Faith and Reason (Part II)

There is a second result of the sharp distinction between the intellect, the will and the emotions, coupled with a view of religion that makes it essentially emotional. It disparages the intellect, and is basically anti-intellectual. It discredits creeds and theology. Its propounders often contrast faith in a person with faith in a creed, and in more or less explicit language they teach that it makes little difference what a man believes, if only he has faith in Christ.

However, in Hebrews 11:6 we have seen that faith in God is impossible without a creed. The first article of this necessary creed is that God exists. And how obvious! Can a man come to God if he believes that God does not exist? To turn an illustration back upon its originators, can you sit in a chair which you believe does not exist?

There is also a second article to this creed which must be believed before one comes to God. If a man believes that God exists merely as some impersonal force, he will not come. Therefore, he must further believe that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. This of course implies that God is personal. What an extensive theology we are getting! And how intellectual we have already become, for we are now using the logical form of implication!

Faith Requires A Creed

Someone may here object that faith in God is not precisely saving faith in Christ: the devils believe in God, in one God, but they do not diligently seek him. Let it be so. The first point was that faith requires a creed. It was not said that the creed as so far elaborated was sufficient for salvation. It is necessary, but not sufficient. And its necessity is emphasized because of the fundamentalist-modernist strictures on creeds and intellect.

Now, faith in Christ as well as faith in God requires intellectual assent to theological propositions. Suppose I ask you to lend me a sum of money and to trust me to repay it. On the pleasant assumption that you have the money and do not immediately need it (this is an intellectual belief too), will you make the loan without believing certain propositions about me? Suppose you have heard that I am dishonest? Suppose you believe I will “skip out” on you? Could you, with these beliefs, say that intellectual assent is trivial and that you will trust me all the same? Not many people are so stupid in business affairs. This stupidity is reserved for nonintellectual, emotional religion. It is said of religion that the heart is important but not the head. But if this were true, we could trust Christ for salvation without believing that he is trustworthy, without believing that he can save, without believing that his blood cleanses from all sin. We would need no creed, no statement of the Atonement, no historical information about Jesus; we would need only a comfortable feeling around the heart.

Although there have been mystics and assorted anti-intellectuals in every age, the main current of Christianity has always been intellectualistic. Creeds or statements of belief have not been abandoned. There has always been some recognition of the primacy of the intellect.

At any rate the Protestant, especially the Reformed, position is clear. Calvin (Institutes, Book I, ch. XV, Sec. 6–8), after he summarizes some philosophical analyses of the soul’s faculties and indicates that they are plausible but far from certain, particularly because the philosophers ignored the depravity of human nature due to sin, proposes a twofold, not a threefold, division of the soul: understanding and will. Understanding, he says, discriminates between objects; the will chooses what the understanding pronounces good. The understanding is the guide and governor of the soul; the will always respects its authority and waits for its judgment. And there is no power in the soul other than these two. Charles Hodge, also speaking of man before the fall (Systematic Theology, Vol. II, p. 99), says, “His reason was subject to God; his will was subject to his reason.”

And finally, J. Gresham Machen (What Is Faith? p. 26; cf. pp. 49, 51) states that “it will be one chief purpose of the present little book to defend the primacy of the intellect.” Later he adds: “That does not mean that we finite creatures can find out God by our own searching; but it does mean that God has made us capable of receiving the information which he chooses to give.… So our reason is certainly insufficient to tell us about God unless he reveals himself; but it is capable (or would be capable if it were not clouded by sin) of receiving revelation when once it is given” (ibid., p. 51).

A Protestant Position

The proper Protestant position might be summarized somewhat as follows. An act of will, that is, the activity of a person in choosing something, and an act of intellect, that is, the activity of a person in believing something, if they are regarded solely as the clanking of so much mental machinery, are neither one superior to the other. Their differences in value, merit or superiority depend entirely on their objects. In making a purchase it is the object bought that makes the activity worthwhile or foolish. So it is the object chosen and the proposition believed that give value to the will and the intellect. Now, in the case of will, we may choose to eat ice cream or we may choose to believe in the Republican party; but in the case of intellect, by definition, the object is always a truth or an alleged truth.

It may be granted that the single act of will by which we choose to worship God is of superior value to the single intellectual action of believing in the Republican party. But inasmuch as the proper object of intellectual action is always the truth (though often we sinfully believe lies), whereas food, recreation and sleep are perfectly proper objects of choice, it may be concluded that in its nature the intellectual act is superior to the volitional act.

The Priority Of Truth

The primacy of the intellect therefore could well be called the primacy of truth. This does not mean, as Machen has already said, that we can discover the truth about God apart from revelation; nor does it mean that man in his mind is immune to the effects of sin; but it does mean that man’s mind is not totally destroyed by sin and that even yet it is constitutionally capable of receiving, understanding and believing information that God reveals.

Neither is the claim here made that the intellect invariably dominates the will. Calvin indeed said that it is the office of the will to choose what the understanding shall have pronounced to be good and that the will always respects its authority (Institutes, Book I, ch. xv, Sec. 7). But Calvin did not discuss voluntary assent to the truth. In such cases the will leads and the intellect follows. And a study of the history of philosophy may well indicate that this is far more frequent than ordinarily supposed.

The primacy of the intellect, then, is not a power automatically exercised over our volition. Such a representation tends to violate the unity of the person. Rather, the primacy of the intellect, or, better, the primacy of truth, means that our voluntary actions ought to be conformed to truth. If it is true that worshipping God is good, we ought to worship him. This way of putting the matter extends as well to the voluntary choice of belief. We may choose to believe a truth, or we may choose to believe a lie. Both types of choice actually occur. But the primacy of truth means that we ought to believe the truth and we ought not to believe the lie.

In conclusion, now, the implication of this primacy for Christianity will be drawn by means of one example and one generalization.

A minister of fundamentalist persuasion and evangelistic zeal asserted that there is little hope of understanding the Bible. Theology is abstruse and doubtful. However, God has given his people the power of discerning the hearts of men, and with this power a minister can decide who should and who should not be admitted to church membership. In the confused and confusing discussion that followed, Romans 10:9–10 made its appearance. At first, in the rapid exchange of ideas, the minister was inclined to agree that anyone satisfying the conditions of that passage was a saved person. But when it was pointed out to him that belief in Christ’s resurrection was a belief about history, an intellectual acceptance of an historical proposition, he quickly corrected himself and denied that belief in Christ’s resurrection entails salvation. Salvation, he asserted, is not a matter of belief at all.

The generalization that was to follow this example must be introduced with a reference to modernism and neo-orthodoxy. For although these forms of religion have scant sympathy for fundamentalism, yet all three forms of religion are in a strange but substantial agreement. The agreement consists in their anti-intellectualism. If the two modern forms allow any intellectual expression at all, if they make any room for doctrine, they regard it sometimes as a tentative formulation which in a later age may be replaced by its contradiction. Thus the exponents of modernism have condescendingly granted that the Nicene Creed was well and good, and even true enough, for the fourth century, and that the Westminster Confession satisfied the needs of the seventeenth; but the twentieth century cannot accept these outmoded formulas. And the neo-orthodox claim that the Nicene Creed, the Westminster Confession and the formally contradictory writings of Fosdick or Brunner as well are all merely symbolic, metaphorical, mythological expressions of a single ineffable experience. Being ineffable, it cannot be expressed in words. Since therefore all words are equally futile, it makes little difference what words we use symbolically in our attempt to express the inexpressible.

But this is not Christianity. Christianity includes the primacy of the intellect and the sovereign claims of truth. There is no distinction between the head and the heart, no depretiation of intellectual belief. Christianity cannot exist without the truth of certain definite historical propositions.

To deny the truth of such propositions or to call them symbols of some mystic experience is not Christianity. On the contrary, by faith we understand that God created the universe; by faith we assent to the proposition that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him; by faith we know that Jesus rose from the dead. If these propositions are not true, and if truth has no claim upon our acceptance, let us not hypocritically say that Christianity is worth propagating.

- More from John Calvin

Cover Story

Living 55 Years with the Bible

W. Graham Scroggie

The title of this article has been chosen for me, so I must ask the readers to allow the personal note. This is not a general article on Bible study, but a testimony to what I have found in such study during fifty-five years.

Not An Anthology

I am glad I recognized early that the Bible is not an anthology of devout sayings but sublime literature. The form in which it has been presented and the way in which it has been printed have done more than we can say to give a wrong impression of what it is.

What have chapters and verses to do with literature? Can one imagine Paradise Lost, or Hamlet, or Homer’s Iliad or Odyssey or Dante’s Divina Commedia being divided into 1189 chapters, and 31,193 verses? Yet this is what has happened to the Bible, and it has given the impression that it is a collection of texts for comment and discussion.

In addition, the Bible is usually printed in two columns, with gutters of texts in the margins, making the whole thing appear repellent. This disservice of medieval commentators is profoundly to be regretted, and strenuously to be disregarded.

The Bible Is Literature

I cannot tell what I owe to the discovery—also early—that the Bible is literature. All literary forms lie buried under the chapter and verse anomaly; but when these are ignored, and the books are read as wholes—repeatedly read—we shall find it necessary to distinguish various forms of literature which God has been pleased to employ to communicate his revelation. Unless and until these literary distinctions are recognized, we are sure to go astray in our interpretation.

Genesis is narrative; Leviticus is ritual; Deuteronomy is oratory; Ruth is idyll; the Samuels, Kings and Chronicles are history; Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes are wisdom; the Psalms are poetry of various forms—lyrics, odes, elegies, hymns; the Prophecies are oracles, discourses, messages; the Gospels are memorabilia; the Epistles are pastoral intercourse and epistolary treatises; and the book of the Revelation is apocalypse.

It must surely be recognized that all these literary productions cannot be interpreted in the same way. Vision is not history; poetry is not prose; and narrative is not apocalypse. Luke 4:16 must be taken literally, but Psalm 18:10 must not. The book of the Revelation cannot be interpreted in the same way as the book of Genesis. In approaching a passage for discourse, we must discover first of all what is its literary classification and seek its meaning accordingly.

Revelation And Inspiration

Something must be said about revelation and inspiration because they are of vital importance to the Bible student, preacher and teacher. In the first place they must be clearly distinguished; then, we should endeavor to understand their relation to one another; and finally, we should see in what sense each applies to the Scriptures.

When we speak of the Bible as revelation, two things are implied. First, in it are revelations which God vouchsafed to men, at different times, by dream, vision and theophany. By revelation, in this sense, is meant an impartation of knowledge which man could not have come by in any other way; as, for example, the creation, the prediction of future events and the nature and purpose of God.

In this sense of the word the Bible is not all revelation but contains revelation. It would be enriching to make a list of such strictly divine revelations.

But, in the next place, it is true to say that the Bible is a divine revelation, though not everything in it is divine. The Lord definitely repudiates the speeches of Job’s three friends (42:7, 8), and these ocupy many chapters in that book; and the Scriptures contain words of the devil, of heathen and of unbelievers, as well as mistakes of the saints. Yet, the Bible viewed as a whole is a divine revelation. Throughout the Scriptures organic unity and religious progress are clearly evident. This must be regarded as supernatural when we take into account the variety of the writings, their subjects and the length of time it took to complete them. If in any other book were collected history, poetry, drama, biography, philosophy and letters, no one would expect to find either unity or progress; indeed, such a volume would not be worth printing; yet in the Bible we find these things, and they constitute a structural and religious unity. No line of criticism can destroy this fact. The history of Israel in the Old Testament and of the Christian Church in the New Testament is clearly a revelation of a divine progressive purpose, made in life and fixed in literature.

