Protestant Theory Of A University
Wilderness and Paradise in Christian Thought. The Biblical Experience of the Desert in the History of Christianity and the Paradise Theme in the Theological Idea of the University, by George H. Williams (Harper, 1962, 245 pp., $4.50), is reviewed by Paul Woolley, Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A more delightful introduction to the corpus of Western culture could hardly be found than this stimulating and charming volume by George Williams, the erudite yet vivacious occupant of the Winn professorship of ecclesiastical history in the Harvard Divinity School.
The book has two parts. Its larger section pursues the appearance of the wilderness theme in the Scriptures and in the history of the Church. This concept is constantly brought into relationship with the somewhat less frequently used figure of the paradise, the enclosed garden of God’s people. A task of this type can only be successfully accomplished by one who possesses the most comprehensive learning, as George Williams eminently does. He skillfully takes his reader on an entrancing excursion through the Bible and through what Western culture has done with the biblical theme. His knowledge of the early Fathers, of the medieval scholars, of the Reformers, both radical and classical, and of Puritan Protestantism stands out on every page. But this is not a compilation of items from the past. It is a living story of the way in which Christ’s followers have interpreted their status and their path in this world in these particular biblical themes and figures.
The second section of the book is even more exciting, since it is an interpretation of the modern problem of the relation of culture to Christianity in terms of the history of three great institutions, the state, the university, and the church. The work of Protestantism, and of Calvin in particular, in bringing the university out from under the aegis of the church to place it under the care of the state is appreciated. Then Williams proceeds to use Harvard as an example to show how the American university, at least, has happily won its freedom from the state. It would have been desirable at this point to raise the question of the relationship of the university to the divinely established institution, of the family, an institution coordinate in many ways, in the biblical perspective, with the state and the church. Here is the real seed of the “distinctively Protestant theory of the university,” for the family is the ultimate Republic of Letters and the university is its projection. Williams’ necessary emphasis on the importance of secondary education in this age of greater sophistication among youth fits precisely into this pattern.
Even though his view of the Fall and the Atonement is unsatisfactory, there is a basically sound presentation of the community of technique between Christian and non-Christian scholars in the search for truth. When it is realized that the university is an extension of the family, it is clear that in so far as truth is adequately taught by the senior members it will be properly developed by the junior members. Even when it is not, the juniors are not utterly disowned, but rather their redemption is sought.
PAUL WOOLLEY
Knox’S Good Name
The Faith of John Knox, by James S. McEwen (John Knox, 1961, 116 pp., $2.50), is reviewed by Andrew K. Rule, Professor of Church History and Apologetics, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky.
This book by the professor of church history at Aberdeen is the latest of a number that have appeared since Percy’s in 1937, the impact of which is to tell the truth about Knox and, by correcting the gross popular misrepresentation of him, restore his good name. It represents the Croall Lectures, delivered in 1960 at the New College, Edinburgh, not far from a very striking statue of Knox. The book retains the lecture style, and a few typical Briticisms such as “batting on a bad wicket” will not detract from the clarity and force of its appeal to American readers. The intimacy of the lecture situation also made possible a certain forthrightness of expression which might otherwise have been avoided, but which the reviewer finds attractive. For example, “some Scottish literary writers whose itch to pontify on theology seems scarcely to be warranted by the apparent sketchiness of their acquaintance with the subject” (p. 66); and a certain misrepresentation of Calvin is “grotesque” (p. 92).
The book begins with a brief review of the life of Knox and of the situation in Scotland in order to show why “in 1559 it was Knox, or nothing.” Then Knox’s teaching is discussed with regard to “The Bible and the Holy Spirit,” “The Sacraments,” “Predestination,” and “Providence,” and a final chapter considers Knox’s “Faith of the Heart.” The author claims that in dealing with these subjects, “I have dug into theological ground just about as far as it is safe for a historian to go.”
