, Luther’s Works, Volume 39—Church and Ministry 1, edited by E. Gritsch, The Anabaptists and Religious Liberty in the Sixteenth Century by H. Bender (p), and The Council of Trent, the ‘Spiritual Exercises’ and the Catholic Reform by R. McNally, S. J. (p). JOHN KNOX: With the Spirit’s Sword: The Drama of Spiritual Warfare in the Theology of John Calvin by C. Hall (p) and (“Ecumenical Studies in History”) Christian Initiation by C. Wainwright. OXFORD: The Victorian Church, 1860–1914 by O. Chadwick. PRINCETON: Worship and Theology in England: Volume I: Cranmer to Hooker, 1534–1603 by H. Davies. SCRIBNER: *Religion in Ancient History: Studies in Ideas, Man and Events by S. Brandon. SHEED AND WARD: *Seven Revolutions: The Response of the Religious Establishment by F. Houtart.

DEVOTIONALABINGDON: Youth Meditations by W. Cook, The Sanctuary by W. Fridy, and Putting Your Faith to Work by J. Redhead. BAKER: Living Stones by G. Sweeting and Fingertip Devotions by A. Bolding (p). BETHANY FELLOWSHIP: Why Jesus? by F. Huegel (p). BROADMAN: Happiness Is God’s Gift by R. McMillan and Being Christ-like by H. Wahking. CONCORDIA: Pray for Joy by M. Franzmann, I Meet God Through the Strangest People (devotions for ages 9–13) by D. Burow, Man at Prayer by R. Gesch, Hurry Home Where You Belong by O. Hoffmann, and Can I Forgive God? by L. Brandt. DOUBLEDAY: Seed of the New Age by S. Sikking. FORTRESS: Words to See By by M. Bolduan. INTER-VARSITY: This Morning with God, Volume II, edited by C. Adeney (p). JUDSON: Bruised Reeds by W. Molton and D. Breed (p) and Make Mine Coffee, anonymous (p). SHEED AND WARD: Dynamic Contemplation by P. Hinnebusch and Who Am I? Second Thoughts on Man, His Loves, His Gods by L. Streiker. TYNDALE: Words of Wisdom (an arrangement and paraphrase of Psalms and Proverbs) by Billy Graham. WORD: When Sorrow Comes by R. Ozment, As Far as I Can Step by V. Law, and Seasons of the Soul by N. Peerman. ZONDERVAN: Genesis: A Devotional Exposition by D. Barnhouse.

DRAMA, FICTION, POETRYBAKER: Go Till You Guess Bible Games by A. Wells (p) and Life of Christ in Crossword Puzzle by L. Johnson (p). BROADMAN: Bible Dramas for Older Boys and Girls by S. Miller and Dramatic Programs for Christmas by C. McGee (p). CONCORDIA: India the Hungry by I. Muskie. EERDMANS: The Elements of John Updike by K. and A. Hamilton and Good News from Tolkien’s Middle Earth by G. Ellwood. FORTRESS: Saturday Waiting by J. Nilssen. JUDSON: Lindy by J. Higgins (p). MOODY: My Son, My Son by B. Palmer, No Ring on Her Finger by M. Woodford, The Road Winds On by F. Arnold (p), Vinegar Boy by A. Hawse, Buried Alive by V. Matson, In Crossfire of Hate by M. Wall, Captain Daley’s Crew (four titles) by C. Massey (p), Danny Orlis (two titles) by B. Palmer (p), Scotty (three titles) by B. Swinford (p), Faith at Work for Peggy by D. Martin (p), Indian Drums and Broken Arrows by C. Massey (p), Felicia Cartright by B. Palmer (p), and Jim Dunlap (three titles) by B. Palmer (p). UNITED CHURCH PRESS: Poetry of Francis Warner by F. Warner. ZONDERVAN: The Girl in 906 by D. Hall, Heartbeats by J. Drescher, and At Your Age, Miss Russell? by L. Heerman.

ECUMENICS, INTER-FAITH DIALOGUEEERDMANS: Reformed Bishops and Catholic Elders by E. Heideman and Reconciliation in Today’s World edited by A. Miller. MACMILLAN: Ethical Nationhood by M. Kaplan. OXFORD: Alive to God: Muslim and Christian Prayer edited by K. Cragg and The Christian Faith and Other Faiths by S. Neill. WESTMINSTER: Spirit, Faith and Church by W. Pannenberg, Theology and Church in Times of Change by E. L. Long, Jr., The Crumbling Walls by L. Mudge (p), and The Ecumenical Advance by H. Fey.

ETHICAL, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND CULTURAL STUDIESABINGDON: *Crisis in Eden by F. Elder, Rock 2000 by H. Ward, Jesus and the Disinherited by H. Thurman, Religion in Communist China by R. Bush, The Mad Morality by V. Eller (p), The Politics of Doomsday by E. Jorstad, and A Burden and an Ache by C. McConkey (p). BETHANY FELLOWSHIP: The Christian Family by L. Christenson. CONCORDIA: The Christian Encounters: The Age of Technology by H. Beck (p), The Christian Encounters: Government Economic Policy and Individual Welfare by H. Gram (p), Right, Wrong, or What? by P. Steinke (p), and Christian Family Living by E. May (p). DOUBLEDAY: The Gathering Storm in the Churches by J. Hadden (p), While Men Slept by L. N. Bell, *The Promise: Ethics in the Kingdom of God by V. Eller, and No Bars to Manhood by D. Berrigan. EERDMANS: The New Left and Christian Radicalism by A. Gish, For Whites Only by R. Terry, Solving Marital Problems by R. Bower, Whose Land Is Palestine by F. Epp, Lobbying for the Lord in Washington by J. Adams, and Unholy Smoke by G. Target. FORTRESS: Black Power and the American Myth by C. Vivian, Christ and Humanity edited by I. Asheim (p), The Churches and the Nations by O. Nolde, and Churches on the Move by G. Vallquist (p). INTER-VARSITY: Unafraid to Be by R. Etchells (p). JOHN KNOX: The Tragic Protest by D. Anderson, The Shattered Ring: Scenario for the Future by L. and S. Rose, and The Clown and the Crocodile by J. McLellan (p). JUDSON: *The Black Vanguard by R. Brisbane. MACMILLAN: Abortion: Law, Choice and Morality by D. Callahan, New Morality or No Morality? by R. Campbell, and Piety in the Public Schools by R. Michaelsen. MCGRAW-HILL: Morality and Eros by R. Rubenstein. MOODY: Answers to Youth Hangups by D. Hillis (p), What’s in It for Me? by L. Richards (p), Man, Am I Uptight! by D. Augsburger, This Way to Life by D. Prime (p), Spiritual Manpower by J. Sanders (p), and God’s Provisions for Holy Living by W. Culbertson (p). PAULIST: Violence edited by C. Sugg. PEGASUS: The Economics of the Ghetto by C. Bell, Politics of Pollution by J. Davies, Community Control: The Black Demand for Participation in Large American Cities by A. Altshuler, and Birth Control by G. Hardin. PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY: Faith and Reason: Essays in the Religious and Scientific Imagination by F. Plotkin. PRAEGER: Patriarch and Prophets: Persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church Today by M. Bourdeaux. PRINCETON: *The Study of Religion in Colleges and Universities edited by P. Ramsey and J. Wilson and Religious Humanism and the Victorian Novel: George Eliot, Walter Pater, and Samuel Butler by U. Knoepflmacher. SHEED AND WARD: The House Divided: Poverty, Race, Religion and the Family of Man by T. and M. Melady, New Horizons for the Priesthood by A. Greeley, Ghetto Kids by L. Cole, Alien Giants: America and Africa in History by E. Chester, and Religious Attitudes and War by R. Drinan. SIMON AND SCHUSTER: The Presence of the Word by W. Ong (p) and The Vatican Empire by N. LoBello (p). UNITED CHURCH PRESS: Despair and Hope for Our Time by F. Gogarten, A New America by M. Goodman, and The Bitter Pill by V. Johannas. WESTMINSTER: The Radical Suburb by J. B. Orr and F. Nichelson. ZONDERVAN: The Art of Understanding Your Mate by C. Osborne, Sex Is Not Sinful by J. Wyrtzen (p), Magic in Marriage by J. Jauncey (p) (rp), The Family in Dialogue by A. Bell (p) (rp) and For Adults Only by L. Granberg (p).

