Page 5634 – Christianity Today (2024)

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Underground Evangelism duels with Jesus To The Communist World

Charges and countercharges of scandal, corruption, and conspiracy have been piling up in a bitter legal battle between two of the world’s largest organizations specializing in gospel outreach in Communist-ruled countries: Underground Evangelism (UE), based in Los Angeles, and Jesus to the Communist World (JTTCW) next door in Glendale. The multi-million-dollar defamation suit, initiated by UE leaders in Los Angeles Superior Court (Case C192860), in March, 1977, is the most serious confrontation between the two groups in more than a decade of feuding.

Over $250,000 has already been spent on the case, observers estimate, and the end is nowhere in sight. Both sides have filed an array of motions, and the case conceivably could drag on for years before going to trial. Leaders of other organizations, apparently fearful that the bad publicity may harm all Christian work, have been trying for months to arrange an out-of-court settlement. As of early February, no way had been found to permit an exit considered honorable by both sides.

More than honor is at stake. In its last published financial report, dated March 31, 1977, UE reported worldwide annual income of nearly $8.2 million, up from $6.6 million the preceding year. The JTTCW report of December 31, 1977, showed global income of more than $5.8 million, an increase of nearly $700,000 over 1976. The next reports, due out soon, also are expected to show increases. But there may be reason for concern in both camps. Increasingly, contributors are demanding assurance that their gifts are not being used to finance the lawsuit. In Britain, the Evangelical Missionary Alliance leadership last summer called on donors to withhold contributions from both organizations until the case is resolved. (Both groups have branches in a number of countries.)

Some leaders of dissident Christian movements in Eastern Europe have expressed fears that the court fight may disrupt the flow of smuggled Christian literature and other support into their countries. A group of Soviet refugee workers in West Germany recently severed their association with UE, partly to protest the lawsuit, according to reports. Even critics of UE in other missions say UE produces much good literature, and they don’t want to see that work crippled.

The main principals in the lawsuit are UE founder-president L. Joe Bass, 42, UE employee Stephan (or Stefan) Bankov, 44, and JTTCW general director Michael (or Mihai) Wurmbrand, 40. Bass and Bankov—a refugee who claims that he had been pastor of fifty-six underground churches in Bulgaria before defecting in 1969—seek from Wurmbrand, JTTCW, and other parties compensatory damages yet to be determined plus $1.5 million in punitive damages. The complaint alleges that Wurmbrand made a number of false accusations about them on September 21, 1976, in Frankfurt, Germany, during a tape-recorded meeting with UE board chairman Hanejurg Stückelberger of Switzerland.

(Wurmbrand, in an explanatory letter to JTTCW supporters, insisted that his visit to Stückelberger had been made “in absolute confidence” to warn of serious developments within UE that could endanger work behind the Iron Curtain. He said he urged the UE chairman to “go immediately to Los Angeles and investigate.”)

Among Wurmbrand’s allegedly slanderous statements, according to the complaint:

• Bass and Bankov had taken part in sex orgies.

• Bankov had lied about his work in Bulgaria.

• Bass had sexual relations with Bankov’s teen-age daughter Filka and had warned her to remain silent or he would import a sharpshooter from Europe to kill her.

• Bass is a Mafia member. (Wurmbrand admits to saying “mafioso type.”)

• Bankov had told Wurmbrand he couldn’t sleep at night because of working with such a gangster as Bass.

The complaint also accuses Wurmbrand of inducing Filka Bankov in late December 1976, to write a false and defamatory statement about Bass that Wurmbrand then published and disseminated. The statement claims that Bass drank heavily, fabricated stories about Bankov’s background, and reportedly hired gunmen from Germany to kill Miss Bankov and Maria Tarr (a middle-aged Hollywood resident of Bulgarian extraction who had befriended Miss Bankov). In the contested statement, Miss Bankov also alleges that Bass raped her. (The full statement, attached to the complaint, contains a number of other allegations and is essentially a summary of what Miss Bankov earlier told at least one clergyman, lawyers, friends, and several reporters.)

Wurmbrand, in his response to the complaint, did not deny making the statements; he made them, he said, as one who had been “informed.” He denied forcing Miss Bankov to write a false statement.

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People in the pew are reluctant to offer critical advice.

Good preaching—we hear much analysis of it. But many people ignore one of its important components: delivery. Everyone who speaks in church constantly needs to review the “p’s and q’s” of oral communication. Inattention to this matter jeopardizes the effectiveness of sermons that may otherwise be excellent.

While completing degrees in public address, some graduate students recorded a number of preachers from the community. The speakers were told that the project included a phonetic analysis of their voices.

The students discovered that several speakers could have vastly improved their delivery. For example, one man enunciated inadequately. Another simply needed to open his mouth wider and stop talking through his teeth. More vigorous use of tongue and lips could have improved the articulation of others. Nasalities could have been reduced. Squeaky or raspy voices with proper exercises could have been moderated.

Neither the people in the pew or in the classroom criticize our delivery, fellow church speaker. If your voice, gestures, or idiosyncracies of delivery grates on the listeners’ ears, they will patiently bear it. Or they may transfer to another church, or even stop listening to any preacher.

A study of graduates of Yale College from 1702 to 1779 shows that 79 per cent of the ministers served one congregation all their lives. How longsuffering these congregations must have been if they were subjected to a ministerial monotone, an insipid manuscript shuffler, a prancer, a bombastic shouter, a nose twitcher, or maybe a two-hour scowler. Outstanding content could hardly have compensated for badly delivered sermons.

If the pulpit pounder needs advice on how to more effectively communicate, the church members will rarely suggest it. Even preachers are reluctant to advise their colleagues. The possible price of ruined fellowship is too much. We must, if necessary, “heal ourselves.” Egotism, out of the way.

What are some of the more obvious manners of church speakers that keep them from being effective proclaimers of God’s Word?

Overuse of particular words or phrases is one. For example, you may overuse such phrases as, “We know,” “Certainly we believe,” “It is true,” “We see,” or “We believe.” People like variety. Try to use synonyms. Vary the words or phrases you use to make transitions.

You will lose people’s attention when you never use the rhetorical pause, vary your rate of speaking, or change your volume. No one pays attention to a droning airplane engine. But when that engine slows down, speeds up, roars and purrs, sputters, and even stops and starts during operation, it rivets the attention of all its hearers.

A continuous procession of “ah’s” to cover your search for the correct word or phrase is also nerve racking. Better to use a manuscript skillfully than to exhaust people’s patience. You may be producing teenagers who stay alert just to count the number of “ah’s” in your address.

“Bodily exercise profiteth little,” said Paul. On the other hand, some exercise is beneficial. Here the golden mean is true for the speaker when it involves gestures. Pacing back and forth like a sentry on quick-time duty may lose significance when you do it fifty-two times a year.

At the same time people do not want to gaze at a public statue, particularly one that depends on the pulpit to keep it upright. Variety is the word. Overuse of any particular gesture makes it ineffective. Remember that familiarity fosters boredom.

Nervous idiosyncracies are another detriment to the speaker addressing the same assembly week after week. Don’t pull an ear, straighten a necktie, toss back hair that is falling over your forehead. However, these mannerisms do make the speaker human. And no one wants to listen to a robot of mechanical perfection. Despite his imperfections, each speaker has a distinctive personality that God can use.

Although the Lord can and sometimes does use the person careless or ignorant about his sermon delivery, God might be able to multiply his use of that person if more attention were given to the task. Public speaking is a learned art. Forgotten skills can be improved. The needs of the church demand it.

Here are some suggestions to help you: Reread textbooks and look for ideas in new books. Use the tape recorder at least once a month. Count the “ah’s.” Note your rate and pitch. Do you speak so rapidly that some people can’t follow you? What about your enunciation? How’s your English? Do you read the Bible in a mechanical, lifeless manner, never noticing the setting, the conversation?

Ask an objective person who has nothing to gain by flattering you to periodically “check you out.” Perhaps there is a speech teacher in the congregation or community who, if asked, would be thoroughly candid about your delivery.

The ancient Greeks and Romans lavished time, effort, and money on public speaking—this in honor of the gods and for the praise of men. Don’t our reasons for being effective communicators surpass theirs?—RICHARD HOSTETTER, Winston-Salem Bible College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Daniel J. Evearitt

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The automobile and rock ‘n’ roll music become means for escape.

One setting and theme repeat in most of the songs. It is night time, a couple in a car are making an attempt to break away from the trap of their home town to freedom. Control over your life becomes the goal. Most of Bruce Springsteen’s songs deal with the struggle of young people to free themselves from the restrictions of their parents’ world. As with scenes from Rebel Without a Cause, Springsteen stages confrontations. Adopting James Dean’s persona, he continues to voice the dissatisfaction of one generation with the preceding one. The automobile and rock ‘n’ roll music become means for escape from the confinement of family and hometown.

Reaction against an older generation is common among young people, especially those in the United States after World War II. In the fifties rebellion took the form of rock ‘n’ roll, fast cars, leather jackets, and tough street language. But what was the purpose? In the sixties rebellion reflected a romantic idealism that the world could become a utopian society of peace and love. That notion collapsed. Rebellion in the seventies continues because that’s the role young people play. Although the music of the seventies has mellowed, Springsteen still sees rock ‘n’ roll as rebel music.

Springsteen retells the story of struggling with his parents over his choice of vocations. His father wanted him to be a lawyer, his mother wanted him to write. But he wanted to become a rock star. In the song, “Blinded by the Light,” Springsteen tells how he ignored his mother’s warning: “Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the sun/Oh but, Mama, that’s where the fun is.” Springsteen sees rock ‘n’ roll as an escape from the boredom and sterility of modern life. Having been raised in what he describes as a culturally deprived home with few books and little music, rock ‘n’ roll liberated him and brought life and hope.

He voices the frustration of youths who see their parents work day after day in jobs they dislike. They live in tension and hatred.

Springsteen decries the rebellious struggle, which consists of “us” against “them.” The “flag of piracy” flies in “Grown’ Up.” He says that when the crowd says “Sit down, I stood up.” The deadend mentality of the home town is cast aside: “It’s a town full of losers/And I’m pulling out of here to win.”

This vague hope that there is some magical answer to all of the problems in life threads through Springsteen’s four albums. “Badlands” decries aspects of society, which, according to Springsteen, is a prison from which one must escape. It is in the night freedom awaits.

I believe in the faith that can save me,

I believe in the hope

And I pray, that someday it may raise me

Above these badlands.

But what alternative does Springsteen offer? He writes in “Incident on 57th Street,” “We may find out on the street tonight, baby/Or we may walk until the daylight maybe.”

You may infer from Springsteen’s songs that he looked around at his parents’ world, a fading resort town in New Jersey, and decided anything would be better. Yet he offers no alternative but autonomy. What you find in the night is sometimes dissatisfying. In “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” Springsteen admits that playing pinball and living the carnival life on the boardwalk leave him unfulfilled, as do dreams:

Talk about a dream

try to make it real

You wake up in the night,

With a fear so real,

Spend your life waiting,

For a moment that just don’t come.

Springsteen discovered that even success as a rock ‘n’ roll star has its disappointments. His picture was on the cover of Time and Newsweek the same week. He was stunned by the adulation of the public and embroiled for over a year in a legal battle to free himself from his ex-manager. In the song, “Something in the Night,” he writes: “Soon as you’ve got something/they send someone to try and take it away.”

Racing cars soon lose their glamor and excitement, as in “Racin’ in the Street,” where the girlfriend “cries herself to sleep at night.”

She sits on the porch of her Daddy’s house

But all her pretty dreams are torn

She stares off alone into the night

With the eyes of one who hates for just being born.

Springsteen refers to religion, but not as something that provides an answer. In “Incident on 57th Street” “his sister prays for lost souls/And breaks down in the chapel after everyone goes.” Satan is encountered out in the streets at night in “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City.”

The devil appeared like

Jesus through the steam in the street

Showin’ me a hand I knew even the cops couldn’t beat

I felt his hot breath on my neck as I dove into the heat

It’s so hard to be a saint when you’re just a boy out on the street.

Springsteen deals with a religious theme most extensively in “Adam Raised a Cain.” He compares himself to Cain. He describes the antagonism between himself and his father as he grew up. “In the Bible Cain slew Abel/And East of Eden he was cast.” Springsteen refers also to the passing of sins of one generation upon subsequent generations: “You’re born into this life paying/for the sins of somebody else’s past./You inherit the sins, you inherit the flames/Adam raised a Cain.”

Just as Adam raised an obedient son and a disobedient son, society produces those who are willing to play by the rules and submit to authority and those who rebel. Springsteen takes Sides with the rebels. He unites his voice with the poets, writers, painters, actors, and those throughout history who have found virtue in nonconformity.