Inspiration A Complex Theme

The subject of inspiration is more difficult to define, if, indeed, it can be defined at all. I fear that the matter of inspiration of the Scriptures has been made a test of orthodoxy more than one’s views of revelation, though, of course, but for revelation there could have been no inspiration, so far as the Bible is concerned. Many are dogmatic in affirming verbal inspiration who seem unconcerned about what inspiration is; but the form that inspiration takes must always be secondary to the fact and nature of inspiration itself.

The many views that have been, and are, held on this subject sufficiently indicate how complex it is. Two things, however, must be admitted by all: first, that the Bible is human as well as divine; and second, that inspiration must be predicated of all the Scriptures, and not of some of them only.

I have said that there could not have been inspiration unless there had been revelation, but there could have been revelation without inspiration, for revelation was made before there was any record of it, and all that was revealed has not been recorded. By inspiration, then, revelation has been made permanent in an authentic and authoritative record.

By inspiration the writers of the Scriptures were not made pens but penmen, and their natural characteristics were used and not removed. The personal characteristics of Isaiah, and Paul, and James, and John are patent in their writings, but the characteristics were under the control of the Holy Spirit.

In considering inspiration it should be kept in mind that much which the Bible records was available to the writers without divine communication—matters biographical, historical and geographical. Also, it is clear that they consulted written sources, some of which have been lost (Num. 21:14, 15, 17, 18; 2 Sam. 1:18).

But these facts do not negate the claim to inspiration, for the action of the Spirit must be considered as relating to selection of material, and accuracy of record.

It should also be observed that all the writings in the Bible are not of equal value—compare Jonah and John’s Gospel, Canticles and Romans,—but all are necessary for the completion of the biblical revelation.

Versions Of The Bible

There are various versions of the Bible, but I call attention now to two only—the Authorized and the Revised [Dr. Scroggie’s references are to the revision of 1881—Ed.]. This is not the place to go into innumerable details relative to these two versions, but I would urge my younger brethren in the Christian ministry carefully and constantly to study both.

The literary excellence of the A.V. is not open to challenge; neither is the greater accuracy of the R.V. Neither version is immune from criticism, and it is hoped that a completely new translation—not a revision of older revisions—will, ere long, be forthcoming.

Doubtless the A.V. will continue to be the people’s Bible, but the preacher and teacher must familiarize himself with both versions. I once preached from Acts 8:37, on the Deity of Christ, and later was humiliated to find that there is no textual authority for the verse.

Advantages of the R.V. are to be seen in the following respects:

The uniform translation of a Greek word, wherever it is possible. In 1 John 2:24meno is translated “abide,” “remain,” and “continue,” for no good reason. The R.V. has “abide.”

The more exact translation of the Greek tenses. Illustrations of this are: “The boat was now filling” (Mark 4:37). “The nets were breaking” (Luke 5:6). “I strove to make them blaspheme” (Acts 26:11). “Our lamps are going out” (Matt. 15:8). “I am already being offered” (2 Tim. 4:6). “Was not our heart burning” (Luke 24:32). “The stem began to break up” (Acts 27:41). “During supper” (John 13:2). These illustrations show how important for the understanding of the Scriptures are correct translations of the tenses. The number of such is innumerable.

The introduction or omission of the definite article. Illustrations of its introduction are: “The virgin” (Matt. 1:23). “The mountain” (Matt. 5:1). “The synagogue” (Luke 7:5). “The way of escape” (1 Cor. 10:13). “The Amen” (1 Cor. 14:16). “The great tribulation” (Rev. 7:14). Illustrations of its omission are: “A babe” (Luke 2:12). “And soldiers also” (Luke 3:14). “A son of peace” (Luke 19:6). “Was speaking with a woman” (John 4:27). “An impotent man” (Acts 4:9). “A door of faith” (Acts 14:27). “To an unknown god” (Acts 17:23). “A root” (1 Tim. 6:10). These and other instances “throw emphasis on the character of the subject instead of the concrete subject itself” (Westcott).

The improvement of archaic words. “Weapons” for “artillery” (1 Sam. 20:40). “The flax was in bloom” (Exod. 9:31). “Brigandines” is translated “coats of mail” (Jer. 46:4). “Goods” for “carriage” (Judg. 18:21). In Philippians 3:20 “conversation” is “citizenship”; and in 1 Peter 3:1 it is “manner of life.” “Daysman” is “umpire” in Job 9:33. Other illustrations will be found in 1 Samuel 5:6, Acts 28:13, Matthew 20:11, Psalm 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 4:15. It must be clear to any reader that these changes are illuminating.

To mark the use of the prepositions in the New Testament is of vital importance. The significance of these is often lost in the A.V. In Matthew 28:19 baptism is to be “into (eis), not “in” (en) the name. In Romans 6:23 “the free gift of God is eternal life ‘in,’ not ‘through,’ Christ Jesus our Lord” (en, not dia). In Acts 13:39 “in him” should be read instead of “by him” (en, not dia). Also in 1 Peter 5:10 and in 1 Corinthians 1:4 it is “in,” not “by” Christ Jesus. The prepositions in 1 Corinthians 12:8, 9 should be marked. The word of wisdom is given “through” (dia) the Spirit. The word of knowledge is given “according to” (kata) the same spirit; and faith is given “in” (en) the same Spirit. In 1 John 3:3 the R.V. makes clear what the A.V. confuses. According to the latter, the hope is “in” the individual, but in the R.V. we read, “every one that hath this hope ‘set on’ (epi) him (Christ).”

These are but a few illustrations of the importance of the R.V. in respect of greater accuracy than the A.V.; but the R.V. is not always correct, and is sometimes pedantic.

Use Of Translations

Translations, of which there are many, are not the same as versions. There are translations in Great Britain by Alford, Conybeare and Howson, Darby, The Twentieth Century New Testament, Weymouth, Moffatt, Knox, Williams, Phillips; and in America, a translation of the whole Bible by Smith and Goodspeed, and the Revised Standard Version of 1946, which is a revision of the American Standard Version of 1901.

The problem in any translation is twofold: to be faithful to the original sources, and yet to present those sources in the idiom of the language of the translation.

I have found it interesting and profitable to read all available translations, though I have never regarded it as wise to use the modern translations in reading the pulpit lessons.

Interpretation And Application

Another matter on which I have strong convictions relates to interpretation and application. All Scripture—or most of it—can be applied to our diversified circumstances and needs, but such application is rarely interpretation.

“Every Scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16,17). That great passage warrants and defines the present application of the Scriptures to us all.

But application must be safeguarded, or we shall be applying what does not apply. During the Great War many Christians claimed the promises of Psalm 91:3–8, but they were not protected from the German bombs. The kinds of blessings vouchsafed to the Christian are not material and physical, as they were to Israel. On the other hand, such a passage as Judges 14:14 is eminently applicable, because blessings often come out of the things that are against us. If we destroy the destroyer we find deliverance.

But the interpretation of Scripture is a very different and exacting pursuit. Not a little preaching is much more imposition than exposition. An expositor must be a student, and must be subject to the rules which govern interpretation. If these rules are disregarded, and all such matters as time, place, form, and circumstances are neglected, one can prove anything from the Scriptures.

Unless we have regard for the context of a passage, we are almost bound to fall into error. Innumerable sermons have been preached on Christ’s redeeming passion from Isaiah 63:3: “I have trodden the winepress alone”; but the plain fact is that it has nothing whatever to do with Christ’s death, as the rest of the verse shows (cf. Rev. 14:19,20). There are plenty of texts in the Bible on the Cross without taking a sentence entirely out of its context and applying it to that. Another passage which is often wrongly interpreted is Colossians 2:21: “Touch not; taste not; handle not.” Temperance enthusiasts have claimed that here the use of alcohol is forbidden. But not only has the passage no reference whatever to temperance, but “touch not; taste not; handle not” is condemned: “why, as though living in the world are ye subject to (such) ordinances? (as) …” If context has nothing to do with exposition the preacher might as well descant on the obiter dicta of Shakespeare, Milton, Dante or anyone else.

Another principle of interpretation is in the fact that all that Scripture has to say on any given subject is the truth about that subject. Proof texts often prove nothing. Scripture must be compared with Scripture (cf. 1 Cor. 2:13). On the subject of faith and works, Paul and James are not at variance, for they are looking at the same subject from opposite standpoints. Paul says that Abraham was justified by faith (Rom. 4:9); James says that he was justified by works (ch. 2:21), but the one is referring to the root, and the other to the fruit of his relation to God. Faith makes works possible, and works make faith evident.

True interpretation must regard the Scriptures grammatically. We have already illustrated this in what has been said about the tenses, articles, pronouns, and prepositions in the R.V.

There must be careful study of the meaning of words. Sin is described by many words, each having its own significance—iniquity, trespass, guilt, transgression, lawlessness, and so forth. We should study the difference between the Grave, Hades, Gehenna, and Topheth. There are five words for servant; two for love; three for know; two for life; two for new; two for another; six for preach; three for wash; four for master; four for child; and two for basket. These illustrations will indicate how important it is, for the understanding of the Bible, to study its words.

Much of the language of Scripture is figurative, and this is most important for interpretation. We must recognize the vast difference between such statements as: “In the morning, a great while before day, Jesus rose up and departed into a desert place, and there prayed,” and “Judah is a lion’s whelp,” or “I am the vine.” We must be careful and conscientious in our study of allegories, types, parables, metaphors, fables and symbols. These can easily be wrongly understood and fancy can easily make havoc of truth. Not every illustration is a type, but typical teaching is warranted by Scripture (1 Cor. 10:1–11; John 1:14, R.V., 3:14). Parables are not the source of doctrine, but they may illustrate it. Generally speaking, each parable has one great lesson to convey, and all its details should not be pressed as interpretation.

Great care should be taken in the study of prophecy. We must distinguish between forthtelling and foretelling. All prophecy is not predictive. The prophet spoke first of all to his own generation, but in doing so he often spoke beyond his knowledge and to generations to come (cf. 1 Peter 1:10–12). The prophets were preachers, but they were also seers. Not a few predictions have already been fulfilled, and many remain to be fulfilled. In the study of prophecy, sanity is essential.

The theological student who, on leaving college, puts his Hebrew and Greek on the shelf is crippling his usefulness as an expositor, because no version or translation of the Scriptures makes a knowledge of the original language unnecessary. It is of great advantage to be able to compare the Hebrew of the Old Testament with the Septuagint, and to discern the use of each of them in the New Testament. The bearing of this upon interpretation must be obvious.

Although, I fear, my reflections are already too long, I must refer to one more thing, perhaps the most formative in my more than fifty years of study. What I refer to is the discovery that the books make a Book; that all the writings are part of one revelation. This is a proof of divine inspiration second to none.

The sixty-six books of the Bible span 1500 years in the writing. They came from many authors, who wrote in different places, on various subjects, and in many styles; yet, when gathered together finally in the fourth century A.D. they are seen to constitute a sublime whole, an unfolding drama of redemption. This drama has a prologue, Genesis 1:1–11:9; an interlude, between the two Testaments; and an epilogue, the book of the Revelation.

Between the prologue and the interlude is Act 1, Genesis 11:10—Malachi 4; and between the interlude and the epilogue is Act II, Matthew to Jude. Act I is a divine Covenant of Law embodied in the history and literature of a Semitic race; and Act II is a divine Covenant of Grace embodied in the history and literature of the Christian Church.