LITURGY, WORSHIPABINGDON: Off to a Good Start by A. Ingram (p). BAKER: Prayer Meeting Outlines by C. Pentz (p). CONCORDIA: Musical Heritage of the Church, Volume VII edited by T. Hoelty-Nickel. FORTRESS: Campus Prayers for the ’70s by J. Vannorsdall (p). JOHN KNOX: Cries from the Hurting Edges of the World by O. Rumpf (p). OXFORD: A Short History of the Western Liturgy by T. Klauser. ZONDERVAN: Prayer—Conversing with God (youth edition) by R. Rinker (p).

MISSIONS, EVANGELISM, CHURCH OUTREACHABINGDON: Christ’s Suburban Body by W. Baily and W. McElvaney. BETHANY FELLOWSHIP: World in Revolt by M. Schlink (p). BROADMAN: They Changed My China by M. Wong (p) and Advance: A History of Southern Baptist Foreign Missions by B. Cauthen et al. (p). CONCORDIA: The Christian’s Mission by R. Schulz (p). DOUBLEDAY: Shadows in the Valley by F. Kostyu. EERDMANS: Batak Blood and Protestant Soul by P. Pederson, Latin American Theology: Radical or Evangelical by C. Wagner, Understanding Church Growth by D. McGavran, Story of the Christian Church in India and Pakistan by S. Neill, Church Growth and the Word of God by A. Tippett, The Road Ahead: A Theology for the Church in Mission by J. Piet, A Brief History of Islam by H. Boer, The Americanization of an Immigrant Congregation by E. Bruins, Ecumenicity and Evangelism by D. Stowe, A History of Christianity in Japanby R. Drummond, and To Apply the Gospel: Selections from the Writings of Henry Venn by M. Warren. JOHN KNOX: Reform in Leopold’s Congo by S. Shaloff. JUDSON: Stranger in the Pew by K. Conners. MOODY: Growing Young Churches by M. Hodges (p), Nests Above the Abyss by I. Kuhn (p), Red Sky at Night by L. Lyall (p), and If I Were a Jew by R. G. Lee (p). RANDOM HOUSE: As I Live and Breathe by M. Boyd. TYNDALE: Transformed by H. Kooiman. WESTMINSTER: The Ecumenical Advance by H. Fey, Encounter with World Religions by R. Young, and On the Dragon Hills by R. Lautenschlager. WORD: Break-Through by T. Rees. ZONDERVAN: An Evangelical Theology of Missions by H. Lindsell (p) (revision of Philosophy of Christian Missions), Cannibal Valley by R. Hitt (p) (rp), Saturation Evangelism by G. W. Peters (p) (rp), and Share Your Faith by R. Hitt (p).

PASTORAL THEOLOGY (PREACHING, COUNSELING, CHURCH ADMINISTRATION)ABINGDON: The Affable Enemy by W. Fisher, The Power to Bless by M. Madden, Pastoral Care in the Liberal Churches edited by J. Adams and S. Hiltner, and Learning About Pastoral Care by C. Kemp. BAKER: Jesus Came Preaching by G. Buttrick (p) and History of Preaching II by E. Dargan (p). BEACON HILL: *When You Get to the End of Yourself by W. Perkiser, Words of Men at the Cross by C. Strait, Tables of Stone for Modern Living by R. Denny, and Easy to Live With by L. Parrott. CONCORDIA: I Hate to Bother You, But … by W. Hulme (p) and Church Business Methods by E. Walz (p). EERDMANS: The Reform of the Church by D. Bloesch and All One Body We by J. Kromminga. JOHN KNOX: Conflict and Understanding in Marriage by P. Plattner. JUDSON: Tell It to the Children by V. Kane. SHEED AND WARD: Discerning the Spirit: Foundations and Futures of Religious Life by D. Gelpi, S. J., Psychology of Authority by W. Meissner, The Future of the Christian Sunday by C. Kiesling, and Pastoral Psychology by C. Weber. TYNDALE: Ministers Research Service by W. Kerr. UNITED CHURCH PRESS: Creative Suffering by A. Paton (p), Minister on the Spot by J. Dittes (p), and Ex-Pastors by G. Jud et al. (p). WESTMINSTER: People Need People by S. Southard (p). WORD: Where God Comes In: The Divine Plus in Counseling by W. Crane. ZONDERVAN: How to Get Along with People in the Church by A. Bell (p) (rp) and Walter L. Wilson’s Illustrations from Science by A. Sparks (p).

RELIGIOUS EDUCATIONABINGDON: You Can Teach Creatively by E. Allstrom, Helping Children with the Mystery of Death by E. Reed, Professional Education for Ministry by E. Thornton, and Understanding Christian Education by W. Rood. BAKER: Miracles of the Master by L. Caldwell (p), Fifty-two Little Devotional Programs for the Primary Child by L. Autry (p), Up-to-Date Object Lessons by J. Sargent (p), and Instructive Object Lessons by J. Schofield (p). CONCORDIA: (“Church Teachers Library” edited by D. Griffin) What Has God Done Lately? (p), Well, What Is Teaching? (p), The Subject Is Persons (p), and New Ways to Learn (p). INTER-VARSITY: Encounter with Books edited by H. Merchant (p). JOHN KNOX: Free as the Wind by H. Wilkinson (p). JUDSON: Team Building in Church Groups by N. Geyer and S. Noll (p) and This Covenant People by H. Malmborg, G. Peck, and E. Taylor (p). MOODY: Easy Object Lessons by C. Ryrie (p), Creative Bible Teaching by L. Richards, Leadership for Church Education by K. Gangel, The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes (with records) by K. Taylor, Bible Baseball #2 by H. Fischer (p), and Bible Quiz Pads #3 and #4 by E. Wall (p). PAULIST: Experiential Catechetics by J. LeDu and M. van Caster, S. J., There’s More Than One Way by R. Neighbor and M. Ryan, and Third Living Room Dialogue by J. Young. PEGASUS: Teaching with Feeling by H. Greenberg (p). PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY: The Field of Zen by D. Suzuki. WESTMINSTER: God Made Us a Good World by G. Priester (p) and Learning and Teaching Through the Senses by K. Tobey (p). ZONDERVAN: Creative Crafts by J. Edwards (p).

SERMONSABINGDON: The Pig’s Brother and Other Children’s Sermons by S. Johnson and The Urgent Now by J. Armstrong. BAKER: Gospel Hour Sermons by G. Brooks (p), Suggested Sermon Outlines by W. Stevens (p), Whole Armour of God by J. Jowett (p), In Remembrance of Me, by A. Whyte (p), Sermons on Biblical Characters by C. Chappell (p), Treasury of Quiet Talks by S. Gordon (p), Inspiring Talks for All Occasions by M. Gosselink (p), Wings of the Morning by G. Morrison (p), 1400 Ideas for Speakers and Toastmasters by H. Prochnow (p), Sermons and Outlines for Special Occasions by J. Stalker (p), 1001 Sentence Sermons by C. Pentz (p), More Sermon Outlines and Bible Readings by F. Marsh (p), Sermons for Children by D. Laird (p), Fifty New Sermon Outlines by W. Compton (p), and Crowded Detours by D. Mallough. FAITH: *No Other Name—The Passion and Commandments of Our Lord by A. Graf. JUDSON: Facing Today’s Demands by J. Ban (p). ZONDERVAN: New Library of Spurgeon’s Sermons (twelve volumes), Communion Meditations and Prayers by J. Gwynne, Re-Entry by J. White, and Simple Sermons for a Sinful Age by W. H. Ford.