Bruce Springsteen has succeeded by speaking for a generation in its third decade of rebellion. His concert tours are sell-outs. Each show vibrantly reaffirms belief in the changing power in rock ‘n’ roll. Yet listeners may find indications of insincerity in Springsteen’s works, especially in his latest album, “Darkness on the Edge of Town.” It all seems a pose, the lyrics of rebellion inflated. Yet, you cannot deny his ability to connect with the inner feelings of young people. Since he has chosen to stay with the same settings and themes, Springsteen may find his place in American society as the perpetual teenage rebel.

Daniel J. Evearitt is a graduate student at Drew University.

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Theology

Donald Tinder

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There were also several surveys of doctrine, new editions of time-tested works.

Evangelicalism has been more in the public consciousness the past few years than at any time in decades. But we must not let interest in the evangelical movement detract either from the God whom we worship or from the truths about him and his relationships to men. This article surveys books issued last year on the various theological topics, on the individuals and groups whose reflections on these topics have been thought worthy of study, and on the religious rivals to Christian theology. I have included books in the survey that speak on these subjects in a helpful way to various readers; inclusion does not necessarily signify my agreement with the views they advocate.

The most notable systematic theology to appear last year was the first volume of Essentials of Evangelical Theology (Harper & Row) by Donald Bloesch. It discusses God, authority, and salvation; the second and final volume, due out shortly, covers life, ministry, and hope.

Karl Rahner, prominent Roman Catholic theologian, is author of Foundations of Christian Faith (Seabury), a major overview of traditional doctrines in nontraditional language.

Select Lectures in Systematic Theology (Banner of Truth) by John Murray was issued as volume two of his collected writings. The writings come from different times and occasions, but they have been organized so as to cover the traditional categories of systematics. Murray taught theology at Westminster Seminary from 1930 to 1966 and was widely appreciated in the English-speaking world. (Murray’s sixteenth- and seventeenth-century predecessors had their teachings collated in 1861 by Heinrich Heppe, and Baker has reprinted a revised and translated edition entitled Reformed Dogmatics.)

Another addition last year was the sixth and final volume of Dogma (Sheed) by Michael Schmaus, written in a post-Vatican II spirit by a leading German Catholic systematics professor. The last volume treats soteriology and eschatology.

From systematic works intended primarily for college and seminary classrooms we turn now to those aimed at a more general market. Foundations of the Christian Faith (InterVarsity) by James Montgomery Boice is a four-volume series of which the first two have appeared. Boice is a popular pastor and radio preacher well known for his expository ministry and his commitment to biblical inerrancy and Reformed theology. On an even more popular level is the eight-volume Victor Know and Believe Series (Victor) edited by Bruce Shelley of Conservative Baptist Seminary. (The individual volumes of this series are mentioned in their appropriate categories below.) This series is perhaps the best currently available for older youth and adult study groups that want more than a brief overview of doctrine.

There were also several one-volume surveys of doctrine, many of them new editions of time-tested works. Pocket Guide to Christian Beliefs (InterVarsity) by I. Howard Marshall will probably have the broadest acceptance. Our Faith and Fellowship (Gospel Publishing House) by G. Raymond Carlson represents a Pentecostal understanding while The Bible Tells Us So (Banner of Truth) by R. B. Kuiper and An Introduction to Biblical Truths (Baker) by Alexander DeJong represent Reformed theology. The Classic Christian Faith (Augsburg) by Edgar Carlson is a Lutheran approach while The Faith Once Given (Westminster) by George Ricker is a modern Methodist pastor’s presentation. The intermediate student who wants a different and thought-provoking approach can consider The Christian Story: A Narrative Interpretation of Basic Christian Doctrine (Eerdmans) by Gabriel Fackre. If, however, you want something very simple and trustworthy consider Light on the Heavy (Victor) by Jerry Jenkins and Pulpit Words Translated for Pew People (BMH) by Charles Turner.

The following three books are foundational rather than overviews and are for the theological student and those who want to think theologically: The Christian Mind: How Should a Christian Think? (Servant) by Harry Blamires, a Briton in the tradition of C. S. Lewis, The Study of Theology (Fortress) by Gerhard Ebeling, on the interrelations among the disciplines of seminary and university, and The Grammar of Faith (Harper & Row) by Paul Holmer, on the relation between theology and faith: a theme oft-neglected by modern theologians.

Before looking at the many subdivisions of theology and apologetics here are a few books that survey the evangelical movement, particularly its theology. Fundamentalism (Westminster) by James Barr is a scathing and, in many crucial ways, an unfair attack on all evangelicals. Nevertheless, some of his points need thoughtful consideration. In a partial attempt at balance, the same publisher offers The Evangelical Challenge by Morris Inch. It is a helpful overview of the evangelical movement and a needed balance not only to Barr but also to The Worldly Evangelicals (Harper & Row) by Richard Quebedeaux, which has received more media attention. Quebedeaux provocatively (and too readily) categorizes some of the evangelical subgroups and highlights trends.

The proceedings of a blue ribbon conference of evangelical leaders held in Atlanta in late 1977 were issued as Evangelicals Face the Future (William Carey) edited by Donald Hoke. For a comparison with yesteryear, see The Thought of the Evangelical Leaders (Banner of Truth) edited by John Pratt, which gives notes of a major fortnightly London gathering for the period 1798–1814.

Evangelical Roots (Nelson) edited by Kenneth Kantzer is a collection of essays in tribute to the late Wilbur Smith. The essays range widely, as did Smith’s interests, over the Bible, theology, apologetics, and history. Contributors include many prominent evangelical leaders and the essays are of wider reader interest than is customary for tribute volumes.

Robert Webber of Wheaton College is a key figure in a small but vocal group of evangelicals calling for a much greater appreciation of the earlier Christian centuries. Common Roots (Zondervan) presents his outlook, while a book he coedited with Donald Bloesch, The Orthodox Evangelicals (Nelson), presents the papers and responses surrounding “The Chicago Call” issued by a 1977 conference of mostly younger evangelicals who called for increased historical awareness. The call and the issues it raises deserve consideration.

To foster our learning from Christians of centuries past, Paulist last year launched three open-ended series of reprints or new editions of classic writings. The Spiritual Masters are small, inexpensive paperbacks such as The Book of the Lover and Beloved by Ramon Lull and Counsels of Light and Love by St. John of the Cross. The Classics of Western Spirituality series includes Jewish, Muslim, and American Indian writings, but the Christian volumes, at least, should be in all theological and many personal libraries. Among books offered last year were The Way to Christ by Lutheran mystic Jacob Boehme and The Life of Moses by Gregory of Nyssa, one of the leading orthodox thinkers of the fourth century.

The Ancient Christian Writers project was launched in 1945 to provide definitive English editions but progress has been sporadic. Now Paulist has selected forty key volumes and rebound them with extensive promotion. Every Bible college, seminary, and major general library should have these writings, and this edition is a convenient way to build up a patristics collection. Sample volumes: Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany and The Problem of Free Choice by Augustine, A Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed by Rufinus, and a two-volume Case Against the Pagans by Arnobius of Sicca. The church fathers belong to the whole body of Christ, not just to any one portion of it. The Protestant Reformers drew appreciatively from them, but their descendants need to be reintroduced. (For these last two series Paulist sells not only through bookstores, but by direct mail offers; write 545 Island Rd., Ramsey, NJ 07446.)

While on this subject we mention Silent Fire (Harper & Row) edited by Walter Holden Capps and Wendy Wright, a convenient brief collection of excerpts spanning the history of Western Christian mysticism, and The Apostolic Fathers (Nelson) edited by Jack Sparks, a new edition of seven of the earliest post-canonical orthodox Christian writings.

GOD Since God is obviously studied in every division of theology, there is little that concentrates just on him. These titles are all in popular style: The Living God (Victor) by Robert Duncan Culver, Behold Your God (Zondervan) by Myrna Alexander, Our Heavenly Father (Logos) by Robert Frost, The Glory of God (Multnomah) by J. Dwight Pentecost, and Your God? (Seabury) by Lèon Joseph Suenens. Two reprints: The Trinity in the Universe (Kregel) by Nathan Wood and The God of the Bible (Nelson) by Robert Lightner.

PROBLEM OF EVIL A major treatment of this perennial question is Affliction (Revell) by Edith Schaeffer. Brief, helpful discussions by two evangelical theologians: Hope for a Despairing World (Baker) by Philip Hughes and The Roots of Evil (Zondervan) by Norman Geisler.

MAN Like God, man as a division of theology is not the subject of many books. Four noteworthy ones, all at the intermediate level, are I Believe in Man (Eerdmans) by George Carey, Christian Anthropology and Ethics (Fortress) by James Childs, Jr., Man: The Image of God (Alba) by Joseph Fichter, and Man: Ruined and Restored (Victor) by Leslie Flynn.

SCRIPTURE Books about the Bible are the subject of other surveys in this issue. The doctrine of Scripture, particularly with reference to the term “inerrancy,” will likely be calling forth a number of books in years to come. Finding weaknesses in a 1977 book, Biblical Authority (Word) edited by Jack Rogers, was The Foundation of Biblical Authority (Zondervan) edited by James Montgomery Boice. Four popular cases for that viewpoint: The Bible: Breathed From God (Victor) by Robert Saucy, God’s Incomparable Word (Victor) by Harold Lindsell, Solid! (Standard) by Jack Cottrell, and The Saviour and the Scriptures (Baker reprint) by Robert Lightner.

CHRIST Although reflection on the person and work of Christ is unavoidable, the Christian must first and always remember that He is the living Lord to be worshiped. A helpful compilation of thoughts from preachers, poets, and even a few theologians is Every Knee Shall Bow (Revell) by Joan Winmill Brown. When God Became Man (Moody) by George Lawlor, Jesus: God, Ghost, or Guru? (Zondervan) by Jon Buell and O. Quentin Hyder, and Jesus Christ: The God-Man (Victor) by Bruce Demarest, are good evangelical introductions to christology. God Incarnate (InterVarsity) by George Carey refutes a much-noted heretical book of 1977.

The range of views in the Roman Catholic Church is shown by three major christologies for advanced students: Jesus Christ, Liberator (Orbis) by Leonardo Boff, The Eternal Son (Our Sunday Visitor) by Louis Bouyer, and Christology at the Crossroads (Orbis) by Jon Sobrino. A radical Protestant stance is offered in A Theology of Encounter (Pennsylvania State University) by Charles Ketcham.

SALVATION David Wells has provided a very useful comparison of six approaches in modern theology in The Search for Salvation (InterVarsity). A wider range of views, past and present, is briefly surveyed by Fisher Humphreys in The Death of Christ (Broadman). An introductory overview is provided in Salvation: God’s Amazing Plan (Victor) by Millard Erickson. Other brief statements from evangelicals: God Forgives Sinners (Baker) by W. E. Best, The Biblical Doctrine of Regeneration (InterVarsity) by Helmut Burkhardt, and The Invincible Cross (Word) by Frank Crumpler. The Death of Christ (Williams and Watrous [Box 3182, Irving, TX 75061]) by Norman Douty is a defense of Christ’s death for all men. Two defenders of the view that he died only for the elect, Gordon Clark and Fred Klooster, wrote respectively on Predestination in the Old Testament (Presbyterian and Reformed) and Calvin’s Doctrine of Predestination (Baker). Self-realization and Faith (Lutheran Education Association) by Thomas Droege and Rags to Righteousness (Pacific Press) by Gordon Hyde give, respectively, a sacramental and an Adventist view of salvation. The Centrality of the Resurrection: A Study in Paul’s Soteriology (Baker) by Richard Gaffin, Jr., was originally a doctoral thesis at Westminster Seminary.

Advanced students should know of The Origins of the Christian Doctrine of Sacrifice (Fortress) by Robert Daly, Sacrifice and the Death of Christ (Westminster) by Frances Young, and Suffering, Innocent and Guilty (London: SPCK) by Elizabeth Moberly.

Conversion (Alba) edited by Walter Conn, is a collection of essays from a variety of Catholic and ecumenical Protestant theologians.

THE HOLY SPIRIT This area of doctrine is intertwined with charismatic theology in general and the decision whether to list a title here or with denominational theology is far from clear-cut.

In general, the following titles aim to present what the authors take to be the biblical teaching on the Spirit. None of the authors are considered part of the charismatic movement and hence these books provide ample evidence that noncharismatic Christians are interested in the Spirit also. An easy-to-read, systematic presentation of the biblical data is offered by Billy Graham in The Holy Spirit (Word). The same material is grouped by biblical author rather than by topic in Holy Spirit (Eerdmans) by Michael Ramsey, the former archbishop of Canterbury. Other popular expositions of the biblical data to note are The Holy Spirit and You (BMH) by Bernard Schneider, The Holy Spirit: Common Sense and the Bible (Zondervan) by Eric Fife, Flamed by the Spirit (Brethren Press) by Dale Brown, and Charismata: God’s Gifts for God’s People (Westminster) by John Koenig.

