Joel

The Book of Joel furnished one of the texts for the first sermon after Pentecost (Acts 2:16–21), but preachers have not frequently followed Peter’s lead since. The absence of some of the great prophetic themes—indictment of specific sins, sensitive social consciousness, etc.—coupled with the difficulty of interpretation has caused some preachers to shy away from the message of our prophet. However, the description of God’s swift and awful judgment by means of the locust plague, the heralding of the day of the Lord, the call to repentance because of the gracious nature of God, the outpouring of the Spirit, the picture of security and prosperity in Judah and Jerusalem after the nations are threshed in the Valley of Jehoshaphat—these themes, and many more, may provide nourishing food for sermonic thought.

Authorship And Date

We know nothing of the personal history of Joel except the name of his father, Pethuel. It is improbable that our prophet can be identified with any of the several Joels (“Jehovah is God”) mentioned in the Bible. The prophet does not tell us where or when he lived. The answer to the former question may be inferred from the many references to Judah and especially Jerusalem and from the constant concern over the Temple sacrifices; but the question of the date of Joel is not to be answered so readily.

This problem has traditionally been solved in one of two ways: 1) by attributing Joel to the period of the minority of Jehoash (Joash) toward the end of the ninth century B.C., or 2) by dating the prophet after the return, near the end of the fifth century B.C. The statement of G. A. Smith is characteristic of the attitude of most scholars toward this problem: “In the history of prophecy the Book of Joel must be either very early or very late, and with few exceptions the leading critics place it either before 800 B.C. or after 500.”

Recently A. S. Kapelrud has argued that Joel originated in a period between the two extremes mentioned and should be dated just after the death of Josiah who perished at Megiddo in about 609 B.C. In this view, which had been suggested much earlier by Konig, Joel would be a contemporary of Jeremiah and Zephaniah. Kapelrud’s approach has not yet gained acceptance, although in many ways it commends itself as a compromise between two extremes. The last word has not been said about the date, but our understanding of the prophet’s message does not hinge on the time of his prophecy. In few Old Testament writings is the date of so little practical importance.

The unity of Joel appears to be accepted by most modern scholars, in spite of the questions raised in the commentaries of Duhm and Bewer, who attributed the apocalyptic portions to a later hand. A. S. Kapelrud, A. Bentzen, and R. H. Pfeiffer are among those who (along with conservatives) have gone on record in favor of the unity of the book.

Structure And Style

The book divides into two almost equal parts: 1:1–2:17 and 2:18–3:21. In the first section the prophet speaks; in the second, the Lord addresses his people and the nations. The following is a suggested outline:

I. The Locust Plague and the Day of the Lord—1:1–2:17

A. The Awful Plague—1:1–20

1. Its unique nature—1:2–4

2. Its effects upon the people—1:5–14

3. Its relation to the day of the Lord—1:15–20

B. The Imminent Day—2:1–17

1. The army of destroyers—2:1–11

2. The hope of deliverance—2:12–17

II. The Coming Victory—2:18–3:21

A. Restoration of the Plague Damage—2:18–27

B. Outpouring of the Spirit—2:28–32

C. Threshing of the Nations in Judgment—3:1–15

D. Rescuing of Judah—3:16–21

Students of Joel have been virtually unanimous in acclaiming the high quality of his poetry. S. R. Driver calls it “bright and flowing,” and Bewer gives the following evaluation: “His style is clear, fluent, and beautiful. The lyrical quality of some of his lines places them among the best of their kind in the O.T., while his graphic, terse descriptions are exceedingly effective” (I.C.C. p. 68). Unfortunately, the English translations are hard-pressed to render satisfactorily the nice word-plays. One might add at this point that the Hebrew text of Joel is in an excellent state of preservation and, in contrast with many of the prophetic writings, presents few knotty problems to the textual critic.

Interpretation

Three types of interpretation have dominated the study of the book of Joel—literal, allegorical, and apocalyptic. According to the literal view, the locusts described in both chapters one and two are actual insects which the author likens to an invading army and depicts in poetic imagery which at times is hyperbolic. Keil, G. A. Smith, Wade, Kirkpatrick, J. A. Thompson, and many others have embraced this interpretation.

Those who hold the allegorical view—among whom may be numbered the Targum, some of the patristic commentators, Pusey, and A. C. Gaebelein—maintain that the locusts are to be interpreted as foreign armies which successively ravage Judah. Pusey names the four invaders corresponding to the four words for “locust” used in 1:4 and 2:25: “Assyrian, Chaldean, Macedonian, and Roman.” He carries the allegorical interpretation a step further when he quotes with favor a patristic interpretation which equates the four types of locusts with “four chief passions” which “desolate successively the human heart.” The subjectivity of this approach has not commended it to most modern commentators, who accept the force of the argument that chapter two compares the locusts to an army. It is unlikely that something would be compared to itself. Those who contend for the apocalyptic method of interpretation, especially Merx and von Hoonacker, view the locusts as apocalyptic creatures who will leave catastrophe in their wake at the day of the Lord. However, the graphic description seems to indicate that the narrator is himself a witness to the devastation which he claims has taken place “before our eyes” (1:16). Furthermore the use of the past tense in the narrative makes it, in Keil’s words, “perfectly obvious that he is not speaking of something that is to take place in the future, but of divine judgment that has been inflicted already.”

Some scholars, such as Bewer and Pfeiffer, have combined elements from two of these interpretations and have held that chapter one is to be read literally while chapter two represents an eschatological or apocalyptic approach. For want of stronger evidence to sustain the allegorical and apocalyptic viewpoints, it seems safe to hold that the locusts of Joel are literal insects which, on this particular occasion, came in successive waves over a period of more than a year (“I will restore to you the years”—2:25) and which may have entered Palestine from the North (2:20) rather than from the South, their more usual point of entry. The prophet sees the calamitous havoc which they work as an harbinger of the day of the Lord which is to bring destruction from the Almighty.

The Day Of The Lord

The terrifying experience of the onslaught of locusts reminds our prophet of the day of the Lord, the time of God’s judicial intervention in the affairs of men. So fraught with terror and so complete in destruction is the insect invasion that Joel cannot help but connect it with the final day of God’s wrath. His picture of the day as a time of destruction and darkness seems to presuppose the great declaration of Amos 5:18–20, in which the Tekoan seeks to obviate the older notion that the day was a season of joy and light. Joel labors under no such misapprehension but accords fully with the tone of Amos’ message. Joel’s correspondence with the emphasis of Amos should be borne in mind in any discussion of the date of Joel.

Though the day of the Lord is great and terrible, there are some redeeming features according to Joel: The Spirit will be poured out on all Israel (so the phrase “all flesh” seems to signify in the context), and deliverance will belong to all who sincerely trust in God for refuge. Joel, like the other prophets, did not distinguish between the time of God’s grace when the Spirit would be outpoured and the time of God’s wrathful intervention at the culmination of human history when the nations will be trodden as grapes and threshed as grain in the valley where God judges, the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For an enlightening discussion of the concept of the day of the Lord, one may consult Professor H. H. Rowley’s The Faith of Israel (London: 1956), pp. 177–201.

Joel And The New Testament

In addition to providing the text for Peter’s sermon at Pentecost (which is quoted almost verbatim from the Septuagint), the book of Joel has left its stamp on the New Testament in several apocalyptic passages. John’s picture of the locust plague in Revelation 9 is certainly based on Joel’s description: the locusts are said to look like horses arrayed for battle (cf. Rev. 9:7 with Joel 2:4); they have teeth like lions’ teeth (cf. Rev. 9:8 with Joel 1:6); they make a sound like chariots (cf. Rev. 9:9 with Joel 2:5). In addition Joel may have made some contribution to the apocalyptic discourses of our Lord in Matt. 24:29 and Mark 13:24 where the darkening of the sun and moon is depicted in terms reminiscent of Joel 2:31. We should also note Paul’s quotation of Joel 2:32 in Rom. 10:13 where he cites “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” as a proof of the universality of God’s offer of salvation. Paul’s use is interesting in light of the fact that in Joel the passage seems to refer to God’s deliverance of Judah.

The Abiding Message

Joel has painted for us a striking picture of God. He is the sovereign Lord who commands hosts of locusts as a general marshals an army. All nature stands ready to obey his dictum whether for bane or for blessing. Prosperity and disaster both stem from his will. When he unleashes his wrath no nation or coalition of nations can stand secure; when he “roars from Zion” the universe trembles. The question “who may abide the day of his coming?” goes begging for an answer.

Yet the portrayal of God’s awful wrath and judgment covers only half of the canvas. The God of Joel is also “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.” Cordial repentance will bring his abundant forgiveness. Some have criticized Joel for failing to indict the nation because of sin. This verdict seems a bit hasty. The prophet and the people stood in the midst of a disastrous predicament. Solution, not cause, was the pressing problem. The locust plague itself had, in all probability, quickened the conscience of the people so that they did not need reminding of their heinous sins but did need to know that in wrath God would remember mercy if hearts were rent in repentance before him.

Joel does not picture a personal Messiah but he does herald the approach of the Messianic age. He saw a time when God’s blessing would rest upon men and women, young and old, slave and free—a time of universal spiritual prosperity. We who live on this side of Pentecost can confirm personally the accuracy and clarity of Joel’s prophetic insight.

