Seasoned With Salt
What Luther Says, compiled by Ewald M. Plass (Concordia, 1958, 3 vols., 1692 pp., $25) is reviewed by E. P. Schulze, Minister of the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer of Peekskill, New York.
There have been other anthologies of Luther. For the busy scholar who wants the briefest epitomes and can read German, nothing is better than Band XXIII of Luthers Saemmtliche Schriften (Concordia, 1910). Editor Hoppe’s index, which fills the large quarto volume, contains perhaps 25,000 or 30,000 direct quotations from Luther, and in each case a reference is given to the volume and column in which the statement is found in its context. Hoppe’s work also has the merit of presenting a list of references to Bible verses quoted by the Reformer.
But for those who desire, or are obliged, to read Luther in English, Plass’s trilogy will prove to be by far the most comprehensive work of its kind of which they can avail themselves. Indeed it approximates Hoppe’s index in the number of words quoted (between half a million and a million)—for the extracts, though far fewer, and arranged under a fraction of the number of topic heads, are in general considerably longer.
This handsome thesaurus was issued by Concordia Publishing House in response to a resolution of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Its three large volumes, beautifully buckram-bound and brilliant in typography, were prepared under the direction of Synod’s Committee for Scholarly Research by Professor Ewald M. Plass of Concordia College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, author of the book, This is Luther (Concordia, 1948).
The fruit of years of labor, this encyclopaedic compilation contains over 5000 quotations on more than 200 subjects alphabetically arranged under broad topical heads. Each item has a descriptive caption, is prefaced by the author and is thoroughly documented with references to the editions of Luther’s Works in which the respective quotation is to be found. Also—and this is important in the case of Luther, who had to outgrow much of what he had learned in the Church of Rome—the extracts are, wherever possible, dated. There are many illuminating footnotes, eminently readable not only typographically but also from the viewpoint of human and scholarly interest. Valuable appendices are included in the form of a biographical register with descriptive lists of some important Luther editions and of his chief writings, a brief chronicle of his life and time, and a bibliography. The two indices consist of a supplementary index of topics and a Scripture text index.
With impartial facility Luther poured out words from tongue and pen; and almost invariably, whether in his sermons, in his private conversation, or in his books and pamphlets, he had something to say that is worth listening to. There was little indeed of what he said or wrote that was not “to the use of edifying.”
He was usually no craftsman in words; seldom was he a self-conscious stylist. There was little time in his busy life for cultivating rhetoric. Yet his words were heard and read—and they are still read, as the current monumental publication of his Works, in English, testifies. And although he may often seem less vivid in translation, however excellent (as in the present case) that may be, not only his speech but also his writing was seasoned with salt, liberally peppered, and often spiced with a dash of Worcestershire sauce. He did not need a nicely cultivated style, for in a degree unique in our modern era, he had the unction of the Holy Spirit.
Plass quotes Melanchthon as saying: “One is an interpreter; one a logician; another an orator, affluent and beautiful in speech; but Luther is all in all. Whatever he writes, whatever he utters, pierces to the heart. He is a miracle among men” (What Luther Says, I, xii).” “A voice and a pen, that is all. But there is more power in this voice and this pen to shake and mould the world than in all the bulls of a pope or the armed strength of emperors and kings.” Thus wrote James MacKinnon in Luther and the Reformation (What Luther Says, I, xvi–xvii).
Luther was, of course, pre-eminently a theologian, and he was a theologian who was bound by the inspired Scriptures and determined to exalt the Saviour. “For Luther what is not Scriptural is not theological,” Plass correctly points out, “and what does not glorify Christ cannot be Scriptural.” That point of view is reflected in all his speech and writing on theological subjects.
In matters not in their essence theological, Luther’s thinking was sometimes medieval, as in his estimate of the contemporary Copernican theory. But often in other instances, it was quite modern, as for example his utterances in behalf of democracy, separation of Church and State, income tax, price controls, and compulsory education. His comments on war are thoroughly in harmony with the popular view and governmental philosophy now prevalent in the United States. His wise and trenchant words on that subject are eminently worth perusing. The great Reformer clearly recognized, however, the futility of attempting to bring about reform by means of legislation.