The careful reader may judge that occasionally McEwen has gone somewhat further than that. When, for example, he concedes that the Reformers, apparently including Knox, allowed the conception of God’s “arbitrary Will” to influence them (p. 76), and then denies this (p. 78) as far as Knox is concerned, it would seem that he needs to think a little farther or should not have gone so far. Again, if, in confronting the difficulties created for the doctrine of Providence by “that vast mass of suffering that appears to have no human origin,” he sides, against Knox, with the modern theologians who regard “the material universe as a semi-autonomous system, running machine-like under the control of natural laws laid down for it at the hour of its creation,” it might well be suggested that he think again. It seems, too, that he has exaggerated the differences between Calvin and Knox with regard to the Lord’s Supper, not, indeed, by misrepresenting Knox but by failing to do justice to Calvin.
For all that, Dr. McEwen shows himself to be a very good theologian, with a gift for the clear expression of theological issues and doctrines; and this is a very good book.
ANDREW K. RULE
Sanctity In The News
The Christian as a Journalist, by Richard T. Baker (Association, 1961, 119 pp., $2.50), is reviewed by David E. Kucharsky, News Editor, CHRISTIANITY TODAY.
Baker tests the compatibility of contemporary journalism with Christianity, and many will disagree with his strained defense of the profession as a sacred calling in and of itself. They will contend that journalism, like any other profession, is only as sacred as one makes it.
The real value of the book, however, lies in its examination of the ethical problems of the press, radio, and television. These problems are paraded across its pages provocatively enough to demand the attention of clergymen, publishers, editors, and reporters alike. The beginner in journalism, for whom the book was originally intended, may be left somewhat bewildered, but he will be thankful to have been oriented early in the game.
Baker is one of those rare individuals who have formal training in theology as well as in journalism. A former associate editor of World Outlook (Methodist), he is now a professor of journalism at Columbia University. This, his latest book, is one of the Haddam House series on Christian vocation.
Aside from a few theological presuppositions which the evangelical will reject, the content deserves high commendation. It could go a long way toward correcting misconceptions about the press which are quite widespread, even among ministers. Baker’s handling is intelligent and his style highly readable.
My chief disappointment is that Baker virtually ignores religious news per se, the frontier upon which the Church meets the journalistic profession most pointedly.
DAVID E. KUCHARSKY
Liturgical Revision
The Durham Book, edited and introduced by G. J. Cuming (Oxford, 1961, 299 pp., $10.10; 63s.), is reviewed by G. E. Duffield, London Manager. CHRISTIANITY TODAY.
Mr. Cuming, formerly Vice Principal of St. John’s College, Durham, has produced a line edition of a complex but important seventeenth-century liturgical text. The original manuscript was the product of several Laudian hands, chiefly those of bishops Wren and Cosin with the future archbishop, Sancroft, latterly as their scribe. These annotations on the Prayer Book reflect High Church reaction to the Puritan dislike of the national liturgy, and a return to the semi-reformed 1549 English and 1637 Scottish Episcopal liturgies. The most radical were rejected in the definitive 1662 revision, but have been substantially accepted by Episcopalians in America and South Africa. The main changes are in the Communion service, and go some way towards undermining Reformed doctrine. One can only hope that once again in the present Prayer Book revision the Church of England will follow Archbishop Cranmer’s genius, and reject attempts to restore unreformed and unbiblical teaching about the Lord’s Supper.
G. E. DUFFIELD
Sharing Christ’S Concern
The Minister and the Care of Souls, by Daniel Day Williams (Harper, 1961, 157 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by Charles W. Koller, President-emeritus, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois.
Reading for Perspective
CHRISTIANITY TODAY’S REVIEW EDITORS CALL ATTENTION TO THESE NEW TITLES:
* The New Testament Octapla, ed. by Luther A. Weigle (Thomas Nelson, $20). For the first time, eight English versions of the New Testament in the Tyndale-King James tradition, all on facing pages for easy comparison and study. A major publishing event.
* Communism and Christian Faith, by Lester DeKoster (Eerdmans, $3.50). Communism defined, analyzed, sharply contrasted with Christianity, and accompanied by a clear call to Christian social action.
* The Church and the Older Person, by Robert M. Gray and David O. Moberg (Eerdmans, $3.50). A timely exploration of how the Church can help older people to adjust to the peculiar problems of their later years.
The substance of this book was given in a series of special lectures at the Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. The author writes as a theologian and minister, but with considerable insight in the areas of psychology and counseling. While emphasizing the spiritual needs of those to be helped, the author points out that Christ in his salvation was concerned for the sick bodies and minds of men as well as their souls. The minister must share this concern of the Great Physician.
