The Theological Horizon—By Telescope
Searchlights on Contemporary Theology, by Nels F. S. Ferré (Harper 1961, 253 pp., $5), is reviewed by Edward John Carnell, Professor of Ethics and Philosophy of Religion, Fuller Theological Seminary.
Since this book is largely a composite of lectures and essays, it has no unifying theme, and thus is difficult to appraise. Moreover, the author ranges through a perplexing array of topics—myth and symbol, paradox and analogy, linguistic analysis and transcendence, freedom, orthodoxy, neo-orthodoxy, neo-naturalism, existentialism, hermeneutics, biblical authority, the definition of God in the light of modern knowledge, Christian experience, values, and education. Now it stands to reason that no author can adequately handle so many topics in one moderately-sized volume.
Nor is the proliferation of topics the only frustration which the reader must suffer. The author shifts to a disturbing ambiguity whenever he comes to grips with one of the critically Christian doctrines. Take the Trinity, for example. The author says that “whatever else the Christian doctrine of the Trinity may mean, at its center it proclaims the truth of God’s identifying himself conclusively with the individual in the Son, and with the community in the Spirit.” What this possibly means, I for one cannot say.
While the author is very generous in his critique of Bultmann and Tillich, he does not hesitate to charge them both with linguistic equivocation. It is manifestly wrong to use traditional symbols without intending traditional meaning. “Integrity in such a case requires the speaker to clarify beyond all culpable confusion his own use of the symbol, both by declaring what he does not mean to convey and by indicating what he literally does intend.” This is well taken.
Although the author makes his customary assertion that fundamentalism is too literalistic to merit serious attention, he nonetheless is much more charitable than he has been at other times. “Let it be said, however, concerning fundamentalism, that with regard to its main positive Christian contentions it stands in the solid line of historic Christianity; and it may even be that in the far future we will come to see that liberal accommodationism could not get rid of true, evangelical supernaturalism because of the intransigence of fundamentalism.”
Neo-orthodoxy is soundly trounced for failing to connect revelation with God’s activity on the level of creation. The author makes a very good point, but I think he states it too strongly. Surely Barth does not leave such a critical issue unexplored.
The author injects his own major presupposition from time to time. He concedes that Kant has demolished all rational avenues to God. This leaves man with the existential responsibility of choosing between religious alternatives. The author then claims that the best choice is the “concrete Christ as agape.” But rather than telling us why this is the best choice, he merely refers us to his other books—chiefly Faith and Reason.
The author is at his best when he delineates the attributes of Christian love. Sample: “Those who love are free from themselves in proportion to the depth of their love for others. God’s love alone is fully mature and therefore fully free.” The book sparkles with insights such as this.
I was most captivated by the last chapter: “The Church-Related College and a Mature Faith.” Perhaps this is because I spent several trying years in academic administration myself. Defining the relation between fixed truth and free, critical inquiry is never an easy task.
EDWARD JOHN CARNELL
A Culture In Crisis
Danger Ahead, by C. W. Scudder (Broadman, 1961, 180 pp., $3.25), is reviewed by Earl L. Douglass, Editor of the Douglass’ Sunday School Lessons.
We live in an era that is thoroughly alarmed by the increase in crime. Deeds of violence are increasing percentagewise faster than the population and are of such a nature that most serious students of modern life entertain profound fears for the nation’s future. This is not just a phenomenon experienced by the countries of North America. Throughout the whole world there appears to be a sinister movement toward violence and crime which constitutes a threat of gigantic proportions.
Dr. C. W. Scudder, teacher of Christian ethics at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has titled his book Danger Ahead, and subtitled it A Christian Approach to Some Current Problems. The book on the whole should be received with appreciation by ministers and thoughtful laymen everywhere. In fact it constitutes a handbook in which ministers may find in condensed form material about moral situations that could only be gleaned by a wide reading of official reports on crime and corruption.
It is the author’s contention that ignorance and indifference are friends of evil. And thus he sets about to describe the nature and prevalence of alcoholism, juvenile delinquency, syndicated crime, corruption in government, and the moral deterioration apparent in amusements. He begins with a description of the unrest characterizing present-day life, and outlines the crime of our day, especially the syndicates which have made crime one of the outstanding “businesses” in the United States. Adverse advertising, commercial amusements, salacious literature, and beverage alcohol are also singled out for investigation as sources of moral corruption.