Tools For Exposition

In addition to the standard commentaries on the Minor Prophets—the works of Keil, George Adam Smith (Expositor’s Bible), Pusey, and Wade (Westminster Commentary)—there are several other volumes which should prove helpful. As always, the work of S. R. Driver (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) is thorough and thoughtful and contains a weighty presentation of the evidence for a post-exilic date. An excursus on locusts is just one of the features that make his work essential for the study of Joel. For a dispensational, premillenial approach to our book one may consult the commentaries of A. C. Gaebelein (The Prophet Joel, 1909) and Charles Feinberg (Joel, Amos, and Obadiah, 1948). Of the many summaries of prophetic teaching, I prefer A. F. Kirkpatrick’s The Doctrine of the Prophets which gives an excellent presentation of the arguments for an early date. The chapter on Joel in G. L. Robinson’s The Twelve Minor Prophets may serve as a good introduction to the book. The most controversial work on Joel in recent years is the commentary by the Scandinavian scholar A. S. Kapelrud, Joel Studies (Uppsala: 1948). Although

many scholars have objected to what may be termed an over-emphasis on Canaanite elements in Joel, Kapelrud’s work is of interest because of his fresh approach to the date of Joel and his stress on Joel’s affinities to Jeremiah and Zephaniah. A useful summary of the critical problems of the book is found in John A. Thompson’s study in the Interpreter’s Bible.

DAVID A. HUBBARD

Professor of Biblical Studies

Westmont College

HAVE SAINT, WILL TRAVEL

There is always an extremist to run something into the ground. That fellow who roars through the village in a yellow hard-top convertible used to have six racoon tails streaking behind. That was four cars ago. Next his aerial wobbled under two fake TV antennae, then it was three confederate and two pirate flags. Now he still has a doll with blinking eyes in the rear window, but the cluster of baby shoes is gone from the rear view mirror and the dash ledge is populated with saints.

Not one saint, you understand. That would not be unusual. There is some talk in Detroit of developing a dashboard image as optional equipment. But this character has his ledge crowded with a whole company of saints. I haven’t identified them individually from the fleeting glimpses that are possible. I think there are more than twelve, though they may be the Apostles with some supplementation. They all seem to be plastic, have long robes, and face to the rear. Perhaps they are all replicas of St. Christopher, installed on the assumption that a proper image-horsepower ratio should be maintained.

The first manufacturer to develop a forward looking saint for hood ornamentation should earn the blessings of the whole auto industry. These plastic dash figures go back to plaster-of-paris originals of the last century. They are not designed for the current sport car. A figure in golden aluminum alloy, the motif taken from contemporary ecclesiastical art, but with a horizontal movement.… This would catch the eye of our convertible friend (and thousands like him, well-known to motivational research analysts); he would promptly buy the new Christopher Cruiser and get it off to a jet start all over our area. Later, of course, as they became available, he could add aluminum images to the front fenders, and mount two on the fish tails to share with motorists missed in passing.

EUTYCHUS

HUMANISTS AND TENSIONS

“Do Humanists Exploit Our Tensions?” … by Arthur H. De Kruyter (April 28 issue) … is indirectly a powerful indictment of the Christian churches … How many pastors and representative church leaders are members of Local, State or National Associations of Welfare or of Mental Health or Council of Social Agencies? Here where they would be in position to bring to bear the Christian ministry and judgment of the Christian faith is the place they should be rather than standing outside and criticising the efforts of the humanists. Truly, De Kruyter is right when he says that the humanists moved into a vacuum left by the withdrawal of the Church.

Kentucky Council of Churches

Lexington, Ky.

Perhaps the success of the movement (of Mental Health) is, as De Kruyter says, an “indictment of the Church.” If so, the great increase of mental patients brought the Church under indictment long before. How long has it been since the Church has sent a herd of swine crashing into the sea?

Adelaide Street Baptist

London, Ont.

Psychiatry is somewhat schizophrenic (a splitting the mind from reality) when it refuses to acknowledge sin. There is a vast difference between admitting the fact of sin and an attempt to get at the cause of the sinful behavior. An internist does not deny the existence of pain and physical damage to the human organism simply by concentrating on the etiology and symptoms of a disease. Yet, some psychiatrists often do this very thing in dealing with mental illness. Both the Church and psychiatry ought to describe immoral behavior as sinful, moral behavior as righteous, and amoral behavior as neither “bad” nor “good” … Denominations have all kinds of departments—maybe we need another one dedicated to the improvement of mental health among our church members.

Dean

Alderson-Broaddus College

Phillippi, W. Va.

De Kruyter … mentions Dr. G. B. Chisholm as “quoted approvingly as a ‘psychiatrist of wide recognition’ ” in The Interpreter’s Bible … It is true that the quotation … is correct and is used to describe Dr. Chisholm. This statement in itself is not in any manner a statement of approval. This is a cold, hard fact. But in no manner is approval given to the man or his thought. In fact he is quoted to show the fallacy in this position.

The author has a right to show disapproval of The Interpreter’s Bible, and there are parts of it I do not care for myself. However, by implication he is saying that this commentary approves of the humanists’ doctrine. There may be other quotes that may imply this, but the one in question certainly does not.

Rockland Methodist Church

Belpre, Ohio

• Reader Quick’s criticism is justified. The Interpreter’s Bible indeed goes on to speak of a “more profound perception” than that of Dr. Chisholm.—ED.

The Mental Health Association … is headed up … by psychologists and psychiatrists who differ … widely on their theories of psychology … These men have had no training in theology, and … frequently use theological terms such as sin and guilt in a different sense than we do … Most of the leaders of Mental Health would deny that all feelings of guilt are wrong, just as most ministers would deny that all feelings of guilt are good. When they speak of guilt, they are referring to those destructive emotions in a state of depression when insignificant acts of misbehavior are exaggerated … out of proportion to their reality, or of that in people who actually attribute to themselves certain things for which they feel guilty and yet of which they are innocent … People in such a state of mind are not under the conviction of sin brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit, but … are manifesting symptoms of deep emotional disturbance which can lead to suicide … They are not able to accept the assurance of forgiveness from God in many instances, until they have received treatment from a psychiatrist.

Hope Presbyterian

Portland, Ore.

Before allowing your columns to condemn the mental health movement, I suggest that your editors make a study of the number of persons who now lead normal lives after having psychotherapy.

Shorewood, Wis.

We agree with … De Kruyter’s views and wish to congratulate you for featuring his enlightening article.

President

Station WMAQ

Chicago, Ill.

A book entitled “Mental Robots” … by Dr. Lewis Alesen … points out that we are being cleverly and skillfully deluged under schemes of the Mental Health Program. The thesis of this work is that collectivists now turn to the field of mental health as a means to effect the coup de grace … Lavrenti Beria has given the avowed mission of the Soviet “psycho-politicians” in stating, “With the institutions for the insane, you have in your country prisons which can hold a million persons and can hold them without civil rights or any hope of freedom … The tenets of rugged individualism, personal determinism, self-will, imagination, and personal creativeness … are no more than illnesses which will bring about disaffection, disunity …”

Spring Lake Christian Reformed Church

Spring Lake, Mich.

The article … is superb.

Larkspur, Calif.

De Kruyter moves with a sure hand to expose what I consider a grave danger connected with certain aspects of the so-called “Mental Health Movement.” It is quite evident that there are strange forces at work in this movement which have little to do with the true mental health, which comes only from God, and much to do with subverting loyalty to God and country in favor of secular internationalism and totalitarian regulation of every phase of human life.

Dept. of Psychology, Rollins College

Winter Park, Fla.

I am … securing reprints for sending out to our chairmen.

Anti-Communist League of America

Park Ridge, Ill.

De Kruyter came close to the most vital matters in his piece on humanists! God have mercy on us if we fail to understand! For the humanism based on evolution is an atheistic system planning the utter end of both Christianity and all supernaturalism, in the name of scientific socialism at whose topmost pinnacle it stands as the new “religion”—a religion with man as Supreme Being!

Anti-Evolution Compendium

Henniker, N. H.

JEWISH EVANGELISM

Dr. Gartenhaus (Apr. 14 issue) talks of … “old prejudices … yielding … so that the New Testament has penetrated into many Jewish homes and hearts.…”; some there may be who may wish to re-evaluate; that there are many, I doubt. Otherwise the results would become more apparent.… Jewish evangelism, I believe, will meet the same obstacles today as in the days of the Acts, but the distressing difference between those days and ours lies in the fact that then Christians were concerned with their spiritual responsibility to the Jews, while today a great many are, at the most, benevolently indifferent.

Emmanuel Center

Baltimore, Md.

He … made me feel guilty of my failures to attempt more seriously to reach for Christ the members of our Jewish Community.

College Church

Hampden-Sydney, Va.

DIVISION IN RELIGION

Most certainly the Foundation for Economic Education has done and is doing a splendid job, but it is as rash as it is unseemly for a writer (Mr. Howard, Mar. 17 issue) to declare that this much younger organization, not organized until 1946, has done more with the religious community than Constitutional Educational League, Committee of Constitutional Government, American Legion Anti-Subversive Committees, or perhaps even American Economic Foundation or America’s Future.

… I would have been loud in his praise had he stated the well-known fact … that there is a division within the religious community.… The principle group representing organized Protestantism, the National Council of Churches, and its principle affiliated denominations, are dominated and controlled completely by a leadership which is devoted to politics and economics rather than religion, promoting the preaching of Communism-Socialism under the fancy names of “social gospel” and “social action.” Minorities in the churches and some non-affiliated church groups protest, but their voices do not ring out loudly or clearly because all avenues of communication are almost entirely denied to them.… In … 1953, the NCC issued a … pamphlet … titled the “Facts about the NCC” … devoted to castigation of the American Council of Christian Laymen, its officers and publications, with some futile attempts to refute charges made against NCC. Thus NCC “told the world” just who and what were troubling it …

American Council of Christian Laymen

Madison, Wis.

ART AND WORSHIP

Those who criticized Roth’s criticism of “Head of Christ” (Mar. 3, issue) missed the whole point of his article.… In a word, he said that art must be worship, or it has no right to exist. Worship certainly cannot be a subjective matter. It can only turn to God with his due. Sometimes this “due” is difficult to give. Sometimes it is hard to extract the “I believe.…” But we know that we must, or perish.