In Act I are three scenes: the Hebrew family, the Israelitish nation and the Jewish Church.

In Act II are two scenes: the introduction of Christianity into the world by Jesus the Messiah, and the progress of Christianity in the world to the close of the first century A.D. If you arrange these details in chart form you will see how marvellous is this biblical synthesis. This has been the basis of all my Bible work for forty-five years at least.

In the ways here indicated I have lived with the Bible for fifty-five years, and in my eightieth year I am gathering together in three volumes the final results. If what I have said puts some of my brethren in the way of fruitful Bible study I shall be grateful.

Professor of Biblical History and Literature at University of Sheffield, England, F. F. Bruce is author of a number of significant works, not least of them a contribution to the literature of the subject of his present article, under the title Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Other books from his pen are The Book of Acts, The Acts of the Apostles, The Spreading Flame, and Are the New Testament Documents Reliable?

- More from W. Graham Scroggie

Cover Story

Modern Scribes on the Judean Scrolls

F. F. Bruce

There was a time when the only books in English which could be recommended to the general reader who wished to know something about the Dead Sea Scrolls were Professor H. H. Rowley’s fine study, The Zadokite Fragments and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1952) and translations of two books by the French scholar A. Dupont-Sommer—The Dead Sea Scrolls (1952) and The Jewish Sect of Qumran and the Essenes (1954). Professor Rowley’s book did not appear until the author had taken time to digest the material offered by the new discoveries and its relation to material already known; the result was a mature contribution to the literature of the subject, marked by his well-known qualities of sound learning, good judgment and bibliographical comprehensiveness. Although his study must be amplified and perhaps modified here and there in the light of subsequent discoveries, it is a work of abiding value.

Professor Dupont-Sommer’s books were also marked by high scholarship, but judicial qualities were not so much in evidence in them as in Professor Rowley’s book. In fact, Professor Dupont-Sommer’s second volume represents in part a “phased withdrawal” from positions taken up too lightly in its predecessor—in particular, his suggestion that the Servant Songs of Isaiah 42–53 reflected the actual experiences of the Qumran Teacher of Righteousness, who (as he was inclined to think) suffered martyrdom shortly before the Roman conquest of Judea in 63 B.C., and his conclusion that Jesus “appears in many respects as an astonishing reincarnation of the Teacher of Righteousness.” Even so, we must bear in mind that the cause of learning has often been promoted by scholars who were prepared to take a risk and expose their brain-waves to the pitiless criticism of others. And this has certainly been the upshot of the discussion of Professor Dupont-Sommer’s provisional suggestions.

Apart from these, there were a few shorter studies. In 1950 Professor G. R. Driver delivered a lecture to the Friends of Dr. Williams’ Library, which was published by the Oxford University Press the following year under the title The Hebrew Scrolls. In this paper Professor Driver issued a warning against what he considered the over-hasty publication of dogmatic statements about the date and provenience of the scrolls; he maintained that other possibilities should be kept in mind, and expressed his own preference for a dating between A.D. 200 and 500. While further evidence appears to confirm the view that the scrolls belong to the period before A.D. 70, Professor Driver’s warning was wise and timely. In 1954 Dr. W. J. Martin, head of the Semitic department in Liverpool, delivered the sixth Campbell Morgan Memorial Lecture in Westminster Chapel, London; it was published as a pamphlet entitled The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah, and presented an excellent survey of the significance of the complete Isaiah manuscript found in the first Qumran cave.

Current Literature

But more recently books on the scrolls have been appearing in rapid succession. There is quite clearly a large public appetite for them on both sides of the Atlantic. One work which did much to whet this appetite was Edmund Wilson’s book, The Scrolls from the Dead Sea (1955). Mr. Wilson is a distinguished literary critic, and his book (expanded from a long and informative article which appeared in The New Yorker of May 14, 1955) provides a vivid account of the exploration of the caves and the discovery of the manuscripts, with vigorous pen-portraits of such personalities as Father Roland de Vaux and the Syrian Archbishop Athanasius Yeshue Samuel. When he comes to the interpretation of the discoveries, he shows a clear preference for the views of Professor Dupont-Sommer, but agrees that the criticism of scholarly theories is best left to scholars. He imagines that the subject is boycotted by New Testament specialists—a curious notion to entertain, although he is not alone in entertaining it. In fact, New Testament specialists, when they foregather, evince even greater excitement about the scrolls than their Old Testament colleagues do. In Great Britain and Europe, New Testament scholars of the calibre of Matthew Black, Oscar Cullmann, Bo Reicke and K. G. Kuhn have made important contributions to the study and understanding of the scrolls, and articles on the subject appear regularly in the leading New Testament Journals. Mr. Wilson has, moreover, a suspicion that scholars who are committed to the Christian or the Jewish faith (especially the clergy) are beset by inhibitions which make it difficult for them to appraise the significance of the scrolls with equanimity. The present writer, as a lay teacher of biblical studies in a secular university, thinks that this suspicion is quite unfounded; those who give expression to it might be displeased if it were mildly suggested that secular humanists may be influenced in their thinking by their own inhibitions.

In spite of these weaknesses, however, Mr. Wilson’s book has very real merits. The same can scarcely be said of The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls by A. Powell Davies (1956). Mr. Davies, formerly an English Methodist, is now pastor of a Unitarian church in Washington, D.C. His personal position in Gospel studies is suggested by the inclusion of a portrait of Dr. Albert Schweitzer among the illustrations in his book, although he says that the new discoveries have proved Dr. Schweitzer wrong in his belief that “the Baptist and Jesus are not … borne upon the current of a general eschatological movement.” We can now view their ministry in the context of the eschatological movement of Qumran. But this is not the same thing as saying that the Qumran movement was the current upon which John the Baptist and our Lord were borne. If John did have an earlier association with Qumran, it was a new and genuinely prophetic impulse that sent him out with his baptismal preaching of repentance in preparation for the advent of the Coming One. We should not, however, hold Mr. Davies responsible for the publisher’s blurb which describes the scrolls as “the greatest challenge to Christian dogma since Darwin’s theory of evolution.”

Uniqueness Of Christ

In reply to tendencies such as these Father Geoffrey Graystone, a Roman Catholic priest of the Marist order, has written a short and modest study entitled The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Originality of Jesus (1956). He probably underestimates the possible contacts between Qumran and the New Testament, but he concludes, quite rightly: “The perusal of the scrolls side by side with the gospels and the New Testament does but bring into greater relief the uniquenesss of Christ and the transcendence of the religion which he founded.” True; but Christians must bear in mind that the uniqueness and originality of Christ reside primarily in his person and work, whereas parallels to his sayings are forthcoming both before and after his time. Whatever affinities may be traced between the biblical interpretation current in the Qumran community and that which the early Church inherited from her founder, we can best indicate the real distinctiveness of Christianity by asking if anyone has ever found peace with God through the death of the Teacher of righteousness, as millions have found it through the death of Christ.

A Reliable Account

It is a pleasure to turn to a book which is not concerned with presenting a special point of view but which gives a reliable account of the discovery of the scrolls and of their contents and significance. This is The Dead Sea Scrolls, by Millar Burrows (1955). Of all the books on the subject which have appeared thus far, this book by Professor Burrows is the one which can be most confidently recommended to the general reader. It contains as an appendix a useful translation of some of the most important Qumran texts and has a serviceable bibliography. Unfortunately, it has no index, and this is a sad omission even for the general reader.

Mr. John M. Allegro of Manchester University, one of the international team of scholars who is engaged in piecing together and editing the fragmentary documents in the Palestine Archaeological Museum, had hit the headlines with a series of controversial broadcasts on this subject before the publication of his Pelican book The Dead Sea Scrolls (1956). This is a most readable book, which does full justice to the genuine romance both in the discovery and acquisition of the scrolls, and in their decipherment and interpretation. Mr. Allegro has been severely criticized for running too far ahead of the evidence, especially in his impressive picture of the crucifixion of the Teacher of righteousness at the hands of Alexander Jannaeus—a picture for which the documentary support is so slender as to be unsubstantial. On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that Mr. Allegro has deserved well of all students of the Qumran literature by making available some important texts from the fourth cave in recent issues of the Palestine Exploration Quarterly and the Journal of Biblical Literature. He is probably right in identifying the Teacher’s enemy, the “wicked priest,” with Alexander Jannaeus, king of Judea from 103 to 76 B.C., but it must be said that none of the documents thus far published gives us any information of the manner of the Teacher’s death, or “gathering in,” as it was called.

Professor Charles T. Fritsch of Princeton Theological Seminary has reconstructed the life and history of the sect from which these documents came in The Qumran Community (1956). He identifies the community with a branch of the Essenes. There is archaeological evidence that the community headquarters were abandoned for thirty years or thereby in the time of Herod the Great (37–4 B.C.). Dr. Fritsch relates this evidence with the evidence from the Zadokite Documents which is commonly interpreted in terms of a migration of the community to the neighborhood of Damascus. The Zadokite Documents first came to light in two mutilated manuscripts discovered in the genizah or store-room of the synagogue in Old Cairo towards the end of last century; further fragments have now been found in the Qumran caves, and it is plain that the community of which we already knew something from the Zadokite Documents was identical with the Qumran community. A reference should be made here to the splendid edition of The Zadokite Documents, in the Hebrew text with English translation and notes, by Dr. Chaim Rabin (1954).

A translation of a wide selection of the Qumran texts has been prepared by Dr. Theodor H. Gaster—The Dead Sea Scriptures (1956). While the translation is rather free, the English is powerful and elegant. Dr. Gaster adds a few notes expressive of his own views, which whet our appetite for a full-length study of the significance of Qumran which he hopes to publish in due course.

Dr. Hugh J. Schonfield, already well known as historian of Jewish Christianity and translator of the New Testament, has ventilated some original views on the Qumran texts in Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls (1956). He propounds an unusual chronological order in dating the documents and the stages of the community’s resident at Qumran; he makes use of the rabbinical cipher called atbash as a key to unlock some of the conundrums found in the texts, and he suggests that the reason for storing the manuscripts in the caves shortly before A.D. 70 was not so much to protect them from the Romans as to make sure that the elect in the coming age of fulfilment might have access to books which would provide them with all necessary enlightenment for the days through which they were to pass.

This survey should not end without an appreciative reference to the indefatigable efforts of Dr. Solomon Zeitlin to convince his fellow-scholars that they are all following a false trail in using texts which he believes to be medieval for the reconstruction of a phase of Jewish life and belief in the closing decades of the Second Temple. He has done this for several years now in successive numbers of the Jewish Quarterly Review, and his main arguments have been published in a monograph, The Dead Sea Scrolls and Modern Scholarship (1956). Dr. Zeitlin has convinced few of us, but he has certainly played the part of a Socratic gadfly, stinging us into alertness lest we reach false conclusions through faulty arguments based on insufficient evidence. Herein he deserves our sincere gratitude, for in the study of the Qumran texts as in even more important matters it is best to practise the Pauline injunction: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”

END

Preacher In The Red

EVERYTHING BUT THE GROOM

In a former pastorate, Widow A, member of my church and very attractive, was reported to be receiving the attentions of a very fine and sturdy widower from a nearby city, whose calls were growing in frequency. At last, my friend reported, “Mr. B’s car is parked in front of Mrs. A’s home almost every day now. The case seems to be growing very warm. You’ll probably get a call before long.”