In the Scriptures, the language of salvation and the language of healing are interwoven. Man is incredibly complex. “Every part of his being and his experience is linked actually or potentially with every other part. There is no happening in the history of the body or mind which may not involve the whole person at the spiritual center of his existence.” There is deliverance from disease, demon possession, and estrangement from God. “We encounter our neighbor, as God has encountered us, not in the innocence of development towards perfection, but in the distortion and suffering of estrangement.” To be saved means “to have one’s life in all its good and evil, its hope and its brokenness, restored to participation in the love of God.”
The author recognizes the inadequacies of much well-intentioned pastoral work, which may overlook psychological considerations while dealing with “the deepest mystery of all, the life of the soul before God.” He recognizes also the danger of substituting “a sectarian gospel of psychological healing” for the Christian message of salvation through the grace of God. He exalts Christ and accords due reverence to the Scriptures. His frequent and easy references to some authors who are not generally acceptable to conservatives reflect his familiarity with a field in which unfortunately not enough has been written from a biblically conservative point of view.
It is gratifying to note the author’s emphasis on the scriptural concept of sin as personal estrangement, and the value he places upon the vocabulary of Scripture, for which there is no substitute but which is so often set aside for terms that inadequately convey the biblical meanings. At the same time it is pointed out that the minister must be able to make himself understood in terms that are intelligible to others, whatever vocabulary this may demand.
To the person being counseled, the minister represents an Authority higher than himself, and a world with which the person must come to terms. But the minister’s attitude must not be that of condescension, but of sympathetic identification with the needs and weaknesses of the counselee. The therapy of confession requires an atmosphere which does not threaten the person with rejection, no matter what he may disclose. He must be assured of love and acceptance no matter what happens. Only on this basis can counselor and counselee deal successfully with the distorted self-image which may have been built up.
The minister will find this book stimulating and helpful. The average reader may wish that there were a further chapter giving more detailed help as to counseling procedures in the care of souls.
CHARLES W. KOLLER
Worth Waiting For
The Epistle to the Philippians, by Karl Barth (John Knox, 1962, 128 pp., $2.50), is reviewed by Everett F. Harrison, Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.
Though it has awaited translation 35 years, and been overshadowed by Barth’s earlier work on Romans, this modest volume will be cordially received. It proceeds in a different atmosphere than the Romans commentary, since there is an avoidance of philosophical categories of thought. Barth has examined many of the leading German commentaries on the epistle, and occasionally quotes from several, but for the most part has sought to make Paul’s thought his own by patient, sympathetic study of the epistle itself.
There is no discussion of introductory matters. There is some unevenness of treatment for example, 40 pages devoted to chapter one, 11 to chapter four.
Of special interest is the author’s handling of chapter three. In his estimation Paul is talking throughout against the background of Judaizing Christians and the menace which they constitute to the Church.
In this commentary one senses an original mind at work, frequently giving a fresh turn to a familiar phrase or sentence. This feature alone makes the reading profitable.
EVERETT F. HARRISON
A Free Sample
The Parables He Told, by David A. Redding (Revell, 1962, 177 pp., $3), is reviewed by James Daane, Editorial Associate, CHRISTIANITY TODAY.
Sometimes a magazine lavishly praises its authors to enhance its own content. But when Life magazine wrote that Redding is “one of the most eloquent younger voices in the U.S. pulpit today” it was not simply trying to sell magazines.
This reviewer has not come across greater eloquence among ministers “today,” nor during a long time prior. Here is literary expression as modern as today, as current as a jumping toothache.
Here we have eloquence that is not sounding brass or tinkling cymbal, but a conveyor of the old, old story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by a preacher who does not deny the Gospel’s biblical background: the reality of sin and hell.
The best way to convey an uncommonly eloquent expression of the Gospel is to provide a free sample. The book begins thus: “Lost: One planet with some people still on it. Man overboard in a sea of space and the man is Everyman. Lost: The Faith of Our Fathers—in a bottomless pit of cold suspicion and very scholarly research. Lost: Late last night, I’m afraid, up the tortuous streets of science, in the relativity of the times, … Lost: Last seen somewhere east of Eden, a man whose name is Adam. Lost: His God, His Garden, His Way.” Elegant literary expression of the Gospel is sometimes less than theologically precise, just as theologically precise language is rarely eloquent. Since the parables themselves are cast into the form of literary excellence, they are sometimes hard to interpret with precision.