The following titles aim to present biblical teaching on the Spirit. None of the authors are considered charismatic, hence these books show there is also noncharismatic interest in the Spirit.

A major collection of essays by Lutheran scholars surveys the understanding of the Spirit over the centuries: The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church (Augsburg) edited by Paul Opsahl. A helpful companion to this is a collection of statements about the Spirit by ancient, medieval, and modern authors: Witnesses to the Holy Spirit (Judson) compiled by Warren Lewis.

More specialized but still popularly-aimed studies of the work of the Holy Spirit include Symbols of the Holy Spirit (Tyndale) by C. Gordon Brownville, Culture and Controversy: An Investigation of the Tongues of Pentecost (Dorrance) by R. Clyde McCone, Understanding Spiritual Gifts (Moody) by Robert Thomas, and Dreams: A Way to Listen to God and Discernment: A Study in Ecstasy and Evil (both Paulist), both by Morton Kelsey. McCone is a Wesleyan minister and a professor of anthropology. He marshalls biblical and historical data to contend that the tongues of Pentecost and at Corinth were not languages that the speaker had not learned (as both friend and foe of tongues for today have usually thought), but rather normal speech bearing witness to God.

A technical work, denying the personality of the Holy Spirit, is God as Spirit (Oxford) by G. W. H. Lampe of Cambridge.

THE CHURCH Earl Radmacher, president of Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, offers a trade edition of a major biblical and historical study of the doctrine of the church, What the Church Is All About (Moody). A less formal historical reflection is The Integrity of the Church (Broadman) by E. Glenn Hinson of Southern Baptist Seminary. A brief overview is The Church: God’s People (Victor) by Bruce Shelley.

Two other books in this area also belong in all theological libraries. The authors of This Is the Day: The Biblical Doctrine of the Christian Sunday (Attic Press [Greenwood, SC 29646]), Roger Beckwith and Wilfrid Stott, not only show why the early church rightly conducted its worship on the first day of the week instead of on the Sabbath, but also call for devoting most of Sunday to worship, not just a small part of the day. Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace (Eerdmans) by Paul Jewett marshalls exegetical, theological, and historical arguments in favor of believer baptism, while maintaining a covenant theology. Skip it if you don’t want to risk changing your mind.

LAST THINGS In addition to continued interest in general eschatology there has been renewed interest in individual eschatology, fueled by reports of dying and then coming back to tell about it. The Edge of Death (InterVarsity) by Phillip Swihart is a brief but excellent overview of the recent discussion of the medical, pastoral, testimonial, and theological aspects of dying. A good philosophical approach to the question of immortality is Bruce Reichenbach’s, Is Man the Phoenix? (Eerdmans). Persons and Life After Death (Barnes & Noble) is for specialists in philosophy. Why Do I Have to Die? (Regal) by David Hubbard answers the question of the title briefly and biblically. What Are They Saying About Death and Christian Hope? (Paulist) by Monika Hellwig tries to explain modern Catholic thinking on individual eschatology to the layperson.

Popular evangelical overviews of general eschatology are The Future Explored (Victor) by Timothy Weber, The Last Things (Eerdmans) by George Eldon Ladd, Biblical Prophecy for Today (Baker) by J. Barton Payne, Bible Prophecy: Questions and Answers (Herald) by Paul Erb, and The Hereafter: What Jesus Said About It (Revell) by R. Earl Allen.

Two critiques of dispensationalism come from a relatively new publisher, Paideia (Box 1450, St. Catherines, Ontario): Is the Bible a Jigsaw Puzzle? An Evaluation of Hal Lindsey’s Writings by T. Boersma, and Hal Lindsey and Biblical Prophecy by C. Vanderwaal. Meanwhile, interest in the Middle East continues to call forth books reflecting dispensational views such as Arabs, Oil and Energy by Edgar James and Israel’s Destiny by S. Maxwell Coder (both Moody), and The Two Jerusalems in Prophecy (Loizeaux) by David Clifford. Exposition offers a more scholarly book on the subject, To Whom the Land of Palestine Belongs by Christopher Hong.

EVANGELISM One of the key ways to distinguish evangelicals from other Protestants and from most Catholics is by noting their concern for evangelism. Much theological writing takes its starting point from this concern, either to reaffirm it or to redirect it. The books listed in this section are scholarly and not primarily concerned with techniques.

The Battle for World Evangelism (Tyndale) by Arthur Johnston and Quest for Authority (Evangel Publishing House [P.O. Box 28963, Nairobi, Kenya]) by Norvald Yri are both thoroughly documented surveys of the departure of the ecumenical movement in this century from its original interest in missions.

Contemporary Missiology (Eerdmans) by J. Verkuyl of the Free University of Amsterdam is a major survey not only of missionary thought and methods but also of theological developments in Third World countries.

Theology and Mission (Baker), edited by David Hesselgrave, consists of the papers and responses at a consultation in 1976 concerned with several crucial issues facing evangelical missions.

Three shorter books genuinely concerned with mission are by authors who have been more ecumenically active: Five Lanterns at Sundown: Evangelism in a Chastened Mood (Eerdmans) by Alfred Krass, The Open Secret: Sketches for a Missionary Theology (Eerdmans) by Lesslie Newbigin, and Courage, Church! (Orbis) by Walbert Bühlmann.

POPULAR APOLOGETICS Apologetics seeks to relate Christian theology both to other fields of learning and activity and to alternate theologies. This includes answering the challenges posed to Christian faith. More scholarly treatments, along with some popular ones that are narrowly focused, are listed in subsequent categories. Here we list books aimed at the general reader.

Right With God (Moody) by John Blanchard and Live a New Life (Tyndale) by David Watson are for those seriously interested in becoming Christians.

Concerning Scandals (Eerdmans) is a modern translation of a work by John Calvin showing that objections to the gospel and their answers haven’t changed all that much. The following titles are of uneven value, but at least they provide ideas: Faith in the Center Ring (Fortress) by Joan Berry, Why Doesn’t God Do Something? (Bethany Fellowship) by Phoebe Cranor, What Else? (Standard) by Douglas Dickey, How Can We Believe?(Broadman) by Robert Dean, Proofs of Christianity (Gospel Publishing House) by Charles Harris, Counselor, State Your Case! (Accent) by Roger Himes, Understanding Your Faith (Abingdon) by H. Newton Maloney, Letters to Michael (Christian Literature Crusade) by Mara, Does Christianity Make Sense? (Victor) by Mike Phillips, Objections Answered (Regal) by R. C. Sproul, and The Gospel for the Person Who Has Everything (Judson) by William Willimon.

Two books relating Christianity to popular culture are Star Trek: Good News in Modern Images (Sheed) by Betsy Caprio (also on Star Wars and Close Encounters) and Something to Believe In: Is Kurt Vonnegut the Exorcist of Jesus Christ Superstar? (Harper & Row) by Robert Short, who wrote The Gospel According to Peanuts.

Three books for the intermediate student that reflect debates over apologetic methodology are Faith Founded on Fact (Nelson) by John Warwick Montgomery, Christianity Rediscovered (Fides/Claretian) by Vincent Donovan, and Invitation to Faith: Christian Belief Today (Augsburg) by Paul Jersild.

THEOLOGY AND NATURAL SCIENCE There were a number of major books in this crucial area, which, for so many, is the major point of conflict between orthodoxy and modern knowledge. Carl Henry has assembled essays from an outstanding array of evangelical scientists and scholars in Horizons of Science (Harper & Row). Preparatory readings for a World-Council-of-Churches-sponsored conference to be held this July have been gathered by Paul Abrecht and others in Faith, Science, and the Future (WCC [150 route de Ferney, Geneva, Switzerland]). How to Think About Evolution and Other Bible-Science Controversies (InterVarsity) is a helpful introduction by L. Duane Thurman, biology professor at Oral Roberts.

Four major historical monographs: Religious Origins of Modern Science (Eerdmans) by Eugene Klaaren, The Road of Science and the Ways to God (University of Chicago) by Stanley Jaki, Science and Religion in America, 1800–1860 (University of Pennsylvania) by Herbert Hovenkamp, and Science and the Bible in Lutheran Theology (University Press of America) by William Hausmann.

Four evangelical reflections: Science, Chance, and Providence (Oxford) by Donald MacKay), Nature and Miracle (Wedge [229 College St., Toronto, Ontario]) by Harry Diemer, The Unity in Creation (Dordt College [Sioux Center, IA 51250]), and Science and Faith (Zondervan) by Arthur Custance. Anyone working in this field should also consult Science as a Human Endeavor (Columbia) by George Kneller.

In recent years most books on science aimed at the average evangelical have argued for a recently created earth as the only view that is both biblical and scientific. Earlier stalwarts (such as Scofield) who allowed for an old earth were said to be making needless compromises. Dan Wonderly is committed to biblical inerrancy but he offers impressive evidence for an old earth in God’s Time-Records in Ancient Sediments (Crystal Press [1909 Proctor St., Flint, MI 48504]). The young earth position is represented by That You Might Believe (Good News) by Henry Morris, Evolution: The Fossils Say No! (Creation-Life) by Duane Gish, Up With Creation! (Creation-Life) edited by Duane Gish and Donald Rohrer, and The Moon: Its Creation, Form, and Significance (BMH) by John Whitcomb and Donald DeYoung.

THEOLOGY AND HISTORY The philosophy of history has always been concerned with questions to which the Bible speaks. Questions raised about historical method are significant because the historicity of biblical events is widely doubted. A good evangelical introduction to the study of the past is History in the Making (InterVarsity) by Roy Swanstrom. Three major monographs: Knowledge and Explanation in History: An Introduction to the Philosophy of History (Cornell) by R. F. Atkinson, Has History Any Meaning? A Critique of Popper’s Philosophy of History (Cornell) by Burleigh Taylor Wilkins, and Pasts and Futures or What Is History For? (Thames and Hudson) by Jean Chesneaux.

THEOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY For a long while religion was on the defensive against the claims of psychology to have “explained” it. More recently, many psychologists have argued that their insights could be utilized within a Christian framework. This view is found in The Human Puzzle (Harper & Row) by David Myers and Religion and Psychology (Alba) by E. F. O’Doherty. At the same time, the actual practice of psychology has been increasingly criticized by the secular world. People who are professionally treated for psychological illness reportedly do not get better any differently from people who are not so treated. See The Psychological Society (Random) by Martin Gross.

THEOLOGY AND ART Two important studies: Art Needs No Justification (InterVarsity) by H. R. Rookmaaker and Art and the Theological Imagination (Seabury) by John Dixon, Jr.

HISTORICAL THEOLOGY By far the most important book in this area was The Growth of Medieval Theology(A.D. 600–1300) (University of Chicago) by Jaroslav Pelikan, the third of his projected five-volume history of doctrine. The student of religious thought in America will be greatly indebted to the work of Ernest Sandeen and Frederick Hale in compiling American Religion and Philosophy: A Guide to Information Sources (Gale). A helpful survey that focuses on leading theologians is Historical Theology: An Introduction (Eerdmans) by Geoffrey Bromiley. A very good study of a much-maligned movement is Understanding Pietism (Eerdmans) by Dale Brown.

Several relatively short books on nineteenth and twentieth century European thinkers who influenced theology appeared last year. Well-known evangelical scholar Bernard Ramm writes on Sartre, Nietzsche, and five others in The Devil, Seven Wormwoods, and God (Word). Many of the same men are the subjects of Mirrors of Man in Existentialism (Collins) by Nathan Scott, Jr. Three studies that begin with Schleiermacher and trace influences on and from him are A Romantic Triangle (Scholars) by Jack Forstman, A Dubious Heritage (Paulist) by Louis Dupré, and Tradition and the Modern World (University of Chicago) by B. A. Gerrish. Related is Culture-Protestantism: German Liberal Theology at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (Scholars) by George Rupp. Researchers should be familiar with an unannotated list of more than two thousand works, Existentialism and Phenomenology (Whitston) compiled by Leonard Orr.

A much-needed corrective to widespread views on southern religion is provided by E. Brooks Holifield in The Gentleman Theologians: American Theology in Southern Culture, 1795–1860 (Duke).

Freethought in the United States (Greenwood) by Marshall Brown and Gordon Stein is a comprehensive bibliography with helpful introductions. It reminds us that the church has flourished for centuries alongside anti-Christian propaganda.

DENOMINATIONAL THEOLOGY The second of seven proposed volumes of Profiles in Belief (Harper & Row) by the late Arthur Piepkorn is a mammoth compilation of more than 700 pages on the following denominational traditions: Lutherans, Anglicans, Reformed churches, Mennonites, Baptists, most Methodists, Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, Dunkard Brethren, Swedenborgians, and several other small groups. The next two volumes are to treat the remaining Protestants. Both the theological distinctives and the organizational expressions in America of the respective denominational families are presented in detail and with reasonable objectivity. The set belongs in all theological and major public and college libraries.