Within two or three days after that warning, my study phone rang early one morning, and Mrs. A, in a particularly happy voice, asked if I might come to her home at once. Of course, I was able! Being accustomed to preparing myself for contingencies, I slipped into my pocket the items necessary for a wedding, and was on my way.

The merry widow, her face wreathed in smiles, ushered me into the living room, where a strong and sturdy masculine figure rose from the davenport. She asked, “Do you know this gentleman?” Unfortunate me! I mentioned the name of widower B. The lady gasped, mentioned her visitor’s name and rushed to the kitchen. It was her own cousin, a minister under whose preaching I had sat in my college student days, his heavy and flowing mustache shaved off! Widow A and Widower B were married within two weeks, but I was not asked to officiate.—CHARLES R. MURRAY, Minister, Presbyterian-Christian Church, Tishomingo, Okla.

For each report by a minister of the Gospel of an embarrassing moment in his life, CHRISTIANITY TODAY will pay $5 (upon publication). To be acceptable, anecdotes must narrate factually a personal experience, and must be previously unpublished. Contributions should not exceed 250 words, should be typed double-spaced, and bear the writer’s name and address. Upon acceptance, such contributions become the property of CHRISTIANITY TODAY. Address letters to: Preacher in the Red, CHRISTIANITY TODAY, Suite 1014 Washington Building, Washington, D.C.

From his colorful role in Korea, where he served as senior U.N. truce delegate at Panmunjom, Lt. Gen. William K. Harrison went to the Canal Zone as commander in chief of the Caribbean Command, U.S. Armed Forces. A distinguished Christian soldier, now 61, he retired from his military career this February, and plans to devote his efforts to the Evangelical Welfare Agency, a service organization of the National Association of Evangelicals.

- More from F. F. Bruce

Cover Story

Was St. Patrick a Protestant?

Michael W. Dewar

“St. Patrick” is symbolic in the United States of Irish Roman Catholicism and all it stands for. But the Protestants of Ireland, usually called “Scotch Irish,” take a very different view. The national apostle and founder of Irish Christianity is claimed by Irish Protestants as well as by Roman Catholics. His grave lies in British Ulster, and the chief Protestant church in Republican Dublin is named after him. So it is not easy to answer the question, was St. Patrick a Protestant?, with a plain “yes” or “no.”

Who Was He?

First of all, who was Patrick? He was not, at any rate, an Irishman living in a Christian home somewhere in the sister isle of Great Britain. It was too early to call him “English,” but he was undoubtedly “British.” In his teens he was captured by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. His father, Calpurnius, was a deacon, and his grandfather, Potitus, was an elder in the church. This alone should prove that he was not a Roman Catholic, since so much is made of an unmarried clergy in the Church of Rome. Patrick spent the long days herding hogs on the slopes of Slemish, in the heart of the North Irish County Antrim. In spite of his “parsonage upbringing,” he was not a Christian. But prayer brought him peace with God among those Ulster hills. Later God provided Patrick with a way of escape to what is now France, where he learned to read and write. He became mighty in the Scriptures, quoting Paul’s Epistle to the Romans no less than thirty times.

Returning Good For Evil

Thus armed, he returned to conquer Ireland for Christ, and to make slaves for the Kingdom of God out of those who had sold him as a swineherd. By so doing he would surely heap coals of fire upon their heads, as the Apostle of the Gentiles bids us do. Thus he became the Apostle of the Irish.

Three of his Writings have come down to us and show what manner of man he was. The Confession and the Epistle are full of Christian belief, the commonly held creed of the undivided church of his day—neither “Unreformed” nor “Reformed,” as we know the words, but truly “catholic.” They reflect no emphasis on the Virgin Mary, with whom St. Patrick’s name is so often linked in popular thought. They certainly know nothing of the Pope or of Rome, whose writ did not run in Ireland for seven hundred years after Patrick’s death! The Church of England received its “rebaptism” from Rome in A.D. 597, the very year of the death of Columba, one of Patrick’s great Scotch-Irish disciples, who had already evangelized much of Scotland and England. Patrick had returned to Ireland on his great missionary adventure as long before as A.D. 432. The only “confession” that he knows is “I, Patrick, a sinner.”

The Breastplate, reminding us of the second item in the Christian’s armour in Ephesians VI, comes ringing down the ages as a hymn of triumph in Christ, full of evangelical assurance and certainty:

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me.

So it leads on to its last tremendous declaration of faith: “Salvation is of Christ the Lord!” How wonderfully like John Calvin he wrote and how differently from the doggerel ditties usually associated with the 17th of March, such as:

Hail, Holy St. Patrick

Sweet Saint of Our Isle!

It is because most of the Irish people, apart from a large majority of them in the North and a small minority in the South, have departed from the “faith of their fathers” that this remotest island in the West is no longer the “island of saints and scholars” that the influence of Patrick made it. Irish missionaries were carrying the Gospel to the remotest parts of Europe when the schools of Ireland were producing treasures of the Bible as the shadows of the Dark Ages descended upon the Continent.

Far beyond our ocean girdle

Faithful sons the Gospel taught.

Men of distant climes and nations

At their lips the tiding sought,

Where midst Alpine snowy splendour

Sleeping lake in shadow lies,

Where the vine and olive flourish

’Neath the blue Italian skies.

The Hill Of Tara

But let us return to the green hills and rainy mists of the land which Patrick made peculiarly his own. A glance at the map of the missionary journeys of St. Patrick is as fascinating as that of the wanderings of St. Paul, and perhaps more so for those of us who live where we can follow in Patrick’s footsteps every day! The old story of how Patrick used the beacon fire of the heathen Irish upon the Hill of Tara in the Irish Midlands to light a Gospel fire throughout the realms of the High King of Ireland is well known. But most of his missionary movements read like a travel talk of Northern Ireland. It is surely one of the ironies of Irish church history, and an indication of the strength of the Patrick tradition in Protestant Ulster, that nearly all the scenes of the Patrick story are laid in those six counties where the British writ still runs!

The high, round hill of Slemish still overlooks the prosperous Presbyterian town of Ballymena, famous for its output of enterprising Scotch-Irish settlers to the States and Canada. It was there that Patrick found his Damascus Road.

Skirting the shores of Belfast Lough we enter kindly County Down with its fishing grounds and rich cornlands. There, among its little hills, is the St. Patrick Memorial Church at Saul. An annual open-air service at Tara recalls the coming of Patrick to the South, while the name Saul (old Irish for “a barn”) reminds us that like evangelists of other days he did not despise the humblest preaching house. Not far away is Downpatrick Cathedral, Mother Church of the Diocese of Down, where the Protestant Dean will proudly show visitors a simple gravestone inscribed “Patric.”

But it is among the apple orchards of Armagh, white in spring and ruddy in autumn, that we must seek the center of the Patrick country. In that little city, set on a hill, two cathedrals lift their spires and towers to the sky. Both are named for the intrepid missionary whom both faiths claim as their founder. But, while the Roman Catholic cathedral is only eighty years old, the Church of Ireland (Episcopal) Cathedral occupies a spot which has been hallowed by Christian worship for centuries. Thus the Church of Ireland can well claim the title deeds, the “family portraits” as it were, of St. Patrick.

Dublin And Belfast

So we leave the Emerald Isle among its misty mountains, with St. Patrick’s Episcopal Cathedral in Dublin, the Southern and largely Roman Catholic capital, proclaiming the existence of its dwindling minority. Northward, Belfast, with its industries and its Orange Lodges, proclaims in its motto “What shall we give in return for so much?” the unshakable determination of the Ulstermen to be true to the Trinitarian Faith planted by Patrick among the shamrocks of the Emerald Isle. Meanwhile, let us pray that the four millions of Roman Catholics who pay lip service to St. Patrick will seek the truth about their hero, and about his hero whose “unsearchable riches” he proclaimed to their forefathers in his writings not only “with his lips but with his life.”

Catholic Christian

As we leave Ireland and the Irish, we are left pondering the perennial “Irish question”: Was Patrick a Protestant or a Roman Catholic? To those who ask that question there is no short answer. But those who are prepared to think and to compare the simplicity of his teachings with the present-day accretions of Rome will have little difficulty in coming to the conclusion that he was truly catholic and truly Christian. To say more than that would be an anachronism. To make him a “Reformer before the Reformation” would be to use the language of more than a thousand years later. To say that he was a Christian and a Catholic is to say all.

Ages pass, yet with St. Patrick

Firm we hold the faith of God;

With his “Breastplate” armed we follow

Where the Saints and Martyrs trod.

Lift thy banner, Church of Erin,

To thine ancient Faith we cling.

Thou art built on truth eternal

Jesus Christ our Lord and King.

The Rev. Michael W. Dewar, M.A., late History Exhibitioner and First Prizeman at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, is one of the younger clergymen in the Church of Ireland. When Christianity Today asked whether he would prepare an article on St. Patrick, he replied: “No Irish Episcopal clergyman can refuse to speak for ‘the National Apostle’ and try to salvage him from the hands of the ‘opposition’!” Mr. Dewar saw World War II service as a soldier in G2 of SHAEF. Today he ministers in Scarva, County Down, Northern Ireland, as rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church.

- More from Michael W. Dewar

Theology

Review of Current Religious Thought: February 18, 1957

William A. Mueller

The Southland continues to be perturbed over racial desegregation problems. We read of violence and resistance to the Supreme Court decision of May, 1954. What are Southern Baptists, the largest and most influential Christian body in the South, doing about the situation?

It is a fact that a number of Southern Baptist pastors have been ousted from their churches because of their loyalty to King Jesus and their defense of constituted rights for all Americans. The Rev. Paul Turner, pastor of First Baptist Church in Clinton, Tenn., made the headlines due to his courageous stand for righteousness in race relations.

The Alabama Baptist (Dec. 20, 1956) copies from RNS a detailed account of the Rev. Mr. Turner’s defense of Negro children’s basic rights. This same journal prints an editorial from the Chilton County News in the same issue:

In this day of race problems, would all races accept Him, no matter which He chose to be born into? He is the King of all races and yet, would we listen to His Word if He were anything but Anglo-Saxon?

More likely than not, this editorial continues, were Jesus to appear again, he would not come as a “dynamic business, political, or religious figure,” but would “make His appearance where He was least expected.”

“Few things are more dangerous than the germs of racial prejudice,” writes The Baptist Reflector of Tennessee (Sept. 20, 1956). Christians, it is argued, have a new spirit. They are therefore concerned that all men are treated with fairness. T. B. Matson, professor in Southwestern Baptist Seminary, Texas, writing in the same journal, speaks of the substitution of orthodoxy for basic morality and practical Christian living. “Some of the most unscrupulous, dishonest, immoral preachers are loudest in proclaiming their orthodoxy.” Alas, such can also be the worst purveyor of prejudice and hate in race relations!

Pastor Sterling Price of University Baptist Church in Abilene, Texas, spoke to 3000 persons at the Baptist Training Union conference at Wichita Falls with prophetic force when he said:

The Christian churches are failing to take decisive action on such social issues as racial discrimination, labor relations and work opportunities.

Thus reports The California Baptist (Dec. 13, 1956).

The Christmas 1956 editorial of the Florida Baptist Witness stabs us wide awake with these questions: “Are we as concerned for the Mexican in San Antonio as for the one in Mexico City, for the Chinese in Miami as for the one in Hong Kong, for the Indian on the Seminole reservation as for the one in South America, … for the Negro in Jacksonville as for the one in Nigeria …?”