This difficulty is, however, no real handicap if one understands what a parable really is. And the author does. He asserts “a parable is a story true to this house of earth, but with a window open to heaven. One can get lost in the details, but the aim is to find the ‘big idea’ and as Chrysostom said, ‘Be not overbusy about the rest.’ Jesus recipe: A favorite story on a familiar subject and a flash of heavenly light.”
Here is eloquence biblically compounded: eloquence and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
JAMES DAANE
Strange Conjunction
Capital Punishment, by James Avery Joyce (Thomas Nelson, 1961, 288 pp., $5), is reviewed by Mariano Di Gangi, Minister, Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia.
Here is a vigorous protest against capital punishment and national defense. Based on a wide survey, this book abounds in statistics and quotations. But it is also filled with questionable conclusions and emotional expressions.
Reference is made, for example, to the “infamous lynching” of Caryl Chessman, “the hero of death row,” a victim offered up on the altar of “California’s public abbattoir” (pp. 30, 35, 54). The author also draws a contrast between the nations which use both capital punishment and nuclear deterrents, and the Communist regime of Mao—which is supposed by him to advocate persuasion rather than liquidation of the disloyal!
For all his sincerity the author shows insufficient appreciation of the grim reality of militant evil; of the need of retribution no less than reformation; of the State as the divinely appointed instrument of temporal justice against local criminals and international aggressors.
MARIANO DI GANGI
Devotional Theology
The Nature of Faith, by Gerhard Ebeling, tr. by Ronald Gregor Smith (Muhlenberg, 1961, 191 pp., $3), is reviewed by Samuel J. Mikolaski, Professor of Theology, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Dr. Ebeling, of the theological faculty at Zürich, gives us 15 lectures on the nature of faith delivered originally to the students of all the faculties in the university during the winter of 1958–59. There is a useful appendix where he probes the relations of the Word of God to language. Ronald Gregor Smith deserves commendation for doing so well the difficult task of translating the German text into English.
It is not easy to state either an appreciation or criticism of the book. As a series of addresses to students it makes the appeal of a Christian man witnessing to his faith in God. Its air of devotion and its values of piety, especially of the Reformed evangelical tradition, reach out to the reader frequently. The theological questions the author raises are, conversely, deeply disturbing and probing. Questions should probe, yet when the analysis has been followed through painstakingly, one wonders whether the simplicity and the unity of faith are preserved and whether finality of what God has both said and done in Jesus Christ shines through. Probably I have difficulty with this book because I see here, what is not uncommon in German theology, an uneasy tension between transcendence and revelation, history and faith; between what is given and known, and what is felt.
Inevitably much of the question turns upon the devotional and theological use to which the Bible is put. Dr. Ebeling makes the usual criticisms of what some call biblicism. In particular he seems to agree to the charge that the Protestant use of the Bible can be turned against orthodoxy because the Reformers and post-Reformation theologians especially failed to see that the witness of Scripture is the witness of tradition and, therefore, that the argument, so far as claims to the final authority of Scripture are concerned, turns full circle in favor of Rome (p. 36). Dr. Ebeling is right in saying that the New Testament canon was not closed by an infallible and irrevocable decision (presumably he means conciliar), nevertheless there is more to the use of that slippery term tradition, than that alongside Scripture it has both an interpretive and complementary character (p. 35). Tradition in the early Fathers meant something other than the late Medieval and post-Reformation Roman Catholicism claimed. The Fathers always put themselves below the apostles so that a significant triad of authority emerges in their writings: the Prophets, the Gospels, and the Apostles. They were biblical theologians even where, as amongst the Alexandrians, forms of philosophy were used in the structuring of theology. The uniqueness of Scripture to, say, Clement and Origen lay in this—that nothing in Scripture can be accidental, irrelevant, unworthy of God, trivial, or absurd.