At very best, the “Head” is subjective. It enables the moralistic pietists to find there just what they are looking for, a “goody-goody” whose chief aim is to stay on friendly terms with everybody, but quick to turn up the Pharisaic nose at one who would polish his shoes before church on Sunday morning. Roth’s description of the painting is indeed clever and intriguing—but true, completely.

Those who criticized this one point of his article, then, failed to understand the major premise. Perhaps they were just too hurt by some sentimental worship objects being attacked. Worship is objective, but once we worship objects, such as a painting, then we have succumbed to thinking we can comprehend God. Worship goes out to God, but it does not enclose him.

St. Timothy Luthern Church

Hickory, N. C.

According to the second commandment … it is just as wicked to paint the likeness of a man as it was for the Israelites to make the golden calf.

First Baptist Church

Wilmington, Ill.

I told [an Arizona Indian chief] our Bible story.… He was very much impressed.… And then came the climax.… He said that one day he was talking to God … when suddenly he saw a strange face, very beautiful, and he had always wondered whose face it was.… I had in my pack a copy of “Sallman’s Christ” … and I placed it in his hands. He gazed at it intently, and with a smile remarked, “Same face I saw.” You can imagine what followed. He accepted the Christ, and after … much deep thinking, he was baptized.

Trinity Cathedral Offices

Phoenix, Ariz.

Anyone with the right attitude can look at this picture and feel warmth, strength, courage, tenderness, and love—and receive inspiration through the Holy Spirit to face every task with renewed confidence. Perfection in creation—God’s masterpiece—is another impression to be gained. Note the splendid physical structure. Jesus himself did not mar any of this by unkind thoughts, words, or deeds.…

And so, to me, this picture very definitely portrays Christ. For, I too, have had the privilege of a vision, in which his heavenly appearance, although very similar, was much more glorified.

Berlin, N. J.

Were I an artist capable of portraying Christ, I would try to paint him according to Isaiah 53.

Ashland, Ore.

THE MEALS WE SERVE

“The confusing ‘C’ in the YMCA” (Apr. 14 issue) was most sensible and interesting.… The main thing in [early] days was to line up every “Y” member and see that he knew the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and help him give a glowing testimony.… We went to the jails, workhouses and hospitals and took a “Y” group Sunday nights to set the churches on fire with our ringing testimony.

These days as I contact the YMCA … and ask them about their Christian testimony and Bible classes they answer me something like the … secretary did … when she said, “We show our Christianity by the kind of meals we serve.” … Yet I believe there is beginning to be a turn toward the spiritual in the “Y”.…

Long Beach, Calif.

In very effective phrasing the author has taken our thinking back into the holy order of the spiritual, where God lives in the abundance of his promised heritage through the Son—Jesus—whom he sent to be the living expression of his love and wisdom for humanity.

Claremont, Calif.

How wonderful it is to have in these materialistic days with their danger and disillusionment the Anglican communion service with its reiteration in the consecration prayer … the direct reference to the Lord’s second coming unequivocably; which is heard by the people in 25,000 churches in England every Sunday morning.

St. Albright’s Rectory

Stanway, Colchester

OPTIMISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

In the April 28 issue … you printed comments by H. D. Sanders … upon … “Sex and Smut on the Newsstands” (Feb. 17 issue).… The … comments seem to be based upon a purely optimistic anthropology.… He has apparently forgotten that man is by nature the child of disobedience and that his basic drives are no longer subservient to the Creator but to the inherent sinful nature.

Johnson City, N. Y.

Insofar as procuring “voluntary” cleanups from dealers is concerned, I believe it is the business of the Church to proclaim its belief in any matter and let those who have ears to hear, hear; not to attempt to enforce these beliefs on the public by group pressure. Regarding bringing such dealers into court, the Church, in this country officially and by its own desire separated from the state and having nothing to do with the making of laws, seems to me a particularly inappropriate agency for demanding the enforcement of laws which the community as a whole does not seem concerned with.

… Paganism is neither obscene nor illegal. I have the feeling that the members of your commission … have been operating under the assumption that “contemporary community standards” are identical with, or at least very similar to, the standards of Christianity. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In the overwhelming majority of the heavily populated areas of the country these standards have virtually no connection with Christian morality. They are themselves, to put it bluntly, what the Church would—and should—call pagan.

St. Peter’s Episcopal.

Pomeroy, Wash.

Our society, as a matter of civil law, has adopted the ideal of monogamy as its basic unit.… Every state and every community has laws regulating marriage, prohibiting polygamy, adultery, bigamy, incest, and carnal knowledge of young girls. In all states except Nevada, easy divorce is discouraged. Rape and sodomy are punished.… In the process of defending the ideal of one man married to one woman as the central unit of the social order, we must restrain those who exploit sex for base purposes.

Washington, D. C.

MEDITATION MULTIPLIED

I’ve just read “Meditation” (Mar. 31 issue).… I think I can understand something of the kind of cynicism that gives birth to a piece of this kind. It has a depressing effect whenever I meet it.… Mr. Hough understands the thing that is bad.… Mr. Hough has no understanding of the thing that is good. He sees very little.

St. Mary’s Episcopal

Eugene, Ore.

Do you not think, dear Mr. Hough,

Your “Meditation” slightly rough?

With all my teeth I find it so,

In case the name is Mr. Hough.

That we love souls more than our stock

You should be told, dear Mr. Hough.

Real prayer and praise ascendeth oft In old cathedrals, Mr. Hough.

Great churches have religion too.

Where have you been, dear Mr. Hough?

All Saints Cathedral

Albany, N. Y.

I wonder when Mr. Hough last spent more than five minutes in a church ‘or, better still, a Cathedral?’ … May I quote a saying attributed to William Penn of blessed memory: ‘O God, help us not to despise or oppose what we do not understand.’

St. Peter’s Vicarage

South Wimbledon, London

Jesus, where’er thy people meet

There—even in an Episcopalian Cathedral—they behold thy mercy seat.

… God fulfils himself in many ways, lest one good custom should corrupt the world (or the Church).

The Rectory

Cong, Ireland

PRIVATE POLL

Desiring a magazine that would reach the ministry on a non-denominational basis, I polled the ministers in town here and am happy to tell you that your magazine was the winner on a 10–3 vote.

Mesa, Ariz.

I tape record the magazine for my father who is blind.

Belmont, Mich.

NEWS

Christianity in the World Today

Some 12,000 Southern Baptists, representing the South’s largest Christian body, converged on air-conditioned Houston, Texas, May 20–23, for their annual convention. Famed for a rapidity of growth both foreign and amazing to many denominations, the Southern Baptist “messengers”—not “delegates,” in keeping with Baptist church government autonomy—were exhorted to advance yet further and faster. If, in taking their good news from the South to Ghent, Rio, Calabar, and Chicago, they felt any inclination to slow to a canter, ample spurring was provided by inspirational messages portraying the staggering needs of the world.

Bugles were heard morning, afternoon and evening in the form of outstanding oratory and moving pageantry. The assault upon ear-gate and eye-gate was reminiscent of The Holy War, by a great Baptist of another century. One is inclined to read a Southern Baptist invasion of a city in terms of a great religious festival and feels that the legions of Lucifer must surely be overwhelmed by the sheer weight of numbers. There is a sweeping momentum which knows no trumpet of retreat.

Rate Of Growth Unparalleled

The Southern Baptists, coming from humble and predominantly rural beginnings, have grown big and rich. At present constituting the second largest Protestant denomination, numbering close to 9 million, they heard themselves described as the fastest-expanding of them all, with every prospect of an accelerated pace in the future. They learned from their executive committee that convention assets as of December 31 were $164,422,978, an increase of $15,000,000 over the previous year. Then they adopted a budget of $17,500,000 for 1959, this representing an increase of $1,000,000 over 1958. They listened to a telegram from President Eisenhower describing them as “a most constructive force in the life of our people.”

It is particularly when one looks at the Southern Baptist home mission program that he is somehow reminded of the bursting expansiveness of America’s frontier days. There are now more than 31,000 Southern Baptist churches. A movement has been launched to establish 30,000 new churches or missions between 1959 and 1964. That this is more than an idle dream is indicated by the recent record.

In 1940, Southern Baptists served 19 states as against 43 today. In 18 years their territory has increased by three times and its population by three and one-fourth. A convention was organized in California in 1940 with 13 churches. This number has jumped to 642. In Kansas there were seven churches in 1946. Now there are 135. Since 1948 10 churches in the Washington-Oregon Convention have mushroomed to 143. Ohio’s 40 churches in 1954 have now become 134. Alaska had three Southern Baptist churches in 1946, but now she has 21 churches and 9 missions.

“Southern Baptists,” you say? As a matter of fact, there is talk of name-changing to something more realistic. Indeed, one of the convention debates was concerning the role to be played in Canada. The vote revealed the messengers to be in favor of giving aid to any Baptist church or churches in Canada but opposed to seeking alignment of any of these with the Southern Baptist Convention, fearing impairment of relations with other Baptist bodies.

Vacuum In The American North

But no such reservations mark the advance northward of Southern Baptists in the United States. They have heard a Macedonian call, though assuredly this was not uttered by northern Baptists. Southern Baptists declare they are not seeking competition but rather are stepping into a vacuum, particularly in the midst of the large cities where Protestantism has so often defaulted. Many Christians will surely rejoice if Southern Baptists, with their great resources—spiritual and material—are able to counteract the growing paganism of the large metropolitan areas of the North.

Their strong emphasis upon evangelism is well-known. Famed pulpit orator Dr. Robert G. Lee of Memphis moved the vast Coliseum audience with his plea for “making disciples by righteous living,” pointing to the 30 million youth in this country with no religious affiliation.