In matters apart from theology we find Luther a man of strongly independent opinion, generally sound common sense and always, where the subject touches the domain of the moral, conditioned by his understanding of the Holy Scriptures, for which he had an enormous respect as the inspired Word of God.
To all who want to know what Luther had to say on almost any subject, this notable publication is to be heartily commended for its direct and practical value and its stimulus and guide to further study.
E. P. SCHULZE
How Many Authors?
Who Wrote Isaiah?, by Edward J. Young (Eerdmans, 1958, 88 pp., $1.50), is reviewed by Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Professor of Biblical Languages, Fuller Theological Seminary.
This valuable little book is a worthy addition to the growing list of Evangelical studies published by Eerdmans in their current series of Pathway Books. Written by the Professor of Old Testament at Westminster Seminary, who has previously put out a scholarly survey of Isaianic criticism in his “Studies in Isaiah” (1954), this excellent defense of the genuineness of the entire 66 chapters of Isaiah furnishes much-needed apologetic material for scholars, Bible teachers and seminarians who hold to the historic Christian faith. Even in seminaries which have been traditionally conservative in theology, the attacks of negative higher criticism have instilled doubts as to the integrity of the book of Isaiah. Scholarly discussions of this calibre should do much to restore confidence in historic view of the Christian Church and of the New Testament itself that the eighth century prophet Isaiah himself wrote the entire 66 chapters attributed to him in the Hebrew Scriptures. Not simply as a matter of faith but of keeping true to the laws of evidence, Dr. Young most convincingly demonstrates that no other theory of authorship does justice to all the facts, either from the standpoint of internal evidence or of external.
In chapter one, “Importance and Significance of the Problem,” he indicates the fallacy of the frequently expressed view that Isaiah 40–66 could have been inspired, no matter who wrote it. This opinion by implication renders the New Testament untrustworthy, for John 12:41 unequivocally asserts that the same Isaiah who wrote Isaiah 6:10 also composed 53:1. “In both instances he saw Christ and was speaking of Him. On these points the New Testament is clear” (p. 11). In chapter two the author surveys the history of negative Isaianic criticism, showing the instability and subjectivism of the rationalist scholars, whose critical judgments have resulted in chaotic inconsistency and confusion, and who have been united only in a philosophic prejudice against the possibility of supernatural prediction of the future. In chapter three, “The Witness of Tradition,” he demonstrates the inadequacy of every attempt made by modern scholars to explain away the uniform ancient tradition of the Isaianic authorship of the second part (chapters 40–66). Of particular interest is his analysis and refutation of E. J. Kissane’s theory (not discussed in his earlier works) that an anonymous admirer of the eighth-century Isaiah composed this imitation of his language, style, and circle of ideas, in order to bolster the faith of his countrymen during the Babylonian Exile. Young points out (p. 33): “The prophet was a spokesman for the Lord and therefore necessarily a divinely accredited person. The identity of the prophet had to be known for his message to be received.” In chapter four “The Position of Chapters 36–39 in the Prophecy,” he demonstrates that Chapter 39, though recording earlier events than 36–37, was placed after them deliberately to pave the way for the collection of prophecies relating to the future Exile and Restoration (Chaps. 40–66) by recording Isaiah’s denunciation of Hezekiah’s proud display of wealth to the Babylonian envoys.
It is unfortunate that the limited size of this book inhibits the author from elaborating upon some of the arguments he adduces. He leaves too much to the reader’s own industry in looking up the numerous citations listed and trying to figure out how he arrived at his conclusions. An instance in point is the set of citations from pre-exilic prophets which indicate their familiarity with Isaiah 34 (regarded by negative critics as late post-exilic in origin). To show by the laws of evidence that the Isaiah-passage must be regarded as the source borrowed from requires detailed demonstration. Yet Dr. Young does elaborate enough to make out a strong case for the priority of Isaiah 43:1–6 to Jeremiah 30:10 ff. on the basis of the Messianic title, “My Servant.”