President W. R. White of Baylor University in the Baptist Standard of Texas (Nov. 10, 1956) speaks of the issue of racial integration as the greatest problem confronting Southern Baptists since the days of slavery. “It threatens to sever the fellowship of Southern Baptists in twain.” Dr. White senses the urgency of the situation. He counsels moderation, warns against the hotheads on both sides of the controversy, but considers adjustment imperative for several reasons: world opinion is against treating any human being as less than human; Magna Charta, the Declaration of Independence, the U. S. Constitution, the Judeo-Christian concept of God compels us to act; our far-flung missionary endeavors face the shadow of unfavorable reaction; as communistic agitation and Catholic attempts to lure the Negro away from our ranks, these dangers and imperatives compel us to be “Christian in principle, spirit and attitudes.”

Professor Stewart A. Newman of Southeastern Baptist Seminary at Wake Forest, N. C., in his The Christian’s Obligation to All Races lays bare the tragic race issue in these sobering words:

The extent of this contradiction of our ideals with our attitude and conduct toward other races is illustrated by the reaction of new converts who recently came to America from our mission fields in Africa. Young people who were the product of our Southern Baptist evangelistic and educational work in Africa were unprepared for the disillusionment which they suffered when brought by our missionaries to this Christian land. They were caught up in such a maelstrom of bickering and prejudice, race antagonisms and discriminations as to be ostracized from the Christian fellowship which was the source of their greatest blessing.

This tract bears the imprint of the Christian Life Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. J. B. Matson’s Integration and John Hass Jones’ The Unity of Humanity speak with equal vigor and clarity on the issue under discussion and are being widely distributed among Southern Baptists. In due time they will bear fruit, but the going will be hard in the days immediately ahead.

Christianity and Crisis (Dec. 24, 1956) admits—and this is encouraging to all right-minded people in the South—that “vast progress has already been made in the direction of public acceptance of the Supreme Court interpretation of the Constitution, though, to be sure, defiance and outbreaks of violence are what makes headlines.” While the editor, E. T. J., considers the Supreme Court decision of 1954 “a great moral judgment,” he nevertheless realistically states that “evils that have a tragic character are not expunged by recourse to law.” John C. Bennett of Union Theological Seminary, commenting in the same journal (Oct. 29, 1956) on Billy Graham’s stand on desegregation of our public schools in Life, calls it a “truly prophetic statement about the racial problem.” Bennett believes that “there is no other Christian leader in America who can do so much as Billy Graham to open the eyes of believing Christians to the implications of their faith in this area.”

There are other hopeful signs on the horizon of Southern Baptists in this matter of race relations. Their five theological seminaries with their more than 5000 students have been interracial for more than five years. During the recent Thanksgiving season two international house parties with more than 300 nationals from Latin and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe met in Mississippi and Tennessee for fellowship and discussion of crucial issues facing the life of mankind today.

Other Christian communions in the South are equally concerned about the issue. On the whole, “it seems Christians are more favorable to the abolition of the caste system than secular opinion in the same communities, and Catholics are often more energetic than Protestants, and preachers more positive and articulate on the race issue than laymen.” Thus states W. E. Garrison of Houston University in a recent issue of the Virginia Baptist journal, The Religious Herald.

- More from William A. Mueller

Books

Book Briefs: February 18, 1957

Life Against Nature

The Nun’s Story, by Kathryn Hulme. Little-Atlantic, Boston. $4.00.

Riding high on the nation’s best-seller lists in this fall and winter of election, war and rebellion is The Nun’s Story, Kathryn Hulme’s novelistic biography of a Belgian nurse who became a nun, served her order for 16 years at home and in the Congo and returned to “the world” at the end of World War II.

The book’s right to be a best-seller is obvious: it caters to the well-known American preoccupations with medicine and hospital life, with psychiatry, with the bizarre and mysterious continent of Africa, with the secrets of the cloister, and with the Resistance movements during the Nazi occupation. For Sister Luke, the heroine, did not lead a life of quiet retirement. During her novitiate she finished her nurse’s training and received a diploma in psychiatry in institutions run by her Order. Her first months out from under the wing of the mother-house where she was trained were in a rigorous government course in tropical medicine. The proving ground where she demonstrated the ability and stability to undertake missionary work was a large mental hospital for women which the Order operated.

Finally she reached Africa, the land of her dreams, but instead of being allowed to do evangelistic work among the natives was detained as a supervisory nurse in the European hospital in a large city in the Congo. Just before the outbreak of World War II, she made an emergency trip to Europe, accompanying a mental patient, and was caught in the hostilities. From her nursing post in the tuberculosis wing of a hospital she aided the fight of her countrymen against the Nazis after their armies had surrendered. In this struggle she realized openly what had been implicitly true all along, that she was more nurse than nun, and that her Christian conscience often contradicted the rule of life she had sworn to follow. The story ends the morning she shed her habit, and dressed in a lay nurse’s uniform supplied by the Order, stepped forth into a strange world to make her own way.

The elements of a “sure-fire hit” are here, but above them all are religion and the religious life. The Nun’s Story is being read in search of an answer to the spiritual needs of today by the same people who followed Thomas Merton to the Seven Storey Mountain, who seek to “understand” such diverse characters as Albert Schweitzer and Billy Graham, or who eagerly looked for Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift From The Sea. The answer given by The Nuns Story is not simple or unequivocal. In spite of her departure from the Order, Sister Luke remains a devout Catholic, and no where does she deny the validity of a Rule—for those who subscribe to it.

From the first days of her postulancy to the days of war, a battle raged between Sister Luke and the religious life. She and “it” might he described as the two protagonists of this book.

Gabrielle Van der Mal, the girl who became Sister Luke, was the lively young daughter of a famous surgeon. She had medicine in her blood, had learned to use a microscope when she learned to read. She was devoutly religious, and though her father had prevented her marriage to the man she loved, entered the Order from a sincere devotion and desire to serve Christ as a missionary in the Congo, a land that had captured her imagination.

Alongside Sister Luke is the Life to which she is dedicated. The making of a nun is given in brilliant detail, from the hundred bare cubicles which the novice marvels can hold such diverse women and not show it, to the perfect worship in the motherhouse chapel which must not be disturbed even when a Sister faints, to the silent meals in the refectory and to the “recreation” in the sunny garden where the sisters sit in a large circle and talk—but only of items of general interest. Through Sister Luke’s eyes as a novitiate we see these women living by a Rule which forbids mirrors (or even highly polished shoes), which provides a small flagellant made of light chains with hooks at the end of each (but orders moderation when it gives them), and which gives the older sisters permission to talk to the novices when their hair is clipped (to prevent nervous giggles at the sight of one another’s bald heads). With her we learn the rules governing the minutiae of daily life—eating, sleeping, walking, speaking, praying, travel, clothes, letters. Each small rule, we learn, is to further the community toward its goal of “constant conversation with God.”

The striking demands made in God’s name are for detachment, charity, obedience—and perfection in the keeping of the Rule. On the road to detachment from “the world” the nun leaves behind belongings, pictures, even a room of her own in the dormitory. The call of a bell stops her in the middle of a word or in the middle of a helpless child’s meal to turn to prayer. The road to charity leads through humility, service, and selflessness. Obedience is won through public confession of faults—and the older sisters help a younger one if her memory seems lacking. The goal of perfection involves continuous self-searching for faults—as well as a voice that is neither too loud nor too low, and promptness that is neither late nor early. The battle between Sister Luke and the religious life rages around one principle—obedience. The first trial came when a superior suggested that it might be a great gift to God if Sister Luke were purposely to fail her examination in tropical medicine, in order to restore the self-esteem of an older sister who feared she might fail. After days of self-searching and prayer she found that she could not throw away her training and prospects for service in such a way. In the Congo, gradually she turned from nun to nurse, apparently feeling that God needed her more in the hospital than in the sisterhood. Back at home, under the stress of war, she turned more and more to the Underground and to the spiritual needs of her patients as having priority over the rules of the Order. Sister Luke could not be a good nun; her conscience protested.

Whatever one’s religious background, this book leaves in the mind admiration and appreciation—of the life as well as of Sister Luke. The nuns who follow this Rule are fine people, sincere in their desire to serve God. There are a minimum of neurotic or misplaced inhabitants of the Order—a smaller percentage than one would find in “the world.” The grandeur of their goals shames those of us who with deadened consciences settle for less. In Sister Luke, in spite of her “failure”, we find a Christian heroine, for she tried, and her courage was spiritual as well as moral and physical. The great traditional vows of poverty, chastity and obedience when we see them lived before us strike at our hearts and show up our softness, self-indulgence, weakness of will, sloth, and our lack of any intention to put God first. The rigorous life of the cloister and the accomplishments of the sisters make us aware of the dissipation of our energies into so much that is not ‘ “of faith.”

And yet there is much about the so-called “religious life” that gives one pause. One to whom the Orders are strange, whose tradition does not include a veneration of them as a higher way of life, cannot but be struck by the conflicts inherent in this life. Obedience and charity are at war when a nurse takes away the cup of milk at a child’s lip so that she may pray. The “grand silence” Sister Luke found kept her from ever talking to her patients of their souls’ needs in the one time of day when they relaxed and “opened up.” The humility and charity in failing the medical tests would have been achieved at the cost of a lie. The detachment from the world includes detachment from the other nuns as well—and the heart cries out against such a studied denial of nature. Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus and wept, yet the sisterhood may not mourn its martyrs. What is the glory of “a life against nature?” (Mother Emmanuel’s description to the novices.)

The age we live in is in many ways an age of anarchy. Standards are changing in many areas of life, as governments are changing around the world. Our enthusiasms, our passions are muddied and impure. We Americans particularly are doing our best to sell our spiritual birthright for something we call “the American way of life,” but which in another day might be called gluttony or greed. The tenor of our times is to seek comfort and content. Our slang farewell bids fair to become our national creed: “Take it easy!”

Is it any wonder that from the midst of a self-indulgent, materialistic society like ours the cloister looks like heaven, or at least a haven? Its battles exist, but they look easier perhaps than the everyday decisions facing Christians. If I have given away everything it is no longer painful to decide between keeping up with the Joneses and my obligations as a Christian steward. If I bind myself to mass and prayers seven times a day, I am no longer plagued with the proper use of time. Is it any wonder that to one whose conscience pricks the cool, quiet, holy life of discipline and charity—and withdrawal—calls? Is it a surprise to find Trappist monks in our popular magazines—and Sister Luke sponsored as a Book of the Month? Or that untold numbers of women read Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s extremely tentative searchings for some kind of inner life?

But withdrawal can never be the answer for all of us—and as Protestants we even say for any of us. The life which the Gospel imparts is to be shared. Jesus was no ascetic—in fact he made rather a point of being the opposite. Neither did he show two ways of life-one for the mass of his followers and one for the special few with higher aspirations.

The New Testament denies a “life against nature.” It hallows all of life, all its relationships, all its duties and obligations, all its tasks. There is one call to all-in the words of Paul, “Follow after love.” How can we compute the value of an ordinary life—outwardly unrestricted by a special rule, unhampered by petty laws, in which the love of Christ is released? Which is greater, the denial of self within the bounds of a community, or the forgetfulness of self of an ordinary man, living an ordinary life, beset by the problems of all mankind, yet who gives the cup of water, the coat along with the cloak, or goes the second mile? We see Christ in a dedicated nun indeed, but is He not more evident in the life of a mother or house-wife who has made of her work an offering to God?