Dr. W. A. Criswell, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, in stirring fashion warned that “America can be lost. And if America is lost to the evangelical faith, the world is lost.” Cruel as are her external enemies, he contended, America’s worst enemies are on the inside, such as drunkenness, materialism, and debauchery. He called for revival and evangelization of the uncommitted multitudes, reminding his listeners that Baptist-founded Providence and Rhode Island are now the most solidly Roman Catholic city and state in the union. “It is a stark fact of history,” he cried, “that men are lost without God. Before tomorrow’s dawn, 130,000 people will face God’s judgment.”

Southern Baptists do not make headlines for the development of new doctrines, but the success with which they apply the old ones is startling to many. Dr. Theodore F. Adams, widely-known president of the Baptist World Alliance, explained the presence of Baptists in Russia where there are few other Protestants, by saying simply, “Baptists are people of the Book.”

The “Convention Preacher,” Dr. Robert E. Naylor, named the Bible “the heartbeat of the denomination.” Preaching on sin, he said, “We have been putting on poultices when the world needs a blood transfusion.”

Another sign of the northward advance of the Southern Baptists is the location of two of their most recently-established seminaries. Midwestern Baptist Seminary opens this autumn—in Kansas City, Missouri. Golden Gate Seminary in San Francisco opened in 1944. Its president, Dr. Harold K. Graves, said the current Billy Graham Crusade had already moved forward local Baptist work a decade.

Votes, Future Sites

The Southern Baptist Convention re-elected Democratic Representative Brooks Hays of Arkansas as its president.

Dr. Chester L. Quarles, executive secretary of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, was elected first vice president; Dr. Archie Ellis, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, was elected second vice president.

Other re-elections included James W. Merritt, of Gainesville, Georgia, senior secretary; Joe W. Burton, editor of the Baptist Home Life Magazine, secretary; and Porter Routh, executive secretary of the convention’s Executive Committee, treasurer.

Next year the convention will be held in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1960 it is scheduled for Miami and in 1961 the “messengers” will meet in St. Louis.

But the Southern Baptists’ vision penetrates beyond the cities of the North. For the better part of an evening the foreign mission challenge was made strongly to the messengers. The Rev. James D. Belote of Hong Kong spoke of a “Sin Curtain” separating men from God. Given the degree of sacrifices many communists are making for their cause, he envisioned a Christian missionary advance “as yet undreamed of.”

Foreign Mission Board Executive Secretary Baker J. Cauthen expressed gratitude for the 1200 missionaries on the field but called for double that number, saying that the time had come for a new rocket-like thrust. He then led in a 20-minute prayer service.

An international vision was the burden of many of the remarks of Congressman Brooks Hays, who was re-elected president of the convention for the customary second term. He called election to this office the greatest honor he had ever received, noting he had learned his first lessons on democracy in a Baptist church as a lad. He told of his recent trip to the Soviet Union and of his speaking in a Baptist church in Moscow, where he contradicted to the congregation Marx’s axiom that religion is the opiate of the people.

Calling for “open doors” between America and Russia, the congressman declared his hope for “massive reconciliation” (this not compromising determent through arms) through “heart power, a passionate concern for humanity.” Toward this end he led in setting up a nine-man committee, including himself and Senator Albert Gore of Tennessee, to explore ways in which Southern Baptists can contribute to the promotion of world peace through “Christian love and the application of Christian principles to human affairs.” The international organization and contacts available through the Foreign Mission Board would be at the disposal of the committee.

The few road blocks in the way of the convention’s sweeping advance were quickly vaulted. The specter, by now painfully familiar, of integration-segregation controversy made its appearance. Adams had challenged the ministers in plain terms, pointing out the anomalous situation which found mission field converts unwelcome in the churches which had set out to convert them. Hays had supported the convention’s Christian Life Commission, saying, “It would be tragic for us to assume that we can function as a Christian body without assigning to trusted representatives of the convention the task of pointing out our Christian duty with respect to social evils and current conflicts.” Not only had the commission spoken out against obscene literature and alcoholic beverages, but it had also said that each citizen should “help and not hinder the progress of justice for all peoples.” Furthermore, “he must challenge the threat to the public school system” and also seek the “restoration of communication and fellowship with people of every race and nationality.”

Up rose the Rev. Montague Cook of Georgia who quoted Webster in seeking to demonstrate that “fellowship” is synonymous with “integration.” He held that the report should not be received until the local churches had expressed themselves, for newspapers might give the public the idea that the convention favored integration. Hays pointed out that no local church was bound by the report, and the vote was subsequently heavily in favor of receiving it.

A motion was later made that the commission return a grant of $15,000 from the Ford Foundation through the Fund for the Republic, on grounds of a purported congressional investigation. The motion was defeated by a large majority.

Newsmen sat up late one night in a hotel lobby awaiting an important verdict by the trustees of Southern Baptist Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. Thirteen faculty members had threatened to resign over what they claimed was arbitrary control of the school’s program on the part of the administration. A party close to the situation claimed that the president, Dr. Duke K. McCall, believed the seminary should reflect the views of the denomination, while the dissidents felt the seminary should be at liberty to lead the denomination. The verdict, when it finally came after long deliberation, was unambiguous. The trustees came down solidly on the side of the president. The next move belonged to the dissenters.

One of the more important items of convention business was consideration of the report of the Survey Committee. Significance lessened, however, when some of the key items were returned for a further year’s study. The aim of the recommendations was said to be a slight structural tightening for the better co-ordination of the convention’s many activities. However, the sections dealing with the powerful Home Mission Board, which were deferred a year, would have transferred power from the board to the state conventions.

In effect, the Southern Baptists stand as an island of resistance in a great sea of increasing centralization in any and all areas of life. The Rev. Ralph Herring, while pointing out that certain missionary and other needs are such as to require more than the ability of a local body of believers, emphasized that the local body always has “prior claim” upon its members’ loyalties.

Thus, Southern Baptists affirm that the autonomy of each local church is a “major factor” in their not being a part of the National or World Council of Churches. The convention simply cannot commit its cooperating churches in such a matter.

The convention has been criticized for its size and crowded agenda, and thus its “machine-like efficiency,” with most of the business being handled by committees. It is at present undergoing self-examination on these matters.

Cooperation of Southern Baptists with other Baptists is seen in its very active participation in the Baptist World Alliance, in the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs in Washington, D. C., and in a six-year program of preparation for the Baptist Jubilee of 1964.

Dr. Clarence W. Cranford, president of the American Baptist Convention and a member of the Southern Baptist Convention as well, addressed the Houston convention on the spiritual tie which binds all Baptists.

Another area of cooperation among 20 million Baptists in seven major North American bodies is a program of national revival centering about the Southern Baptist television series—the cooperative program to be called “Televangelism.”

As the convention rolled toward its conclusion, messengers discovered yet more achievements and heard yet more challenges. A two-volume Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists had been published earlier in the year. The Chaplains Commission reported that all active duty quotas in all branches of the services had been filled. The Sunday School Board announced that it had grossed over 23 million dollars in 1957. Its headquarters are in Nashville, a city second only to Washington, D. C. in the amount of second class mail handled. The biggest customers are the Baptists.

Adams said, “Atomic power is nothing compared to the power exploded from Calvary.” The Rev. Mr. Herring said, “We are here with the resources of the Gospel to make of the barriers of this world bridges over which Christ may enter the hearts of men.” A Texas voice said, “Tomorrow is a big day.”

A bugle was heard. And it was not taps.

F. F.

A Barber’S Witness

All was not violence during Vice President Richard M. Nixon’s trip to South America.

In Quito, Ecuador, diplomat Nixon seized an opportunity for making a contact with the common people by stopping in a barber shop for a haircut. The barber, as it happened, was an enthusiastic Protestant believer.

In the course of the ensuing conversation, carried on through an interpreter, the barber pulled a Spanish New Testament from his pocket and requested the vice president’s autograph. Nixon complied in a very cordial manner and listened with interest while the barber gave testimony to his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

A. V. D. P.

Praying For The French

A Methodist prayer leader was appealing to colleagues in 112 countries to conduct urgent intercessions for French crises.

The request came from Dr. Thomas A. Carruth, director of the World-Wide Prayer Movement of the Methodist General Board of Evangelism, who said his action was prompted by word from Dr. J. E.P. Edwards, American Protestant pastor in Paris.

An evangelistic campaign was being held in Paris even as reports of threatened revolution continued. Edwards’ letter said: “Many prayer groups have sprung up in the most unexpected places in France, and more and more our people are praying with urgency, realizing that only divine intervention can save this wonderful country from the perils of religious counterfeit and the stranglehold of materialism.”

U. P. Centennial

In Pittsburgh, more than 10,000 persons joined in a dramatic observance of the centennial of the United Presbyterian Church of North America, May 23–25.

Pageants, tours, and special services marked the event which came on the eve of the church’s merger with the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A.

The new church will be known as the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

The centennial pageant, “Prologue to Tomorrow,” was held in Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh’s largest auditorium, and was witnessed by near capacity audiences.

People: Words And Events

Deaths: Dr. Robert G. McCutchan, 80, dean emeritus of DePauw University School of Music and noted hymn compiler, in Claremont, Calif.… Miss Hilda Brown and Miss Mary Woodhouse, both of the Church Missionary Society of London, in a New Delhi plane crash … Dr. Corydon M. Wassell, 74, medical missionary and naval officer, hero of World War II, in Little Rock, Arkansas … Mrs. W. Darst Newhouse, 62, Presbyterian missionary to Cameroun, in New York … Dr. Barnett R. Brickner, Cleveland rabbi and foremost leader of Reform Judaism in the United States, in Spain … Samuel Alphonsus Cardinal Stritch, 70, only American-born prelate elevated to the Roman Catholic governing curia, in Rome.