THEOLOGYABINGDON: Life Begins at Death by L. Weatherhead, Bonhoeffer’s Theology: Classical and Revolutionary by J. Woelfel, A History of Christian Thought, Volume I, by J. Gonzalez, and The Coming Faith by C. Marney. BAKER: Pauline and Other Studies in Early Christianity by W. Ramsay, The Holy Spirit by A. Pink, and Divine Healing by R. Torrey (p). BEACON HILL: John Wesley: Christian Revolutionary by M. Wynkoop. BETHANY FELLOWSHIP: *The Suicide of Christian Theology by J. W. Montgomery and How to Find Freedom from the Power of Sin by T. Hegre. CONCORDIA: I Found the Way by B. Ulrich, Break Out by H. Brokering (p), *The Two Natures in Christ by M. Chemnitz, and The Prolegomena to Lutheran Dogmatics by R. Preus. DOUBLEDAY: Projections: Shaping an American Theology for the Future by T. O’Meara and D. Weisser and Toward a Reconstruction of Religion by E. Fontinell. EERDMANS: Somewhat Less Than God by L. Verduin, A Theology of the Holy Spirit by D. Bruner, and Sin by G. Berkouwer. FORTRESS: What Is Man? by W. Pannenberg, Jesus Means Freedom by E. Käsemann (p), Divine Humanness by A. Siirala, The Future of Hope edited by W. Capps, and The Gospel Tradition by H. Riesenfeld. INTER-VARSITY: *Christ the Controversialist by J. R. W. Stott (p) and Establishing Basic Beliefs by G. Lewis (p). MACMILLAN: New Theology No. 7 edited by M. Marty and D. Peerman and Theology for Non-Theologians edited by H. Schultz. MCGRAW-HILL: Summa Theologiae, Volume 45, by Thomas Aquinas. MOODY: The Grace of God by C. Ryrie (p), The Divine Comforter by J. D. Pentecost (p), and Gleanings from the Scriptures by A. Pink. PAULIST: Basic Catechetical Perspectives by F. Coudreau. PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY: The Creation of Death and Life by R. King. PRAEGER: Concepts of God in Africa by J. Mbiti. PRENTICE-HALL: Readings in the Theology of the Church by E. Dirkswager, Jr. SHEED AND WARD: Dissent in and for the Church: Theologians and Humanae Vitae by C. Curran et al., The Responsibility of Dissent: The Church and Academic Freedom by J. Hunt and T. Connelly, Faith—Can Man Still Believe? by L. Monden, The Lively Debate: Response to Humanae Vitae by W. Shannon, and American Culture and the Quest for Christ by A. Padovano. WESTMINSTER: Biblical Theology in Crisis by B. Childs, Spirit, Faith and Church by W. Pannenberg, We Believe in God by R. Davies (p), The Doctrine of God by R. Smith, and Theology and Church in Times of Change by E. Long, Jr.

Two features have marked the majority of additions to the New Testament bookshelf in 1969. There have been volumes that fall into the category of resource material. These are usually large surveys that are intended not to be read for pleasure but to be consulted for information whenever the reader wishes to verify a fact, a date, or a precise point of exegesis. Then there are ground-breaking studies that send the reader off in a new direction, expose some neglected vein of gospel truth, or give a sharp knock to “assured results” of traditional or critical confidence. The past year has brought an interesting group of studies in this category.

But first to the reference works. Pride of place once again goes to the English version of Kittel’s Dictionary. Volume six offers a thousand pages of closely packed information on all manner of New Testament themes, both strictly theological and unlikely non-theological. Under the former head are long, authoritative essays on peira/peirasmos, meaning “trial, temptation”; pisteuo, “I believe”; pleres/pleroma, translated “full, fullness”; pneuma, rendered “spirit,” both human and divine; and prophetes, which one hardly need explain except to say that Israel’s prophetic movement gets as much attention as in any Old Testament wordbook. Among the less theological themes we find such ordinary words as the verbs “to do” (both poieo and prasso) and the nouns “war” (polemos, an article that has a timely message for a year of violent revolution and antiwar demonstrations) and “foot” (pous). Some terms quite obviously cry out for inclusion, such as “circumcision” (peritome) and “shepherd” (poimen), while others hold surprises for the curious. We think of the amount of theological significance Jeremias squeezes from polloi (“many”) or the relevance for modern Christian sex ethics of such a forbidding term as p*rne (“prostitute”). “Something for everyone” might well be the motto for this year’s Kittel, and we gratefully accept what is offered with renewed thanks to the army of contributors, the translator, and Eerdmans, the publisher.

Equal in size and weight is the massive Roman Catholic Jerome Biblical Commentary (Chapman), which devotes nearly half of its sections to New Testament matters. The stance is moderately critical on such issues as authorship and authenticity, but due recognition is given to Protestant conservative scholarship in the splendidly full reading lists. The theological value of the biblical text is much in prominence, and there are some fine essays offered under the captions “Hermeneutics” and “Inspiration and Inerrancy.”

More books that provide useful tools on the historical side of New Testament study are J. Jeremias’s newly translated detailed discussion of Jewish customs, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus (SCM), and Bo Reicke’s The New Testament Era (Fortress; Black). Jeremias writes from the perspective of his unrivaled knowledge of life in Palestine, both ancient and modern; with careful documentation from the Jewish sources he gives probably all there is to know about economic, social, and religious life in the holy city at the time when Jesus walked its streets. Bultmannian scholars have a low opinion of the possibility of knowing Jesus “after the flesh,” but in Jeremias’s hands this source of information is not to be despised. Jesus Rediscovered (Doubleday; Collins) by Malcolm Muggeridge is the latest illustration of this fact. Reicke’s study takes us into the world of the Bible from 500 B.C. to A.D. 100 and sets us straight on the lists of Syrian rulers, Roman emperors, and Jewish high priests. Not very exciting stuff, but all part of the biblical witness that God sent his Son in the fullness of time and that this mighty event of redemption was not done in a corner.

Another important volume that needs close attention to its details of history is George Ogg’s The Chronology of the Life of Paul (Epworth). The author is the doyen of New Testament specialists in the field of gospel and apostolic chronology, a fact recognized by both the theological right and the left. As proof we mention that he has similar articles in Inter-Varsity’s New Bible Dictionary and Peake’s Commentary. All should therefore profit from his new book on Paul’s life, traced from the cradle (in Tarsus) to the grave (in Rome). The worth of this book lies below the surface; much valuable information of contemporary events sets the Apostle in his first-century frame.

In Ogg’s book history is studied for its own sake. Not so for S. G. F. Brandon, who places a great gulf between the historical reporting of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus and the theological meaning of that event. In his The Trial of Jesus of Nazareth (Batsford), he returns to a subject that has been his interest for several years: the alleged political involvement of Jesus and his followers. Part of his case is a well-informed and attractively presented account of political life and historical conditions in Judaea from 4 B.C. to A.D. 70. But when he comes to give a highly individualized interpretation of the gospel facts, he offers a reconstruction of Christian origins that catches our breath: Jesus was mixed up with a violent, nationalist, anti-Roman movement known as the Zealots. And this implication with power politics is (says Brandon) the real reason for his death. The Gospels have obscured this unpleasant reality because they were written to make life tolerable for Christians in the empire, especially after the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, when the Jews had acquired a reputation for rebellion. Brandon’s thesis has commanded little sympathy, mainly because he is to be charged with the very thing of which he accuses the evangelists: tendentiousness and a selectivity of the evidence that enables him to reach his verdicts with a show of plausibility. Significantly, neither Jeremias nor Reicke makes much of the theological importance of the Zealots in New Testament times. But this deficiency did not prevent a Newsweek accolade from hailing Brandon as the modern counterpart of Albert Schweitzer because of his daring and heretical views!

In Brandon’s reappraisal much is made of the Gospel written by Mark, who (so it is argued) retells the trial of Jesus in such a way that the scandal of a Roman crucifixion is explained away. From Germany comes a rival view of Mark’s purpose, published by W. Marxsen as Mark the Evangelist (English translation from Abingdon). This book has already achieved fame on the European continent, where it marked the advent of a new phase of gospel study known as “redaction criticism.” In a word, this approach to the Gospels seeks to explore the entire gospel story (as distinct from the individual sections of which it is made up) as the product of the distinctive evangelist. Marxsen’s aim in this pioneering work was to place the Gospel of Mark in the setting of the evangelist’s church situation. He found the historical occasion for Mark’s publication in the outbreak of the Jewish war in A.D. 66 and suggested that Mark wrote to warn and challenge the Palestinian church to flee from Jerusalem to Galilee, where the Lord would appear to them. As with Brandon’s novel thesis, this reconstruction has won few adherents, but the method Marxsen used of taking the Gospel as a whole has been welcomed on all sides, and marks a real step forward beyond the cul-de-sacs of literary and form criticism.

In Hans Conzelmann’s An Outline of the Theology of the New Testament (SCM), we can see how deeply this newer study has affected the understanding of the Synoptics. Each evangelist is credited with a distinctive theological emphasis, and even provides data for an enquiry into Jesus’ own self-awareness as raw materials for an indirect Christology. This is significant. The immediate predecessor of Conzelmann’s book as a theology of the New Testament was Bultmann’s influential volumes—and he simply passed over the witness of the Synoptics as reflecting developed church tradition. So the latest book is more positive in its approach to the gospel sources as well as to theological themes in Paul, Hebrews, and John. There are numerous valuable insights (especially into the later books of the canon), but the shadow of Bultmann still falls heavily across the page.