Scudder frankly approaches his problem from the religious faith standpoint. His strategy involves Christian consecration on the part of those who would correct these evils, evangelization, illumination, and a program of procedure based upon the conviction that in Jesus Christ alone is there power for moral transformation. By way of practical counsel, the author offers suggestions to the individual, and then lays out a program for the church, gives advice for the bettering of family relationships, and finally suggests a broad program of community action.
Christian motivation lies at the basis of the solutions to the problems discussed. Love of God, Christian courage, consecration to the divine will, a sense of our relationship to the Saviour Jesus Christ constitute this Christian motivation.
There may be some who will criticize this book because of certain extreme and uncompromising positions taken in it. Not all readers, for example, will find themselves in agreement with Scudder’s unqualified word on the harmfulness of dancing. His remedies are not sugarcoated, however. Those who love the bleeding-heart type of sociology, the sentimental approach that hesitates to lay a heavy hand on evil acts or evil persons, will consider this book too peremptory and extreme. But realists will like it. Christian believers, who have read the New Testament with an ear attuned to all its messages involving severity and clemency, will regard this book favorably.
Best of all, it will provide ministers with detailed information about issues which should be brought continually to the attention of congregations.
EARL L. DOUGLASS
Devotional Study
The Design of the Scriptures, by Robert C. Dentan (McGraw-Hill, 1961, 276 pp., $5), is reviewed by William Childs Robinson, Professor of Historical Theology, Columbia Theological Seminary.
This is a popular devotional study of the Bible, its doctrines, and the life consequent thereon by the professor of Old Testament at General Theological Seminary, New York. The point of view presupposes the higher critical positions and accordingly weakens the biblical testimony in places. For example, in the midst of valuable teachings from Abraham the possibility is twice brought in that perhaps Abraham was not a historical character but only a symbol. On many of the great Christian doctrines, however, the author is positive, helpful, and current. He presents God as the Triune God, the threefold God, but makes no use of the Matthean trinitarian baptismal formula in doing so. He regards man as a unit, and accepts the resurrection of Christ as actual. The sundry Bible passages here are quite effective. The book will be used widely particularly among Episcopalians.
WILLIAM CHILDS ROBINSON
Christian Counterattack
The Ultimate Weapon—Christianity: The Case for a Foreign Policy of Militant Christianity, by Paul M. Stevens (Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1961, 158 pp., $3.95), is reviewed by Charles Wesley Lowry, Author of Communism and Christ.
The analysis on which the prognosis and prescription of this unusual book are based is, in this reviewer’s judgment, incontestable. “The fact of the moment is that we are fighting a losing battle on (the Communists’) battlefield with their chosen weapons” (p. 16). The West has allowed itself to be so conditioned that we react to various stimuli emanating from Moscow with the regularity of Pavlov’s famous dog; notably we become paralyzed almost at the mention of atomic war. “To be even more accurate, so defensive has the Western mentality become that intellectual leaders in almost all the Western Countries tend to write off Communistic expansionism, both its successes and its threats” (pp. 18–19).
Can we counterattack? Is a real counteroffensive possible? The author, who is director of the Southern Baptist Radio and Television Commission, believes that Christianity is itself the ultimate weapon that must be put to work militantly in much the way that the Church in the first three centuries of the Christian era spiritually opposed Caesarism and Roman materialism and in the end triumphed over the empire. He puts specific weight on missions. “There is a cause—the cause of world missions on a massive and gigantic basis. This cause is looking for some man or group of men who will be willing to pay the price so that Christian forces of our world may be united in a way by which we may march out to meet the needs of our world and to accept the challenge thrown by atheistic Communism” (p. 60).
The author proposes that the church bodies of the world form a kind of council, without organic union, where they could sit down together, co-ordinate their efforts, share information, and by this practical demonstration of unity fire both the Christian and pagan worlds. In some ways Mr. Stevens’ idea suggests that of Dr. Frank Laubach. The latter, however, puts technical aid in the forefront as a missionary endeavor, and makes evangelism indirect and secondary. Mr. Stevens appears to put “preaching evangelistically in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” first, and to advocate adding to this a generous response to and heroic grappling with the material problems of our world. Here however he is not specific.