Anglican theology, if it exists, is the subject of Stephen Sykes’s The Integrity of Anglicanism (Seabury), while an evangelical approach is presented in two noteworthy pamphlets, Across the Divide (Marcham) by R. T. Beckwith, G. E. Duffield, and J. I. Packer and The Evangelical Anglican Identity Problem (Latimer) by J. I. Packer.

E. Y. Mullins’s Axioms of Religion (Broadman), a classic statement of principles especially stressed by Baptists, has been updated by Herschel Hobbs.

The largest Catholic publisher in the country, Paulist, has titles ranging over a wide theological spectrum. Prominent on their list are books of constructive charismatic theology, naturally reflecting Catholic perspectives to a greater or lesser degree. From last year’s offerings see Experiencing God by Donald Gelpi, A Charismatic Theology by Heribert Mühlen, Remove the Heart of Stone by Donal Dorr, The Charismatic Renewal and Ecumenism by Kilian McDonnell, and This Promise Is for You by David Parry. Also of particular interest to Catholic charismatics is Pope Paul and the Spirit (Ave Maria) by Edward O’Connor.

Two very important books address charismatic theology within the broader context of evangelical theology. Fire in the Fireplace (InterVarsity) by Charles Hummel is thorough and, to a large degree, sympathetic. The Charismatics: A Doctrinal Perspective (Zondervan) by John MacArthur, Jr. is critical but polite. An Evaluation of Claims to the Charismatic Gifts (Baker) by Douglas Judish, a Lutheran, is primarily exegetical. A Charismatic Truce (Nelson) by David Shibley is a short appeal for ending hostilities.

Note that most of the books in the section on the Holy Spirit touch more or less closely on charismatic theology as well.

Books by Catholic theologians are scattered throughout this survey. A few titles that relate specifically to Catholicism as a system are mentioned here. The most important, Toward Vatican III: The Work That Needs to be Done (Seabury) edited by David Tracy, consists of papers from a variety of approaches presented at a conference sponsored by Notre Dame. Vatican Encounter: Conversations With Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Sheed) by Jose Hanu reflects the views of the best-known archconservative. What Are They Saying About Dogma? (Paulist) by William Reiser is a short, sympathetic look at the changing attitudes deplored by Lefebvre. Searching for Truth (Collins) is by Peter Kelly, who remains a Catholic despite his leaving the priesthood over doctrinal disagreements. Everything You Wanted to Know About the Catholic Church But Were Too Pious to Ask (Thomas More) is by Andrew Greeley, a prolific writer who is unlikely to leave the priesthood in spite of his endless disagreements with officialdom. Greeley is amusing, exasperating, and sometimes insightful.

The Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon still receives disproportionately large attention. Scholarly symposia to note: Science, Sin, and Scholarship (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) edited by Irving Louis Horowitz, Exploring Unification Theology (Rose of Sharon [GPO Box 2432, New York, NY 10001]) edited by M. Darrol Bryant and Susan Hodges, and A Time for Consideration (Edwin Mellen Press [225 West 34th St., Suite 918, New York, NY 10001]) edited by M. Darrol Bryant and Herbert Richardson. Also see Rev. Sun Myung Moon (University Press of America) by Chong Sun Kim.

PARTICULAR THINKERS Access to Church Dogmatics, the multi-volume set by Karl Barth, is facilitated by the appearance of an Index Volume (T. & T. Clark [38 George St., Edinburgh 2, Scotland]) with Scripture, name, and subject indexes. The same volume includes almost 300 pages of excerpts from the Dogmatics arranged according to the Sundays of the church year. A different but comparable selection is offered in Preaching Through the Christian Year (Eerdmans). In both cases preachers who do not follow the church year can still benefit from the material.

Of the many scholarly monographs on major religious figures, here are some of particular interest: Anselm and Talking About God (Oxford) by G. R. Evans, Knowing God: Religious Knowledge in the Theology of John Baillie (University Press of America) by William Tuck, Karl Barth’s Theology of Mission (InterVarsity) by Waldron Scott, Becoming and Being: The Doctrine of God in Charles Hartshorne and Karl Barth (Oxford) by Colin Gunton, Edward John Carnell: Defenderof the Faith (University Press of America) by John Sims, God as Dynamic Actuality: A Preliminary Study of the Process Theologies of John B. Cobb, Jr. and Schubert M. Ogden (University Press of America) by James Caraway, The Religious Thoughts of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Barnes & Noble) by David Pym, A Key to Dooyeweerd (Presbyterian and Reformed) by Samuel Wolfe, Religion on Trial: Mircea Eliade and His Critics (Temple University) by Guilford Dudley III, The Christology of Hegel (Scholars) by James Yerkes, The Mystical Element in Heidegger’s Thought (Ohio University) by John Caputo, Hume’s Philosophy of Religion (Barnes & Noble) by J. C. A. Gaskin, Science, Metaphysics, and the Chance of Salvation: An Interpretation of the Thought of William James (Scholars) by N. S. Levinson, Images of Salvation in the Fiction of C. S. Lewis (Harold Shaw) by Clyde Kilby, The Taste for the Other: The Social and Ethical Thought of C. S. Lewis (Eerdmans) by Gilbert Meilaender, History, Method, and Theology (Scholars), on Lonergan and Dilthey, by Matthew Lamb, Availability: Gabriel Marcel and the Phenomenology of Human Openness (Scholars) by Joe McCown, Merton’s Palace of Nowhere (Ave Maria) by James Finley, Thomas Merton: Prophet in the Belly of a Paradox (Paulist) edited by Gerald Twomey, H. Richard Niebuhr (Word) by Lonnie Kliever, Anders Nygren (Word) by Thor Hall, Ritschl: A Reappraisal (Collins) by James Richmond, and Schleiermacher the Theologian (Fortress) by Robert Williams.

Systematic Theology Today (University Press of America) by Thor Hall briefly reports on the activities of more than 500 practicing theologians in North America.

PHILOSOPHICAL THEOLOGY The following titles will be of interest to advanced students of religion and theology. These books share a common concern for questions that are central to Christianity and they tend to be speculative rather than expository in character. Often they provide more help by the questions they raise than by the answers they proffer. The Religious Imagination and the Sense of God (Oxford) by John Bowker, The Fragile Universe (Barnes & Noble) by T. Patrick Burke, Continuum (Marek) by Robert Casselman, Theology of the Christian Word (Paulist) by Frederick Crowe, A Reason to Hope (Collins) by David Edwards, Subjectivity and Religious Belief (Eerdmans) by C. Stephen Evans, The Lure of God: A Biblical Background for Process Theism (Fortress) by Lewis Ford, Religious Reason (Oxford) by Ronald Green, Dynamic Transcendence (Fortress) by Paul Hanson, The Center of Christianity (Harper & Row) by John Hick, God Beyond Knowledge (Barnes & Noble) by H. A. Hodges, Christian Hope (Seabury) and The Humility of God (Westminster) both by John Macquarrie, Analogy and Talking About God (University Press of America) by John Morreall, Thinking About Religion (Prentice-Hall) by Richard Purtill, The Bursting of New Wineskins (Pickwick) by Carl Raschke, Stories of God (Thomas More) by John Shea, The Dynamics of Religion (Harper & Row) by Peter Slater, Talking of God (Paulist) by Terrence Tilley, Commitment to Care (Devin-Adair) by Dean Turner, God and Utopia (Seabury) by Gabriel Vahanian, and The Remaking of Christian Doctrine (Westminster) by Maurice Wiles.

A survey of five distinct approaches (including process, existential, and phenomenological theology) is Stanley Sutphin’s Options in Contemporary Theology (University Press of America).

If you want to catch up on what you missed in this area before last year, start with the newly published Philosophy of Religion: An Annotated Bibliography of Twentieth-century Writings in English (Garland) by William Wainwright. This excellent guide should be in all theological and major college libraries.

COLLECTED ESSAYS AND SERMONS The following collections of writings by single authors represent a variety of confessional stances. Most of them are examples of the less formal writings of the respective authors and they treat a wide range of subjects. Men and Affairs (Westminster) by William Barclay (a collection of book reviews), Adventure of Faith (Mission Messenger [139 Signal Hill Dr., St. Louis, MO 63121]) by W. Carl Ketcherside, Signposts for the Future (Doubleday) by Hans Küng, Newman Against the Liberals (Arlington) by John Henry Newman, Letters of A. W. Pink (Banner of Truth), The Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur (Beacon), by Paul Ricoeur, The True Christian (Baker) by J. C. Ryle, Ernst Troeltsch: Writings on Theology and Religion (John Knox), Basic Christianity (Friends United Press) and A Philosopher’s Way (Broadman) both by D. Elton Trueblood, and The God of Hope (Presbyterian and Reformed) by Cornelius Van Til.

There were also four collections of essays by many authors that were too wide-ranging to be classified. At the Edge of Hope (Seabury), edited by Howard Butt, grows out of the North American Congress of the Laity in Los Angeles, February 1978. Process and Relationship (Religious Education Press), edited by Iris Cully and Kendig Cully, is a festschrift for Randolph Crump Miller. Theology Confronts a Changing World (Twenty-Third Publications), edited by Thomas McFadden, has essays by ten Catholic scholars. The Necessity of Systematic Theology (University Press of America) is edited by John Jefferson Davis of Gordon-Conwell Seminary as a supplementary text.

WORLD RELIGIONS A helpful annotated list of some 2,000 books, classified by religion, is provided in The Religious Life of Man: Guide to Basic Literature (Scarecrow) by Leszek Karpinski. The scope is the same in the essay-style A Reader’s Guide to the Great Religions: Second Edition (Free Press) edited by Charles Adams, issued in 1977.

Two survey texts that look at various widespread features of religions are Introduction to the Study of Religion (Harper & Row) edited by T. William Hall and Introducing Religion: From Inside and Outside (Prentice-Hall) by Robert Ellwood. (For the latter, the same publisher and author have a companion of Readings on Religion.)

In the wake of the Jonestown horror, it is timely to have the major collection of scholarly essays, Understanding the New Religions (Seabury) edited by Jacob Needleman and George Baker. A briefer focus on the attractions of three groups is The Cults Are Coming! (Abingdon) by Lowell Streiker. Unfortunately, evangelicals have too often limited their study of the cults to a statement of official teachings and how they differ from orthodoxy, neglecting the complex sociological, psychological, and economic factors.

Six other books that look at one or more aspects shared among world religions: Christian Faith in a Religious Plural World (Orbis) edited by Donald Dawe and John Carman, Two Sacred Worlds (Abingdon) by Larry Shinn, Religion in Planetary Perspective (Abingdon) by William Mountcastle, Jr., Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis (Oxford) edited by Steven Katz, The Inner Eye of Love: Mysticism and Religion (Harper & Row) by William Johnston, and The Intra-Religious Dialogue (Paulist) by R. Panikkar.

ASIAN RELIGIONS Useful additions to the reference shelf are Eastern Definitions (Doubleday) by Edward Rice, on key terms from Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and smaller Asian-based religions, and Harper’s Dictionary of Hinduism (Harper & Row) by Margaret and James Stutley, which is probably the most accurate and exhaustive work of its kind.

Books relating Christianity to one of the Asian religions include Dialogue: The Key to Understanding Other Religions (Westminster) by Donald Swearer (using Theravada Buddhism as an example), Two Masters, One Message (Abingdon) by Roy Amore (comparing Buddha and Christ), The Pantheism of Alan Watts (InterVarsity) by David Clark (on a thinker who tried but realized he could not integrate Christianity and Buddhism), Confucianism and Christianity (Kodansha) by Julia Ching, The Koran in the Light of Christ (Franciscan Herald) by Giulio Basetti-Sani, and Invasion From the East (Augsburg) by Howard Wilson (rather welcoming the “invasion”).

JUDAISM Every year the number of books on Judaism is enormous, especially in proportion to the Jewish population. Here are some titles with particular emphasis on Jewish-Christian relations. The most important is Evangelicals and Jews in Conversation on Scripture, Theology, and History (Baker) edited by Marc Tanenbaum, Marvin Wilson, and A. James Rudin. A brief but valuable evangelical approach is provided by Richard DeRidder in God Has Not Rejected His People (Baker). Both biblical and contemporary issues are addressed in The Lord’s Prayer and Jewish Liturgy (Seabury) edited by Jakob Petuchowski and Michael Brooke and Jesus the Jew (John Knox) by Markus Barth. A historical overview is presented by Charlotte Klein in Anti-Judaism in Christian Theology (Fortress). (Less studied is anti-Christianism in Jewish thought, but see the testimony of Ken Levitt, whose family was violently opposed to his conversion from Judaism to Christianity, in Kidnapped for My Faith [Bible Voice].) The Holocaust Years: Society on Trial (Bantam) is an excellent collection of readings edited by Roselle Chartock and Jack Spencer. See also The Jewish Return Into History: Reflections in the Age of Auschwitz and a New Jerusalem (Schocken) by Emil Fackenheim and A Theology of Auschwitz (John Knox) by Ulrich Simon. For Christians who want simple overviews of Judaism by and for Jews, see Living Jewish (Everest) by Michael Asheri and The Modern Meaning of Judaism (Collins) by Roland Gittelsohn, representing Orthodox and Reformed outlooks, respectively.