Tradition meant that the Gospel is public; that in nature it is neither like the secrets of esoteric (e.g., Gnostic) sects, nor like the tradition later claimed by Rome where there occur authoritative accretions to the Gospel on the ground of the privately known and hidden meanings of sacraments, texts, visions, or events. Christians said, “we do not comprise a secret society with hidden knowledge gained by mystic rites. Our minds, hearts, and hands are open. The events of our faith are public. We proclaim the saving acts of God in Christ for all men in all times and places.” Here Scripture and Tradition, the written and the living word join. The early Fathers could as well say about any heretical doctrine “This is not the faith of the church” as “This is not the teaching of Scripture.” The Holy Spirit and the Word inscripturated are inseparable. This is the norm of religious truth and the validation of faith. I admire faith but Christian faith is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God and our Saviour known by the Holy Spirit through the Holy Scriptures.
In ingenious ways other points of view are put forward that prompt searching questions. If we are to distinguish the Jesus of history from the Christ of faith, how does faith in the latter arise? It is assumed here that the one Lord Jesus Christ cannot be the object of faith in the sense in which Christians have commonly confessed him. How did Jesus the witness of faith become the basis of faith? (p. 58). By the Resurrection, the author answers. But how are we to understand the Resurrection? “How can we simply swallow all this literally?” he asks of the evidence (p. 61). The Resurrection, he says, occurs only to believers in the event; the point of the post-Resurrection appearances of our Lord is this, “one must say that they occurred only to those who became believers in this event” (p. 68). For this theologian it appears that foul balls, balls, and strikes are foul balls, balls, and strikes only when he calls them. After what is a rather useful survey of the evidence for the Resurrection appearances and the Empty Tomb, the conclusion Dr. Ebeling comes to about them and the historical rising from the dead of Jesus of Nazareth, seems possible only by some sort of remarkable legerdemain.
SAMUEL J. MIKOLASKI
Is Christ The Church?
What is the Church? by André De Bovis (Hawthorn Books, 1961, 160 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by John Murray, Professor of Systematic Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pa.
This is a Roman Catholic work, endorsed with the official Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, translated from the French by R. F. Trevett.
No topic concerned with the Church is more in the forefront of interest and discussion at the present time than the meaning of the Church as the body of Christ. De Bovis, rightly in this reviewer’s judgment, rejects the view that it denotes merely a supra-personal collective in the sense “of a group of men forming a ‘corporate body’ ” (p. 77). Neither will he allow that the union of the Church with Christ is hypostatic nor that the expression “body of Christ” is metaphorical. When he propounds an “accurate formula,” he says: “the union between Christ and the Church is a ‘mystical’ union. This term signifies that the identification between Christ and the Church is a unique reality, that it has no equivalent in the rest of our experience” (p. 89). This is a definition that any Protestant can, or at least should, accept, and perhaps, in a few words, we cannot go further.
But De Bovis, interpreting or applying this “formula,” imposes a conception that exceeds all warrant of the biblical sources. “The ‘Body of Christ’,” he affirms, “is Christ himself in person” and he claims that Paul “asserts that the Church, the assembly of the faithful and a visible organism, whose ministers form a hierarchy, is identical with the Christ of history now risen and in glory” (p. 77), “that the Church as a whole is Christ” (p. 88). One wonders by what exegesis this inference is drawn. It must be by the kind of leap, illustrated on page 97, by which Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20 are supposed to yield the datum that “the first community of the faithful” is called the Word of God or when Augustine is alleged to support the dictum of the encyclical Mystici Corporis (p. 92).
Protestants will be more than mystified by the equivocations in chapter IV on the subject of infallibility.
JOHN MURRAY
Samaritan From Germany
The Good Samaritan: The Life Story of ‘Father’ Bodelschwingh, by Margaret Bradfield (Marshalls, 1961, 224 pp., 15s), is reviewed by Dr. Arthur H. Casson, physician, Bristol, England.
Here is a nineteenth-century saint from Germany who should be known. He saw where need existed and had faith and energy to meet it out of love for his Saviour and his fellowmen.
He founded the first German hospital for epileptics, where gradually the sufferers became a community of hopeful, repentant, believing, loving and working people. Despite grievous bereavement and hostile attack he saw illness itself to be medicine sent by God as a means of spiritual recovery. Having established foundations where deaconesses and brothers were trained and directed, he started homes for vagrants and workers’ settlements, a home for the cure of drunkards, a training school, and a theological college. He staffed mission work in East Africa and began settlements for liberated slaves and for mental defectives. The proclamation of God’s Word and the bringing of Christ’s deliverance was the prime purpose of all his activity through practical kindness and genuine love.