It seems to us that it is good to have a spirit and passion like Mr. Stevens’. Even his central proposal is one that is wholesome and stimulating. It does raise many questions, the fundamental one being the same issue which MRA (Moral Re-Armament) raises, namely, whether a moralistic, or pietistic and evangelistic, answer is adequate to the challenge of the total ideology of communism. The early Church really faced a different problem, at least for the first two centuries of its life. There was relative tolerance in the Roman empire for all religions, and both supernatural religion and rational philosophy were honored. It is surely wide of the mark to say that “the student of Roman history will find that on the floor of the Senate Christianity was recognized and called the world’s most feared idea” (p. 32).
The answer, we suggest, must lie in action at various levels. Christianity as such must get off dead center and advance. So far Mr. Stevens is right. Secondly, careful thought must be given to an ideology of freedom based on the Christian view of God and man and embracing also specific issues of politics and economics. Finally, the role of force in weapons, in the paramilitary field, in economic assistance, and in psychological warfare must be recognized frankly and, as it were, baptized theologically.
This is not a milder but a more demanding challenge to all churches than that which Mr. Stevens excitingly issues. Its complexity suggests difficulty, but it has the great advantage of realism and relevance. The real trouble is apathy and the tacit moral disengagement of a large section of Christendom from the specific struggle of our period and the actual foe which menaces the future of freedom and of all Christianity.
CHARLES WESLEY LOWRY
A Hope Fulfilled
Pastoral Care and Psychotherapy, by Peder Olsen, translated from the Norwegian by Herman E. Jorgensen (Augsburg, 1961, 141 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by Theodore J. Jansma, Chaplain-Counselor of the Christian Sanitorium, Wyckoff, New Jersey.
This is the kind of book on pastoral care that evangelicals have been waiting for. It combines the best in psychology with a sound biblical Christianity, a rarity in the field. It reflects a genuine appreciation for the contributions of Freud and Neo-Freudians, as well as the current thought of existentialists. Yet the author never sacrifices biblical truth to psychological theory. For Olsen “the essence of soul care is leading men to Christ” (p. 13), and he means the Christ of Scripture, not some modern or humanistic reconstructed Christ. The many quotations from Scripture are not used as hooks for personal opinions or psychological theories, which one often finds in books of this kind. Olsen is the pastor consistently, and he seems to know well the boundary between himself and the psychotherapist or doctor. In being true to his office and to himself, by giving genuine pastoral or soul care, he is undoubtedly an effective psychotherapist. It is refreshing to come across an author on pastoral care who takes a firm stand on finality of the Bible as the Word of God, on the efficacy of the substitutionary atonement of Christ for the forgiveness of sin, and on the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration and sanctification, all of which he considers basic for pastoral care to the mentally disturbed.
Not being able to read the original Norwegian, one hesitates to comment on the translation. The English is generally smooth. On pages 89 and 91 the word “regression” should undoubtedly be “repression.”
THEODORE J. JANSMA
By Faith Propelled
Venture! The Frontiers of Free Methodism, by Byron S. Lamson (Light and Life Press, 1960, 281 pp., $3), is reviewed by Leslie R. Marston, Senior Bishop of the Free Methodist Church.
Here is a report of a century’s odyssey of faith, courage, and conquest. The author, missionary secretary of his denomination, charts the advance of the growing edge of the Free Methodist Church through its first 100 years, from 1860 to 1960.
The vigorous missionary spirit of the young church during its early decades found expression principally in home evangelism and church extension; thus it was not long until the church had spread into many areas of the United States and Canada. When this initial evangelistic thrust subsided and the advance across the home continent relaxed, there developed a growing concern for evangelizing non-Christian lands. This concern led Free Methodism from small beginnings to a strong stewardship and foreign missionary program by 1960.
The author’s account of the church’s outreach to the mission fields of the world takes in heroic ventures into India, Mozambique, and South Africa in the late ’80s; Japan and the Dominican Republic in the ’90s; China in the early twentieth century; and into many other fields in subsequent years. Expansion has now accelerated to the point where two out of every five Free Methodists in the world live in mission lands.
The appeal of Venture! is not limited to the denomination whose advancing frontiers it traces. Dr. Lamson relates his story to contemporary world developments and is intelligently alert to the social demands to which the Christian must be responsive. A significant chapter on missionary strategy in today’s turbulent nationalism is, “World Fellowship of Free Methodist Churches.”