OCCULTISM It is significant that in this presumably secular and scientific age there should be increased interest in the occult and various paranormal phenomena, some benign, much decidedly dangerous. (Parallel resurgences have occurred before as in the so-called Enlightenment.) In approaching this subject Christian leaders face a dilemma: to debunk the occult is to side with antisupernaturalists and to be ill-prepared to minister to believers enticed into or unduly afraid of some form of occultic activity; to publicize it could give people ideas they might not otherwise have had. So the following books are mentioned with more than the usual cautionary warnings. Research libraries should have Psychic and Religious Phenomena Limited (Greenwood), a bibliographical index to thousands of psychic experiences, compiled by Clyde King. Major theological and general libraries need the two-volume Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology (Gale) edited by Leslie Shepard. Although much of the material is based on earlier works, there has been a conscientious attempt to update and fill in gaps. Especially noteworthy is the intention to issue periodical supplements from the same editor and publisher called Occultism Update, the first of which has already appeared. The set has more than 5,000 entries on persons, groups, happenings, writings, and so forth. Mysteries (Putnam) by Colin Wilson is a major, sympathetic overview of the field in narrative form. Shorter overviews by evangelicals opposing occultism are Wizards That Peep (Northwestern) by Siegbert Becker and Satan’s Devices (Kregel) by Kurt Koch. More restricted evangelical warnings in a style that can reach those who have been attracted by non-Christian sensationalism are ESP or HSP? (Melodyland) by Ralph Wilkerson and War of the Chariots (versus von Däniken) and Close Encounters: A Better Explanation (re the movie), both published by Creation-Life and written by Clifford Wilson (joined by John Weldon for the second).

In the wake of the Jim Jones Guyana horror and the deplorable John Todd phenomenon, we need serious study of the attractions of such movements. Although the names of the group and its members are changed, sociologist William Sims Bainbridge says that his book, Satan’s Power: A Deviant Psychotherapy Cult (University of California) is true. More general scholarly theories about the paranormal that are worth considering are The ESP Experience: A Psychiatric Validation (Basic) by Jan Ehrenwald and The Wayward Gate: Science and the Supernatural (Beacon) by Philip Slater.

Solomon Nigosian too sympathetically describes Occultism in the Old Testament (Dorrance). The Stars and the Bible (Exposition) by Clyde Ferguson and 12 Signs, 12 Sons: Astrology in the Bible by David Womack (Harper & Row) are the latest of a long series of committed Christian attempts to baptize astrology. A brief evangelical refutation is Run Your Life by the Stars? (Victor) edited by William Petersen. A thorough, humanistic refutation that deserves to be widely known is Astrology Disproved (Prometheus) by Lawrence Jerome.

G. Douglas Young is founder and president of the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem. He has lived there since 1963.

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Carl Edwin Armerding

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Kaiser argues that Old Testament theology is a self-conscious development.

For evangelicals, Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.’s Toward an Old Testament Theology (Zondervan) represents something of a landmark. Although such evangelicals as G. Vos, J. B. Payne, and C. K. Lehman have previously written Old Testament theologies, Kaiser’s is the first to take full account of modern theological debate. In particular, the author acknowledges an indebtedness both to the “structural” type of theology (Eichrodt) and the “diachronic” type (von Rad), but takes pains to steer a methodological course separate from both. Kaiser uses what he calls the “Analogy of Antecedent Scripture,” an approach in which he assumes that biblical writers self-consciously built on the theological ideas of their earlier counterparts. Sharply eschewing current tendencies toward “multiple theologies,” the author traces the theme of “promise” throughout the entire Old Testament as the conscious principle of selectivity used by the writers to build the present pattern of normative truth. Such a thesis can hardly be expected to gain widespread scholarly agreement. But most scholars will agree that Kaiser has given us a major evangelical entry into the confusing field of Old Testament theology.

Three additional volumes, each from a leading scholar, make this category easily the most important of the year. From a Cambridge Baptist, Ronald E. Clements, we have Old Testament Theology: A Fresh Approach (Attic). Clements is concerned mostly with method and with the ways in which the unity of the Testaments can be maintained without violating the integrity of Old Testament faith itself. Recognizing that God himself is the unifying theological theme of Scripture, rather than any single pattern or formula by which he is presented, Clements tries to bring together traditional approaches into a new synthesis.

From a different perspective, and written with an unusual measure of style and grace, Samuel Terrien’s The Elusive Presence (Harper & Row) also breaks new ground. Terrien is convinced that the unifying theme of both old and new covenants is the elusive but universal presence of God. Under this rubric he is able to incorporate both praise and wisdom literature, as well as the traditional historical and legal categories. And finally, without violating the Jewishness of the Old Testament, the author carries the theme over into a brief survey of the God who continues to be both hidden and revealed in the New Testament faith of Jesus Christ.

To round out the feast, we now have in an English translation Walther Zimmerli’s Old Testament Theology in Outline (John Knox). Zimmerli sees in the revelation of the name of Yahweh (Exodus 3 and 6) God’s affirmation of his involvement with the election and promises to Israel. He attempts to relate every aspect of Israel’s life to this center. Even the wisdom literature, through the formula “the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom,” is seen as part of Israel’s response to the revelation of the name.

A word of evaluation. The last three books mentioned all make use of fairly standard higher critical views of how the Old Testament developed. Each one finds the unity of the Testament, and indeed the unity of Old with New, in streams of thought that emerge from the finished product rather than in a true organic development. By contrast, Kaiser argues that Old Testament theology is a self-conscious development, traceable from the beginning in God’s activity and its interpretation by the more or less contemporary biblical authors. Kaiser likewise argues for a unity built around a specific theme or pattern in the way God revealed himself: the promise. Zimmerli, Clements, and Terrien—each in his own way—drive the center back a step to God himself. It is a truism that the more flexible the unifying point, the easier it is to prove. For one reason or another, all of these scholars will find ready critics. But before they have their full say, let me record for all students our debt for such a bountiful feast to fuel spiritual reflection.

Leading the way in the area of history is a massive unfinished tome published posthumously as a tribute to the prodigious labors of the French Dominican Roland deVaux: The Early History of Israel (Westminster). DeVaux, though an adherent of standard critical theories, staunchly defended the need to have a firm historical basis as a foundation for the faith of Israel. Now, in almost a thousand pages of closely reasoned textual study, deVaux has set a new standard for historical investigation of Israel’s history through the judges.

Almost as momentous is the publication of the final part of the magnum opus of Israeli historian Yehezkel Kaufmann. In 1960 an abridged translation was issued of the earlier part, The Religion of Israel. It was widely heralded for the challenge to dominant critical theories. Now, in The History of the Religion of Israel (Ktav), the period from the Babylonian captivity to the close of the canon is covered in full. Kaufmann argues for a developed monotheism early in pre-exilic times, thus finding in the Second Temple a continuation of an old religion and not, as many have argued, the promulgation of a new faith.

Also a translation, Othmar Keel’s The Symbolism of the Biblical World (Seabury) employs an iconographic approach to the Psalms to illustrate the graphic side of biblical life. Taking its cue from the art and architecture of the world around Israel, the book presents in over 550 line drawings an idea of what the Israelite worshiped on God’s holy mountain. Keel exercises caution to avoid facile parallelism between biblical and Near Eastern iconography, but the reader will still be amazed at the wealth of illustration. We are used to looking to the ancient Near East for explanations of physical objects; Keel’s great contribution is in bringing new light to the conceptual side of Israelite life.

Another useful tool comes from an original German work, Near Eastern Religious Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Westminster), edited by Walter Beyerlin. This book invites comparison with the earlier work by James Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts (Princeton). Beyerlin covers only religious texts (for example, myths, prayers, and hymns), while Pritchard includes a wealth of historical data. Beyerlin’s introductions are considerably more complete, particularly with regard to the biblical or religious significance of the text in question. And Beyerlin’s texts, with the lacunas from broken portions filled in, are better for the nonlinguist, while Pritchard’s translations are more suitable for those who want to be closer to the original. Those who own Pritchard need not rush to acquire Beyerlin, but for those who own neither, Beyerlin might well be the first choice.

From the pen of Irving L. Jensen comes a self-study course entitled Jensen’s Survey of the Old Testament (Moody). The subtitle, “Search and Discover” characterizes the work; it is designed for the student wanting an elementary factual survey of content, and wishing to do it on his own. Although the search for biblical themes ranks high, there is little sense of theology beyond that. If one may accept the limited objective, the book succeeds admirably in what it sets out to do.

The Analytical Key to the Old Testament series from Harper & Row is launched with Genesis and Exodus, both by John Joseph Owens. Verse-by-verse grammatical information on every word plus the relevant page numbers in Brown, Driver, and Briggs make this a useful tool for preachers and others who try to (or want to) work from the original Hebrew.

A book that will be noted for the resemblance to its New Testament counterpart is W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old Testament Words (Revell). Vine, who died in 1949, left some notes on Old Testament terms and these have been edited by Professor F. F. Bruce into a useful, if regrettably brief, survey. The familiar format is followed: an English word explained by one or more Hebrew originals. The format is popular, but the scholarship is first class.

COMMENTARIES A lifetime of devout, creative scholarship is capped with the long awaited publication of Robert Gordis’s The Book of Job (Ktav). Well known for his stimulating studies of Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, Gordis wrote a major introduction to Job in 1965. Now we have over 600 pages of commentary explaining the Hebrew text with a rare combination of erudition and clarity. Even the reader with little or no Hebrew can mine the riches. The provision of such a splendid resource should stir many a preacher to dust off his Hebrew Bible and lexicon.

A short book, packed with accurate, useful, and theologically helpful material is John H. Dobson’s A Guide to the Book of Exodus (Judson). The commentary is brief enough to make the reader do his own digging in the text, but at the same time contains enough helpful comments to guide the neophyte toward the truth contained. Critical views are presented and irenically evaluated, with the author giving support for an evangelical stance. Here is a rare combination of solid scholarship, practical and readable guidance, and excellent reference help. Dobson has shown us what a study guide should be and we can only hope it will be the model for others.

A perennial problem is dating the Exodus. Redating the Exodus and Conquest (Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield [Sheffield S10 2TN, England]) by John J. Bimson began as a doctoral dissertation. But both the problem it addresses and the style it follows make the book of interest to a wider audience. Bimson calls for a reevaluation of the archaeological shift from middle to late Bronze Age in Palestine. With the shift to a somewhat later date, he finds evidence to support the early fifteenth century B.C. date of the Exodus and conquest. In a day when the traditional archaeological support for a thirteenth century unified invasion of Canaan is increasingly under fire, Bimson offers a fresh look at an old and often ignored alternative. (The same publisher has recently issued several other scholarly monographs.)

A series of expositional commentaries entitled The Bible Speaks Today is continued and enhanced by the addition of John Goldingay’s lucid and practical treatment of Psalms 42–51, Songs From a Strange Land (InterVarsity). Building on solid exegetical treatment, but more concerned with the message of the book for today, this series has already helped readers better appreciate Amos and Ecclesiastes. Goldingay elucidates each poem with a fine sense of the lyrical qualities contained therein, and with a constant eye for contemporary application.

Another study guide designed for lay people but loaded with good meat for the scholar is Isaiah: Scroll of a Prophetic Heritage (Eerdmans) by William L. Holladay. The author is not committed to the literary unity of Isaiah, but he finds in the varied materials of Isaiah a theological unity that will provide a thematic guide to a solid biblical theology. The book is a kind of modern structuralist detective story, popular in style, but ending up rather like traditional literary criticism. The last chapter, dealing with the meaning of Isaiah for later generations, especially the early Christian community, is perhaps the best.

Mention should be made of two major commentaries on Daniel. The Book of Daniel (John Knox) is written by a French Protestant, Andre Lacocque, while the Book of Daniel (Doubleday) in the Anchor Bible reflects the combined labors of the late Louis F. Hartman and his successor at the Catholic University of America, Alexander A. DiLella. Both volumes present the text in English, both add grammatical and textual notes, and both offer a reasonably full commentary. Both find in Daniel two literary genres (chapters 1–6 are midrash or hagaddic tales, while chapters 7–12 are apocalyptic), and neither is convinced of the historical validity of much of the material. But having said that, there is still much useful material and fresh analysis in each of these volumes.