Elections: As president of Chicago Theological Seminary, Dr. Howard F. Schomer, effective January 1, 1959 … as president of Philadelphia Bible Institute, Dr. Charles Caldwell Ryrie, effective August 1 … as president of the Primitive Methodist Church, the Rev. Richard I. Purnell … as acting dean of Philadelphia Divinity School (Episcopal), Dr. Albert H. Lucas.

Appointments: As professor of New Testament at Harvard Divinity School, Dr. Krister Stendahl … to the pastorate of the Seminole Heights Baptist Church of Tampa, Florida, Dr. John Summerfield Wimbish … to pastorates in the Philadelphia Presbytery, Dr. Walton W. Rankin, former publicity director of the Presbyterian General Assembly, and Richard S. Armstrong, former publicity head of baseball’s Baltimore Orioles … as president of Cornus Hill Bible College, Earl Marcus Jensen … as bishop of the Diocese of Funen in the Lutheran Church of Denmark, the Rev. K. C. Holm … as military representative for international Christian Business Men’s Committee, Colonel Cecil R. Hill … as senior representative in Great Britain of the Lutheran World Federation’s Department of World Service, the Rev. William B. Schaeffer.

Resignation: As head of St. Paul Bible College, Dr. George D. Strohm.

Award: A Fulbright Scholarship to Professor Morton H. Smith, chairman of the Bible Department at Belhaven College. Professor Smith will study for a doctorate at the Free University of Amsterdam, Holland.

Grant: To International Christian University in Japan, $30,000 from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., Indianapolis.

Rebuilding: McCormick Theological Seminary plans to spend $10,000,000 for a new set of buildings.

Statistics: Roman Catholics claim 36,023,977 members in the United States and its territories, according to the Official Catholic Directory for 1958.… Russian Orthodox churches in the Soviet Union now number more than 22,000, while those of other denominations total 18,000, according to a Moscow Radio report.

Digest: Dr. Karl Barth and Dr. Emil Brunner are backing plans for the first international Protestant radio station in Europe, to be built in Switzerland … “Communicating the Gospel world-wide” is the theme of the second World Conference on Missionary Radio scheduled for June 12–14 at Moody Bible Institute, Chicago.… Staffs of the Lutheran World Federation and the Rhenish Mission Society of Germany were continuing work despite rebel activity in Sumatra, according to reports received in Geneva, Switzerland … Circulations of the Congregational Christian Church’s Advance magazine and the Evangelical and Reformed Church’s Messenger will be combined into a new publication to be called United Church Herald. The United Church was formed last June in a merger.…

London’s Central Hall, one of the most famous Methodist churches in the world, appears on a newly-issued United Nations stamp which commemorates the meeting of the first General Assembly there in 1946 … Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip headed an overflow congregation which witnessed the reopening of the east end of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The building was badly damaged in World War II bombings.

From the bitter struggles of the Covenanters in seventeenth-century Scotland through the General Assembly of 1858 in Pittsburgh which formed the United Presbyterian Church and the General Assembly of 1958, when yet another major union was to be consummated, the pageant traced Presbyterian history.

The play was written by Paul Gamble and directed by the Rev. Kenneth E. Grice. Dozens of persons took part.

Major Work

Leading evangelical scholars are preparing a new exposition of the English Bible in five volumes. Tentatively titled The Living Theme of the Great Book, the major work is scheduled for publication in 1960 by A. J. Holman Company.

Dr. Carl F. H. Henry, editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY, is listed as consulting editor for the Bible exposition project which will have 65 contributors, among them scholars from Europe, Africa and Australasia. At least a dozen major denominations are represented.

In addition to outlines and expositions of each Bible book, the volumes will contain introductory essays by Wilbur M. Smith, F. F. Bruce, Oswald T. Allis, Andrew W. Blackwood, Everett F. Harrison, Julius R. Mantey, Francis I. Steele, and J. Kenneth Grider.

A Minister’S Return

The Rev. John Gerberding, who resigned as pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church near Milwaukee in 1955 after being acquitted on heresy charges, returned to the ministry last month by taking up the pastorate of the Epiphany Lutheran Church, Denver.

Asked whether his theological views had changed during the last four years, Pastor Gerberding replied, “I do not wish to comment on that.”

A Final Appeal

A church-state issue over the cut-rate sale of land to Fordham University was put in the hands of the United States Supreme Court last month.

A final appeal to the nation’s highest tribunal sought to reverse lower court rulings which refused to recognize the transfer of New York City property as any violation of church-state separation guarantees. Fordham, a Roman Catholic school, agreed to buy the land from the city at a price considerably less than the city paid for it. Plans called for redeveloping the area in New York’s Lincoln Square into campus grounds.

Charges have been made to the effect that transfer of the property under proposed terms would amount to an outright grant to Fordham.

Palace Progress

No one visiting the Cow Palace on a Thursday night could doubt that the Holy Spirit’s greatest work in the San Francisco Bay Cities Crusade is being done with young people. The seed of a new Christian commonwealth is being planted on the West Coast as thousands upon thousands of children of the atomic age continued to stream forward at the Billy Graham mass evangelistic campaign.

Out of the weird nihilism and moral anarchy of the “beat generation” are coming these youthful pilgrims, at the behest of a messenger who dares to liken their environment to that of Sodom and Gomorrah, and points them to the purity of Jesus Christ. The eagerness with which they respond is strangely stirring. A young prostitute telephoned from her brothel for help after a telecast. An eighth-grade girl “stood up” a sneak drinking date with boys the Saturday night after her decision. Duck-tailed young housebreakers and car-stealers are now thumbing painfully through the Gospel of John for the answers to “Lesson One: the Saviour and Eternal Life.”

Crusade momentum was felt in other ways, too. Pastors were astonished as decision cards began to choke their mailboxes. Some were delighted, others discomfited to find their church pillars had been “going forward.” Dr. Gilbert F. Close, pastor of San Francisco’s Portal-hurst Presbyterian Church and a consistent opponent of the campaign, acknowledged that he was “thrilled” when two students at San Francisco State College applied for membership in his church following their decisions. The Rev. Baldwin Sherman of Havenscourt Colonial Church, Oakland, cancelled choir rehearsals and told his people, “You’ll gain more by singing for Cliff Barrows.”

The unique telephone ministry that marked the New York Crusade is proving in San Francisco that it is a valid—if overlooked—arm of the Church. On May 19 it was extended to cover both sides of the bay. The nightly telecast had hardly flashed the new number before all eight lines were ringing and counselors were answering, “Billy Graham Crusade—may I help you?” (One woman replied, “I don’t know whether you can or not; my husband just punched me on the nose and walked out of the house.”) Chairman Don Lehmann, pastor of San Francisco’s Glad Tidings Temple, says that one out of every three calling in is making a clear commitment to Christ, and is being referred to a pastor and followed up. The telephone counselors use a non-directive technique, referring to the Scriptures after first clarifying the inquirer’s thoughts by restating his expressed feelings.

The nation-wide Saturday night telecasts were bringing thousands of letters telling of conversions. Twelve Canadian stations joined the network until virtually every metropolitan area in North America was covered.

On the surface, the city by the Golden Gate seemed its old gay, insouciant self. Police reported no lessening of the crime rate or the number of arrests. Bartenders around the Visitacion Valley area were said to be complaining, but elsewhere “business” was as usual. The city wore no sackcloth, and its only ashes were those of the 1906 earthquake and fire, still piled behind the Cow Palace.

Yet there was no doubt that things were happening. God was at work. San Francisco’s peripheral population is far smaller than either London or New York, yet the Cow Palace is averaging 5,000 per night more than Harringay, and a greater number were coming forward than at Madison Square Garden, according to Crusade Director Walter H. Smyth.

Dr. Graham’s fire and zeal are seeming inexhaustible. He has greatly expanded his ministry to include daytime addresses at the leading seminaries and universities, mass meetings in downtown San Francisco and Oakland, talks to overflow crowds at service clubs where he received standing ovations, and before the American Red Cross national convention. He testified before a legislative committee investigating indecent literature, “America needs a moral bath and a spiritual awakening,” and declared that California is the heart of the nude photo industry.

A memorable visit was paid to San Quentin Penitentiary, where Dr. Graham told four thousand convicts, “You are all spiritually on death’s row awaiting execution.” Six hundred of them responded to his challenge to live for Jesus Christ behind bars.

And each night he has returned to the Cow Palace to preach a gospel of sin and forgiveness in simple Anglo-Saxon phrases of great force. “So amazing is God’s love,” he told the vast assemblage, “that he erases your sins from his mind as a tape recorder erases its sound track.” Then follows the invitation, and as hundreds of inquirers make the long trek to the front, counselors appear as if by magic to stand alongside. Together they move to the counseling room where the straight and narrow path begins.

A cook from Florida, who jumped bail after being arrested for passing worthless checks, repented at the Cow Palace and then turned himself over to the FBI. He has gone back to face sentence. A woman alcoholic came forward to make her decision, then presented herself at her pastor’s study next day and demanded that he give her something to do. A pastor found tears in the eyes of his bus driver on the trip home and led him to confess his faith in Christ. A 22-year-old man, with scabs on his wrists from a suicide attempt, was heading for a bar and a bridge leap when he followed the crowd into the Cow Palace out of curiosity. He made his commitment in the counseling room and began attending crusade meetings regularly.

Since the meetings began the crusade has been singularly free from criticism. City officials have been friendly. Meanwhile, plans were being shaped for a gigantic visitation evangelism program June 23–26, with 10,000 laymen participating all over the bay area under the auspices of the crusade. If Billy Graham and his team have done nothing more than create a spiritual appetite and a hunger for God among the residents of the West Coast, they have already rendered a memorable service.