The disciplines of life which the convent brings to our attention are all there in the New Testament. Sister Luke and her world speak to our hearts because they have the strength too many of us lack. Set times of prayer are not a monopoly of any one group—they may he found recommended by such diverse Protestants as William Law and Frank Lauhach. Some of the disciplines should be part of our daily lives if we are aware of our need of “constant conversation with God.” Some of them have their place on special occasions, in times of preparation for future service, or for short periods of special need. Paul says husbands and wives may stay apart for prayer and fasting. Jesus spent some time in fasting, some whole nights in prayer; neither was made an absolute. For our discipline, our gifts, our virtues themselves, are all subservient to one principle: “The greatest of these is love.” Sister Luke said her conscience asked questions; love can tell us when to pray and when to work. It told Hudson Taylor on one occasion to get up from his knees where he was asking God to supply the needs of a family in want and give them the money in his pocket. “Love never faileth.”

Sister Luke can teach us the importance of singleness of heart—we who live so close to Mammon. She can teach us not to be afraid of differences which may be the result of following Christ—if a nun can forget all the inconveniences and peculiarities of her life in serving others, can we not bear to do without something our television sets declare we need, to be perhaps a little shabby, or to forego the neighborhood cocktail parties or poker games—for His sake?

We can love Sister Luke, and admire her for what she is—and at the same time remember the words of Paul: “I show you a more excellent way.”

PRUDENCE TODD MOFFETT

Defensive Tone

American Catholicism by John Tracey Ellis. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1956. Cloth $3.00, paper $1.75.

The Right Reverend John Tracy Ellis, Professor of Church History at the Catholic University of America, editor of the Catholic Historical Review and author of a number of works on English and American Catholicism is certainly the right man to write this volume for The Chicago History of American Series. He has produced a succinct and scholarly piece of work for both historian and general reader.

It is not possible in the space available for this review to give anything more than a very brief statement of the contents of the work; but probably the four chapter headings summarize it most effectively. I. The Church in Colonial America, 1492–1790; II. Catholics as Citizens, 1790–1852; III. Civil War and Immigration, 1852–1908; IV. Recent American Catholicism.

Dr. Ellis traces clearly and interestingly the history of the rise and expansion of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S.A. He cannot of course go into great detail, but his work does form a good, readable introduction.

The most important criticism which one could make of the work, however, is that a defensive tone dominates the work. There is a continual stress upon the “maltreatment” meted out to Roman Catholics both in Britain and in America.

No doubt Professor Ellis has some reason for complaint, but he never mentions that Roman Catholics in America were much better off than Protestants in Roman Catholic countries. For instance he fails to say that while Roman Catholics were at least permitted to live in Maryland, albeit under certain restrictions, Protestants were absolutely banned from New France and from the Spanish Empire.

Coupled with this he has ignored the reasons for American anti-Roman Catholic movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He has apparently failed to understand the influence which the anti-liberal actions of Pius IX and of the Roman church in Spain, Bolivia and other countries have had upon American Protestant thinking.

To pass these examples of Roman Catholic persecution off as having no more relation to American Catholicism than Afrikaander racial polices have to American Calvinists is a little misleading (p. 158). After all the anti-Protestant actions in Roman Catholic countries seem to be based upon that church’s doctrine and law. (cf. A. G. Cicognani, Canon Law, Philadelphia, 1935, pp. 120 ff.) It is because of this that many Americans fear the possibility of the Roman church gaining political power.

Yet, despite this weakness, the book should be of great use to those who are concerned with the contemporary American religious picture. It is well produced and has an excellent list of suggested readings.

W. STANFORD REID

Useful Instruction

Personal Evangelism, by J. C. Macaulay and Robert H. Belton. Moody Press, Chicago. $3.25.

The instructors in evangelism at Moody Bible Institute have prepared a textbook on personal evangelism that should find wide acceptance both in and out of the classroom. These men write out of passion for the souls of the lost, and both of them bring to the task a broad background of experience in this field. The result is a book which lends itself well to class use but which will be stimulating and helpful to the individual reader as well.

The book begins with a careful definition of evangelism and then treats the message of evangelism. This latter section shows that man’s need of salvation lies in his guilt, depravity, alienation and judgment, and then clearly demonstrates how perfectly the Gospel of Christ meets each aspect of man’s need. The authors’ conclusion here is “We need no new Gospel, no new evangelism but a mighty increase of sane, sound, Spirit-filled evangelism” (p. 28).

The presentation of the various forms of evangelism takes in some of the most recent developments in this field and shows how each new form has its place in God’s plan. The counsel given by the authors as to the way of approaching various types of people is most practical, and to this reviewer, the section on dealing with Roman Catholics was especially valuable. Almost any Christian, however experienced in personal work, would be helped and encouraged by reading these pages.

The book is characterized by a wealth of illustration, much of it drawn from the experience of the authors, and by an evident familiarity with the books which have become classics in this field. A helpful bibliography is appended, and a list of questions is given at the close of each chapter.

HORACE L. FENTON, JR.

The Red Dean

Christians and Communism, by the Very Reverend Hewlett Johnson, D.D., Dean of Canterbury. Putnam. 10s, 6d.

Britain’s “Red Dean” states his views in this book, and sees Communism as an ally of Christianity. To do this, he has to concentrate on the field of moral ideals. Thus the Marxist slogan, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need,” is a commendable aim for the Christian. Ideas of brotherhood and of human rights may be found in the two systems. Moreover, the Christian approves the banning of suggestive papers, films and advertisements, as also do the Russians.

The Dean baits his hook attractively, but the hook is what worries the Christian. Ideas of brotherhood and human rights sound hollow in the face of happenings in Hungary and elsewhere. The kindly Communist provisions for old people presuppose that one is allowed to grow old before being “removed.” And at heart the Christian finds the basis of Communism in hopeless antagonism to Christianity, in spite of what the Dean says. Thus, “Ultimate reality, says the Marxist, is a substance, a stuff, a something objective, existing outside us and our mind, though including our minds. The basis of reality is substance, not just idea; substance, as in the Christian Creed” (p. 125). Here is a subtle misuse of the term “Substance” in the Nicene Creed. Are Christianity and Communism brothers because both are monistic, even though the ground of one is the personal God and the ground of the other is matter?

What shall we say of matter and spirit? “Jesus was materialistic in His attitude to the world” (p. 28). Yet He taught the essential need for faith in himself and of spiritual rebirth. “Jesus was not hated for his attitude to God. He was violently hated for his attitude to man” (p. 47). Yet scholars have shown a high proportion of parallels between the moral teachings of Jesus and those of the rabbis. Jesus stood his trial on a charge of blasphemy, and reasserted his own identity with the Son of Man of prophecy.

J. STAFFORD WRIGHT

Britain News: February 18, 1957

F.C.

Red Dean Attacked

The current issue of Cantuarian, the magazine of King’s School, Canterbury, carries an attack on the “Red” Dean of Canterbury, Dr. Hewlett Johnson.

The dean, 83, is chairman of the school governors.

Strong feeling was aroused in the school last term over Dr. Johnson’s views on the Russian invasion of Hungary. A petition, signed by nearly 200, was presented to the dean, deploring his attitude over Hungary.

Then came the editorial:

“Profoundly moved as we all are by the outrage the Russians have committed, the statement which the dean has made on the subject of Hungary has caused particular distress. This is not the first occasion on which we have felt strong disagreement with the dean’s views, nor the first time that we have regretted that such pronouncements should be made by a high dignitary of the Church of England and the chairman of our board of governors.

“We have not so far taken issue with the dean in these pages out of respect for his office; and, like everyone else, he has the right of his own opinions and the right to express them. But there comes a point when we, too, have the right to say what we think of views he has so publicly expressed and when, considering his official connection with us, we have a duty to do so.

“The Hungarian people know what Fascism is. They suffered under it both before and during the war. But the dean claims to see a resurgence of Fascism in a rising which has been made nationwide. And what must we think when we are told that an action which cannot be condoned from a moral point of view can be justified politically?

“It is true there are people who believe this, unfortunately even among those who do not otherwise share the dean’s views, but one is sorry to find such teachings coming from a minister of God.”

- More from F.C.

Middle East News: February 18, 1957

Another Invasion

Israel is anticipating an invasion of tourists from America and Europe, with a quick resumption of normal traffic expected.

The Israel Government Tourist Office in New York City reports many inquiries about bookings.

Coptic Leader Held

Archmandrite Joachim El Anthony, leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Israel, has been arrested by Israeli authorities on charges of espionage in behalf of Egypt.

The Coptic Church, founded at Alexandria in 451, is the largest Christian body in Egypt, with an estimated membership of 2,500,000.

The 45-year-old Egyptian-born priest was taken into custody as he crossed into Israeli territory through the Mandlebaum Gate from the Arab-held Old City. He has been head of the Coptic monastery in Jaffa since 1948 and has made several visits to Egypt.

Far East News: February 18, 1957

Kandy For Council

Almost as certain as death, war, taxes and clergy controversy is the fact that the 1960 meeting of the World Council of Churches will be held in Ceylon, a country now in the throes of a Buddhist revival.

The historic city of Kandy is expected to take its place in the distinguished line which began at Amsterdam in 1948. (The Council meets every six years.)

Kandy is a modern city set in surroundings of tea and coconut plantations. Fence posts often are the trellis for long, creeping black pepper plants. A muddy little river meanders through the city. Tourists come to the banks at tea time to watch elephants wash up after a day’s work.

Three miles from Kandy’s heart, in an adjoining suburb, the river borders one of the world’s most beautiful botanical gardens. Across the well-paved road from the garden is the University of Ceylon, an extravagantly-built educational center less than 10 years old.

The university campus will be the site of the World Council meeting.

Prime Minister Bandaranaike, leader of the Buddhist revival, has given strong assurances of welcome to Dr. Vissert’Hooft, secretary of the WCC. Ceylon is a friendly land for tourists and offers many attractions.

Kandy is sacred to the Buddhists because its Temple of the Tooth, situated in the heart of the city, once claimed to house a superhuman-sized tooth of Buddha himself. Every August, for the last 20 centuries, a procession of elephants, numbering as many as 100 in modern times, honors the Temple of the Tooth.

Broadcast Cancelled

Billy Graham’s Hour of Decision broadcast has been cancelled by the Ceylon government and all Christian broadcasts are expected to be eliminated by the end of 1957.

Radio Ceylon, a government broadcasting agency, said a recent sermon by Mr. Graham contained anti-communist remarks, including criticism of Russia and China.

C. R. Dodd, director of the commercial service, said he asked officials of the program for an explanation on “why a religious talk should include political comment.” In cancelling the contract, he said he had not received any explanation.

A number of other missionary programs, including Back to the Bible and Light of Life, have been purchasing time on Radio Ceylon for several years. Broadcasts are made in several languages and beamed to nearby India, where they are forbidden. One program reported hearing from more than 20 different countries scattered from Australia to the Gold Coast.

Objections to Christian missions using the facilities of Radio Ceylon have been raised since the government of Prime Minister Bandaranaike took over last April. The government needs money badly but has decided it can do without the thousands of rupees spent annually by Christian missions.

Report From Japan

“You can’t unscramble eggs,” was the favorite remark of my church history professor. The hymn writer states the same idea in beautiful words:

God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.

We may not be able to fathom all the mysterious movements in the Church, but we know that the Church, in all its branches and forms, is moving forward in Japan.

There is great hope, signs of vigorous growth and a courageous planning for big things.