The reviewer can report that, in line with plans projected in the chapter mentioned and shortly after the publication of Venture!, the parent general conference of North America recognized as general conferences the Free Methodist churches of Egypt and of Japan.
LESLIE R. MARSTON
In Courtship Of Disaster
Road to Sodom, by Jean Rees (Peter Davies, 1961, 320 pp., 18s.), is reviewed by Elizabeth Collie, graduate of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University.
Lot the meticulous accountant worshiping Abraham rather than God, Haran the masterpotter squandering his ability on making images of the moon-goddess, Terah whose business acumen clouds his obedience to God’s call, Adah ambitious enough to ruin her husband honest Lot—these characters provide an exciting study of motives for leaving the Chaldean capital. The familiar biblical narratives have taken on a new look for this historical novel, but Mrs. Rees’ research into archaeological finds at Ur are seen throughout the book as well as in the bibliography. The work concludes with the arrival of Abraham’s promised son, though it is the counterplot which provides the title. There the morals of righteous Lot are gradually debased by a scheming wife, and he is beguiled into taking up residence in Sodom. The writer tells her story well, and without moralizing manages to illustrate the dangers of the world’s lure, marrying the wrong sort of person, and undertaking a great enterprise for the wrong reason.
E. COLLIE
Critical Approach To O.T.
The Old Testament: Its Origins and Compositions, by Curt Kuhl (John Knox Press, 1961, 354 pp., $4.50), is reviewed by Fred E. Young, Professor of Biblical Philology, Central Baptist Theological Seminary.
Professor Kuhl’s work provides an excellent tool for both pastor and layman to engage in a serious investigation of the date, composition, and nature of the various books of the Old Testament. The book is arranged according to the Hebrew division of the Old Testament: Law, Prophets, and Writings. This has a decided advantage over the Genesis to Malachi approach used in many introductions to the Old Testament. In an appendix, he has included a brief treatment of the Apocrypha. With the recent interest in the Apocrypha stirred by the Qumran literature, this section might better have been a regular part of the book. For the benefit of the more inquiring student, quite copious footnotes suggest many up-to-date books and articles, both in English and in German. The bibliography is arranged according to chapters and has two parts: (A) relevant books and commentaries on the material covered in the corresponding chapter; (B) good periodical literature on the same.
In the introduction Professor Kuhl introduces the reader to the text, canon, and literary nature of the Old Testament. The chapter on the Pentateuch is a rather detailed study of the documentary approach to the text of the Old Testament. In simple and nontechnical language, the PJED thesis is posited. He begins with P, although he dates it later than D. The chapter on the Twelve Minor Prophets is quite brief in comparison with the section on the Writings. He sees the problem of a number of the books to lie in their composite nature. Jonah is interpreted as a prophetic legend intended to show God’s compassion to all men, “even the heathen, if they will only repent” (p. 211). A deutero-Zechariah is responsible for Zechariah 9–14.
One might wish for more Dead Sea Scroll references in various studies as, for example, Isaiah and Habakkuk; however, everything cannot be included in a book as designed by Professor Kuhl. It is a good presentation by a critical mind on the books of the Old Testament and should receive wide reading by students interested in a critical approach to Old Testament scholarship.
FRED E. YOUNG
A Kind Of Prophecy
Prophet, Speak Now!, by Robert B. McNeil (John Knox Press, 1961, 92 pp., $2.50), is reviewed by William D. Livingstone, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, San Diego, California.
I suppose it is only fair that a person should, as a reviewer, identify himself and thereby make clear what might be his own prejudices or biases in reviewing a book of this sort. I am a conservative in my theology, and definitely a liberal in my political and economic viewpoint.
Among the number of things that might be said about this book and about its author, I would mention first that it is the type of book which we saw quite frequently in the 1930s and ’40s—doing battle against the status quoism of a part of church society in an attempt to recover the prophetic function of preaching and of the church’s message and mission. In fairness to Mr. McNeil the book may have some relevance in the South where conditions are rather different from the rest of the country. But I cannot say this for a certainty because I have never lived there.
In the introduction McNeil tells us that the issue involved in the book and in the life of the church is that God is good and men ought to make his goodness epidemic among themselves. This, in his mind, is the main issue of the Christian faith. Now, I could not agree with this myself, and I feel there are many others who also believe that this, though ethically of great importance, does not get to the basic meaning of Christianity.