ARTHUR H. CASSON
Balanced Production
The Gospel According to St. Matthew, by R. V. G. Tasker (Eerdmans, 1961, 285 pp., $3), is reviewed by Wick Broomall, Minister, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Augusta, Georgia.
As in his three other contributions to the Tyndale Bible Commentaries, of which he is general editor, Dr. Tasker, in the present volume, again maintains an adequate balance between the devotional and the critical—sufficient to satisfy the scholar and the general reader. Designedly conservative in approach, this volume does not ignore relevant critical problems.
An appendix enthusiastically affirms that the New English Bible “will prove itself to be an instrument of the greatest value for understanding … the entire New Testament” (p. 285).
WICK BROOMALL
The Majors
Great Religions of Modern Man, ed. by Richard A. Gard: Buddhism, by Richard A. Gard; Catholicism, by George Brantl; Hinduism, by Louis Renou; Islam, by John Alden Williams; Judaism, by Arthur Hertzberg; Protestantism, by J. Leslie Dunstan (George Braziller, Inc., 1961, 255 pp. each, $4 each), is reviewed by Francis R. Steele, Home Secretary, North Africa Mission.
Glimpses into six major religious systems are provided by these attractive books averaging 243 pages of text. There is a remarkably comprehensive treatment for such brief space with two further commendable features: abundant documentation from original sources, and for the most part a thoroughly readable style.
In general, the six volumes represent two main streams of religious development; Hinduism-Buddhism from Central Asia and Judaeo-Christianity with its eccentric offshoot, Islam, from the Near East. Each religion is treated, in a sense, from an academic standpoint. Therefore, understandably, the positive or ideal side is portrayed. No mention is made, for example, of the more unsavory amoral aspects of Hinduism in India or the grosser practices of Romanism in Central and South America. There is something to be said for this method of treatment, but it has one serious drawback. In our dealings with people we meet them as they are not necessarily as their theologians say they ought to be. But for all of that, these volumes will repay a careful reading, since the authors are qualified experts. One wonders, however, why in the case of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, a practitioner of the religion was not chosen to speak.
Judaism: With refreshing frankness, Dr. Hertzberg states flatly in his introduction that it is essential to the Jewish faith that God is and that he chose Israel as his peculiar people. Judaism is a God-made religion. The core of it is the Torah and the Covenant. Woven through the whole of Jewish history are the twin themes of suffering and serving. Copious citations from all periods illustrate the author’s thesis that “Jewish faith … by its nature permits variation in belief” (p. 177). By and large, the concepts of revelation and the Covenant have continued through Jewish history but various interpretations have been given by Orthodox, Conservative and Rationalists. Hertzberg’s presentation makes allowance for all schools of thought but presents as central a fairly conservative viewpoint. Shorn of the sacrifices of the past, ritualism today is largely symbolic and man is charged with his own salvation (pp. 178, 195).
The Messianic ideal and return to the Land are interrelated, according to Hertzberg, but in contemporary expression have been blended with other factors which have made of Zionism, more of a Jewish nationalism and escape from persecution than the realization of fulfilled prophecy (p. 172).
Hinduism and Buddhism: These two religions can be considered together. As probably less well known to the audience for whom this set of books was intended than the other four religions—with the possible exception of Islam—the extensive 57-page general introduction to each, helps the reader to approach the subsequent chapters on the religious literature with greater confidence. Yet even here, due to the complexity of the situation, there is a bewildering array of strange terminology, often without readily discoverable definition. For example, there is no definition of “bhakti” until its fifth citation.
Strangely enough, neither volume mentions the historic relation between Hinduism and Buddhism, though this would explain the elements they have in common. Both books, however, do relate the tendencies to adapt ancient Eastern religions to the modern world and the tensions this has created. This is of great interest (and concern) to the Christian missionary. The authors point out that such philosophical metamorphosis is limited to a relatively small portion of the population at the top level and has virtually no effect on the bulk of the people who continue in their old practices and superstitions. This is likewise true of Islam.