Another significant volume to emerge from the post-Bultmannian stable is the collection of essays by Ernst Käsemann entitled New Testament Questions of Today (SCM; Fortress). Obviously this book is required reading for any who wish to keep alert to the mental gyrations of European and American scholars in the Bultmann school. Certain features are expected as Kasemann repeatedly attacks the twin enemies of what he deems to be authentic New Testament religion: legalistic orthodoxy and enthusiasm. Much of his exegetical work reflects a defensive attitude stimulated by the opposition within pietistic Lutheranism to Bultmannian radicalism. But not all the essays are so slanted.

To turn from the Conzelmann-Käsemann axis to the writings of F. F. Bruce and Leon Morris is to enter another world of thought. Explicitly in his opening chapter of a volume carrying the scriptural text as its title, This Is That: The New Testament Development of Some Old Testament Themes (Eerdmans; Paternoster) Bruce dissociates himself from Bultmann’s denial of a salvation-history attitude to the Bible’s story. For Bultmann, the Old Testament is in no sense a preparation for the Gospel. This negativism entails a great loss, as Bruce’s fine chapters clearly show. He takes a few of the chief themes, motifs, and images that are used as vehicles of revelation in the Old Testament and show how the New Testament writers adopt and adapt them to convey the perfect revelation in Jesus the Messiah of Israel and the Church’s Lord. The rule of God, the salvation of God, the people of God, and the servant of God—these are the selected topics, all handled with expert scholarship and obvious enthusiasm.

Leon Morris’s Studies in the Fourth Gospel (Eerdmans) stands in the same evangelical tradition, but it is more about the way the Gospel has been interpreted than about the Gospel itself. The author has taken up a defensive posture against current denials of such traditional matters as the apostolic authorship and the Gospel’s historicity, and seeks to demonstrate that these positions are still viable. With that laudable effort there can be no quarrel, except that his method is largely to play off one set of scholars against another. One chapter is just a tussle between Westcott (on the right) and Barrett (on the left). There is value here in having the arguments pro and con marshaled so fully, but our impression is that the Johannine storm center has shifted considerably from these issues to the even deeper concern of whether John’s Gospel is canonical or not, a question recently posed by Käsemann. Perhaps Morris’s forthcoming commentary on the Gospel will address itself to these matters.

Two other studies on the fourth Gospel should be noted; one is convincing, the other not so. W. H. Cadman’s posthumous work entitled The Open Heaven (Blackwell) bypasses much that occupies Morris’s interest in terms of the Gospel’s background; instead it goes to the heart of the evangelist’s presentation of his chief theme, the person of Christ. John’s aim is to show that God’s “eternal purpose is being enacted in [Jesus’] own life and ministry and will reach its full accomplishment in His impending passion and its aftermath, the sending of the Spirit.” The upshot of this discussion is to relate the Johannine Christ more closely with Paul’s Christology and indeed with the Jesus of the Synoptics. Nathaniel Micklem in his Behold the Man (Bles) also wishes to correlate John’s theology with that of the Synoptics, but his enterprise is marred by a dubious literary analysis that separates out hypothetical oral traditions and apostolic reminiscences from the editorial work of the evangelist, and by a revival of some old liberal ideas that betray a rationalizing tendency (e.g., Lazarus was not dead but in a comatose state from which Jesus called him).

Of a different caliber is the monumental study of all strata of New Testament Christology presented by Ferdinand Hahn as The Titles of Jesus in Christology (Lutterworth; World). On any showing this is a major work that passes under review the main appellations of Jesus (Son of Man, Lord, Christ, Son of David, Son of God) in the various phases of development within the canonical literature. To be sure, the attempt to apportion the titles among the so-called strata of tradition is somewhat speculative and arbitrary, because lines of development do not always run straight. But Hahn has assembled a vast amount of information and exegesis that will repay careful appraisal.

Three titles published within the year are closely connected by a common topic. They are concerned to call in question some current principles of gospel methodology, and, while they are full of technical discussions, they do speak a relevant word in answer to the burning question, What may we know today of the Jesus of history? Gerald Downing in his The Church and Jesus (SCM) is content to place a number of searching question marks against an easy acceptance of criteria by which the modern gospel critic determines what he regards as authentic or inauthentic in the gospel records. The implied assumption on his part is that he knows in advance what the early Church was capable of preserving and originating. But this “quest for the primitive Church” is just as problematic (on form-critical grounds) as the quest for Jesus; and the whole method invites us a logical impasse. Downing quotes R. P. C. Hanson to good effect: “If [on critical assumptions] nothing is certainly original then we cannot be sure that anything is certainly secondary.”

E. P. Sanders (in The Tendencies of the Synoptic Tradition, Cambridge) pursues a different tack by calling in question the propriety of labeling any part of the gospel tradition “early” or “late.” To be sure, modern scholars work with accepted canons, such as length, detail, and Semitic flavor, and often unthinkingly conclude that this evidence is compelling. For example, a narrative that is shorter than its parallels, less detailed, and full of Semitisms will be treated as earlier. Sanders’s study exposes the factual weaknesses of the entire method when treated as a set of cast-iron laws and thus upturns a considerable corpus of assured results in the field of gospel origins. Markan priority has taken a hard knock in this painstakingly erudite work.

And still another cherished assumption, beloved by the form critics, falls under the ax, if the results of J. Arthur Baird’s Audience Criticism and the Historical Jesus (Westminster) are to be believed. He is interested in the phenomena of the Synoptic audiences whom Jesus addressed. Usually these are dismissed as editorial creations, having no basis in fact. But no one until now has assembled all the data for inspection; armed with an IBM computer, Baird has classified all the references and comes up with some unusual results. Of prime importance is his estimate of Jesus’ sayings that as a body they possess “a rare stability and integrity, reflecting a church deeply concerned from a very early period to preserve the exact words and ideas of Jesus, and uniquely successful in so doing.” So it is back to the drawing board for the would-be solver of the Synoptic problem!

Fitting nowhere into a neat pigeon-hole of New Testament books in 1969 are I. Howard Marshall’s comprehensive study of all the passages dealing with apostasy and falling away, Kept by the Power of God (Epworth), and Marshall D. Johnson’s The Purpose of the Biblical Genealogies (Cambridge). The former raises some issues with which the dogmatic theologian will have to grapple, especially if his Calvinistic conviction is to remain intact. Johnson’s treatment of birth-lists concludes that the evangelists framed these more for theological than for historical purposes.

As a tail-piece a volume of collected essays in honor of Matthew Black has appeared under the caption Neotestamentica et Semitica (T. and T. Clark). The editors have brought together a galaxy of names from the international world of New Testament interpreters, and as expected the fruit of their writing is first-class fare from which it would be invidious to choose any special item. The entire volume is indicative of the good year it has been for the New Testament library, especially for the shelf marked “the four Gospels.”

Also published in the year were: A New Testament Commentary, edited by G. C. D. Howley (Pickering and Inglis); P. Benoit, The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus (Darton, Longman and Todd); G. W. H. Lampe, St. Luke and the Church of Jerusalem (Athlone); H. Chadwick, The Enigma of St. Paul (Athlone); A. J. B. Higgins, The Tradition about Jesus (Oliver and Boyd); S. Sandmel, The First Christian Century in Judaism and Christianity (Oxford); J. D. Kingsbury, Parables of Jesus in Matthew 13 (SPCK); W. Marxsen, Beginnings of Christology (Fortress); R. Bultmann, Faith and Understanding (SCM); C. Westermann, Handbook to the New Testament (Augsburg); S. Brown, Apostasy and Perseverance in the Theology of Luke (Biblical Institute, Rome); The New Testament Speaks, edited by G. W. Barker, W. L. Lane, and J. R. Michaels (Harper & Row); J. N. D. Kelly, Epistles of Peter and Jude (Harper & Row; Black); D. E. H. Whiteley, New Clarendon Bible: Thessalonians (Oxford); L. Morris, Tyndale New Testament Commentary: Revelation (Eerdmans); C. C. Anderson, Critical Quests of Jesus (Eerdmans); and A. A. T. Ehrhardt, The Acts of the Apostles (Manchester University).

Granted the general fallibility of human judgment, there are still some special difficulties in trying to select significant books in a given year. For one thing, the criteria of significance vary so widely. For another, history has a habit of confounding our conclusions, and even history has both short-range and long-range evaluations. This year there is the added problem of a very large number of worthwhile volumes in this field. At best, then, the following list can be described only as a tentative venture.