Volume two of S. G. DeGraff’s Promise and Deliverance (Paideia [Box 1450, St. Catherines, Ontario]) is a very good aid for the teacher wanting to know how to tell Bible stories theologically. A new conservative commentary series of twenty-four volumes, the Layman’s Bible Book Commentary, was launched by Broadman with S. G. Stevens on Genesis. Parts of Exodus are treated in fresh practical style in Jill Briscoe’s Here Am I, Send Aaron (Victor), while from her husband Stuart comes All Things Weird and Wonderful (Victor), a homiletical commentary on Ezekiel. Moody continues its Everyman’s Bible Commentary with Richard I. McNeely’s First and Second Kings. Added to the Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible are The Second Book of Samuel by Peter R. Ackroyd and The Books of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi by Rex Mason. A fascinating study of Nehemiah, God’s Builder (Moody) by Richard H. Seume demonstrates principles of leadership and motivation, while Wisdom From Above (Victor) by Leroy Eims shows the practical side of the Proverbs. Lastly, an anecdotal presentation of a dispensational approach to Daniel is found in Donald K. Campbell’s Daniel: Decoder of Dreams (Victor).

MISCELLANEOUS Several useful and unusual volumes appeared that are difficult to categorize. Leading the way is Battles of the Bible (Random) by Chaim Herzog and Mordechai Gichon. Subtitled, “a modern military evaluation of the Old Testament,” this richly-illustrated book demonstrates what the Bible might have looked like if written by modern secular Israeli military commanders rather than by prophets and sages. It is precisely the element of faith, so prominent in the evaluation of history within the pages of Holy Writ, that is totally absent here. Because much of the Old Testament is concerned with military maneuvers the book is both relevant and intriguing for the Bible student, but its major contribution may be in showing the extent of the secularist spirit, which has permeated the modern state of Israel.

Chronological Charts of the Old Testament (Zondervan) by John H. Walton offers in chart form much statistical information, including a lot that is not chronological. The Tabernacle of God in the Wilderness of Sinai (Zondervan) by Paul F. Kiene translates from the German an illustrated “typological” treatment of tabernacle details. Equally speculative at some points is The Bible Jesus Read Is Exciting (Doubleday) by T. S. McCall and Z. Levitt, a book that combines general survey with messianic prophetic teaching.

Two books that will appeal to a more thoughtful audience are M. D. Coogan’s edition of Stories From Ancient Canaan (Westminster). Students of the Bible have long awaited a translation of the important Ugarit mythological texts for the average reader, and this is a good one. More controversial and less convincing is Edward E. Hindson’s Isaiah’s Immanuel (Presbyterian and Reformed), in which the author argues for only one messianic fulfillment of the Immanuel prophecies of Isaiah 7–9. The Temple of Solomon (Scholars) edited by Joseph Gutmann brings together essays and visual material on the artistic side of the temple.

Jack B. Scott’s God’s Plan Unfolded (Tyndale) offers a kind of running comment on the text, with some attempt to get underneath the cultural, sociological, or political surface to discover the setting for God’s revelation. This book will be useful for high school students or undergraduates taking their first look at the Old Testament.

Woodrow Ohlsen is the editor of Perspectives on Old Testament Literature (Harcourt), a varied collection of articles, lacking continuity, on the literary qualities of selected Old Testament books.

SCHOLARLY MONOGRAPHS In Prophet Against Prophet (Eerdmans) Simon J. DeVries studies prophetic origins, reaching back to 1 Kings 22 and the cycles of pre-eighth-century prophetic narratives to find the roots of the prophets’ conflict with the establishment. 1 Kings 22 is seen as crucial for an explanation of later canonical prophecy, for only there do the elements of an independent prophetic voice stand over against both king and an established prophetic order (the “official” salvation prophets). In this important study, DeVries has broken new ground.

Rejecting both the liberal (secular social critic) and conservative (future teller) views of the prophets, Walter Brueggemann sets forth a fresh alternative in Prophetic Imagination (Fortress). Implications for contemporary ministry are never far beneath the surface.

Have you ever wondered just what lessons are to be gained from the Samson story? So did James L. Crenshaw, and in an evocative study of the form and content of Judges 13–16 entitled Samson: A Secret Betrayed, A Vow Ignored (John Knox), he unravels at least a part of the mystery. Crenshaw treats the story as saga, rejecting some of the mythical categories attractive to an earlier generation of scholars.

A major study of the relationship between Old and New Testaments comes from the pen of the German professor A.H.J. Gunneweg in Understanding the Old Testament (Westminster). Gunneweg concludes that the Church has been correct in retaining the Old Testament even while affirming historical-critical methods that seemed to render it obsolete.

A comprehensive study of the guilt offering is Cult and Conscience: the ’ASHAM and the Priestly Doctrine of Repentance (E. J. Brill) by Jacob Milgrom. He refuses to accept the oft-stated confusion between the sin and guilt offerings in Leviticus and has written a full-length examination of the evidence.

Roy F. Melugin reexamines the form-critical basis for finding literary genres in The Formation of Isaiah 40–55, (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter).

From Exposition Press comes Beth Green’s The Scientific Value of the First Chapter of Genesis, a brief defense of a kind of natural theology as the key to correlation between Genesis 1 and science.

A thorough and fresh study of the literary and historical problems associated with the initiation of kingship in 1 Samuel 8–12 is Covenant Renewal at Gilgal (Mack Publishing Company [Cherry Hill, NJ 08003]) by J. Robert Vannoy. He finds a covenant form in 1 Samuel 11:14–12:25 and, by so doing, claims to resolve the pro- and antimonarchial tension usually seen in this section of Samuel.

A lucid and provocative study of a key subject comes from veteran Old Testament professor Claus Westermann in Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (Fortress).

Scholars Press (Box 5207, Missoula, MT 59806) continues to be a major distributor of dissertations and other scholarly works in the field of religion. The following works are available from Scholars:

The Meaning of Hesed in the Hebrew Bible by K. D. Sakenfeld is a book that challenges some of Nelson Glueck’s time-honored conclusions on the matter of “covenant-loyalty.” We are treated to a revitalized E Document (it is, after all, a continuous narrative) in The Elohist and North Israelite Traditions by Alan W. Jenks. The City in Ancient Israel by Frank S. Frick is just what the title implies, an archaeological and literary discussion of urban growth and development. John B. White compares the sacred and profane in his A Study of the Language of Love in the Song of Songs and Ancient Egyptian Poetry, finding a genre of lyrical love songs of considerable commonality within Israel and Egypt of the eighteenth dynasty. In Late Israelite Prophecy: Studies in Deutero-Prophetic Literature and in Chronicles, David L. Peterson isolates a category of post-exilic “deutero-prophetic” literature, sets it over against the theocratic ideals of the Chronicler, Haggai, and Zechariah, and then constructs a theology of the movement. Such a task is, by nature, speculative, and Petersen admits the perils but presses on to his solution. And in a study of The Apocalyptic Vision of the Book of Daniel, John J. Collins finds in Daniel’s later chapters a dual emphasis on polarization and wisdom. How these both fit into and transcend the historical circumstances of the Maccabean period (Collins’s setting for the final product) is provided as a model for liberation thinking today.

Who Overcame Evil by Good (After a homily by St. Amphilochius, 4th century)

They stretch Him

On a Cross to die—

Our Lord Who first

Stretched out the sky,

Whose countenance

The cherubim

Dare not gaze on …

They spat on Him

And gave Him gall to drink

Though He

Brings us wells

Of eternity.

He prays for them

“Father, forgive …”

For He was born

That all might live.

Round the sealed tomb

Of Him they’ve slain

They set a guard

In vain, in vain

Round Him

Creation can’t contain,

Who dies for us

To rise again.

M. WHITCOMB HESS

G. Douglas Young is founder and president of the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem. He has lived there since 1963.

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W. Ward Gasque

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At the present time there are at least a dozen biblical commentary series in progress.

We are hardly lacking for books on the life and teachings of the Apostle Paul, but when the leading evangelical biblical scholar of our time writes a tome—nearly five hundred pages—on the subject, we must take notice. F. F. Bruce, recently retired from a distinguished career as John Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism at Manchester University in England, has spent more than half a century studying Paul and teaching about him. One happy result is a definitive study of the mission and message of the Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Eerdmans) is the American title of Bruce’s fine work. (The British title, Paul: Apostle of the Free Spirit, needed “translating.”) In his characteristically lucid and flowing style, Bruce works his way systematically through the life of Paul, interweaving the major themes of his thought with information on the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman worlds in which he moved. Paul is treated with affection, but not idolatry. He remains a man of his time and circumstances, though he obviously belongs to that “select company who leave their mark on their time, who mold their contemporaries and exert an influence that stretches far into the future.” A strength of Bruce’s exposition is his detailed treatment of each of the letters as a means of exploring Paul’s theology rather than the more frequent custom of looking at what Paul says topic by topic. Often such topics come from systematic theology. Hence they tend to lose contact with the historical circumstances underlying Paul’s teaching and neglect some of the contents of his letters. Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free is a book that will be read with profit by all who have an interest in the primitive church—from the armchair student of the Bible to the most advanced biblical scholar. This will certainly remain a standard text for years to come.

Some scholars in recent years have spoken of the end of the biblical commentary as a literary form. They could not be farther from the truth. At the present time there are at least a dozen commentary series in progress just in English. A massive and excellent work on The Gospel of Luke (Eerdmans) by I. Howard Marshall inaugurates The New International Greek Testament Commentary. The series focuses on the needs of theological students and pastors, seeking to guide them through the maze of modern biblical scholarship on the individual books and to offer the fruits of the most careful exegesis. In keeping with the aim of the series, Marshall’s work is concerned as much with the theological interpretation of Scripture as it is with the historical and critical interpretation. In contrast to the normal pattern, very few pages are used to discuss introductory matters related to the third Gospel, since the author has dealt with these at some length in an earlier monograph, Luke: Historian and Theologian (Attic). For nearly nine hundred pages, he carefully examines the twenty-four chapters of Luke. Marshall’s book is the first English commentary on the Greek text of Luke in nearly fifty years. It is a thoroughly evangelical work, but does not isolate itself from the main body of scholarship.

The celebrated ten-volume Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT, Eerdmans) edited by Kittel and Friedrich was not completed in English until nearly fifty years after it began to appear in German. Less than fifteen years ago a similar work was begun by a German evangelical publisher. This work attempted to make the information in Kittel accessible to a wider audience, especially those who have not had extensive training in biblical languages. This work forms the basis of The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (NIDNTT, Zondervan) edited by Colin Brown, which is now complete in three fat volumes. (The first two appeared in 1975–76.) While the TDNT will remain an essential reference tool for those who use Greek and Hebrew, the NIDNTT has a number of advantages. First, it is more up-to-date; the comprehensive bibliographies accompanying the various entries are current up to the date of publication. Second, it organizes its information concerning Greek word-groups under English headings, which are, in turn, thoroughly indexed and cross-referenced. This makes it a fundamentally more usable work than its prototype. Third, the NIDNTT contains a number of comprehensive articles that are quite different from the kind of material in the TDNT; for example, Volume 3 contains valuable essays on “The Resurrection in Contemporary Theology,” “Language and Meaning in Religion,” and “Prepositions and Theology in the Greek New Testament.” The NIDNTT is not simply a translation of the German original; it is a thorough revision and adaptation with about 25 percent new material. The mammoth task of translating and editing has been superbly executed by Brown. I warmly commend this most useful work to all. The price is high, but the value is greater.

Books on Jesus continue to pour from the presses, some of them very good, others very bad. An example of the former is Robert H. Stein’s The Method and Message of Jesus’ Teaching (Westminster), which provides an introduction to the subject much as I would have wished to have written it. Stein, professor of New Testament at Bethel College in Minnesota, focuses on Jesus as teacher, the form of his teaching, the parables, his proclamation of the kingdom of God, his teaching concerning God as Father, his ethical teachings, and his christological claims. Perhaps most illuminating is his treatment of Jesus’ use of such literary devices as hyperbole, pun, simile, metaphor, proverb, riddle, paradox, questions, poetry, and the like—all of which will be most enlightening to those who have previously read the Gospels from the point of view of the Western mode of thinking. The author has provided college and seminary teachers of the New Testament with a much-needed introductory text on how and what Jesus taught, but he has also provided the general student of the Bible with a fascinating and instructive overview.

Homing in on the literary device characteristically used by Jesus, Dan Seagren’s The Parables (Tyndale) is a model of popular writing that is theologically responsible. Grounded in the important scholarly works, the author communicates the meaning of parables in Jesus’ teaching and the message of twenty-two of them to contemporary men and women. What is a parable? A parable is not a fable, nor an allegory, nor an analogy, nor a metaphor, though it may include elements of the last three. Positively, a parable is “a picturesque form of speech created to make an impact upon the listener,” a figure of speech, usually taken from everyday life, “which teaches spiritual truth, as well as [sometimes] suggesting subordinate truths.” From this introduction flows a series of expositions of the more important parables of Jesus, divided into two groups: “kingdom parables” and “people parables.” Once again I must confess, this is a book that I wish I had written!