Catholicism: Dr. Brand has done a commendable job of stating his case simply and lucidly with the confidence of a man who knows he is right. As a presentation of a major branch of professing Christendom, this book has one distinct advantage over the volume on Protestantism. There is no indication of internal dissent or division. The facts are stated flatly and convincingly with no note of apology and no place for argument. It is assumed that the Roman church is the church and no reference is made to separations or schisms of any kind. No explicit statement regarding the basis of authority is made. Practices and doctrines are supported by quotes from the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Fathers, papal encyclicals, etc., as all of equal weight. A superficial comparison of the two volumes gives the impression that Protestants are confused and divided—as indeed they are—but that there is a perfect coherency and unity in the Roman Catholic Church—which is not so. Closer inspection will reveal specious logic and substantiation of peculiarly Roman ideas from extra biblical authorities. One could wish that for the sake of accuracy, the title had read “Roman Catholicism,” or even “North American Roman Catholicism” for that would have been nearer the mark.
Protestantism: The author of this volume was confronted with a very real problem. Which of the several faces of present-day Protestantism represents the real thing? Inherent in the nature of Protestantism is the spirit which has produced so many divisions.
The basic concept of the author that “God deals directly with (each individual) man,” (p. 9) rather than that the Bible is a common source of authority for all is opposed to the facts as seen in the history of the Reformation. His further assumption that “because of its essential nature,” Protestantism must constantly change “as it adjusts to its world” (p. 10), is only partly true and applies to its approach to the world, not its doctrine. Dunstan rejects both liberalism and fundamentalism as “conservative” in that they cling to old-fashioned ideas (p. 200). He presents as the main stream, the true spirit of Protestantism, a theological position which appears to be largely Barthian neoorthodoxy of ten years or more ago. Nothing is said of the more recent European exodus from Barth to Bultmann. Two-thirds of the citations in chapter VI, “Protestantism and the Twentieth Century” are 20 years old and the latest dates to 1955.
The author apparently builds his case on the assumption that this branch of theology by its flexibility has retained the core of historic Christianity while extricating itself from the shackles of “conservatism” and adapting itself to the modern world.
But evangelicals insist that Protestantism must be understood in a double sense; a protest against degeneracy in the Catholic church, to be sure, but also, and chiefly, a “declaration” of the historic Christian faith going all the way back to its beginnings and founded on the authority of Divine Revelation, first through the prophets, now in Scripture. This is the true main stream. All else is in some degree or other a departure from it. In this perspective alone, can the other religions be examined and judged accurately.
Islam: Here is a generally frank, if somewhat apologetic, statement of the world’s most aggressive, modern, non-Christian religion. Fully two-thirds of the text are quotes from translations of original sources. These selections afford helpful insight into the character and spirit of Islam from several points of view through the words of the companions of the prophets, lawyers and learned men, poets and mystics and, of course, Muhammad himself.
Dr. Williams builds his thesis, chapter by chapter, successively on: the Kur’ān (the recitations of Muhammad), the hadíth (traditions concerning the words and acts of Muhammad not recorded in the Kur’ān), the law, the mystics and the theologians with a closing chapter on “the dissidents of the Community.” It is surprising that no mention is made of the Ahmadiya sect (and its partner Kādiāni). To be sure, they are considered heretics by orthodox Muslims, yet they bear the name Muslim and are the most vocal and active of all today.
Apparently the author deliberately abandoned the standard presentation of Islam on the basis of imān (faith) and din (practice) for his own scheme. It is unfortunate the two were not combined for the sake of balance and clarity. One also misses any reference to the struggle of adjustment to the modern world through which Islam is now passing—especially in a volume in the series “Great Religions of Modern Man.” Again, I would recommend a lengthy, general introduction—even if at the expense of some citations—for the benefit of the non-expert reader.
In conclusion, may I offer a few suggestions. When so many technical terms are included, more extensive indexes are required, especially in the case of lesser known religions. There is also an omission of almost all historic data and popular information, perhaps on the assumption that this data is already well known. To remedy this, dare I suggest that the prospective reader glance first at an encyclopedia before tackling the current volume on the subject? Otherwise he will find rather heavy going in what by its size and style is obviously intended as a “popular” study.