1. The Cambridge History of the Bible, Volume II: The West from the Fathers to the Reformation, edited by G. W. H. Lampe (Cambridge). This is one book that could hardly be left out. The articles are written by leading scholars and cover such important matters as translation, interpretation, and use through the various periods. In view of the centrality of Holy Scripture, an authoritative history of this kind is to be specially welcomed and will prove of inestimable value.

2. The Geneva Bible (University of Wisconsin). This is a reprint of primary importance and interest and should be recommended to the local library if one finds the price too high. First published in 1560, the Geneva Bible was the Puritan alternative to the Bishops’ Bible, with which it was in fierce competition in Elizabeth’s reign. The two finally came together in the King James of 1611, though each kept a devoted circle for some years after. The Geneva Bible is a famous link in the chain of the English Bible, but few have had the chance to peruse it. The present imprint now opens it to a wider public.

3. Theological Ethics, Volume II, by Helmut Thielicke (Fortress). Translation from the German always plays a big role in theology, and this year we have an important volume from Thielicke. Having laid the foundation in Volume I, he here moves on to an acute discussion of political ethics with illustrating themes. While a good deal of attention is devoted to special situations, Thielicke avoids the shallowness of popular situation ethics and keeps to his basic thesis that the whole problem is that of doing what is right in a fallen world. In spite of some rearrangement and abridging, the result is one of the most profound and thought-provoking ethical discussions in the modern epoch.

4. Church Dogmatics, IV, 4 (Fragment), by Karl Barth (T. and T. Clark). This year also sees the English version of the last available part of Barth’s Dogmatics. The peculiar title is due to the fact that Barth specially prepared the section on baptism from among the materials amassed for the full fourth part of Volume IV. Though a fragment of the planned whole, this is in fact a self-contained book in which Barth in a tour de force abandons the classical Reformed doctrine of baptism and presents his reinterpretation. His final call for the end of infant baptism shows that the Barth-Baptist axis of 1943 stood to the very last.

5. The Theological Foundation of Law, by Jacques Ellul (Seabury). Ellul’s name has been familiar in Europe for many years, and it is now penetrating into the American world. This small but important work, translated from the French, is an acute analysis of the basis of law by one who is both a professor of law and a lay theologian. Ellul is not satisfied theologically with the usual appeal to natural law and seeks to work out a biblical alternative. The practical relevance of the study is clear, and whether or not one accepts the thesis or its details, the presentation is vivid, exciting, and timely.

6. Patterns of Reformation, by Gordon Rupp (Fortress). Reformation studies always claim attention, and Professor Rupp has again laid us in his debt with this masterly and colorful volume. In it he focuses attention on four of the lesser figures of the Reformation, Oecolampadius and Vadianus from Switzerland and Karlstadt and Müntzer from Germany. He gives a well-documented portrayal of all four, shows their importance, and sets them against the rich tapestry of a great and formative age. There is a powerful reminder here that history is not just the story of a few great men.

7. Captive to the Word, by A. Skevington Wood (Eerdmans), and From Shadow to Promise, by J. S. Preus (Harvard). Perhaps one may be permitted to group together here two works that deal with Luther and Holy Scripture. The former is the more comprehensive. Based on a diligent reading of the sources, it is a well-written study of Luther and Scripture by an author who seems to switch with the greatest of ease from Wesley to Luther and back again. The latter is a more detailed account of Luther’s understanding of the Old Testament, especially against the background of medieval work in this field. Since the problems of both works, the role of Scripture and the interrelation of the Testaments, are very much the questions of our own time, the value of these two very able works is plain.

8. John Hus, by Matthew Spinka (Princeton). In biography this book on Hus is the first to claim attention. In fact, it should have been mentioned last year but came to hand just too late for inclusion. A lifetime of study in the field has gone to produce what will surely rank as one of the most authoritative accounts of the Czech reformer, written with all the distinction and force of a practiced author and scholar. If not so much is said about Hus’s theology, Dr. Spinka himself has already covered the field in previous works. The focus now is on the man and his life and activity.

9. Dwight L. Moody, by J. M. Findlay (University of Chicago). Another biography of stature is this new account of the great nineteenth-century evangelist whose energy and achievements can still astonish us. This is a workmanlike job that happily combines sound research and interesting presentation. Since the author’s perspectives are not the same as Moody’s, some of the evaluations are to be treated with caution. Yet they also call for consideration, and in any case do not detract from the historical merit of the work or the interest of the subject.

10. The Life and Death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, by Mary Bosanquet (Harper and Row). A final biography deals with one of the most fascinating and influential figures of our own century. Much has been written about Bonhoeffer and his own writings have been extensively published, but this is the first English book to supply a comprehensive picture of the whole man. A notable feature of this work is the balance of presentation. The author is well aware that some fragmentary ideas of Bonhoeffer have been monstrously exaggerated in more recent years. It is no small merit of this able and fascinating biography to put these in proper perspective.

11. Melanchthon and Bucer, edited by Wilhelm Pauck (Westminster). To go back to the Reformation age we now have in this addition to the “Library of Christian Classics” two very important writings. The first is Melanchthon’s Loci Communes, the first Protestant dogmatics, written when the author was still a young man. The other is Martin Bucer’s On the Kingdom of Christ, a work on social problems composed when the Strasburg reformer had reached maturity. The production is fully in keeping with what one would expect from the distinguished editor.

12. The Catholic Reformation: Savonarola to Ignatius Loyola, by J. C. Olin (Harper & Row). In complementary fashion we have here a collection of sources from the movement often known as the Counter-Reformation, though in fact, as the author points out, many of them belong to the pre-1517 era of reform. Among others are a sermon by Savonarola, Colet’s famous convocation sermon, a charming piece by Erasmus, Lefevre’s preface, and some new monastic rules. There is a brief introduction to the whole collection, and each extract has its own useful and unobtrusive preface.

13. Ideas of History, Volume I and II, edited by Ronald H. Nash (Dutton). This is a very different collection, consisting of sections from the great writers on the philosophy of history. The volumes are divided thematically rather than chronologically. In the speculative category are men like Augustine, Vico, Kant, and Niebuhr, while the critical includes Comte, Mill, Dilthey, Collingwood, and others. Light is thus shed on the difference of approach as well as on individual features. For those who want a fuller dose, Herder’s Ideen are now available in abridged translation, Reflections on the Philosophy of the History of Mankind (University of Chicago).

14. Calvinism and the Amyraut Heresy, by Brian G. Armstrong (University of Wisconsin). Historical theology provides a long overdue investigation of the important controversy in the seventeenth-century French Reformed Church associated with Moise Amyraut. Amyraut was tried in 1637 for departing from orthodox Calvinism. He claimed, however, that his teaching was essentially that of Calvin himself. The heart of the present enquiry is the question whether this plea was correct—in other words, whether Calvinism itself was not perhaps a departure from Calvin. The author inclines to this view, but one does not have to agree with this to appreciate the value of a book that drives us back to the originals on a matter of no little importance.

15. Luther Right or Wrong?, by H. J. McSorley (Newman and Augsburg). This is also a work of historical theology and in the same area. At issue is Luther’s important book On the Bondage of the Will, which he wrote in answer to Erasmus’s treatise On the Freedom of the Will. The author’s question is whether Luther’s is the true Christian position, though this in turn raises such further matters as the norm of orthodoxy, the views of Augustine, the meaning of theological (as compared with philosophical) freedom. The book does a service by taking us back to these deep but central issues.

16. The Sacraments, by G. C. Berkouwer (Eerdmans). In dogmatics one has come to look for a book every year or so from the Dutch evangelical G. C. Berkouwer. This time he writes on the sacraments in a competent and constructive restatement of the reformed understanding. Here is another volume in the comprehensive series of “Studies in Dogmatics.” This is one of the finest things in evangelical theology today and should command a widening circle of appreciative readers.

17. The Knowledge of God, by Henri Bouillard (Burns and Oates). Bouillard is a well-known French Roman Catholic who has played an important part in the modern rethinking of Roman Catholic theology. In this small work he tackles one of the lively issues of the day, the question of natural theology: How much may sinful man know of God without the special revelation of the Bible? The book can serve as an introduction to Bouillard, as a historical guide, and also as a stimulus to further thought on this subject.

18. Norm and Context in Christian Ethics, edited by G. H. Outka and Paul Ramsey (SCM). This large volume consists of articles by scholars of many different lands and schools. It has four parts, one of more general introduction, one on natural law, one on reformation concepts, and one on situation ethics. The central theme, of course, is the place of norms. If no uniform solution is reached, evangelicals who know what the norm is but still find it very hard to apply should not be too critical. The books helps to clarify what an ethical norm involves. It also shows what some of the suggested answers to the question are.