Toward the end of my seminary training, I began to discover that some of the best work in biblical studies was being done by Roman Catholics. I also found some Catholic writers heralding the Word of the cross to which I was accustomed in evangelical quarters. One of the first books of this nature I read was entitled, A World to Win: The Missionary Methods of Paul the Apostle by Joseph A. Grassi. The effect of this book on my personal life was exhilarating. The Secret of Paul the Apostle (Orbis) by the same author is a recent book that incorporates some material from that earlier work but which has been thoroughly recast, and to which new material has been added. When he wrote A World to Win, Grassi was, I believe, a priest. Now he is a married member of the “laity.” But his work still exudes the same sense of urgency for the proclamation of the gospel and the discipling of new believers I found before. Paul is regarded (in the words of Augustine) as “the man who knew Christ best.” When he wrote the earlier book, Grassi had in mind the application of the message and mission of Paul to the work of professional missionaries. Here, he is concerned to apply the principles that may be learned by the ordinary Christian who is concerned to recover the essential apostolic element in the Christian message: the impetus that prompts the believer to share his faith with others by example and words. Emphasis is upon the qualities of life style exemplified by Paul. A helpful feature is the author’s applications of the lessons learned from Paul to contemporary Christian life and witness.

Several years ago Gerhard Hasel, professor of Old Testament and biblical theology at Andrew University, gave us an admirable overview of the history and present state of Old Testament theology. This has now been followed by an equally impressive survey of New Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate (Eerdmans). Hasel begins with the origin and development of New Testament theology as a discipline. This is followed by a discussion of the search for an adequate methodology, the problem of the unity of the New Testament, and the relationship between the two Testaments. He concludes with his own proposals for “a multiplex approach” to understanding New Testament theology today. It is difficult to imagine how this book could be improved. It is an essential prolegomenon to doing New Testament theology and a most useful textbook on the subject. It also stands as a tribute to the mature contributions to biblical study by a growing band of Seventh-Day Adventist scholars.

Fuller Seminary’s Ralph P. Martin has established himself as one of the most prolific as well as important contemporary evangelical scholars. Author of several standard commentaries and influential theological monographs, he has now completed his two-volume New Testament Foundations: A Guide for Christian Students (Eerdmans). The first volume, covering the four Gospels, was published in 1975. Its second and companion volume finishes the task by treating Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation. The two volumes give an account of the results of scholarship on introductory matters for each of the writings in the New Testament. Martin’s work is more selective in its marshaling of the material than traditional textbooks. It includes a number of excursus that illustrate the way to do exegesis and that touch on matters of theological and practical concern. Some of Martin’s conclusions will be disputed, but the author tries to take his stand as a teacher within the church, not merely as a scholar in the classroom. He returns time and again to matters that are vital for the proclamation of Christian truth. The theological student will still need to return to the standard introductions by Kümmel, and, especially, Guthrie for many matters. But Martin has provided a worthwhile and more readable initiation into the intricacies of New Testament scholarship.

The Relationships Among the Gospels: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue is a rather dull title for a very stimulating book. Edited by William O. Walker, Jr., and published by Trinity University Press, it contains papers and discussions from a colloquy at that school in 1977. More than forty distinguished scholars from a cross section of the academic and religious community divided themselves into four seminars investigating the areas of oral tradition, classical studies, Judaic studies, and literary criticism in an attempt to understand the implications of each area of studies for the study of the Gospels.

What sets this collection of essays apart from most others of similar nature is the fact that the papers and viewpoints represented stem from a wide variety of disciplinary perspectives and not simply from the narrow confines of academic New Testament scholarship. One of the most interesting essays is by literary critic Roland Mushat Frye. He accuses New Testament critics of using an introverted form of literary criticism, which has developed in isolation from the study of literature in general. The issues that are raised in these reports suggest that the “assured results of criticism” are not as “assured” as they claim.

I. Howard Marshall has the distinction of publishing not one but two major commentaries on New Testament books in the same year. The Epistles of John (Eerdmans) is a replacement volume in the well-known evangelical New International Commentary on the New Testament series, which is now nearly complete. It is not as thorough or technical as his major work on Luke (mentioned above), but it is a substantial work all the same. An interesting feature of the commentary on the Johannine letters is the inclusion of an “invitation” to the reader as well as the normal “introduction” to the book. Here and elsewhere in his comments Marshall is vitally concerned to communicate the message of these letters to the church of our day. These concluding words from the commentary on First John 5:21 give the flavor of the whole: “Today, it is fashionable to imagine that religion and morality are separable and independent; one can be good and righteous without believing in Jesus as the Son of God. John would remind us that apart from Jesus Christ there is no real understanding of the truth and no power to live according to the truth. But Jesus Christ is the true God and the way to eternal life.”

Before considering more briefly many other recent books on the New Testament, mention must be made of an old reference tool now much improved. If you want something done, give it to a busy man—so the saying goes. Ralph Winter, formerly professor at Fuller Seminary School of World Mission, more recently founder of the United States Center for World Mission, writes extensively in the area of missionology, runs a publishing company to make books in this area widely available, and has also prepared a more useful edition of an old New Testament concordance. The Word Study New Testament and its companion, The Word Study Concordance (both from William Carey Library or Tyndale), are designed to greatly facilitate Bible study. The former is a large print edition of the King James with a key number assigned to every noun, verb, adjective, and adverb. By turning to the key number in the Word Study Concordance you can find the Greek word transliterated, and, in English, excerpts from all the verses where it occurs. In addition, you will find the number of times the word is used, and handy references to the word in the Greek student’s standard tools by Arndt and Gingrich, Moulton and Geden, and Kittel.

Now it should be obvious that these useful tools open many possibilities for the student of Scripture who has not done formal theological study, and even the expert will find that use of the Word Study Concordance will greatly reduce the time involved in looking up references in the standard tools. However, two warning notes must be sounded. First, there is the danger that the student without Greek will receive the impression that he knows more than is actually the case and think that he no longer needs to make the effort to learn biblical languages or to seek the advice of experts. It must be emphasized that there is simply no substitute for a knowledge of Greek for advanced students of the New Testament. Secondly, it should also be noted that the tools upon which these two word study aids are based—Strong’s and Bagster’s concordances and the King James translation—are quite dated and often need to be corrected in the light of modern research. However, if the limitations are properly understood, these tools can be a great boon for both the beginning and mature student.

COMMENTARIES In addition to the two commentaries by Marshall that have been mentioned already, many others appeared in 1978. The indefatigable William Hendricksen pushes toward the completion of his multi-volume commentary on the whole New Testament, this time with more than a thousand pages on The Gospel of Luke (Baker). Although it is not as technical as Marshall’s commentary on the same Gospel, it is a very impressive work, which will undoubtedly be of great help to pastors who are concerned to systematically expound the Word to their congregations. Volume 11 (the second to be published thus far) in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Zondervan) edited by Frank Gaebelein covers the Epistles to the Ephesians (A. Skevington Wood), Philippians (Homer A. Kent, Jr.), Colossians (Curtis Vaughan), Thessalonians (Robert L. Thomas), Timothy (Ralph Earle), Titus (D. E. Hiebert), and Philemon (Arthur A. Rupprecht). The text used is the NIV.

The new series of popularly-aimed paperback commentaries based on the Jerusalem Bible and published by Doubleday, which began last year, continues with Invitation to Mark by Paul J. Achtemeier, Invitation to John by George W. MacRae, and Invitation to Acts by Robert J. Karris. The Intimate Gospel (Word) by Earl F. Palmer is an exposition of the fourth Gospel by a master communicator. An interesting feature is an appendix, which provides a study guide for individual and small group study. The Law That Sets You Free (Word) by David H. Roper and A Handful of Pearls (Westminster) by Addison J. Eastman are two short, practical guides to the Epistle of James and its message to the church of our day; each is, in its own way, an inspiring and challenging study. The Apostle Peter Speaks to Us Today (John Knox) by Holmes Rolston and Exploring the Christian Way (Broadman) by Vernon O. Elmore are sermonic treatments of First Peter and Paul’s letters to Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians respectively. Mark: A Study Guide Commentary (Zondervan) by Howard F. Vos and Titus: Patterns for Church Living (Tyndale) by James T. Draper, Jr., are brief, nontechnical introductions for the lay person. Geoffrey B. Wilson comments on Ephesians (Banner of Truth) from the perspective of a strongly Calvinistic Baptist; the style is most attractive, as is the price. James M. Boice continues in the footsteps of his mentor, the late Donald Gray Barnhouse, by adding a fourth volume to his expository commentary on The Gospel of John (Zondervan), which covers John 13:1–17:26.

Three studies which seek to interpret the Apocalypse to the general reader are What Are They Saying About the Book of Revelation? (Paulist) by John J. Pilch, Revelations on Revelation (Word) by Douglas Ezell, and Understanding Revelation (Moody) by Gary Cohen. Each has weaknesses.

A valuable aid for the student of the Greek New Testament is A Translator’s Handbook on Paul’s Letters to the Colossians and Philemon (American Bible Society) by Robert G. Bratcher and Eugene A. Nida.

A widely-heralded standard commentary, The Gospel According to St. John (Westminister) by C. K. Barrett, is now available in a fully revised second edition with one hundred more pages. Barrett interacts with the literature on John that has appeared since the first edition of twenty-five years ago. In particular he is critical of much recent “redaction criticism” of the Gospel.

SURVEYS Ronald A. Ward has written a Survey of the New Testament (Word), which accents the message of the individual writings rather than simply their historical background and contents. The same writer has produced the first part of a comprehensive theology of the New Testament entitled, The Pattern of Our Salvation (Word); the Gospels will presumably be treated in the subsequent volume. Reading the New Testament Today (John Knox) by Brian E. Beck and Reading the New Testament (Paulist) by Pheme Perkins are lay introductions, as is Francis Foulkes’ Pocket Guide to the New Testament (InterVarsity); the volume by Perkins has the interesting feature of including an audio-visual bibliography for the aid of Bible study leaders. Evangelical scholar E. M. Blaiklock covers the whole of the New Testament in a 260-page Commentary on the New Testament (Revell).

An Introduction to New Testament Literature (Abingdon) by Donald Juel with James S. Ackerman and Thayer S. Warshaw is a handbook for use in teaching the New Testament in the context of literature classes. Judaism and Christian Beginnings (Oxford) by Samuel Sandmel is a fascinating study by one of the leading Jewish biblical scholars in North America. Beginning with an introduction to the history, institutions, and religious ideas of Judaism during the centuries surrounding the New Testament era, he then turns to the New Testament itself. All Christians should benefit by seeing how a non-Christian who has immersed himself in both the teachings of the rabbis and the teachings of the New Testament interprets the latter. Finally, yet another book from the pen of the late William Barclay: The Men, the Meaning and the Message of the New Testament Books (Westminster) epitomizes the chief idea of each book and suggests questions for discussion.

JESUS AND HIS TEACHING Jesus: Lord and Saviour (Eerdmans) contains the sometimes speculative testimony of veteran exegete A. M. Hunter of Scotland concerning the life and work of Jesus. As always, Hunter combines faith and scholarship, a warm heart, and a clear head; not least of his virtues is his highly readable style. Jesus Before Christianity (Orbis) by Albert Nolan paints a portrait of Jesus that is clear, convincing, challenging, and compelling for the person who either has no faith or is unsure. The attempt seems at times a bit too clever, but the task is a worthy one. Jesus Now (Concordia) by Leslie Brandt is a well-known writer’s recasting of the teaching of Jesus into the twentieth century idiom. The book is illustrated by Corita Kent. Not my cup of tea, but many will like it. Understanding the Gospels: A Different Approach (Grace Publications [2125 Martindale, S.W., Grand Rapids, MI 49509]) by Charles Baker is indeed a different approach to the life and teaching of Jesus because of the staunch (ultra) dispensational stance.

Jesus, Politics and Society by Richard J. Cassidy (Orbis) takes a fresh look at the Gospel of Luke in an attempt to answer the question, “Was Jesus dangerous to the Roman Empire?” The answer is an emphatic yes. Your Kingdom Come by C. Leslie Mitton (Eerdmans) expounds the New Testament teaching concerning the kingdom of God; a valuable feature is that each specific reference in the New Testament to the subject is individually discussed. The Sermon on the Mount (Baker) is the subject of “an evangelical exposition” by D. A. Carson that attractively combines a concern for careful exegesis and practical application. The perspective of the Pannenberg School is applied to biblical data concerning the Resurrection and its significance in Ulrich Wilcken’s monograph, Resurrection (John Knox); evangelical theologians will disagree with many things Wilckens concludes, but his discussion is stimulating. A Harmony of the Gospels (Moody) by Robert L. Thomas and Stanley N. Gundry arranges the material of the four Gospels in what the editors regard to be the probable chronological sequence, using the text of the NASB. There is nothing particularly new about the attempt and its execution, and many Bible teachers do not approve this approach, as Thomas and Gundry are well aware. For this reason they explain their work by a series of twelve “essays related to harmonistic studies.” For teachers who do use harmonies, this edition is likely to win wide acceptance.