In chapter seven “The Prophecy concerning Cyrus,” he effectively exploits O. T. Allis’s analysis (in “The Unity of Isaiah” 1950) of the Cyrus-prediction in Isaiah 44:26–28. Here he proves that Cyrus is presented as a personage who is to appear in the distant future, rather than in the immediate present (as the Two Isaiah Theory would insist). He also comes up with the surprising statistic that the name of Babylon occurs twice as often in Isaiah 1–39 as it does in Isaiah 40–66 (which is alleged to have been written in Babylon itself!) Finally, in the all-too-brief final chapter “When Did Isaiah Compose Chapters 40–66?,” he indicates that the Messianic hope had a very definite relevance to the contemporary situation in Judah during the years of the prophet’s retirement from active public ministry (i.e. in the reign of Manasseh). Only the certainty that God’s grace would ultimately triumph through the Messiah could assure the faithful remnant of true believers in Isaiah’s generation that their labor and sacrifice were not in vain in the Lord; that despite the moral failure of the nation as a whole under the influence of their ungodly king, Israel had a divinely guaranteed future and a glorious destiny to fulfill before all the world.
GLEASON L. ARCHER, JR.
Paraphrase With A Purpose
The Bihle for Family Reading, by Joseph Gaer and Chester C. McCown (Little, Brown and Co., Boston, 752 pp., $7.50), is reviewed by G. Aiken Taylor, author of St. Luke’s Life of Jesus.
Recently, a rash of books paraphrasing the Bible have appeared. This is another. In part, these seem to reflect a growing concern about the average person’s abysmal ignorance of the Bible. Many authors, including the present one, believe that the way to whet the appetite of the average person for Bible reading is to give him a version which is “more attractive” and “less formidable” than the church-approved versions.
But there is another reason why biblical paraphrases are written. Often it is to produce a vehicle of thought which will convey the particular religious philosophy of the writer. The paraphrase is primarily a commentary and an interpretation of the Bible presenting the “truth” (usually ethical) which the author believes to be concealed from ordinary eyes within the original narrative. Mr. Gaer, the principal author of this work, has approached his task evidently from this latter standpoint. He believes that his “version”—which is complete with a brief introduction to each book—preserves the central essence of the Story while discarding the dross.
According to Mr. Gaer, every chapter of the Bible is retained or accounted for, with duplications and other useless material omitted. Thus Psalms 140–149 are left out because they are simply variants of Psalm 150 which is included. Genealogies and detailed specifications do not appear. Occasionally, of course, a drastic alteration of material occurs. Isaiah 49 is 13 lines long, while the Sermon on the Mount takes up four pages and the story of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple is left out altogether. The authors make much of their scholarly approach to the textual problem and claim to follow, in the arrangement of the Synoptics, for instance, such authorities as Huck and Lietzmann, but they close their harmony of the Synoptics with the disputed material at the end of Mark which most critical scholars reject.
The treatment accorded the gospel of John probably indicates best both the value of this book and the probable purpose which prompted its writing. John is located, because of its theme and its alleged date, at the end of the New Testament, following the Revelation. Then, although it is fully assumed that the unknown author was more of a poet than a historian, Messrs. Gaer and McCown carefully excise from the text (and explicitly call attention in their notes to the fact that they have done so) those passages in which John quotes Jesus as claiming for himself special divinity or a propitiatory purpose. Such passages are omitted, as “not directly necessary to the progress of the story,” as 5:18–19; 6:42–59; 8:24, 55–58; and all of chapter 21 except the last verse. G. AIKEN TAYLOR
Triumphant In Faith
How Sleep the Brave, by James H. Hunter (Zondervan, 1955, 256 pp., $3), is reviewed by Lucy D. Sullivan, Teacher at Bryan College, Dayton, Tennessee.