There are a number of statements through the book which indicate a liberal slant on the author’s part in regard to the interpretation of Scripture and the application of the Christian faith to life. For example, he says that “the Mosaic laws were not offered as a means of granting salvation if they were kept, but of welding the loose confederation of tribes into a nation which would eventually become priest to all nations.” This interpretation seems to me to be far from the total meaning of God’s covenant relationship with his people. Again, he says, “Christianity would have remained an obscure esoteric sect and would never have made its way to us if it had not undergone occasional purifications from the prophets.” I am not certain what Mr. McNeil means. Is he implying that originally Christianity was an obscure esoteric sect, that the full truth of the Christian faith was not given to us by Christ himself in the beginning? This is a naturalistic interpretation of Christianity.
The spirit of the book is one of iconoclasm, the spirit that prevailed in the ’30s and ’40s. It is a protest against the Church, which is supposedly a buttress for the status quo type of society and is found wanting in social and economic vision. This may, as I have said, be true in regard to some situations in the South; it certainly is not true of the North. Rather than a priest class representing conservative religious views, we find in the church the very opposite to be the case. Great interdenominational agencies and large denominations are being controlled by those who supposedly would be in the same camp as the “prophetic voice” people—these are the liberals and modernists, the ones who supposedly have the social vision, are pro-union, and yet at the same time control a great deal of the wealth being given to the churches. On the other hand, it is the conservatives, those who hold to the historic faith, that constitute a minority in power and influence in the life of American Protestantism.
Again, the author manifests his low view of Scripture: “Perhaps we are further drawn to the literary prophets because though farsighted they were not inerrant. Tyre did not fall to Babylon as Ezekiel predicted, nor was Jeremiah right in his prophecy that Nebuchadnezzar would conquer Egypt, all of which proves what we have long suspected: that soothsaying was not a prophetic specialty and that prophecy is a spirit of power and not of prediction.” What he means by a “spirit of power” I do not know. But according to the historic Christian view, the prophets proclaimed the will of God, and their prophecies are true and accurate. We must try to understand what the prophet intended—whether a literal fall of Tyre to Babylon, for example, or whether Ezekiel was here speaking symbolically and futuristically as he often did.
Mr. McNeil is apparently attempting to stir up ministers to speak out against social abuse, which prophetic function is a valid one for a minister if it is used with good sense.
WILLIAM D. LIVINGSTONE
Enigma Within A Puzzle
Myths, Dreams and Mysteries, by Mircea Eliade (Harper, 1960, 256 pp., $5), is reviewed by Francis R. Steele, Home Secretary, North Africa Mission.
The enigma of human existence remains an insoluble puzzle to those who approach the problem from the wrong epistemological foundation. There is too much evidence that man is essentially a “religious animal” for a purely mechanistic scheme of evolutionary development to suffice as an explanation for his behavior. But the fallacious assumption that Christianity may be handled on the level of all other religions in a comparative study of religious behavior and development dooms efforts that are based upon it to failure.
And here is another example. The author’s knowledge is encvclopedic. The book is crammed with fascinating descriptions of the varied religious beliefs and practices of mankind past and present, explained more or less in accordance with the popular “depth-psychology” theories. But one has the feeling of being led through a jungle populated with weird beings which bear a tantalizing likeness to some almost forgotten species. Then, in a flash, comes the recollection that these specters are examples of mankind originally created in the image of God, yet presently estranged by sin and doomed to wander in their shadowy existence of illusion unless liberated by Him who alone is Truth and Life. Too bad the key is lost to the author so that the puzzle must remain unsolved—to him.
FRANCIS R. STEELE
Luke And The Parousia
The Theology of St. Luke, by Hans Conzelmann (Harper, 1960, 255 pp., $5), is reviewed by Everett F. Harrison, Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary.
More and more, it seems, American publishers are becoming alert to the opportunity of presenting influential works of foreign theologians in translation. Whether this be viewed as a contribution to ecumenism or simply as a means of making scholarly works available on a contemporary basis, it is a significant service.
The present volume, which covers both Luke and Acts, is not easy reading, and is primarily a scholar’s work. But if one can get through the first chapter he is almost certain to find his interest quickened and sustained to the end.
