The Past Isn’T What It Used To Be
The Reformation of Tradition, edited by Ronald E. Osborn (Bethany Press, 1963, 336 pp., $6), and Christians Only, by James Deforest Murch (Standard, 1962, 393 pp. $6), are reviewed by Robert Oldham Fife, professor of history and philosophy, Milligan College, Milligan College, Tennessee.
In a significant fashion these two works symbolize the nature of the crisis which presently confronts the Disciples of Christ.
The Reformation of Tradition is the first of a projected series of three volumes containing the reports of the “Panel of Scholars,” a group organized in 1956 under the auspices of the United Christian Missionary Society and the Board of Higher Education of Disciples of Christ. General editor of the series is W. B. Blakemore, dean of Disciples Divinity House and associate dean of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, University of Chicago.
Christians Only is a history of the “Restoration Movement,” out of which sprang the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) and Churches of Christ. James DeForest Murch is widely known both among the Disciples of Christ and in interchurch circles. In the latter sphere he has served as editor of United Evangelical Action and as managing editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY.
The basic thesis of The Reformation of Tradition is that the traditional plea of the Disciples to “restore the New Testament Church” has been invalidated by biblical criticism and the events of history. That “tradition” therefore needs “reformation.”
The basic thesis of Christians Only is that the concept of “restoration” is most definitely valid, although it is penitently confessed that the “restoration” has not been fulfilled by the people who have pled for it. The task, therefore, is not to “reform” the tradition so much as to fulfill it, and to mediate its message within the context of modern ecumenical conversations.
In a rather remarkable way the two books complement each other. The “liberal” viewpoint against which Murch inveighs is well represented in the other book in “A Critique of the Restoration Principle” by Ralph G. Wilburn, dean of The College of the Bible, Lexington, Kentucky. And the change in Disciple preaching traced by Hunter Beckelhymer, minister of the Hiram, Ohio, Christian Church, fits well into the course of events described by Murch.
The Reformation of Tradition emphasizes the “relativity” of Scripture and the Church to the social and historical circumstances of each age. Osborn observes, “Restorationism presupposes an inadequate view of revelation … an untenable view of history, and an indefensible notion of being able to transcend the relativities of history” (p. 287). Wilburn asks, “Does not the truth of historical relativism render untenable Alexander Campbell’s notion of ‘purely supernatural communications in the Bible?’ ” (p. 224).
Murch frankly states his position in his preface: “I have little regard for the modern school of history which looks askance at the supernatural and which sees in the flow of events simply mechanical and human factors—geographical, climatic, economic, political, social, cultural, and intellectual. I see the Restoration movement as a part of the plan of God to preserve and perpetuate ‘the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.’ ”
Other significant points of issue are to be observed. Murch recounts with considerable care the work of the “Commission on Restudy,” a broadly representative body of scholars and preachers, appointed by the International Convention, who studied over the space of fifteen years the problems facing the Disciples. In his paper entitled “The Sociology of Disciple Intellectual Life,” Dean Blakemore says nothing of this commission or its findings.
Murch’s description of the development of conventions among Disciples forms an interesting backdrop to D. Ray Lindley’s paper on “The Structure of the Church.”
Murch divides the heirs of the “Restoration Movement” into three groups: “Non-Biblical Inclusivists,” “Biblical Inclusivists,” and “Biblical Exclusivists.” This is an interesting classification which will probably be much debated.
While Christians Only reveals considerable care in research, many scholars will regret that numerous significant observations and quotations are not adequately documented.
Most significant are the concluding portions of the two works. Osborn’s essay entitled “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” and Murch’s chapter on “The Restoration Plea in an Ecumenical Era,” while possessing significant differences, also show considerable kinship. Both turn away from “classical liberalism.” Both place emphasis upon catholicity and apostolicity.
Murch indicates that “Centrists and Rightists among the Disciples” must see that “their traditional presentation of ‘the plea’ is outmoded and that they do not have all the answers to the present ecumenical situation.” He does reaffirm, however, that the principles of “restoration” as presented in Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address are still valid.
Osborn notes that many of the papers in The Reformation of Tradition “explicitly repudiate restorationism … as an interpretation of apostolicity.” Yet he affirms that “to contend for the original faith and order may not be stylish in all theological circles, but is theologically and biblically sound.”
Heirs of the “Restoration Movement” who read these two volumes will have much to ponder.