S. E. W.

Garden Glow

A spirit of evangelism still glows in New York. Seventeen thousand persons filed into Madison Square Garden on the cool, wet evening of May 15 for a rally marking the first anniversary of the start of Billy Graham’s campaign a year ago. The rally was sponsored by the Protestant Council of the City of New York, which also promoted last summer’s great New York Crusade. The group is planning still another Garden evangelistic meeting on Reformation Day, October 30.

The first anniversary rally had a nostalgic air about it. In a brief recorded message, Graham called on New Yorkers to carry the message of Christ to “thousands of people that are suffering from a thousand different problems.”

“Evangelism is not optional,” he said, “it is an obligation. We should all be engaged in evangelism.”

Principal speaker was the Rev. Joseph Blinco, Methodist evangelist from England and a member of Graham’s team, who asserted that “the good old days” had nothing on the present age.

Evangelist Blinco said we live in times “as dramatic and decisive as ever the Exodus was … (intellectually and philosophically) as dynamic as ever the Renaissance was … and (religiously) as potent as the Reformation.”

Blinco, who attended Cliff College in England and has been an evangelist ever since, wore the clerical white collar and gray suit. When he extended the “second chance” invitation, 128 stepped forward. Following the pattern of a Graham meeting, all were led to an inquiry room for counsel. During his address to the congregation, the evangelist asked how many present had made a decision for Christ the year before during the New York campaign. An estimated 6,000 stood. Last summer’s 61,000 inquirers all received follow-up counsel, according to a report by the Rev. Dan M. Potter, executive director of the Protestant Council, largest interdenominational church group serving Greater New York. Potter said that a visitation program, moreover, had added 1,000 persons to church rolls since the New York Crusade.

How valuable was Graham’s great evangelistic effort in behalf of the nation’s largest city? For lack of an adequate human unit to measure spiritual progress, a number of the evangelist’s opponents have used statistics as a basis for continuing criticism. “Little lasting effect” is a charge used to attack his policies. “Decision totals exaggerated” is another.

Even if the accusations were true, one irrefutable conclusion appears in all of Graham’s crusades: at least some inquirers are genuinely converted, and it is very likely that others are moved to make a decision for Christ even though they do not respond to public invitations. It is with this in mind that Graham asks:

“How many need to be converted before we rejoice?”

This is not to say that he disregards follow-up. Under commission from the Graham team, Dr. Robert O. Ferm, Houghton College dean of students, has been interviewing New York pastors and inquirers for months. He observes that a great majority of those who signed decision cards still affirm their decision.

(High School Evangelism Fellowship of New York reports continuing effects of the Billy Graham Crusade among teenagers. The group has inaugurated a quarterly publication which features in the first issue reports of follow-up work.)

Potter’s report, given as a rally preliminary, listed other evangelism-correlated efforts being carried out by the Protestant Council. He urged New York churches to hold more summer vacation Bible schools and to maintain full summer programs as deterrents to juvenile delinquency. He said the council will intensify its own services to youth during the summer. The group sponsors nine youth centers and helps young people find seasonal jobs.

Other rally preliminaries focused on the 2,000-voice choir led by Jab Williams. At 7:20 p.m. the strains of “How Great Thou Art” filled the Garden, unmistakenly reminiscent of Graham meetings. The choir also sang “Blessed Assurance” and “To God Be the Glory,” the latter title appearing on a banner strung on the edge of a tier overlooking the choir. Choir director Williams, who had assisted Cliff Barrows as music director, made the sign. He is a commercial artist.

Jerome Hines and his Metropolitan Opera company presented a moving Last Supper operatic dramatization. Congregational singing was under the direction of the Rev. Albert Gates. A Salvation Army band presented a pre-rally sacred concert. Miss Ethel Waters also sang. Chairman of the rally was the Rev. Ralph C. Drisko.

Counsellors for the inquirers had been rounded up from crusade mailing lists. So were choir members and ushers.

Love From Hate

Bombings prompted by racial hatred evoked an expression of indignation from the ministerial alliance of Jacksonville, Florida, which issued this statement:

“Any difference, however trivial and needless, is always worsened and aggravated with hate and suspicion, by violence and brutal disregard of the rights of others. The bombing of the James Weldon Johnson Junior High School and the Jacksonville Jewish Center, and the threatened bombing of the Jacksonville Labor Temple, are tragic and deplorable.

“To ignore them or tacitly accept them as the unavoidable accompaniment of disagreements and differences which confront us is to encourage a tendency and a train of thought which can carry us back to the barbaric jungle of human existence where the stronger and more vicious is the ruler.

“It is to be hoped and prayed that the violent, regrettable acts and threats of the past few days represent the isolated thoughtless violence of a few misguided people who will be brought back to saner thoughts and more responsible behavior by seeing what frightening and undesirable results can flow from such actions.”

The bombings may even have had an inadvertent effect for good. Resulting discussions may well bring about more sympathetic attitudes toward the people who were targets of the bombs.

R. K. M.

Exit Addenda

The Navy says it will not allow any more religious medals to accompany Vanguard rockets into space.

A St. Christopher medal was attached to the second stage of a three-stage Vanguard rocket which succeeded in putting the Navy’s first satellite into orbit.

The Navy advised Protestants and Other Americans United last month that steps have been taken “to prevent future similar departures from the universal scientific nature of the Vanguard project.”

Goal: 1,000 Missionaries

The Christian and Missionary Alliance will seek to increase the number of its missionaries serving overseas to 1,000 before the end of 1960. The society now has 822 on 22 mission fields.

The goal was announced by Dr. H. L. Turner at the group’s 61st annual General Council, held in Winnipeg.

South America

A Contact Lost?

The first Auca man to trust American missionaries is reported dead.

The death of the Ecuadorian Indian tribesman, who befriended five missionaries subsequently martyred, was reported by Elisabeth Elliot, wife of one of those slain. He had been dubbed “George.”

Mrs. Elliot is studying the Auca language with two tribeswomen who escaped the jungles last November. She is the author of Through Gates of Splendor and Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot, which will be published by Harper and Brothers.

Meanwhile, a Roman Catholic doctor from Montreal had not been heard from for three months after entering the Auca jungle.

England

Cms And Independence

Talk of “missionary imperialism” in West African history is so much nonsense, Canon Max Warren implied in his general secretary’s report to the 159th annual meeting of the Church Missionary Society in London.

Fifty years before Nigeria was under Britain to any appreciable extent, Warren said, CMS was preparing Africans for independence.

“That is both spiritually and politically a fact of some importance,” he said, “that the celebration last autumn of the Centenary of the Niger Mission was, together with much else, the celebration of an act of missionary statesmanship.”

In his presidential address, Sir Kenneth Grubb said it was clear that the services of missions would be requested by the churches of the greater part of Africa “for many years to come.”

Many American mission leaders seem to be still suffering from the shock of China, Grubb added, and unable to envisage much beyond a fairly abrupt termination of their work.

“We of this society do not share these misgivings,” he said. “We have abundant evidence of the genuine and earnest demand made … for our cooperation.”

Africa

The Warfare

Islamic penetration into the cultural and religious life of Nigeria is causing considerable Christian concern.

An Islamic mission plans to establish a new Arabic college while another Nigerian school now offers a course on Islamic thought and culture. Demands are growing for a deeper understanding of Islam because of its impact on West Africa.

Vatican Radio last month said a “veritable race” is taking place in Africa between Christianity and Islam.

However, the Anglican bishop of Lagos said that with Nigeria’s independence in the offing, no useful purpose could be served by Christians and Muslims attacking each other. The Rt. Rev. A. W. Howells told the 13th Synod of the Lagos Diocese that everything possible would be done to arrange exchanges of views on Islam and Christianity.

J. L. J.

Middle East

Israeli Drought

A severe spring drought forced cattle raisers in the Negev area of southern Israel to move flocks because of dried-out pastures. Crops were also damaged.

One report, which called the drought one of the most severe in many years, said that the roadsides out of Jerusalem have been dotted by flocks of sheep and goats turned out to forage on badly-burned grain.

However, an Israel Embassy spokesman in Washington said the lack of rain was not considered a “major” emergency.

The spokesman said damage from droughts has been declining in recent years with the advent of more and improved irrigation systems.

A Step For Prestige?

“Integration” moves by Arab Presbyterians may help American Presbyterian missionaries regain lost prestige in Lebanon and Syria.

National Presbyterian synods in the two Middle Eastern countries are expected to take formal action next month on plans to “merge” with U. S. missions.

The actions would amount to dissolution of the American missions in favor of a national Christian organization, though abandonment is not intended. Missionaries from the United States will continue in present posts as “fraternal workers” under the direction of the national church. Similar moves have been made in India, Thailand, and French Cameroun, in keeping with Presbyterian aims to strengthen national churches by turning over to them the organizations and institutions which hitherto have been entirely controlled by Americans.

In some instances, the “integration” has led to enlargement of established work and appointment of additional personnel from the United States.

Presbyterian U.S.A. observers see increased influence among American missionaries when they no longer represent a foreign agency but a national Christian organization.

In Iran, similar plans have been in the offing for some time. The Iranian Evangelical Church, as far back as 1936, began to assume responsibility for mission projects when the government prohibited foreign-operated grade schools to enroll Iranian children. Mission schools in three cities were taken over by the church and now are expanding. Full indigenization of the Iran Mission has been delayed primarily because of the relative paucity of national leadership and the steady drain on church membership by the emigration of Assyrian and Armenian families.

F. T. W.

[Some missionary boards and missionaries seriously question “integration,” feeling that the inclusion of missionary personnel in the national church and the turning over of mission funds to the national church is a distinct step away from the strengthening of an indigenous church. On many mission fields the national church has been developed and strengthened without either of the above mentioned steps. In some instances nationals have been encouraged by missionaries to demand the integration of the missionaries into their churches, along with subsidation from abroad, only to regret their impetuosity in the light of the effect on the national church.—ED.