There is hope because of the evident blessing of God.… In the mysterious rise of denominations (114 missions work with 65 denominations, more than double pre-war figures), the hand of the Lord is ever guiding, ever making “the wrath of man to praise him.” Through these various denominations, more people in more scattered areas and more diversified strata of society are being reached.

There is vigorous growth. The Japan Bible Society reports the largest sales in its history, with the publication of the Kogotai version New Testament in 1954 and the entire Bible in 1955. Sales for 1956 total 1,854,574 copies of Testaments and portions. The 1955 Bible won the Osaka Daily News prize for typography and style in its class of publications. More people are reading the Bible than ever before; consequently, more persons are seeking out the churches so as to understand the Bible. Another sign of growth is the rapid expansion of the lay visitation evangelism movement. In 1948, Bishop Arthur Moore and the Rev. Hugh S. Bradley came to Japan in an effort to introduce visitation evangelism, but it failed to “catch.” Then suddenly, in 1952, the Rev. Yoshida, pastor of Reinanzaka Church in Tokyo, “discovered” the method. He has been successfully advocating it throughout Japan.

The spiritual birthrate varies with each denomination, but on the whole compares favorably with older churches in the Western World. According to the 1956 yearbook published by the Christian News, the figures for 1955 show a total Protestant membership of 271,394, with 81,466 baptisms.

When we think of the small number of Christian in Japan, about one-fourth of one per cent of the population, it is amazing to see the courage with which they plan for great things. Two big events loom before them: the 14th World Convention of Christian Education, scheduled for Tokyo in August, 1958; and the Centennial Year of Protestant Missions, in 1959. Various plans are now being drawn up for a year of nationwide evangelistic campaigns.

J.A.M.

Korean Appraisal

Nowhere among the younger churches, save perhaps in the islands of the South Seas, has evangelism cut more deeply into the moral and spiritual fabric of a nation than Korea.

In two generations this hermit, pagan kingdom has become the most Protestant country of Asia. Out of the revivals of the first decade of this century, undergirded by earnest and intense Bible study, came a massive growth of the Protestant church, and out of this church have come the leaders of the new Korea, from President to primary school teachers, in such proportions as no other country of Asia has known.

Has the turning point, then, already been reached? Probably not. In the first place, revival has produced its paganreaction. Already there is powerful resentment among the non-Christian majority against the ascendancy of the Christian minority. In the second place, revival is no end in itself, but leads on to consistent, responsible Christian living, or it is discredited. It has taken only a few scandals in high places to begin to weaken the reputation for integrity which the Korean Church won for itself at so great a price in the days of persecution.

The basic question is: Can Korea’s Christians stand up to the corrosive responsibilities of power as gloriously as they have faced the tortures of the oppressors? Until we know the answer to that question, the immediate future of what may be called the Korean Revival remains in doubt.

S.H.M.

Decree On Bowing

The executive branch of the Chinese Nationalist government has published a decree authorizing penalties against state employees who refuse to bow to the flag or the portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, the founder of the Chinese Republic.

The decree upholds findings last year by the committees of law and education of the legislature that such salutes are “not acts of religious worship,” but merely gestures of respect to the flag and to the memory of Dr. Sun.

Issuance of the government decree climaxed a controversy which arose in 1953 when two American Presbyterian missionaries—Egbert W. Andrew and Richard B. Coffin—objected to the practice as “sacriligious.”

Broadcasters Defend ‘Liberty’

WORD NEWS

Christianity in the World Today

Four basic principles of religious broadcasting, built around an explosive attack against the National Council of Churches for its “pressure policy” in the control of air programs, were officially adopted at the convention of National Religious Broadcasters, Inc., in Washington, D. C., this month. (NRB is affiliated with the National Association of Evangelicals.)

The principles were presented to the spirited convention in an address by Dr. Eugene R. Bertermann of The Lutheran Hour, St. Louis, Missouri.

Highlights of the presentation follow:

PROGRAM EXCELLENCE—“Every religious program ought to feel its responsibility, not only to retain audience, but also to build audience.… The target listener in many cases is the average unchurched American. He does not normally have a consuming interest in religion.… A twist of the dial can bring him another radio or television program.… Nobility of purpose and purity of doctrine do not in themselves guarantee that a specific program will be ‘good radio.’

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY—“… Those engaged in the proclamation of the Gospel should be scrupulously honest and honorable in their dealings.… Dr. Peter Eldersveld of the Back to God Hour made this reference to ‘the evils of religious racketeering in radio and television: Some of the broadcasters who buy time for religious programs have abused the privilege. They have made a profitable business out of pleading for gifts to help pay the cost of broadcasting, and they exploit their unsuspecting listeners with all manner of dubious devices which are designed to bring in lots of money, much more than they actually need.… Nothing could be more disgraceful to the cause of Christianity, and more dangerous to its future in radio and television. Something should be done to stop it.’

LIBERTY IN THE AIR LANES—“It comes as something of a shock to learn that a serious abridgement of the liberty of the air lanes has been aggressively advanced by an organization within the Christian Church—a Council, as a matter of fact, which purports to speak for a substantial sector of American Protestantism. (The National Council of Churches has adopted a policy against the sale or purchase of time for religious broadcasts, in which it is recommended that “consideration to the strength and representative character of the councils of churches” be given in allocation of free time. S. Franklin Mack, executive director of the NCC Broadcast and Film Commission, said the NCC desired to simulate a consideration of the place of religion in broadcasting and was not “seeking to control all of religious broadcasting.”—EDS.)

“Broadcasting-Telecasting Magazine, leading industry publication, carried this editorial comment: ‘… no church has the right to dictate how religion should be broadcast.’

“Representative of the reaction of certain individual broadcasters was this statement (in part) contained in a letter by Jerry S. Hughes, program director of Radio Station KMLW in Marlin, Texas: ‘In all fairness, I simply believe that you, the members of the Broadcasting and Film Commission (of the National Council), made a colossal blunder by adopting a resolution the very nature of which proves you don’t know what you’re talking about.… If you approach radio people with a genuine desire to improve religious broadcasting, I am sure you will find most of them cooperative and anxious to help. I think you’ll even discover that they know what they’re doing. Continue the way you’re going, however, and you will find it hard to get inside the door of any radio station without a check in your hand.’

(Harold E. Fellows, president of the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters, had this to say: “You would not close the door of your church or tabernacle to a worshipper seeking the blessings of faith, nor would radio or television or any public medium worthy of its name deny its products to a single citizen.”—EDS.)

“Dr. Oswald Hoffman, Lutheran Hour speaker, asserted in a prepared statement: ‘Our experience in radio leads us to believe that the only effective presentation in the medium is to buy time. In order to obtain favorable time and thereby attain the required frequency to make messages meaningful, we feel it is best accomplished through paid time.’

“In maintaining the thesis of the liberty of the air lanes for religious programs, we draw attention to the following considerations:

1. “We believe that religious groups and denominations have the fundamental liberty to purchase broadcasting time on a radio or television station … because this is an eminently American principle.

2. “… this is an eminently fair principle. The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ should not find leveled against it unnecessary and unfair restraints and restrictions which are not imposed upon other categories and classes of radio and television programs.

3. “We believe that through a dual approach, namely the utilization of both sustaining and paid radio and television time, religious programming will be able to serve a greater aggregate amount of radio and television time.

4. “The purchase of time for a religious message gives the Church more direct control of religious content and the ability to speak out more clearly and forthrightly in its religious message.

5. “We believe that the principle of purchasing broadcasting time will help secure more advantageous time slots.…

6. “The principle of purchasing time … is an important one for certain religious broadcasters also in the light of the fact that they conduct an international operation.

7. “It is a matter of historical record that in most cases the National Council of Churches has favored broadcasters and accorded sustaining radio time on the networks of America to men who publicly denied the fundamental truths of the Christian faith, such as, the inspiration and inerrancy of Holy Scriptures, the Virgin Birth and deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, his suffering and death for the sins of mankind, his resurrection from the dead and his second coming on the last day to judge the living and the dead. Evangelical Christians cannot believe that these men in any sense represent them or, for that matter, the fundamental message of historic Protestant Christianity in America. On the contrary, they feel constrained to do all in their power to see to it that such a denial of the historic Protestant faith and of the very foundation doctrines of Holy Scriptures be countered with a positive proclamation of Bible truth.…

FIDELITY TO THE FAITH—“The broadcasters represented here must for reasons of conscience steadfastly oppose every denial, perversion, or dilution of the historic Christian faith as set forth on the pages of God’s inspired Word. They can have no part in the setting forth of ‘another Gospel,’ ‘teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.’ They recall Saint Paul’s sweeping denunciation of all who falsify or pervert the true Gospel: ‘Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other Gospel unto you, than that ye have received, let him be accursed.’ ”

Key Quotes

(The following quotations, relating to the controversy over broadcasting between the National Religious Broadcasters and the National Council of Churches, were made at the NRB convention in Washington, D.C.)

Dr. John S. Wimbish, Calvary Baptist Church, New York City:

“The National Council policy, if followed to its conclusion, would result in our program going off the air next Sunday. But I do not believe this will happen. The National Association of Evangelicals and millions of other Americans who believe in freedom will defeat such a policy.” (The Calvary Baptist radio ministry has been on the air for 34 years and is reported to be the oldest religious broadcast in existence today.)

Dr. George L. Ford, executive director, National Association of Evangelicals:

“The situation of evangelicals being thrown off the air, on the local level, is most serious. Pressure has been terrific. The First Baptist Church at Danville, Illinois, because of the NCC policy, had its program cancelled.”

Dr. James DeForest Murch, president of National Religious Broadcasters, Inc.:

“A great majority of evangelical broadcasters in the United States are on paid time. Their programs will be eliminated if the NCC policy is implemented. The Council has stated that no pressure is being applied, but evidence of such pressure is mounting daily as programs go off the air.”

Dr. Peter Eldersveld, “Back to God Hour,” Christian Reformed Church:

“This program will soon be off the air if the National Council has its way.”

Rev. S. Franklin Mack, executive director Broadcast and Film Commission of National Council of Churches:

“It is not our desire to control the station manager, but we do ask that he use his good judgment about the merits of certain broadcasts.”

China Visit Hit

The State Department has indicated its disapproval of a proposal that a group of American clergymen visit Communist China.

Views of the department were made known in a letter to Dr. Clyde W. Taylor, secretary of public affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals. The letter thanked Dr. Taylor for the NAE’s “efforts to discourage travel by American citizens to the communist-controlled mainland of China under existing circumstances.”

Walter P. McConaughy, director of Chinese Affairs of the State Department, signed the letter. He said he was writing “for the Secretary of State.”

Dr. Taylor wrote Secretary John Foster Dulles recently expressing objection of NAE to any attempt by the National Council of Churches to send a delegation of Protestant clergymen to China. The letter referred to a “resolution” by “a National Council commission” and said the resolution “is intended to put pressure on the Department of State in order to bring about a shift in governmental policy so as to allow travel of American citizens in Communist China.”

A National Council spokesman said no official action had been taken on the suggestion.

He said that a report of one of 15 discussion groups at a meeting in December recommended that the Council “undertake to establish direct lines of contact between the churches in America and the churches in China.” The report, he said, was referred to the Council’s Department of International Affairs.

No action will be taken on the report without very careful study, he added.

In his letter to Secretary Dulles, Dr. Taylor charged that the “collaborating leaders” of Christian churches in China with whom any American delegation would meet “have used their important positions to encourage and compel collaboration on the part of all Chinese Christians.”