ROBERT OLDHAM FIFE
Salty Wisdom
Beginning Your Ministry, by Samuel M. Shoemaker (Harper & Row, 1963, 127 pp., $3), is reviewed by Paul S. Rees, vice-president-at-large, World Vision, Pasadena, California.
It is said that Thoreau, on being asked what was his favorite dish, replied, “The one nearest me.” So numerous are books about preaching and preachers that one does not have to reach far for his “favorite.”
About this one there are two things that are special: the angle from which it is written and the author who has given it to us. As for the first, there is a scarcity of books prepared with the ministerial trainee in mind. The attempt is here made to reach the seminary man and the newly ordained man before he is too set in his ways and too tough in his resistances.
As an author, “Sam” Shoemaker is rivaled by few men either in the number of books produced or the range of readership commanded. His retirement from the parish ministry came less than two years ago. Out of his unretiring retirement has come this piece of work, into the preparation for which four decades of creative, contagious pulpit and parish experience have poured their riches.
The first chapter, on “The Seminary,” is as timely as it is trenchant. The seminary staff, no less than the students, stand to profit by it. A man is quoted who said of his seminary, “It is the most confusing place on the face of the earth and the last place to go for fellowship.” Constructively down-to-earth suggestions are made for coping with this situation if one is a student and for correcting it appreciably if one is responsible for administration or teaching.
How to think about the Church and how to approach one’s own churchmanship in relation to a particular communion (“when he is ordained, he must be convinced as to the fundamental soundness of the ecclesiastical and theological position of the Communion in which he is to serve, and at his ordination pledge his loyalty to it, as well as to his Lord”) are matters that Shoemaker salts down with wisdom and discriminating hope.
It is assumed that the clergyman for whom the book is intended will become a parish minister. How to relate himself usefully and reproachlessly to parish traditions, to staff members, to lay “popes,” to women, to spiritual immaturity and even crass materialism—these are points of delicacy on which the light of a balanced mind is made to fall.
It would not be a Shoemaker book if it had nothing to say about “awakening” in the Church and in the churches. The prospective pastor is cautioned against such half-solutions as “liturgical revision,” “new buildings,” “religious education,” “retreats and conferences” (“we have today a perfect rash of retreat centers and conferences”), and “more scholarship.” He is urged not so much to disregard these possible needs as to go beyond them: to begin dealing with persons by means of awakened persons and through “the small organic group.”
What Kraemer has called “The Theology of the Laity” (not to be confused with theology for the laity) comes in for a typically Shoemakeresque treatment under the title “The Team of Laymen and the ‘Playing Coach,’ ” the latter being none other than the minister himself.
Our author will have no truck with the contemporary cult that disparages preaching. He admirably exploits a quotation from H. V. Kaltenborn evoked by, of all things, the speeches of Adolph Hitler. Hitler, it is alleged, seemed to go by three rules:
Say it simply.
Repeat it often.
Make it burn.
“That,” says Shoemaker, “is the best short lesson in homiletics I have ever heard.”
The final chapter is so intimate and informal that it comes close to reading like a recorded conversation. In some Protestant circles there is a caricature that says in effect, “All Episcopalians are stuffy!” Let a man read this chapter only if he is prepared to have this illusion dispelled.
This reviewer’s personal fondness and respect for Dr. Shoemaker inclines him to waive any small caveat that he might enter here and there as he reads these chapters. If, however, judgment is to override sentiment, he would note with regret the tendency to quote a scholar such as Dr. Tillich without a hint to the young pastor being addressed that here is a man whose acuteness of intellect may in fact be the proud shield behind which the authentic Gospel of the New Testament is betrayed. My feeling on this point is obviously much deeper and stronger than that of my friend.
One could wish, also, that the dividing line—admittedly a kind of tightrope—between pharisaical perfectionism and sinning antinomianism had been given a sharper treatment. The General Confession, for example, enshrines inescapable truth and conveys the sense of continuing need, but the distortion of it in the popular mind—that God can do nothing with repeated sin but offer a repeated forgiveness—simply misses the incredible victoriousness of the New Testament.
With Shoemaker’s fear of the “I-have-arrived” mentality and his protest against the divisiveness, the “hiving off” tendency of deeper-life movements I am in full sympathy.
Nothing that I say at this point must be allowed to detract from the solid values that line this book like jewels in a casket.
PAUL S. REES
To Stimulate, Not Hypnotize
An Introduction to Barth’s Dogmatics for Preachers, by Arnold B. Come (Westminster, 1963, 231 pp., $4.75), is reviewed by James Daane, editorial associate,CHRISTIANITY TODAY.