FRANCIS R. STEELE
Book Briefs
Works of Love, by Sören Kierkegaard, tr. by Howard and Edna Hong (Harper, 1962, 383 pp., $6). A major and devotional book of Kierkegaard in which he discusses the nature of love, both in its inward intensity and outward expressions.
Revelation, by Luther Poellot (Concordia, 1962, 314 pp., $5). An evangelical commentary on the last book of the Bible by an author who does not try to say more than he knows.
The Light of the World, by Jaroslav Pelikan (Harper, 1962, 128 pp., $3). “Light” as a biblical symbol of God is scrutinized particularly as it appears in the thought of Athanasius, in order to make it a bearer of God’s Word in our present culture.
Counseling: A Modern Emphasis in Religion, by Leslie E. Moser (Prentice-Hall, 1962, 354 pp., $6.50). A wide range of counseling aid for pastors and church-related clinics by a professor of psychology at Baylor University.
The Pastoral Care of Families, by William E. Hulme (Abingdon, 1962, 208 pp., $3.50). How to render pastoral care at all stages of the life cycle of the family: parent-child, youth, the about-to-marry, midlife, old-age. Useful to both pastors and laymen.
Philosophical Fragments, by Sören Kierkegaard (Princeton, 1962, 260 pp., $6.50). This is one of Kierkegaard’s important and most readable books. A revised translation, with introduction and commentary.
Paperbacks
A Chosen Vessel, by C. F. D. Moule (Association, 1961, 79 pp., $1). A living portrait of Paul constructed from the pages of the New Testament.
Law and Gospel, by W. Andersen (Association, 1961, 80 pp., $1). A discussion of the function of law in a Gospel proclaiming freedom in Christ.
The Pursuit of God, by A. W. Tozer (Christian Publications, Harrisburg, Pa., 1961, 128 pp., $1.50). Here is a perceptive study (first published in 1958) of the heart thirsting after God in which “deep answers to deep.”
Preaching from the Bible, by Andrew W. Blackwood (Abingdon, 1961, 247 pp., $1.25). A rich source of insights and suggestions for the man of the pulpit from rich experience of Princeton’s long-time professor of practical theology. Reprint.
The Incomparable Book, by Wilbur M. Smith (Beacon Publications, Minneapolis, Minn., 1961, 64 pp., $.75). Whatever one may think of the Bible, he cannot escape the fact that it is the most remarkable volume ever written. The author has written a guide to help us as we read through it.
Seasons and Symbols, by Robert Wetzler and Helen Huntington (Augsburg, 1962, 108 pp., $1.95). Rich, descriptive detail of the church year.
The Acts of the Apostles, by Charles Caldwell Ryrie (Moody, 1961, 127 pp., $.39). A story-commentary of the chief source book for the facts concerning Christianity in the first century after Christ.
Reprints
Paul the Man, by Clarence Edward Macartney (Revell, 1962, 221 pp., $2.95). A refreshing interpretation of Paul’s life, his message, and his ministry by one of America’s great preachers.
Casebook in Pastoral Counseling, ed. by Newman S. Cryer, Jr., and John Monroe Vayhinger (Abingdon, 1962, 320 pp., $4.95). Fifty-six cases involving major aspects of counseling.
The Universe: Plan or Accident?, by Robert E. D. Clark (Muhlenberg, 1961, 240 pp., $3.50; Paternoster, 16s.). A revised, enlarged edition, which considers the religious implications of modern science.
Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls, by F. F. Bruce (Eerdmans, 1961, 160 pp., $3; Paternoster, 1961, 160 pp., 12s. 6d.). A revision and enlargement of the 1956 edition. The author’s judgment on main issues is unchanged except on some details.
The Abiding Presence, by Hugh Martin (John Knox, Edinburgh, 1962, 256 pp., 13s. 6d.). A rich and glowing presentation of the presence of Christ as actualized in the days of his flesh, and later in the person of the Holy Spirit. First published in 1860 under the title Christ’s Presence in the Gospel History.
Campus Gods on Trial, by Chad Walsh (Macmillan, 1962, 154 pp., $3). Walsh who knows the modern college explodes the myth that it is godless. He helps students to see the host of pseudogods which reign on campus.