19. A Dictionary of Christian Theology, edited by Alan Richardson (Westminster). Many people, especially students, feel the need for a dictionary of theology that will not be too big but will also offer more than a recital of bare facts. The present volume, which combines conciseness with some depth in presenting men and movements, is designed to meet that need. Experts will differ on the emphases and omissions, and no one will agree with all the evaluations. But for the reader or student who wants some basic knowledge and orientation, this is not a bad place to begin.

20. Jesus Rediscovered, by Malcolm Muggeridge (Doubleday). This is a theological lightweight compared to the others. It is an assembly of articles with an opening chapter on the author’s spiritual pilgrimage. The central theme is the rediscovery of Jesus, the movement to faith in Christ. Much of what is said is palpably inadequate theologically, but that is not the point. The point is that, as with C. S. Lewis, a modern intellectual has found his way to Jesus, and he writes about it with the wit and grace and provocativeness so characteristic of this former editor of Punch. This is what gives the work its interest and importance.

As noted, this has been a good year, and only a sprinkling of other works can be given. Many series of basic texts go forward, as with Aquinas (Eyre and Spottiswoode). Biography includes Martin Luther by E. Simon and William Tyndale by R. C. Williams. T. H. L. Parker has a good and timely sketch of Karl Barth (Eerdmans). One might also mention The Musical Wesleys (Oxford) by E. K. Routely: these are Charles II, Samuel, and Samuel Sebastian. A Roman Catholic study is that of The Liberal Who Failed (Corpus) by J. C. Findlay; he refers to Montalembert. More general histories range from Friedrich Heer, The Holy Roman Empire (Praeger), to Archibald Alexander, The Log College (Banner of Truth).

Philosophy offers many tomes. J. D. Bettes presents Phenomenology of Religion (SCM), while S. C. Brown is worried about the intelligibility gap, Do Religious Claims Make Sense? (SCM). N. Smart has added a chapter on Wittgenstein to his Philosophers and Religious Truth (SCM). H. H. Price has revised the 1966 Gifford Lectures, Belief (Allen and Unwin). Colin Brown has a helpful survey of Philosophy and the Faith (Inter-Varsity). Ronald H. Nash uses the title The Light of the Mind (Kentucky) for his probe into Augustine’s theory of knowledge. In The Future of Theology (Westminster), Frederick Sontag suggests that American Protestantism could do with a philosophical basis of some kind.

Theology offers varied fare. Jaroslav Pelikan seems to be launching a new history of dogma in Development of Christian Doctrine (Yale). E. Mascall is back on the scene with Theology and the Future (Darton, Longman and Todd). A theology of history is the goal of J. W. Montgomery’s Where Is History Going? (Zondervan). Carl F. H. Henry keeps busy; in addition to seeing the CHRISTIANITY TODAY series Fundamentals of the Faith through the press (Zondervan), he also has his own collection, Faith on the Frontiers (Moody). Lesslie Newbigin tackles problems of comparative religion in The Finality of Christ (SCM). T. F. Torrance has two small but thought-provoking books, Theological Science and Space, Time and Incarnation (Oxford). H. A. Kelly seeks the demise, not of God, but of the devil, in Toward the Death of Satan (Geoffrey Chapman)—a Roman Catholic work! Also from Roman Catholicism comes a useful Dictionary of the Council by J. Deretz and A. Nocent (Corpus). In the “Studies in Medieval and Reformation Thought” series, S. E. Ozment has a valuable account of Luther’s anthropology, hom*o Spiritualis. Also worth noting for any who read German is G. W. Locher’s Huldrych Zwingli in neuer Sicht, a collection of articles by perhaps the foremost student of Zwingli’s theology today.

By way of conclusion, four very varied works may be noted. The first, Heresies of the High Middle Ages (Columbia), by W. L. Wakefield and A. P. Evans, is a valuable and interesting collection of sources. The second, Translating for King James (Vanderbilt), edited by Ward Allen, reproduces some long-lost notes of John Bois, one the translators of the King James Version. The third is a set of sermons by Helmut Thielicke, How Modern Should Theology Be? (Fortress), in which he pleads that the baby not be lost with the bathwater. The last is a study of The Church and Social Order (Mowbrays) by J. Oliver. Though devoted to the Church of England (1918–39), this contains, according to A. R. Vidler in the foreword, “the principal lesson … that Christian social action is primarily a matter of lay people doing things in the various walks of life in which they hold responsibility and of which they have first-hand knowledge, and not of clerics and ecclesiastical assemblies saying things, or passing well-intentioned resolutions about what other people might do.”

Leading off this year is R. K. Harrison’s definitive Introduction to the Old Testament (Eerdmans). Beginning with an extensive review of earlier Old Testament study, the work continues with essays on archaeology, chronology, text and canon, history, religion, and theology. Then follow the standard sections on individual books, supplemented by a useful introduction to the Apocrypha, written chiefly for Protestants whose access to such material is limited. Although Harrison is more willing to entertain critical theories than his conservative predecessors in the field (Young and Archer), he demands a criticism resting on an “assured basis of ancient Near Eastern life rather than upon occidental philosophical or methodological speculations.” Despite a tendency toward repetition, this introduction will prove itself worth the price of $12.50.

2. A standard reference tool has been brought up to date with the publication of The Ancient Near East: Supplementary Texts and Pictures Relating to the Old Testament, edited by J. B. Pritchard (Princeton). Since the appearance of Ancient Near Eastern Texts (1950) and The Ancient Near East in Pictures (1955), both the archaeologist and the linguist have been extremely productive, and the results of their labors are here collected in popular form. Of special note will be new Hebrew texts, such as the Yavneh Yam inscription with its interesting analogue to Deuteronomy 24:12 and 13, and the editor’s own archaeological material from Gibeon.

3. The flow of Bible atlases continued in 1969 with the appearance of two major works that share the number three spotlight. Under the editorial hand of E. M. Blaiklock, veteran classicist, the Pictorial Bible Atlas (Zondervan) has taken shape. With 528 pages of text, 220 pictures, and 85 color maps incorporating the Trans-Vision Overlay feature, this work will find a place in many a home library. At double the price, but standing in the tradition of the noted Grollenberg atlas, is the New Atlas of the Bible, edited by J. H. Negenman, L. H. Grollenberg, and H. H. Rowley (Doubleday). Here is a large, beautifully bound and illustrated volume, giving excellent archaeological and geographical background for the entire ancient Near East. Neither book will take the place of last year’s Macmillan Bible Atlas, a fact that does not lessen the intrinsic worth of either.

4. A large collection of relevant folklore is presented by T. H. Gaster in his survey entitled Myth, Legend, and Custom in the Old Testament (Harper & Row). In what began as a revision of Sir James Frazer’s three-volume work, Folk-Lore in the Old Testament, the author, an acknowledged master of his field, has combined philological treatment of Hebrew words with motifs from myth and folklore in an arrangement that, because of its biblical order, will prove far more useful than the original. The reader need not be a follower of the myth-ritual school to be fascinated by the parallels here presented. Even at $20, this volume cannot be ignored.

5. A fifth book, one concerned with a specific problem in ancient Near Eastern background, is Atra-Hasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood, by W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard (Oxford). It has long been known that the Atra-hasis Epic provided details to supplement the eleventh tablet of Gilgamesh with its flood story, but few students of Old Testament had access to this badly fragmented material. Now the publication of two large tablets discovered in the British Museum, integrated with almost all other extant material bearing on the Epic, permits reconstruction of the story. Of special note is the account of mankind’s primeval history, with its own implications for the student of Genesis 1–7. Although Lambert and Millard have limited their work to technical details of the Babylonian Epic, they have laid a new foundation for many a biblical monograph on these important subjects.

6. Easily the most important book of 1969 for form-critical studies is this biography of its instigator, Hermann Gunkel: zu seiner Theologie der Religionsgeschichte und zur Entstehung der formgeschichtlichen Methode, by Werner Klatt (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht). Growing out of a 1966 dissertation, this volume is at once a biography, the chronicle of a great period in German biblical studies, and an analysis of how an important critical methodology developed. In the opening chapter Gunkel is seen against the backdrop of an evangelical pietism, interacting with the prevalent theological liberalism of his day. The latter two chapters divide his scholarly life into the “religions-geschichtliche” period, characterized by his Schöpfung und Chaos (1895), and the “literaturgeschichtliche” period, with Die Genesis (1901) as its major work. In an era dominated by form criticism and its offspring, the student of Old Testament would do well to consider this first-rate study of the beginnings of the idea.