Arnold Come went to Basel and did not come back until he had read the twelve volumes of Barth’s Dogmatics. In the Preface he confides that reading the 7,500 pages took eight to ten hours a day for ten months.
Convinced that Barth, rightly used, can be a tremendous help to the preacher in the making of sermons, he has written his book. He attempts to introduce Barth—the man, his work, and his intent—in such a way as to encourage men of the pulpit to read Barth without becoming Barthians. One chapter bears the title: “How to Avoid Becoming a Barthian.”
He begins by asking why a preacher should read Barth at all. He then describes Barth’s theological pilgrimage, discusses the labyrinthian character of Barth’s thought and its development, takes the reader on a fast tour of the Dogmatics, and concludes with a discussion of the task of interpreting and preaching the Word of God. All of this is competently done, and most is good and profitable reading for the man of the pulpit. Come is surely correct in his belief that Christian preachers can enrich their theological and biblical insights by reading Barth’s Dogmatics, provided they can retain their freedom to be fascinated without being captivated. Come gives hints—sometimes as delicate as a shoulder-block—showing how Barth can be used without danger.
The book is a very lucid treatment of many very elusive matters. Come has not read in vain. I would question, however, even the “possibility” that the disciples had a greater awareness of Jesus’ consciousness than Jesus himself had, as an explanation of how Jesus came to be called the Christ.
Come makes three interesting observations that should be mentioned. First, Barth recognizes, asserts Come, the “fallible character of the words, the presuppositions, and even the theology of the Bible. But one never finds him admitting a specific case of fallibility and so struggling with the problem of correcting one statement in the Bible.” This raises intriguing questions and possibilities. Second, on the Barth-Bultmann question (how can one hear the Word of God unless one can understand the words), Come presents an analysis of what it means to understand, and then asserts that he does not believe the issue between Barth and Bultmann is as large as commonly thought. He seems to suggest not that Barth is as bad as Bultmann, but Bultmann is almost as good as Barth. Third, Come believes the most pervasive and determinative principle of Barth’s theology is that of analogia relationis, i.e., as the Father is related to the Son, so God is related to man, and man to his fellow man. This principle is also, says Come, the “most debatable.”
Come writes to make Barth available to preachers, but wants the latter stimulated, not hypnotized. I think he succeeds. If some find the reading of Barth too heady, it will not, I think, be Come’s fault.
JAMES DAANE
Fresh, Really!
Passion, by Karl A. Olsson (Harper & Row, 1963, 121 pp., $2.75), is reviewed by David A. Redding, minister, First United Presbyterian Church, East Cleveland, Ohio.
Dr. Karl A. Olsson is one president of a theological seminary who has lost touch neither with the Gospel nor with the religiously illiterate intellectuals. His approach to the passion of Christ is fresh and exciting. Really, this author is a literary wonder and restores the classic proportions to the Good News with academic dignity and elegant taste. He covers the eternal vastnesses in Scripture that keep getting lost in the shallows of convention and the cheap stereotype. This book offers a disturbingly bright blessing for any reader, but I believe it is particularly the kind of eloquent devotional writing required to rescue the attention of our generation from its determined materialistic fixations.
DAVID A. REDDING
Christian: Do It Yourself
The Outbursts That Await Us: Three Essays on Religion and Culture in the United States, by Arthur Hertzberg, Martin E. Marty, and Joseph N. Moody (Macmillan, 1963, 181 pp., $4.50), and Second Chance for American Protestants, by Martin E. Marty (Harper & Roiv, 1963, 175 pp., $3.50), are reviewed by John Warwick Montgomery, chairman, Department of History, Waterloo Lutheran University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
A single, exceedingly important contemporary problem provides the backdrop and immediate occasion for these two works: the increasing tension between religion and society in America, as evidenced by the Supreme Court decision in June of last year (Engle vs. Vitale) forbidding the use of the so-called Regents’ Prayer in the public schools of New York State. In The Outbursts That Await Us, sophisticated theological representatives of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Judaism present their reactions to an apparently growing “secularism” in the United States; in Second Chance for American Protestants, one of these writers virtually sets forth a theology for the new age in which the Reformation faith can less and less rely upon support from its social environment.