James H. Hunter gives a compelling account of the immolation of the valiant Covenanters of seventeenth century Scotland in his historical novel How Sleep the Brave. Hunted down by Catholic James II and his Scottish henchmen, these hardy Presbyterian adherents to the Scottish Covenant of 1638 are championed by a hero of epic proportions who has been proscribed by James and dispossessed of his castle and lands. Known as the Black Avenger, this combination of Robin Hood, Tarzan, and the Lone Ranger roams through the highlands in various disguises playing coronachs on his bagpipe and shooting black arrows into tree trunks as warnings to the king’s dragoons.
The precision with which this champion of the Covenanters times his arrival at trouble spots and the ease with which he carries off to safety men doomed to the torture of the boot, thumbscrew, and the Red Maiden are nothing short of miraculous. Novelist Hunter also indulges in unconvincing descriptions of nature and female pulchritude. The Girvan stream pours “in winning whimples over its rock bed,” and Duncan Fenwick, alias the Black Avenger, kisses his sweetheart’s “dimpled mouth with its rose lips.”
Although the love of the Black Avenger and the laird’s daughter, Marion Kennedy, provides the romantic interest of the novel, the central focus is the “scattered and peeled” Covenanters hiding out in caves and woods to whom the Avenger whisks us in his daring rescues. The blood of little children who refuse to betray the whereabouts of their parents reddens the mountain streams; Sheila MacLeod whose persecuted and ailing husband dies as the dragoons enter the cottage, cries “He has escaped ye a’; Yer bullets canna reach; yer flames canna scorch him; yer malice canna reach him yonder.” Donald MacLeod laying his bloody head on a rock is shot where he lies; a throng of men and women sing the forty-sixth Psalm with tears running down their faces as they stand around communion tables in the heather of the hills of Galloway, after which Peden the prophet preaches a sermon “Shall the sword devour forever?” and Duncan, the Avenger, looking down on the graves of Covenanters who had been praying when they were shot down, says sadly “There sleep the brave … they died for you and me and for the generations yet unborn, that freedom to worship according to every man’s conscience might be ours and those that are yet to be.” It is in these authentic portraits of a people triumphant in faith after years of satanic and papistic persecution that the value of this novel lies.
LUCY D. SULLIVAN
Five Points Of Calvinism
The Deeper Faith, by Gordon Girod (Reformed Publications, Grand Rapids, 1958, 135 pp., $2.50), is reviewed by Loraine Boettner, author of The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination.
This is one of the clearest and most convincing statements of the distinguishing doctrines of the Reformed Faith that can be found anywhere. The writer is a minister in the Reformed Church of America. The discussion is based on “The Canons of the Synod of Dort,” which is the principal creedal document of the Reformed Church. The Synod of Dort (1618–1619) was convened by the States-General of Holland, and there were 102 official delegates from Holland, England, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. It was therefore an “ecumenical” conference in the true sense of the word. The primary subject for discussion was a “Remonstrance” which had been drawn up by the followers of Jacobus Arminius who had taken exception to Reformed teaching concerning the relationship that exists between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Deliberations covered a period of approximately six months, and the deliverances dealt specifically with those doctrines which later came to be known as “The Five Points of Calvinism”—Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and the Perseverance of the Saints. Each of these is given a chapter heading. Special care is taken to show the Scripture basis on which each rests. A sixth chapter answers some of the objections that are commonly raised against the system, and these are shown to have no basis in fact. Chapter seven is a reprint of that part of The Canons of the Synod of Dort which sets forth the Five Points.
We welcome this book with enthusiasm. It is a great work well done. We are impressed with the author’s ability to present the grand themes of the Reformed faith in language that the average Christian can follow without difficulty, and at the same time to inspire a loftier respect for the overtones of grace that provided for our salvation in the councils of eternity. In this day when so many are searching for an easy religion, and when the supposedly “hard” doctrines of Calvinism are largely neglected or misunderstood or even unknown by so many of our people, it is a real pleasure to find a work such as this. The title, The Deeper Faith, is appropriate. Anyone who reads this book will find himself introduced to high thoughts and stimulated in his intellectual and spiritual life.
LORAINE BOETTNER