“Testament Of Faith”

A Testament of Faith, by G. Bromley Oxnam, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1958. 176 pp., $3.00.

The importance of this confession of faith is due primarily not to the depth or uniqueness of its contents (there is no reason for believing that any of these paragraphs or pages will be quoted in significant Christian literature during the years to come), but to the pre-eminent position which the author of this book has held in ecclesiastical circles during the last 20 years. Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam is now 67 years of age, and has been an ordained minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church for 42 years. Probably no other one ecclesiastic in America has held as many important positions within his own denomination, and in ecumenical movements, as Bishop Oxnam. Twenty years ago he began serving a five-year term as chairman of the Division of Educational Institutions for the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church; from 1940 to 1948, in the same great denomination, he was chairman of the Committee on Public Information; while for eight years, 1944–1957, he was president of its Division of Foreign Missions. How strange that such a large denomination should allow one man to simultaneously take the chairmanships of so many vital committees. For many years, he was also chairman of the Methodist Committee on Chaplains. Bishop Oxnam, at the present time, is on the Board of Trustees of at least seven educational institutions and is the president of the Board of Trustees of Westminster Theological Seminary. He was a professor in the University of Southern California and in the Boston University School of Theology for 10 years, and president of DePauw University for eight years. He has been a bishop in the Methodist church since 1936 and is today the president of the Council of Bishops. In addition to the highest possible offices in his own denomination, he was president of the Federal Council of Churches from 1944 to 1946, and president of the World Council of Churches, 1948–1954. What this man believes, and has believed, and taught, and preached, and insisted upon in his chairmanships of these strategic committees and organizations, is a very important matter.

On the very first page of the introduction, the Bishop warns us that we must expect many negations of basic Christian truths, as we peruse his testament of faith, when he tells us “there is much in the differing formulations of the faith that I cannot in honesty reconcile with what I believe to be the character of God and the mind of Christ.” More than once as he proceeds from chapter to chapter, he speaks slightingly of creeds, and yet, the titles of all of his chapters are hardly anything else but phrases from the Apostle’s Creed: “I Believe in God,” “I Believe in Jesus Christ,” “I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins,” etc., though the title of the last chapter is not in any Apostolic Creed, “I Believe in Man.” In his chapter on the Church, he admits that “theological discussion is difficult for the average layman and average minister to understand, but understand it we must” (p. 128). And yet, again and again, he insists that he is no theologian. “I have met many theologians and have listened to their lectures with respectful attention. I have labored through their heavy volumes. I must admit regretfully that I still see through a glass darkly. Their discussions in ecumenical conferences confuse me. I know I must be at fault. These are learned men. I am sure that theology involves technical jargon just as physics, biology, and chemistry do. Theologians deal with ultimate questions” (p. 4). Soon after this he frankly states “I am not a theologian. That will soon be evident.” What a paradox for a man, once to have been a professor of practical theology, the president of the board of trustees of a theological seminary, a lecturer on “preaching” and many other religious subjects in various universities, a bishop in the Methodist church, and not to be a theologian!

His repudiation of many biblical teachings seems to have begun at an early age in the heart and mind of one who was destined to become such an influence in ecclesiastical circles in this country. He was brought up in a devout home, but he says that even then as a boy, to him, “saying prayers was more like telling beads … I doubted … in our home the Scriptures were the inspired Word of God and the Old Testament stories were a record of what God had actually done. It is hard for a boy to understand how God could be a God of love and still slay little children.” (If the Bishop is referring to the event recorded in 2 Kings 2, he has failed to note that it does not say these children were slain.) Even when studying systematic theology as a seminary student, he says of the attributes of God, that he had to admit them but “they did not add up to the Being I needed and who I believed must exist.”

In his first paragraph, “I Believe in God,” he returns to the quotation which has brought justified strong criticism upon him, when he favorably quotes another author, that the God of the Old Testament is “a dirty bully,” and he defends this. He refuses to believe “that God as revealed in Jesus could tell us that it was better that a millstone were hanged about a man’s neck than to offend little children … that such a God would have slain the innocent first-born of the Egyptians.”

Here we have the basic flaw in Oxnam’s theology. He rejects anything in the Word of God which does not fit in with his now completed theological system. He picks and chooses. Thus he tells us that he can understand the Beatitudes of Jesus, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and the story of the Prodigal Son, but he does not choose to refer to the words of the same Christ, “This is my blood which is shed for the remission of sins.” He does not dare to quote Christ’s words, “No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” He quotes over and over and over again that glorious conclusion to the eighth chapter of Romans, that nothing can separate us from the love of God. And then he states that “God for us cannot be thought of as an angry, awful, avenging being.” Here he forgets to tell us, in fact he knows this but does not want to admit, that this same epistle of Paul to the Romans that gives him this great passage on God’s love for his own, refers to the wrath of God more often than to the love of God. If Paul is right in his statement concerning God’s love to us, on what grounds can we insist that Paul is woefully wrong when he writes about the wrath of God?

Like many other religious writers who have repudiated the great essentials of the Christian faith, the Bishop gives extended notice to our Lord’s famous words, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” But as is invariably the case, he does not inform us that this is only the concluding clause in a sentence which expresses a truth that he would repudiate. This is the entire sentence. “If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

In the chapter, “I Believe in Life Everlasting,” he does not even mention the fact that Christ rose from the dead or that there is such a thing as resurrection for Christians, though this is the blessed hope in the New Testament. Though he does not choose to refer to one line of the New Testament on the resurrection, he opens his chapter with four lines from Omar Khayyam. Once he quotes from the glorious 15th chapter of I Corinthians and who would ever guess what the single sentence was? “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

It is, however, in his chapter on Jesus Christ that we are confronted with the most tragic aspects of this tragic book. Regarding the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, and making the Bible say what it does not say, he affirms: “It is offensive to me to assume that there is something sinful in the love act that results in procreation. The doctrine assumes that Jesus was conceived without sin and this means without a human father. I refuse to believe that there is sin in the form of conception that God Himself has ordained for humanity.” He speaks of “the idea of virgin birth so prevalent in centuries gone by” (p. 34).

The most shocking words of all are in his statements regarding our Lord’s holy death. No comment is necessary on these words. “I have never been able to carry the idea of justice to the place where someone else can vicariously pay for what I have done in order to clean the slate” (p. 38). “They argue that God sent His own Son who died upon the cross and in so doing, satisfies God’s sense of legislative justice. It simply does not make sense to me. It is rather an offense. It offends my moral sense” (p. 41). “Must God have a sacrifice, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, as the Book says? No, no, I cannot think of it this way” (p. 42). And what is the Bishop going to do with his sins, and he acknowledges he is a sinner. He tells us, “I cannot see forgiveness as predicated upon the act of someone else. It is my sin. I must atone” (p. 144).

The Bishop says on the first page of his book, “I have often wondered what Jesus would think and do if He were to sit in some church councils or ecumenical assemblies in which the major churches of the world meet to consider such questions as faith and order, life and work.” Much later in the book, he makes a similar statement, “I wonder what Jesus would think of a theological debate in which His nature was under discussion.” Well, we don’t have to surmise in a matter like this. Jesus never asked anyone what they thought of the story of the Prodigal Son, but he did ask “Whom do ye say that I am?” and when the answer came, “Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God,” he confirmed the confession and attributed its inspiration to God himself. This story-telling, love-revealing, gracious Saviour also said, “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Some day the Bishop will know, before the judgment seat of Christ, what Christ thinks of “theological discussions.”

What can be done when one, with all these ecclesiastical offices in his hands, plus the headship of a College of Bishops for 8½ million people, boldly denies what the Word of God declares, and what the Church of Christ has always claimed to be truth and what his own church, since the days of Wesley, has reaffirmed as truth in her doctrinal standards? Are there not enough born-again Methodists in America with courage enough to stand up in Methodist conferences, and boldly repudiate these false doctrines? What has happened to the voice of true Bible-believing bishops in the Methodist church in an hour like this? Are they saying nothing to the head of the College of Bishops? In all the Methodist theological seminaries in this country, are there not some theologians left who will print, over their names, with all the influence their chairs give them, a strong reaffirmation of those Christian truths by which alone men are born again and given the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, God’s Son?

WILBUR M. SMITH

Optimism To Pessimism

After Utopia: The Decline of Political Faith, by Judith N. Shklar, Princeton Univ., 1957. $5.00.

This is a stimulating but rather depressing book. The scholarship which has gone into its composition is extensive and the critical approach is extremely valuable, since many ideas, basic to modern political thinking, are shown in their true historical light. For the Christian who wishes to gain some understanding of current political ideologies it is a very useful guide. But at the same time it shows quite clearly that the West has gradually seen a decline of political faith from eighteenth century rationalistic optimism to twentieth century existentialist pessimism. And what is worse, it offers nothing in its place.

Dr. Shklar, presently a teacher in political science at Harvard, traces three main lines of the decline of political faith. The larger portion of the book is devoted to the fate of romantic optimism which she shows has gradually moved away from a faith in man’s emotions to direct society, through a belief in the incompatibility of the individual and his social environment, to existentialist despair and anguish. This is, to the reviewer, the most interesting part of the work.

From romanticism she next turns to Christianity whose principle representatives she seems to feel are Maritain, Knox, Dawson, T. S. Eliot and Brunner. Pointing out that Christianity has always been critical of society, the author believes that modern Christians have adopted a fatalistic attitude by holding to the view that political action results primarily from religious belief, and since the West has lost its Christianity it has lost ipso facto all political hope. It therefore has no counter-offer to make to romanticism.

Finally she closes by showing that radicalism has also lost its political dreams by becoming scientific and as a result suspicious of all romantics and rationalists. The result has been the radicals’ political disintegration.