At first glance the alignments appear incongruous: Hertzberg and Marty are far closer to each other on the basic issue than are Moody and Marty. To Moody, representing enlightened American Catholicism, the Supreme Court decision marked a tragic decline in the generalized Christian values characteristic of American life; but to Rabbi Hertzberg and to the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s Rev. Dr. Marty, Engle vs. Vitale can by no means be regarded as a tragedy. Hertzberg sees the court decision as a consistent attempt to separate church and state on the basis of the First Amendment, and as a Jew he rejoices to see that “only in America” Jews are finding a land in which religious “establishment”—even in general sociological terms—is less and less allowed to discriminate against minorities. He suggests darkly that the Roman Catholic reaction to the Supreme Court decision was motivated not simply by natural-law doctrine, but more especially by “the great problem of the future financing of the parochial schools”! Marty regards the court action as a clear indicator that the days of “placed,” secure, safe Protestantism in America are over, and that now, like Abraham and the saints described in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, American Christians will have to seek “a better country, that is, a heavenly one”; no longer will they be able to rely on the culture to support a polite and innocuous faith—their “second chance” lies solely in “drawing on resources not wholly captive to this environment.” namely, the resources of God’s Word.
This reviewer finds the Marty thesis solidly biblical and eminently relevant to the present cultural situation. Evangelicals especially should ponder the fact that the most articulate Protestant objections to the Engle vs. Vitale decision came from theologians of the stamp of Bishop James Pike, John C. Bennett, and Reinhold Niebuhr; Niebuhr characteristically asserted that “the prayer seemed to be a model of accommodation to the pluralistic nature of our society.” In point of fact, the Gospel cannot be pluralized or accommodated without distortion, and the clear Reformation distinction between Law and Gospel has as its proper corollary a clear distinction between politics and religion.
The present review is being written on shipboard in the mid-Atlantic, and the “displaced” nature of the environment is hospitable for analyzing a proposal for “displaced” vs. “placed” Christianity. Two events aboard ship have added weight to Marty’s argument. The first was the front-page news article in Cunard’s Ocean Times informing us that the Supreme Court has now banned as unconstitutional any required use of the Lord’s Prayer or devotional Bible reading in public schools; thus Marty’s prophecy is further validated, and Protestants should be thankful that they now have no other recourse than to introduce young people to Christ through solid church teaching—that they can no longer lamely rely upon generalized moralistic “Bible reading” in the public schools to do a poor-at-best job for them. Second was the marked contrast between the “official,” “established” Sunday worship service (Anglican Morning Prayer, with lengthy petitions for the Queen, conducted with painful self-consciousness by a Ship’s Officer and attended by a pluralistic, equally uncomfortable congregation), and an almost spontaneous witness-by-songfest initiated by an anonymous passenger with a fine voice who played such numbers as “How Great Thou Art” on the lounge piano and soon had a crowd around him. In a pluralistic post-Christendom, believers had better wake up to the absolute necessity of serving as lights of the world by living and preaching the Gospel, not by expecting any form of generalized social or official establishment to do it for them.
JOHN WARWICK MONTGOMERY
As Seen From Deskside
Fifty Years an Editor, by William B. Lipphard (Judson, 1963, 256 pp., $3.95), is reviewed by Faris D. Whitesell, professor of preaching, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois.
Setting a record in fifty years of editorial service to one magazine, Missions of the American Baptist Convention, Dr. Lipphard gives us seventeen chapters of depth insights into his life and thought, rather than a formal autobiography. In flowing and gripping style, he puts the reader in a ringside seat to view the religious movements of the past half century.
Trained in Yale and the old Rochester Seminary, the author has upheld the liberal approach in his independent, hard-hitting editorials. He believes that churches should be more concerned about world poverty, the population explosion, the danger of nuclear war, and denominational rivalry.
He thinks that the Formosa government does not stand for true China, that a new approach to foreign missions must replace the old evangelistic one, and that the ecumenical movement merits the support of all Christians. However, he thinks the organic union of all denominations is impossible.
American Baptists may be surprised at some of his views about their convention. He devotes a chapter to the growing centralized authoritarianism in the convention centered in the General Council but believes that “the denomination and especially its ministers are satisfied with this expanding, ecclesiastical machinery and its growing authoritarianism. They approve of it and they like it” (p. 209). He opposes immersion as a requirement for church membership and delegation to the convention, and believes that Baptists need a creed to define their beliefs for themselves and others but not for doctrinal tests. He foresees that if and when the authoritarian trend “becomes more pronounced and powerful in its efficiency, there likely will be a reaction. Scores and perhaps hundreds of churches, will follow the Wichita church and secede from the organized Baptist corporate fellowship. They will make new alignments or organize themselves into another corporate group, thus increasing still further the nearly twenty-five church groups in the United States that identify themselves as Baptists” (p. 216). Those who remain in the convention will be “a quality rather than a quantity group, enjoying the resultant feeling of safety in conformity and of security in the midst of insecurity” (p. 216).