7. A plum for the linguist comes in the form of a second German work, Das hebräische Pi‘el: Syntaktischsemasiologische Untersuchung einer Verbalform im Alten Testament, by E. Jenni (Zurich: EVZ Verlag). Here Jenni suggests that the doubled stem is neither intensive nor causative, but expresses the accomplishment in action of the state described by the adjective related to the basic stem. His treatment, built on a theory of Albrecht Goetze concerning Akkadian doubled verbs, divides Piel verbs into those whose basic stem is transitive and those whose basic stem is intransitive, with the distinction largely resting on original meaning rather than form of the verb. These categories are the subject of extensive examination within the major section of the book, which then closes with a helpful listing of Piel verbs in the Old Testament and an index.

8. In 1950 G. E. Wright defended biblical theology as the “confessional recital of the redemptive acts of God” in a particular history, with history as the chief medium of revelation. Now in The Old Testament and Theology (Harper & Row), Wright again calls for a return to historical perspective in our Old Testament view of God, largely vis-à-vis the Christomonism of current theology with its inherent Marcionistic tendencies. The God of the Old Testament is defended as Creator, Lord, and Warrior. This political understanding of the world and the sense of cosmic government thus conveyed, the author argues, is basic to a meaningful view of history, a valid New Testament theology, and a personal quest for meaning in a threatening world. Even one who cannot fully share Wright’s rejection of the propositional and systematic nature of theology will find this volume a welcome corrective to some excesses of modern theology.

9. The past year saw the introduction of yet another commentary on the whole Bible with the publication of Volume I of the Broadman Bible Commentary (Broadman). Two major contributions (Genesis by G. H. Davies and Exodus by R. L. Honeycutt) follow nine articles on general biblical subjects by various Baptist scholars. The commentary presents “current Biblical studies within the context of strong faith in the authority, adequacy, and reliability of the Bible as the Word of God.” Within this general framework the contributors have freely built their exposition on the results of standard critical orthodoxy, and whether they will escape destruction by the Scylla on the left or the Charybdis on the right remains to be seen. To the scholar much of the work will seem slightly secondhand, but for the general reader seeking a reverent and sometimes practical restatement of current Pentateuchal thought, the book will have value.

10. Turning to a more original work, we next consider Numbers (Westminster), by Martin Noth, who until his death in 1968 stood as one of the giants in contemporary Old Testament scholarship. Noth’s interest in source traditions, sociological units, and geographcial locations provides some valuable insights, although he confesses to a certain inability to make sense out of the source problem in Numbers. What gives unity to Numbers is its conclusion of the great central Pentateuchal theme, the “theophany at Sinai” and its introduction of the “conquest” theme. Between the two there is much fragmentary material drawn from varied sources, including the “old Pentateuchal sources” of which Noth is fond. Although the pastor will find little of direct practical interest in such a volume, the student will be grateful for this final contribution to the Pentateuchal section of the “Old Testament Library.”

11. That size is no measure of quality is amply demonstrated by our next selection, The Theology of the Book of Ruth, by R. M. Hals (Fortress Facet Book). Here is a valuable form-critical study of a little-used book, built on the conviction that Ruth must be more than just a “lovely little short story.” Rather, its true meaning is to be sought in the references to God (“allcausality combined with hiddenness”), whose unseen hand guides history. Both the student of Old Testament history and the preacher will want to interact with the stimulating ideas presented in this slender, paperback monograph.

12. Another small but useful book is H. L. Ellison’s The Prophets of Israel (Eerdmans). Stressing contemporary values, Ellison builds his picture of the Northern Kingdom prophets on an understanding of the “two-kingdom psychology” that prevailed even before the time of David. Both non-literary and literary prophets are discussed, often with unusual perception. This is not a book to be read in a hurry, but a leisurely journey through its pages may confirm the reviewer’s impression that here we have the best conservative book of 1969.

13. Another excellent study of prophetic Scripture comes from the Heidelberg scholar, Claus Westermann. His Isaiah 40–66 (Westminster), although basically form-critical in its approach, looks for order in the arrangement of “Deutero-Isaiah” and attributes to that prophet the possible authorship of the first three servant songs. While the servant is not identified (“this is not the crucial question”), his status as an individual and his place in the Christian kerygma are effectively discussed. Helpful bibliographies and titles accompanying each section enhance the usefulness of this volume.

14. Continuing the prophetic feast are volumes on Amos and Hosea (Westminster), by J. L. Mays. These books combine clear discussion of recent form-critical and traditio-historical work with a warmth of feeling for the prophetic word. In Hosea the message is devotion, faithfulness, and the knowledge of God, while Amos, by contrast, is concerned with indictment, justice, and righteousness. That two such vivid prophetic portraits should have been presented in juxtaposition serves only to heighten our appreciation of each.

15. Attention is directed to a later prophet in C. L. Feinberg’s The Prophecy of Ezekiel (Moody), a devotional exposition from the dispensational perspective. Ezekiel is seen as a theodicy, chiefly concerned with the sovereignty and glory of the Lord God at a time when this truth seemed to have been drowned out by the state of affairs in the world. Although strongly committed to literal fulfillment of prophetic vision, Feinberg has carefully avoided the kind of speculation that has often limited the usefulness of such a work, and gives us a valuable addition to the preacher’s library.

16. Viewing Job as a unity developed in three stages and built on a common Near Eastern wisdom theme is N. H. Snaith’s The Book of Job: Its Origin and Purpose (Allenson, “Studies in Biblical Theology”). Snaith sees the problem to be one of monotheism and not one of suffering. How can the High God fulfill the functions of the low gods and still be the High God? In this dilemma of God’s transcendence, man can only submit and hope that some intermediary is forthcoming. With the question thus framed, the scene is set for later Jewish and Christian attempts to provide an answer through law and incarnation.

17. Last year’s contribution to the continuing debate on covenant comes in the form of a monograph, Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea (Johns Hopkins, “Seminars in the History of Ideas”), by D. R. Hillers. Central to the thesis is the claim that contradictions among students of the subject can be resolved by a realization that there were two distinct and almost opposite notions of covenant extant in Israel. Subsequent research may reject Dr. Hillers’s historical reconstruction of covenant thinking in Israel, but it will ignore his penetrating analysis of form at its own peril.

18. The knotty problem of priestly origins in Israel has received fresh treatment in a published thesis entitled A History of Old Testament Priesthood (Pontifical Biblical Institute), by Aelred Cody, O.S.B. Turning from the traditio-historical approach, Cody develops his argument by appeal to archaeology, philology, and parallels from surrounding cultures. An etymological discussion of kohen and levi leads to no startling conclusions, and Noth’s argument concerning cultic and secular Levites is rejected. Although some of his historical treatments suffer from subjectivity, Cody has produced an important study of this elusive subject.

19. The Conflict Between El and Ba‘al in Canaanite Religion (Brill), by Ulf Oldenburg, was motivated by the author’s desire to “see whether the faith of Yahweh was a product of the soil of Canaanite religion.” His answer is a reverent and resounding no. Rather, Yahweh is to be identified with an El whose origin must be sought in the desert where, undefiled by later Canaanite apostasy, he was worshipped in the purity of patriarchal religion. Oldenburg brings to his subject a firm control of both biblical and Ugaritic data and has given us a volume worthy of extensive consideration.

20. In a closing double-header of monumental proportions, we can only mention two first-rate collections of essays. In the first, The W. F. Albright Volume (Israel Exploration Society, “Eretz-Israel 9”), edited by A. Malamat, both archaeologist and biblical scholar will feast on contributions by Wright, deVaux, Yadin, Cross, Mazar, Kramer, and others. One cautionary note: over half the articles are in modern Hebrew. The second volume, equally rich, is the Congress Volume (Brill), containing papers read by members of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament in 1968. Vriezen, Ahlstrom, Ginsberg, Kosmala, Martin, Terrien, and Zimmerli are but a few of the internationally known contributors to this book.

Other books of merit that, though some equaled or surpassed those already cited, did not satisfy the criteria used for selection of this “top twenty,” are as follows:

GENERAL AND BACKGROUND: W. W. Hallo, editor, Essays in Memory of E. A. Speiser (American Oriental Society, 1968), a must for ancient Near Eastern students; John MacDonald, editor, Dead Sea Scroll Studies (Brill, “Annual of the Leeds Oriental Society”); J. M. Allegro and A. A. Anderson, Qumran Cave 4:1 (Oxford, “Discoveries in the Judean Desert of Jordan”), but see the reviews for errata.