Like Lohmeyer and R. H. Lightfoot before him, the author finds the study of geography important in connection with the ministry of Jesus. He pictures Luke as finding the gathering of the disciples to be the principal positive feature of the Galilean ministry, whereas the Jerusalem phase is dominated by the necessity of the Passion. This whole section suffers from lack of a clarifying summary.
The chief thrust of the book, however, is the attempt to show what Luke has done with the delay of the Parousia, a theme which has been agitating European circles in recent years. According to Conzelmann, Luke has adapted the early Christian eschatological tradition and given it a new orientation. “The idea of the coming of the Kingdom is replaced by a timeless conception of it.” Acts 1:7 is a straw in the wind here. Lest the church fall into an attitude of “eschatological resignation,” the evangelist-historian stresses that the period between the ministry of our Lord and the consummation is to be marked by suffering in connection with the Christian witness, and also by sober preoccupation with the ethical obligations of the faith, highlighted by the necessity of endurance.
Conzelmann sees Luke’s interpretation of redemptive history as calling for a three-fold division: (1) the era of the Law and the Prophets, (2) the period of Jesus, and (3) the interval between Jesus and the Parousia, the age of the Church as formed and guided by the Spirit. Luke 16:16 is crucial in marking the boundary between the first two, even as the opening chapters of the Acts differentiate between the second and the third. A strong emphasis on the Spirit acts as a binding element between the last two periods.
In the realm of Christology, Jesus is seen through Luke’s eyes as the instrument of God in the work of salvation, and the position of subordination is regularly maintained. In handling the death of Christ, Luke avoids the theme of atonement but magnifies the aspect of Scripture fulfillment and the execution of the divine plan.
As to ecclesiology, the Church is viewed as the New Israel, though Luke avoids this precise terminology.
One gets the impression of a nice balance between the utilization of the work of other investigators and the writer’s own critical labors. There are places, no doubt, where the confidence of the critic should have been tempered with caution. In any event, the reader who is familiar with the problems of current biblical discussion will find in the book many admirable insights.
EVERETT F. HARRISON
Pentecostalism Surveyed
The Promise Fulfilled, by Klaude Kendrick (Gospel Publishing House, 1961, 237 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by Dallas M. Tarkenton, Editor of the Advocate.
Klaude Kendrick has attempted to give a historical survey of the largest segment of what Dr. Henry P. Van Dusen has labeled a “third mighty arm of Christian outreach” (The Christian Century, Aug. 17, 1955). The volume is the outgrowth of a doctoral dissertation presented to the University of Texas.
Undoubtedly the author has made a helpful contribution to the history of the church in providing this survey.
There is a disparity of material on the several Pentecostal groups, as is evidenced by the author in his preface. The reader discovers as he goes along that about one third of the volume is devoted to one church; 71 pages are devoted to the Assemblies of God, and about eight pages to the Church of God. This makes the survey somewhat restrictive.
His classifications of “Baptistic Pentecostal Groups” and “Pentecostal Wesleyan Perfectionist-Groups” raise questions.
Some of the data in the book needs to be brought up to date. In reference to the Pentecostal Holiness church on page 185, the author says, “Parents are allowed the option of requesting either dedication or baptism for children.” Since the 1957 discipline of this church contains no such information, the data in Kendrick’s book is obviously not entirely current. Other evidences indicate a too limited use of primary source data.
For a brief and general survey of the emergence and development of Pentecostalism in the last 75 years, the author has made a worthwhile contribution. The last chapter titled “An Appraisal” is an objective statement on the weaknesses and strengths of Pentecostals.
DALLAS M. TARKENTON
The Faith Reoriented
Conversation on Faith, by Eberhard Mueller, translated by J. W. Doberstein (Muhlenberg Press, 1961, 196 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by J. Theodore Mueller, Concordia Theological Seminary.
This book appeared several years ago in German under the title Gespräch über den Glauhen and was dedicated by its author to the theological faculty of the University of Tübingen, from which in 1955 he had received his doctorate in theology. The writer’s rejection of Scripture as the inerrant, divinely-inspired Word of God, the only source and norm of faith, and his attempt to orient the Christian faith to modern thinking result in an inadequate presentation of the Christian mysteries of faith despite retention of the traditional terminology. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a stumbling block and foolishness to unbelieving men; no reorientation of it to infidelity will render it more acceptable to the carnal mind.
J. THEODORE MUELLER