FARIS D. WHITESELL
The Older Covenants
Treaty of the Great King, by Meredith G. Kline (Eerdmans, 1963, 149 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by Lester J. Kuyper, professor of Old Testament, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan.
This book in its subtitle, “The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy,” indicates that the author purposes to relate Deuteronomy to the patterns of covenants which were in use among peoples about Israel. The ancient Near East employed the suzerainty type of agreement in which the sovereign king promises benefits to his subject. The subject in turn is to serve his lord in loyal obedience. This suzerain-vassal type of covenant has received much attention from oriental scholars in recent times. Professor Kline is well acquainted with pertinent literature on ancient covenant structure.
Old Testament covenants have been compared with other covenants before, but I believe that this is the first attempt to relate the covenant pattern to the Book of Deuteronomy. The author finds interesting parallels and also some significant differences. As in Hittite treaties, so also in Deuteronomy, Jahweh, the Sovereign, has given his vassal people special benefits in the deliverance from Egypt. Israel must respond in loyalty and obedience to Jahweh, her Lord.
The first third of the book deals with introductory matters in which the features of the covenant receive special attention; the remainder of the book is a concise commentary on Deuteronomy.
The title of the book is derived from the language of the ancient agreement, which was a “Treaty of the Great King.” One is inclined to question the suitability of this novel title since Jahweh does not appear as King in Deuteronomy.
Still the author is to be commended for finding this relevant background for the structure of Deuteronomy. In line with this good principle of interpretation, that is, finding the relevant background for Scripture, some scholars have set the laws of Deuteronomy in post-Mosaic times. This the author refuses to do since he adheres to Mosaic authorship. Consequently, in the commentary section of the laws the principle of relevance is abandoned.
Deuteronomy has been the object of much use and study in recent times, eloquent evidence of the living message it contains. This book will have its place among the others in making clear that “man does not live by bread alone but … by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3).
LESTER J. KUYPER
Book Briefs
World Religions and World Community, by Robert Lawson Slater (Columbia University Press, 1963, 299 pp., $6). An examination of the great religions of the world to discover a “depth religion” which, through a “reconception” of all great religions, will contribute toward the creation of a single world community. In spite of the author’s protestations to the contrary, Christianity loses its uniqueness and finality.
Religion and the American People, by John L. Thomas, S. J. (Newman, 1963, 307 pp., $4.50). A probing into the actual beliefs and religious attitudes of the American people and a measuring of the impact of American churches upon the life of the nation. By a Roman Catholic.
God’s Way to the Good Life, by Robert Schuller (Eerdmans, 1963, 105 pp., $2.50). Popular crisp comments on the Ten Commandments by a pastor of a drive-in church in California.
He Came With Music, by Helen Frazee-Bower (Moody, 1963, 96 pp., $1.95). Readable Christian poetry.
Idelette, by Edna Gerstner (Zondervan, 1963, 160 pp., $2.50). A novel based on the life of Mrs. John Calvin by the wife of John H. Gerstner of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
The Greeks, edited by Hugh Lloyd-Jones (World, 1963, 262 pp., $4.50). A survey of Greece from the Homeric to the Hellenistic worlds by ten Greek specialists, covering the growth of the city-state, literature, philosophy, mathematics, visual arts, and the like.
The Dogma of Christ, by Erich Fromm (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963, 212 pp., $3.95). Essays, most of which were written during the last decade; the one giving title to the book comes from 1930, when Fromm was a strict Freudian.
God in My Unbelief, by J. W. Stevenson (Harper & Row, 1963, 159 pp., $2.75). Little vignettes of a Scots Highland pastor’s encounter with his proud congregation, revealing the demands and triumphs of Christianity on the ground level. First American edition of an earlier British publication.
None of These Diseases, by S. I. McMillen (Revell, 1963, 158 pp., $2.95). A physician contends that health, happiness, and even longer life come to those who heed the Bible. Interesting reading, with a journalistic excellence not matched by the religious suppositions and conclusions.
Sacred and Profane Beauty: The Holy in Art, by Gerardus van der Leeuw (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963, 357 pp., $6.50). A profound but very lucid consideration of the theological significance of art and the place of aesthetics in Christian life and thought.