He listed a long record of communist persecution of Christian missionaries in China.

In the reply, Mr. McConaughey wrote:

“I want to thank you for your very helpful letter of January 8, 1957, in which you express support for the Government’s efforts to discourage travel by American citizens to the communist-controlled mainland of China under present circumstances.

“Your letter evidences a clear understanding on the part of the National Association of Evangelicals of the Chinese communists’ motive in encouraging the travel of certain American citizens to Communist China.

“It is particularly heartening because it comes from an organization which has had extensive experience (in mission work) on the mainland of China.”

Nothing in the letter was intended to reflect on the National Council of Churches, said a department spokesman.

Parochial Education

The National Lutheran Council, at its 39th annual meeting in Atlantic City, N. J., registered “grave concern” over the trend toward development of parochial education as a substitute for public schools.

Delegates, representing eight major Lutheran church bodies with a constituency upwards of 5,000,000, noted that interest in parochial schools “has led to indifference and even opposition to adequate provision for public school needs of a community.”

In earlier discussions, delegates had expressed concern that the trend towards parochial education was hampering the sale of bond issues for the construction of public schools and was tending to undermine the public school system.

Without mentioning specific communities or church bodies, they made it clear that the import of the resolution was directed both to Lutheran churches and to the Roman Catholic Church.

In another action, delegates charged that cancellation last December of the “Martin Luther” film by Chicago station WGN-TV “following pressure reputedly emanating from Roman Catholic sources” was a violation of “the American tradition of freedom of expression.”

Chicago Alarmed

Chicago’s Mayor Daley has submitted 15 names to the City Council to constitute his new Commission on the Rehabilitation of Man.

The Commission, operating on a budget of $121,000, will aid the city’s derelicts.

Startling crimes in Chicago have alarmed the entire city and, according to civic leaders, point up the need for “the rehabilitation of man.”

With thankfulness for the good that may be accomplished, evangelical leaders ask:

“Can it be done apart from the personalized power of the Gospel of Christ?”

‘Least Of These’

Many American generals take over high positions in U. S. industry when they retire.

Criticism cannot be attached to such decisions. A grateful nation wishes them well after long years of service.

But it is notable when a general bypasses lucrative positions and aims his life in a different direction. Such a man is Lt. Gen. William K. Harrison, U. S. Army commander in the Caribbean area and contributing editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

Gen. Harrison, who was in charge of peace negotiations with the communists in the Korean War and signed the armistice for the United Nations, will be the new executive director of the Chicago Evangelical Welfare Agency, March 1.

The welfare agency, a subsidiary of the National Association of Evangelicals, places orphaned or deserted children in Christian homes for adoption or foster care. It helps all youngsters.

Gen. Harrison, whose distinguished Army career spans 40 years, has long been noted for his Christian leadership. He has been active in aiding his men spiritually, both by private counsel and by speaking in Army chapels.

During World War I, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the cavalry and rose in rank until he was made a lieutenant general in 1952. In 1951 he was deputy commander of the Eighth Army in Korea and later chief of staff of the Far East and United Nations commands.

‘Luther’ Tv Protest

Senator Warren Magnuson (D-Wash.), chairman of the Senate Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, expressed an opinion that the Federal Communications Commission has authority to handle an official complaint involving widespread Protestant opinion about the “Martin Luther” film cancellation by Chicago’s WGN-TV.

The legislator made his viewpoint known to a church delegation which visited his office. Dr. Philip Gordon Scott, pastor of Westmoreland Congregational Church (Washington, D. C.) and a member of the Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, represented his denomination. Washington Attorney Frank Ketcham represented the Chicago Action Committee for Freedom of Religious Expression.

Senator Magnuson told the delegation he believed the issue was “a serious matter affecting public-interest responsibility and broadcasting licensees.” He said he would advise the FCC concerning the views of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee.

The complaint was filed with the FCC by Ketcham on behalf of the action committee. He asked that the application of WGN-TV for a power increase be held over for a hearing.

Ketcham said the station, in its application for a license, stated it would present controversial issues. He stated that the action committee would ask the FCC to question the station on whether it had changed its policies.

“If it has changed its policy,” he said, “it is not fit to operate a television station.”

Ketcham, retained by Dr. John W. Harms, executive vice president of the Church Federation of Greater Chicago, told a reporter that 50,000 members of 3,000 Protestant churches and Jewish synagogues have signed petitions urging legislative action on the banning of the film. The petition will be expanded nationally when at least 100,000 Chicago petitions are received, Ketcham said.

The Action Committee for Freedom of Religious Expression was initiated by the Church Federation of Greater Chicago—including the Lutheran Council of Greater Chicago and 30 other religious organizations.

The group has contended that the station’s decision not to show the film was the result of “pressure” brought by “the Roman Catholic Church.”

(In the wake of the cancellation, several television stations in various parts of the nation have expressed interest in showing “Martin Luther.”)

Foreign Clergy Bid

President Eisenhower has asked Congress to approve legislation that will admit clergymen and members of religious orders to this country without regard to quotas or other restrictive provisions of the immigration and naturalization laws.

Such admissions, however, will be limited to 5,000 a year.

As outlined in proposed legislation submitted by Attorney General Herbert Brownell, members of the clergy and religious orders will be placed in the same special class of immigration as aliens who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States or those who are the wife, parent, brother, sister, son or daughter (included adopted children) of an U. S. citizen.

The special class of immigrants will be granted visas to come to the United States despite filled quotas or other eligibility, at the direction of the Attorney General if he “is of the opinion that such action would not he contrary to the national interest, safety, or security of the United States.”

West Point Maneuver

A bill to repeal authority by which the President appoints a civilian chaplain at West Point Military Academy has been introduced in Congress by Rep. E. Ross Adair (R-Ind.).

Unlike other military posts, West Point traditionally has had a civilian chaplain. Since 1896 the chaplain has been an Episcopalian. The Episcopal order of worship is followed in the academy chapel services, at which attendance for cadets is compulsory.

Roman Catholic and Jewish cadets are excused to attend services of their faiths.

Rep. Adair said his bill will abolish the civilian chaplaincy and leave it up to the Chief of Chaplains to look after the spiritual needs of the cadets. He sponsored the bill at the request of Protestant leaders who oppose a recently-renewed request by the Department of Army that the civilian chaplaincy at West Point be made permanent with power of appointment transferred to the Secretary of the Army.

The Department of Army also asked Congress to raise the salary of the civilian chaplain from $5,482 to $10,330 a year and provide him with a civilian assistant.

‘High Church’ Alarms

Dr. Markus Barth, associate professor at the University of Chicago and son of the famed Swiss theologian, Dr. Karl Barth, expressed alarm recently at “the increasing emphasis” churches are placing on sacraments, liturgy and “high church” forms of worship.

In an address to the 26th annual Ministers’ Week of Chicago Theological Seminary (Congregational), he said:

“I’m afraid that we are trying to enclose ourselves within holy walls rather than to seek unity in our Christian testimony to the world.”

Dr. Albert T. Mollegen, of the Episcopal Theological Seminary of Virginia, told the ministers that modern minds have been alienated from age-old Bible teachings.

Smith Accepts Call

“Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?”

Dr. Oswald J. Smith, who has asked this challenging question around the world, will hold evangelistic campaigns, deeper life conferences and missionary conventions in South America during September, October and November.

While away from his missionary-minded church (The Peoples Church, Toronto, 350 missionaries), Dr. Smith will speak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Curitaba, Brazil; Asuncion, Paraguay; Montevideo, Uruguay; Rosario, Argentina; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; Quito, Ecuador; Panama, Panama; and Costa Rica, Central America.

Flying Higher

When Colonel Bob Morgan flew his famous Memphis Belle on bombing raids over Tokyo he was not interested in the Bible, church or the spiritual welfare of others.

One day, in later years, something tremendous happened, instantaneously. With a sense of utter frustration and overwhelming need, he made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, confessing him as Savior and making him the Lord of his life.

Recently, as president of the Morgan Manufacturing Company of Black Mountain, North Carolina, he installed a small chapel in the plant. Services are held daily, on company time.

The story of Robert Morgan is not one of self-reformation. It is a story of God’s redemption in Christ and the desire to be of service.

Military Religion

U. S. military chaplains are in danger of developing an “armed forces” religion which bears little resemblance to the doctrines of the churches from which they come.

In making this charge, the Rev. Engebret O. Midboe of Washington, D. C., a prominent Lutheran official, said increasing emphasis upon “a general Protestant program” to the detriment of denominationally-geared services is threatening church unity and has caused a growing estrangement between the service church and the civilian denomination.

(Other church leaders of different denominations have observed that, in a day when AWOL’s and loose morals are costing the taxpayers unprecedented millions, the armed forces are counting on a character program, instead of Christ, to change men.)

Mr. Midboe, secretary of the Bureau of Service to Military Personnel of the National Lutheran Church, said “the trend is viewed with some alarm on the part of the churches of America.

“It is not suggested that anyone is maliciously encouraging this schism. It is rather a general drift away from the denominational moorings into a type of religious community which seems to operate with the least tension in the military service.”

He pointed to the dropping of the annual re-endorsement policy for chaplains as an indication of the growing separation.

(Until 1952 annual re-endorsement by their denominations was required for all military chaplains. Under the present system a chaplain may serve on the basis of his original endorsement until retirement.)

Worth Quoting

“Wherever the spade has dug, wherever it has turned over an ancient civilization, wherever it has brought to light some ancient monument, wherever it has had anything to do with a name, an event or a place of the Bible, it has vindicated the Bible.”—Dr. Harold John Ockenga, Park Street Church, Boston.

“The secret of John Wesley’s power was his kingly neglect of trifles as he mastered the important thing, the preaching of the Word.”—Bishop Gerald Kennedy, Los Angeles Area of Methodist Church.

“Man, at long last, has come to know that the security and safety of mankind—in fact, his very existence—now depends upon guidance from a wisdom far greater than humans possess. Man in the mass is turning, as each individual does in a time of great personal tragedy, to the church and religion to seek a way out of the labyrinth of disasters that seems to threaten him.”—Rep. Russell V. Mack (R-Wash.) in address to House of Representatives.

“Our aim at Wheaton College is not to prepare leaders. Our aim is to prepare servants. God will pick the leaders.”—Dr. V. Raymond Edman, president of Wheaton College, quoted by Dr. Theodore Epp, “Back to Bible” Hour.

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Faith Requires A Creed

A Protestant Position

The Priority Of Truth

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Not An Anthology

The Bible Is Literature

Revelation And Inspiration

Inspiration A Complex Theme

Versions Of The Bible

Use Of Translations

Interpretation And Application

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Current Literature

Uniqueness Of Christ

A Reliable Account

Preacher In The Red

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Who Was He?

Returning Good For Evil

The Hill Of Tara

Dublin And Belfast

Catholic Christian

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Life Against Nature

Defensive Tone

Useful Instruction

The Red Dean

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Red Dean Attacked

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Another Invasion

Coptic Leader Held

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Kandy For Council

Broadcast Cancelled

Report From Japan

Korean Appraisal

Decree On Bowing

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Key Quotes

China Visit Hit

Parochial Education

Chicago Alarmed

‘Least Of These’

‘Luther’ Tv Protest

Foreign Clergy Bid

West Point Maneuver

‘High Church’ Alarms

Smith Accepts Call

Flying Higher

Military Religion

Worth Quoting

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