While one must confess that there is much to be said for this work, in that it points up the ultimate conclusion of eighteenth century Rationalism, one cannot but feel that it has two important lacunae. The first is that much of the Enlightenment’s political thinking was not original, but was taken from the Reformation without its Christian foundation. The second is that the author has completely ignored the political views of evangelical Christians. She has apparently never heard, for instance, of Abraham Kuiper, Herman Dooyeweerd and others of the Dutch school of thought. Thus she fails to realize that while the Christian never can be optimistic about sinful human beings in themselves, he does have faith in the grace of God, who from outside history can bring about political changes through a revolution in the hearts of men.

This book is a challenge in this crucial hour for Christians to think and write in political terms in order that men may see that the truly Christian view is not fatalistic, but one which calls for responsible political action.

W. STANFORD REID

Objective Of Church

The Witnessing Community, by Suzanne de Dietrich, Westminster, Philadelphia, 1958, 180 pp., $3.75.

Miss Suzanne de Dietrich, a prominent French “lay theologian,” correctly affirms that the supreme task of the Church is to reconcile the world to God. Believing that we live under the same tensions as God’s people of old in that we are ever tempted to either “withdraw from” or “conform to” the world, she traces the history of mankind from Genesis through Israel and the Apostles in order to show the relevancy of the biblical record for the attainment of this objective of the Church.

Interestingly and well-written, profound yet easy to read, much of this book will commend itself to evangelicals as being pertinent to a “witnessing community.” However, despite a constant use of Scripture to document her position, this is not a sound book from the standpoint of biblical Christianity. Considering the Bible a mixture of “saga and history,” a combination of the “human” and the “divine,” for her the Scriptures become, rather than are, the Word of God. Her Christological views, although usually couched in orthodox nomenclature, are often hazy and we search in vain for any adequate conception of sin and the need of repentance.

Miss de Dietrich is active in ecumenical circles but her book at least raises doubts as to whether the unity she desires would be a unity in the Christ of Paul and the Apostles.

CHARLES H. CRAIG

Roman Catholic View

Communism and Christianity, by Martin D’Arcy. Devin Adair, 1957. 242 pp. $4.00.

Philosophers, economists, political scientists and theologians of past centuries and today “strut their stuff” on the pages of Communism and Christianity, as the author, an Oxford-trained philosopher and Oxford professor, calls upon them to support his Roman Catholic view of the war between the opposing ideologies. The book does not bear an official imprimatur, nor is there effort on the part of the writer to present his findings as the Catholic position.

Written with charming diction and sturdy logic, the book is as intriguing as it is informative. One of its chief values, particularly to those readers who have not studied the works of all the philosophers, is the author’s succinct but accurate “boil downs” of the principal theses of the great thinkers of the world, from Plato and Aristotle to Kant, Hegel and Fauerbach, with Britain’s Prof. J. Macmurray tossed in for good measure. Also quoted are Ricardo and Adam Smith; Protestant writers, Paul Tillich and Dwight J. Bradley, the more secular Aldous Huxley and Whittaker Chambers—these and others.

As an example of the writer’s skill in “pointing up” a position or philosophy, he declares that “Rousseau’s ultimate is the sovereign people.” Only six words, but a world of meaning.

If the book attracts even a modicum of readers it will stir considerable controversy. Many libertarians will reject the author’s conclusion that communists are motivated by the same humanitarian desires which lead Christians to undertake charitable projects. The author’s position in this regard is made plain in many passages, as for example:

“What Christianity and Communism have to offer are then as different as heaven from earth, and it would appear that they must meet in a head-on collision; and yet they are both concerned with the welfare of man and can look as if they were brothers. The reason for this likeness may lie in the subconscious ideals which inspire the finest communist supporters.”

In still another respect the book falls short. It presents a middle-of-the-road philosophy. The author will settle for a mixed society, as is clear from these quoted lines: “The state should act on the long range ideal of redistributing property so that the individual is capable of enjoying it and using it to the general interest. In a sense quite different from that of the classless society of Marx the interference of the state should diminish the more the members of it grow in wisdom and in fellowship.” The sentiments in this quotation do not sound too much unlike Marxian writings.

VERNE P. KAUB

Orthodox Acceptance

The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ, by J. P. Lange, Zondervan, 1958. Two volumes, 1048 pp., $3.95 per vol.

This is another Zondervan reprint by an author who needs no introduction. It is in four volumes but only the first two are reviewed here. Part of volume 1 deals with the literary sources about the life of Christ and related critical questions. The rest, and all of volume 2, exhibit Christ’s life from birth to his last week on earth. This masterful section is a combination of commentary, harmony, chronology, devotion, critical and homiletical material. This is an excellent set for minister, student and seminary library.

KENNETH MCCOWAN

The well-known communistic leader in France, Maurice Thorez, once summarized his view about communist morale to the effect that it was superior to any other. This morale inspired obedience unto death without any need of reward in heaven (which has no existence for the communist). “This is,” he added, “the most perfect proof of the disinterestedness of this morale. Our heroes know that they fling themselves into the abyss of nothingness.…”

Here we meet a form of heroic that wants to clear morale of all additional factors: no promise of a “fantastic” heavenly reward, only the calling to be executed blindly. This heroic is not new. Often people have preached this “pure” morale, and even declared that only an atheistic morale could be pure. If courageous conduct were connected with belief in God, motivation would be tarnished automatically and good actions would not be performed for their own sake. Many have appealed to Kant and objected against an eudemonistic morale that destroys the ground of morality by means of the motive of salvation.

The question then confronts this atheistic and pure morale as to the ground of its authority—a question that still waits a satisfactory answer. Nevertheless, the expression, “superior” morale, remains in use. The problem of law without lawmaker is transformed into the statement of the pure morale. But how suspicious is this morale where it falls back upon an uncontrollable call! How often we have seen this heroic lead towards destruction of life and on a road of blood and tears. The sources of this morale—if faith is rejected—must be sought elsewhere, and then out of itself an autonomous morality comes into sight. Whether it came from communistic or national socialistic doctrine is not very important. From both parties sacrifices were demanded regardless: blind into the future.

An enormous responsibility reposes on the shoulders of those who preach this heroic morale. Often they themselves do not carry this responsibility to the very end, as illustrated in the final days of the second World War when Hitler withdrew from all responsibility of his actions by committing suicide. In a horrible show, all superiority was buried; nevertheless, many young men went to meet the dark future, singing. And Thorez conveys the idea of the journey to nothingness and to the abyss. Obviously, many find it difficult to see through this “superiority.” They listen to this language that demands their sacrifice for culture, for nation, or for the brotherhood of all people, and under the suggestion of their leaders they sacrifice themselves without any thought of gain.

One must bear in mind that Christian morale is also beset by many dangers. How often something is declared to be Christian morality that turns out to be nothing but pure egoism. He who desires to fight the pure morale of Communism must not do so from the ground of an egoistic morale. Men cannot throw out the devil by the chief of devils. For this reason it is difficult to fight this “pure” morale. If in our obedience we are motivated only by our own welfare and salvation and not the glory of God and his kingdom, then we do not have the right to protest against the “pure” morale. It is not accidental that we are forewarned in the Old Testament by the incident where Satan accuses Job of being obedient and serving God for his own well-being. God thought this accusation serious enough to deliver Job into the hidden hands of Satan. The issue was fought out to the very last breath of Job’s life to see whether he was only after God’s blessing or in this blessing sought God himself. It was Satan who made an egoistic morale out of obedience, and that charge could be denied only by the realism of Job’s life.

In the struggle and trouble of this life we truly recognize something other than selfishness in piety and morality. Our answer to the communistic “pure” morale without prospect of reward can only be a complete surrender to the God of our life, and it will be apparent in this surrender that our obedience shall differ from egoism. The Holy Scripture speaks very clearly about reward and a blessed future. Obviously this need not be concealed and God holds out to us a new heaven and a new earth, lovely beyond description. God provides that we do not become egoists but rather children and manifest our likeness to the Father. He delivers us from the confinement of egoism and relates us to our neighbor that we may learn that he who loves his neighbor fulfills the law. And when nations are assembled before God’s throne (Matt. 25) judgments will be rendered on the basis of one cup of cold water. The Bible is far more charitable than the communistic morale, but just because of this the Word of God is more in earnest. It talks about grace and judgment, about reward and punishment; nevertheless, along this road to the future, life is renewed completely in service to God and neighbor. The commandment of God transcends the contradiction between egoism and disinterested piety and indicates a road on which all life is blessed.

He who fully rejects the communistic pure morale must pay special attention to the principle of “the cup of cold water” and to the commandment, “love your neighbor.” He who cuts the second commandment from the first, or the first from the second, has no real resistance against this heroic morale. He ends up with an inferior morality that is detrimental to the neighbor. It is no accident that one of the longest parables in the New Testament concerns the charitable Samaritan. Not the prospect of reward (the great reward) beclouds the morale but rather the misunderstanding of the command of God that he who seeks life for himself also seeks life for others. Egoism is now once and for all the perfect counterpart of man as the image of God—the man, who resembles the Father, is moved by what Paul terms “love of mankind” (Titus 3:4).

It would truly be sad, if in reaction to the Roman Catholic doctrine of the merit of good works, we would pay scant attention to the teachings of Holy Scripture concerning reward. The Scripture clearly mentions reward and even judgments concerning works. But we must understand reward correctly. We are not allowed to become Christian egoists, and the judgment of God is upon all who forget the second commandment is “like unto the first.”

Herein is the touchstone of the Christian community, its true Christian life on the earth: the imitation of God. Herein only does her light shine before men (Matt. 5:16). Christ does not hesitate to speak about her light. But all misunderstanding is excluded as he warns that community with his unforgettable word: “Let your light so shine before men [there is no hidden Christianity] that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”