The Splendor That Was Egypt, by Margaret A. Murray (Hawthorn, 1963, 354 pp., $8.50). Author, age 100, is dean of British Egyptologists; her new and revised work covers the history, religion, art, science, language, literature, social conditions, and customs of ancient Egypt. Though written for the layman, the presentation often assumes so much as to send him digging to uncover the splendor that is there.
Archaeology of the Old Testament, by R. K. Harrison (English Universities Press [102 Newgate Street, London EC1], 1963, 162 pp., 7s. 6d.). A good little “teach yourself” book; but teaching oneself through its use will take the usual amount of doing.
Hope and Help for Your Nerves, by Claire Weekes (Coward-McCann, 1963, 160 pp., $3.95). Australian physician administers a good dose of common sense for nervous and physical health.
Commentary on Zechariah, by Merrill F. Unger (Zondervan, 1963, 275 pp., $6.95). Verse-by-verse commentary by the Old Testament professor of Dallas Theological Seminary. Readable text, copious footnotes.
The Hebrew Passover, From the Earliest Times to A.D. 70, by J. B. Segal (Oxford, 1963, 294 pp., $6.75). An analysis of the biblical and extra-biblical documents on the Passover, and an exposition of the thesis that the primitive Passover was a New Year festival of the springtime. For professional students only.
In Defense of Property, by Gottfried Dietze (Regnery, 1963, 273 pp., $6.50). A scholarly, readable history and defense of private property. The author, a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, believes that private property is a prerequisite of a free and moral society, and that the twentieth century is losing the awareness of the propriety of property.
Paperbacks
Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl (Washington Square Press, 1963, 216 pp., $.60). During, and out of, years of experience in Nazi concentration camps, a Vienna professor developed his theory of logotherapy, i.e., the will to give meaning to one’s life. First published in 1959.
The Bible as Literature, by Buckner B. Trawick (Barnes & Noble, 1963, 182 pp., $1.25). A recital of Old Testament history and biography which never demonstrates the claim of the title, though its liberal theological position is on constant review.
A History of Religion on Postage Stamps, Vol. I, by F. Harvey Morse (American Topical Association [3306 N. 50th Street, Milwaukee 16, Wis.], 1963, 98 pp., $4). Religion as reflected on postage stamps from early times until the Reformation. With many illustrations.
Twentieth Century Christianity, edited by Stephen Neill (Doubleday, 1963, 432 pp., $1.45). Ten men describe the trends and events that have altered Christianity in the fast-moving twentieth century. Superbly done; fascinating reading for anyone who loves the whole church of Christ. First printed in 1961.
History and Future of Religious Thought: Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, by Philip H. Ashby (Prentice-Hall, 1963, 171 pp., $1.95). With charity for all and no evident preferential love for any, a teacher of religion at Princeton University summons four of the major world faiths to show the significance of their central tenets for all men.
Christian Doctrine, by J. S. Whale (Cambridge, 1963, 197 pp., $1.25). A presentation of the basic beliefs of Protestant Christianity with an unobtrusive erudition and a clarity that will be a joy to the average reader. A work of quality. First printed in 1941.
The Century of the New Testament, by E. M. Blaiklock (Inter-Varsity, 1962, 158 pp., $1.25).
The Gospel Miracles and Many Things in Parables, by Ronald S. Wallace (Eerdmans, 1963, 379 pp., $1.95). Sound perceptive interpretations of parable and miracle that echo their meanings for today. Reprints.
Mister/Madam Chairman …, by Edmund B. Haugen (Augsburg, 1963, 65 pp., $1.75). A brief, clear explanation of the basic rules governing parliamentary procedure.
Make Your Preaching Relevant, by Jack D. Sanford (Broadman, 1963, 93 pp., $1.50). A simple but fine discussion about preaching that will goad and summon the preacher to really preach.
Kierkegaard’s Way to the Truth, by Gregor Malantschuk (Augsburg, 1963, 126 pp., $2.50). A brief lucid introduction not to the writings but to the thought of Kierkegaard, particularly as expressed in his analysis of the aesthetic, ethical, and religious stages of life.
Zechariah Speaks Today, by A. A. Van Ruler (Association, 1963, 79 pp., $1). The thought of a difficult prophet rendered clear, devotional, and relevant, by a Dutch professor.
Peace on Earth (Pacem in Terris), encyclical letter of Pope John XXIII (Daughters of St. Paul [50 St. Paul’s Avenue, Boston 30, Mass.], 1963, 64 pp., $.25).