BIBLICAL BOOKS: W. Dommershausen, Die Estherrolle (Stuttgart: Verlag Kathol. Bibelwerk, 1968), sees Esther as “veiled Wisdom theology”; A. Guillaume, Studies in the Book of Job, with a new translation (Brill, 1968), continuing arguments for Arabian provenance; D. Lys, Le plus beau chant de la création; Commentaire du Cantique des Cantiques (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1968), argues that the original sense is both sexual and sacred; M. J. Buss, The Prophetic Word of Hosea (Berlin: Töpelmann) and J. M. Ward, Amos and Isaiah: Prophets of the Word of God (Abingdon), both form-critical in methodology and important for prophetic studies.

MONOGRAPHS: R. Butin, The Ten Nequdoth of the Torah (KTAV), a reprint essay on the “extra-ordinary” points; J. S. Chesnut, The Old Testament Understanding of God (Westminster, 1968), popular; F. Ellermeier, Prophetie in Mari und Israel (Herzberg: Erwin Jungfer, 1968), dealing with a most fruitful field; A. S. Kapelrud, The Violent Goddess: Anat in the Ras Shamra Texts (Oslo: Universitets Forlaget); B. O. Long, The Problem of Etiological Narrative in the Old Testament (Berlin: Töpelmann, 1968), isolates two types of this form; M. Ottosson, Gilead: Tradition and History (Lund: CWK Gleerup), concerned with ideological motifs connected with Gilead in the “P-work”; H. Schmid, Mose: Überlieferung und Geschichte (Berlin: Töpelmann, 1968), evaluates recent traditio-historical research on the person and work of Moses; J. G. Vink, The Date and Origin of the Priestly Code in the Testament (Brill); and finally, J. R. Wilch, Time and Event (Brill), an exegetical study of the use of ‘eth in the Old Testament.

A number of Christian organizations send out monthly prayer reminders. They usually include specific requests and name individuals and their needs. Some of us are convinced that God has answered prayer in the cessation of fighting in Biafra. But many other prayer needs remain. Perhaps a reminder of some items still on the agenda would be helpful. Let us continue to pray for Biafra, asking God to erase the stains of the conflict and bring healing to these people. Viet Nam still looms large on the horizon, and we should call on God daily for the resolution of that struggle. The Israeli-Arab dilemma, one that cries out for peace and justice, certainly has a place on the list. The race issue—including the urgent necessity that Christians manifest the love of Jesus Christ, black for white and white for black—greatly needs our prayers. We should pray particularly for the resolution of the school desegregation situation, which threatens another harvest of hate.

Most of all we need to pray for a great spiritual awakening in our land. Each of us should ask God to awaken us, to do something fresh in our local congregations, to renew the Church, and to bring multiplied thousands of unsaved people into the fellowship of the redeemed. Let’s pray!

“Laugh-in” recently presented its “Flying Fickle Finger of Fate” award to state automobile-license bureaus that sell names and addresses for directmail advertising. I have no idea whether this is the source of the vast quantities of junk mail I receive; perhaps such mail simply represents one of the occupational hazards of the ministry. The invitations to join Hefner’s Bunny Clubs at a reduced rate I can stand (they are invariably well printed); what I have great difficulty in tolerating is the not inconsiderable quantity of politically rightist propaganda misdirected to me. Behind it seems to lie the thoroughly fallacious assumption that anyone who is “conservative” theologically must of course believe that the United States is “God’s country” and must join the crusade to “bring America back to the Christian political philosophy of the Founding Fathers.”

That this viewpoint is by no means limited to pamphleteers was evident when I received as a Christmas gift from an evangelical publisher Benjamin Weiss’s book, God in American History, whose preface sets the tone of the entire volume: “The purpose of this book is to present documentary evidence that the source of our nation’s strength from its beginning has been faith in God.… Schools, colleges, charitable institutions, hospitals, orphanages, and other institutions are monumental proof of the Christian character of the United States.”

Now there is an element of truth in these claims. As the dean of American church historians, William Warren Sweet, pointed out in his epochal work Religion in Colonial America, the biblical orthodoxy of seventeenth-century colonists cannot be disputed, nor can the religious motivations leading to Puritan and Pilgrim settlement in the new world. Such influence continued in the eighteenth century: “between 1717 and the Revolutionary War some quarter of a million Ulstermen came to America” (J. G. Leyburn, The ScotchIrish: A Social History), and these Ulster Scots were the products of a strict yet dynamic Presbyterian confessionalism. Moreover, the “natural rights” theory underlying the Declaration of Independence had its direct source not in the thought of French philosophes but in the work of Christian philosopher John Locke, and his ideas in this regard can be traced back to medieval Christian “natural law.” Thus the efforts of Mrs. O’Hare and her ilk to rewrite American history in unqualifiedly atheistic terms are doomed to failure.

But what about the opposite viewpoint with which we began—the view that equates America with “God’s country”? This stands no greater chance of success, and in fact turns out to be a kind of reverse mirror image of Mrs. O’Hare (just as extreme left and extreme right tend to display the same mentality across the political spectrum). The most influential Founding Fathers of the eighteenth century were not Christian in any biblical sense of the term: they were either outright deists or mediating religious liberals.

Among the deists were Jefferson, Paine, and Franklin. Jefferson had so little respect for the Scriptures that he created his own Bible—the so-called Jefferson Bible consisting of the ethical teachings of the New Testament (with the miraculous and divine aspects of Jesus’ life carefully excised). Julian P. Boyd’s account of The Spirit of Christmas at Monticello is a chilling barometer of the kind of religion maintained by one who endeavored, in his own words, “to shew by example the sufficiency of human reason.”

Paine’s Age of Reason set forth the religion of deism as a specific alternative and corrective to historic Christianity. The “Book of Nature” was now to replace the “Book of Scripture,” and Paine devoted the entire second half of his work to a demonstration of alleged errors, contradictions, and immoralities in biblical religion.

As for Franklin, though his motion in behalf of morning prayer at the Constitutional Convention in 1789 has led some to speculate that he experienced Christian conversion before his death, there is no doubt that deism and not Christian belief informed his political action during his career. George Whitefield found it necessary to confront Franklin with the claims of Christ throughout their long acquaintance. Wrote Whitefield on one occasion: “As you have made a pretty considerable progress in the mysteries of electricity, I would now humbly recommend to your diligent unprejudiced pursuit and study the mystery of the new birth.”

If outspoken deists were few in number among the Founding Fathers, their influence was nonetheless considerable. Their philosophy of the natural goodness of man entered directly into the foundation documents of the nation. And the opponents of deism among the Fathers of our country were not so much spokesmen of historic Christianity as advocates of religious liberalism who considered deism too radical. The liberals themselves “generally held an Arian view of Jesus” (H. S. Smith, American Christianity, I [1960], 487), and therefore found deistic anthropology quite hospitable.

In many ways the American frontier experience reinforced the anthropocentric self-confidence instilled by the Founding Fathers. F. J. Turner observed the “do-it-yourself” kind of religion which so easily developed in a frontier situation where self-reliance was the prime virtue. Americans have not generally been known for a sense of unworthiness or a willingness to accept aid from others—though such attitudes are fundamental to the Christian Gospel (“Except ye become as little children …”; “I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”). Bertrand Russell shrewdly points up an American characteristic of which Americans themselves are often oblivious: “If Job had been reincarnated as an inhabitant of New York, and had been twitted, as the original Job was, with the great size of Leviathan and Behemoth, he would have been unimpressed, and would have replied: ‘Gee, they ain’t half as big as a skyscraper’ ” (The Impact of America on European Culture, 1951, pp. 9, 10).

In reality, ours is no more “God’s country” than is any other part of this sin-impregnated globe. We are not the Israelite theocracy repristinated, nor are we the pinnacle of Christian civilization. What we have accomplished positively as a nation is due, not to ourselves, but to God’s grace. And for our Hiroshimas and My Lai massacres we stand under the wrath of the Almighty just as others do for their Pearl Harbors and Buchenwalds. Perhaps the judgment against us is even greater, “for unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.”

Let us therefore demythologize our American religion, cease our presumptive removal of motes from the eyes of other nations and ideologies, and return to the Christ who stands in judgment (and—praise heaven—in grace!) over the history of all peoples.

JOHN WARWICK MONTGOMERY