Ernest Martin has made a careful case, deserving of consideration, for the birth of Christ in 2 or 3 B.C. (three or four years later than usual) in The Birth of Christ Recalculated (Foundation for Biblical Research [Box 928, Pasadena, CA 91102]).

REFERENCE Among recent tools to note are A Complete Categorized Greek-English New Testament Vocabulary (Attic) by David Holly, The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised (Zondervan) by Harold K. Moulton, and a small Greek New Testament Insert (Baker) containing a summary of useful information for the student compiled by Benjamin Chapman. The reprinting of Adolf Deissmann’s celebrated Light From the Ancient East (Baker) is also worthy of note in this context.

SCHOLARLY ESSAYS The New Testament Student and Bible Translation (Presbyterian and Reformed or Baker) edited by John Skilton contains an interesting collection of essays and comments by a variety of well-known translators and theologians, which describes both the problems involved in translating the New Testament and the strengths and weaknesses of some of the recent translations.

At a more technical level is Prophecy and Hermeneutic in Early Christianity (Eerdmans) by E. Earle Ellis, containing seventeen essays. If you want to see what primary New Testament research is all about, this would be a good place to begin. Studies in Paul (Augsburg) by Nils A. Dahl is an equally stimulating, though not as balanced, collection of essays by a professor of New Testament at Yale. The Romans Debate (Augsburg) edited by Karl P. Donfried brings together a number of essays by leading authorities on the meaning and purpose of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, which illustrate the contours of recent research in the area.

Recent Festschriften in honor of New Testament scholars include Saved by Hope (Eerdmans) edited by James I. Cook, Essays on New Testament Christianity (Standard) edited by C. Robert Wetzel, and God’s Christ and His People (Columbia University) edited by Jacob Jervell and Wayne O. Meeks. The first of these is dedicated to Richard C. Oudersluys of Western Theological Seminary and contains important studies on the fourth Gospel (H. Ridderbos, L. Morris, M. de Jonge, V. H. Kooy), the infancy narrative of Luke (B. Reicke), the parable of the good Samaritan (B. Van Elderen), 1 Corinthians 15:20–28 (E. Schweizer), and other subjects. The second is dedicated to Dean E. Walker, formerly president of Milligan College, the eleven essays being written by former students and colleagues. The contents of the latter collection point to the winds of change that are blowing in the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ (instrumental). The third honors Nils A. Dahl of Yale and includes essays from the pens of nineteen prominent European and American scholars on a variety of themes.

MISCELLANEOUS John: Evangelist and Interpreter (Attic) by Stephen Smalley is one of the finest studies devoted to the fourth Gospel in recent decades and will certainly be significant in academic discussions of the future. Evelyn and Frank Stagg are a husband and wife team who have written Woman in the World of Jesus (Westminster); the survey is adequate, perhaps even illuminating, for those who have not read very widely on the subject, but it adds little that is new. Ellis Rivken is a distinguished Jewish scholar who traces the origins of the Pharisees in A Hidden Revolution: The Pharisees’ Search for the Kingdom Within (Abingdon), a study that casts a great deal of light on the pages of the New Testament. Understanding Spiritual Gifts (Moody) by Robert L. Thomas is a sane discussion of 1 Corinthians 12–14 from a dispensationalist point of view. Despite his attempt to demonstrate that Paul viewed certain of the gifts of the Spirit as belonging only to the earliest period of the Church, readers will find many helpful comments with which to agree.

An attempt to allow creatively contemporary sociological and psychological studies to shed light on the New Testament is found in Gerd Theissen’s Sociology of Early Palestinian Christianity (Fortress). Jesus and Scribal Authority (Lund, Sweden: C.W.K. Gleerup) by Stephen Westerholm is concerned to elucidate the nature of the scribal traditions that came to be regarded as of equal authority to the written law in Pharisaic Judaism and to understand Jesus’ response to it. The author is a young evangelical scholar from Canada who recently completed his doctoral studies under the Scandinavian theologian, Birger Gerhardsson. Redactional Style in the Marcan Gospel (Cambridge) by E. J. Pryke is an extremely technical analysis of Mark’s use of source material.

The First New Testament (Nelson) by David Estrada and William White, Jr., is a spirited defense of the hypothesis of a Spanish Jesuit papyrologist, José O’Callaghan, that fragments of six New Testament documents are to be found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, the claimed identifications of O’Callaghan have been almost totally rejected by those who are able to evaluate them. Even if the claims were valid, this would not justify the extravagant apologetic claims made by the authors. An equally eccentric book, coming from the opposite theological camp, is Jesus the Magician (Harper & Row) by Morton Smith. I give due respect to the “mordant wit and incisive, lucid mode of thought for which,” according to one scholar quoted on the dust jacket, “Smith is justly famous.” Nevertheless, the conclusions of the author, a learned professor at Columbia University, are patently absurd.

G. Douglas Young is founder and president of the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem. He has lived there since 1963.

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W. Ward Gasque And Carl Edwin Armerding

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The NIV is accurate, reads well, communicates clearly, and is selling briskly.

The outstanding publishing event of 1978 was the completed New International Version (NIV) of the Bible (Zondervan). Produced by an interdenominational, international, evangelical committee under the auspices of the New York International Bible Society, the NIV has already received wide publicity in the pages of this journal (October 20, 1978, issue) and elsewhere. While it is certainly true that this or any other translation of the Bible will have some deficiencies, we believe that the NIV should and will be widely accepted. Many have felt the need for a standard new translation for the English-speaking world, and it is the prayerful hope of the sponsors that the NIV will meet this need. Whether this happens will not be determined by church officials—or book reviewers—but by the Bible-reading public. In our judgment the NIV is accurate, reads well, communicates clearly, and we hear it is selling briskly.

The Eerdmans’ Family Encyclopedia of the Bible (Eerdmans) edited by Pat Alexander is as beautiful as it is useful. Chock-full of color illustrations—photographs, maps, charts, drawings, and other material—it contains accurate and up-to-date information on a variety of subjects which helps you understand events, people, and customs of Bible times, and hence understand better the Bible itself. The material is arranged in ten sections: the environment of the Bible, archaeology and the Bible, the story of the Bible, key teaching and events, religion and worship, people of the Bible, home and family life, work and society, places, and an atlas of the Bible. Three of the sections are organized alphabetically for easy reference. The section on home and family life in biblical times, for example, discusses the structure of the family in Old Testament days; births, weddings, and funerals; clothes and fashion; town and city life; life in the villages; housing; food and meals; and social activities, such as games, athletics, and music. The style is entirely readable and free from technical language or jargon, and therefore can be read with interest by any member of the family from about the age of ten upward. The quality of production is unsurpassed and the price for all of this is modest. We take pleasure in commending this attractive and helpful reference work.

Harper’s Encyclopedia of Bible Life (Harper & Row), edited by Madeleine and J. Lane Miller, is a completely revised version of a long-time standard reference work. Though the material contained is comparable to that in the Eerdmans’ Family Encyclopedia it is intolerably dull by comparison.

Similar in purpose but designed primarily for young children rather than teenagers and adult family members is The Family Bible Encyclopedia (David C. Cook) edited by Berkeley and Alvera Mickelsen. In two volumes of just over two hundred pages each, the contents are arranged alphabetically in the normal encyclopedic sequence. The entries are brief and simply written. There are just enough illustrations to keep the child’s interest high and to help him visualize what is written in the text. Many entries are accompanied by a list of major biblical references.

A lavishly illustrated and comparatively inexpensive new book is The Natural History of the Land of the Bible (Doubleday) by Azariah Alon. It is set against the background of the land of Israel of the present day, where you see so many images that could have been taken straight out of biblical times and where many features of land and life have remained unchanged. Alon’s work is brimming with photographs of plants, animals, geographical features, and vistas of the land of the Bible. Although the majority of the pictures are taken from the present, the text focuses on the Old Testament and is replete with references to and interpretations of individual texts.

Two years ago Moody Press published the New Testament section of The Ryrie Study Bible. Now the Old Testament section is complete and is published together with the earlier material in one volume. This Bible is available in the King James or New American Standard versions. The annotator is Charles C. Ryrie, professor of systematic theology at Dallas Theological Seminary. The theological orientation of this study edition is dispensational, though this does not affect the vast majority of the comments one way or the other. Following the general pattern of other study Bibles, each biblical book is introduced by a brief discussion of title, authorship, date, and contents. This is followed by a rather detailed outline of the book. The notes at the bottom of each page are primarily exegetical and explanatory, though they are occasionally theological. The outside and inside margins contain the usual cross references to other relevant scripture passages. There are also several useful tables, charts, essays, and other helps for Bible students. (Also now available for the same two versions is a similar study Bible called The Open Bible from Thomas Nelson.)

The Children’s Bible (Collins) is not a translation but rather a selection by David Edwards of stories (mostly) from the Good News translation together with splendid full-page, full-color illustrations by Guido Bertello. The older story Bibles were so popular because they were supplements to the King James. Now that we have translations that children can truly understand there is no reason to rely on some modern retelling. May The Children’s Bible (and its counterparts) flourish! (Also take note of The Comic-Strip Bible in three volumes and now in full color from David C. Cook. The treatment is reverent, faithful to the text of Scripture, and sure to captivate the attention of its intended audience.)

What is biblical criticism? Is it a friend or a foe of faith? A new book from Zondervan entitled simply Biblical Criticism seeks to answer both questions. “Criticism” is not understood in negative terms, implying that autonomous human reason takes its stand over against the biblical text and sits in judgment upon it, though admittedly this sometimes takes place. Rather, biblical criticism seeks to come to intelligent conclusions about historical literary and textual matters that are vital for an accurate understanding of Scripture. In the views of the publisher, “The evangelical community has done well … to abandon the view that all criticism of the Bible is negative and destructive. Reason … should be considered a tool for sharpening discernment and understanding. As such, it is in no way opposed to faith, but complements and enhances it. Having accepted the Bible as God’s inerrant Word, it remains for us to discover, insofar as possible, the original form of the text.… It also remains for us to examine the historical and literary structure of Scripture.”

In this spirit, four distinguished evangelical Bible scholars—R. K. Harrison, B. K. Waltke, D. Guthrie, and G. D. Fee—turn their attention to the historical, literary, and textual criticism of each Testament. But in spite of the positive emphasis of the preface, and in spite of some of the specific statements of the individual authors, the impression gained by reading the treatments of historical and literary criticism is almost entirely negative. While the authors affirm the task of criticism, they mostly fault the liberal critics for their misuse of cricitism rather than state positively how evangelical critics should do their work. The articles on textual criticism are excellent in their treatment of the materials but are weak in dealing with the practice of the discipline. Still, this book offers a clear and concise account of the subject.

Knowing Scripture (InterVarsity) by R. C. Sproul begins with common sense answers to the question, “Why study the Bible?” and goes on to discuss the “how” questions that arise in the course of such study. The author is firmly rooted in the Reformed, evangelical tradition, and is one of the leaders of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. His short, practical book is a model of good hermeneutical discussion. A few minutes’ reading would dispel false notions about what is included in an evangelical commitment to biblical inerrancy, currently a subject of hot debate. Sproul rejects any notion of wooden literalism, is fully aware of historical conditioning in the formation of Scripture and in its interpretation, affirms the values of a moderate source and form criticism, and generally avoids the standard stereotypes inferred from the doctrine of inerrancy. This little book should be required reading for any beginning student of the Bible. His work is fairly representative of what evangelicals believe and we, both as reviewers and evangelical theologians, are happy to be associated with his conclusions.

Up to the time of the Reformation there remained a significant body of Jewish writings, which informed the religious and cultural heritage of Christendom. With the Reformers’ rejection of these writings—which came to be known as “the Apocrypha”—as edifying but noncanonical, they became less and less familiar to Protestants. Today, scarcely anyone but a few devout Catholics and a small band of scholars study these writings. Yet it remains true that the Apocrypha and related Jewish documents are extremely important for a better understanding of the Bible and the histories of the church and synagogue. Nicholas de Lange has provided the general reader with an introduction and selections from this important body of literature. Apocrypha: Jewish Literature in the Hellenistic Age (Viking) covers not merely the traditional Apocrypha but also the whole body of anonymous Jewish literature of the period from about 300 B.C. to A.D. 200. There are seven sections: accounts of Bible preservation or translation, elaborations of biblical stories, moral tales, apocalypse, philosophy and wisdom, history, and prayers and psalms. Much of the material is not easily accessible to the nonspecialist. Some of the selections are translated into English for the first time. Especially useful features are a chronological table with the approximate dates of the more important writings, a list of the principal apocryphal works accompanied by descriptions and notes on their origin, and a guide to further reading.

ARCHAEOLOGY Of perennial interest to many both inside and outside the church is the study of how the events of the Bible are illuminated by the modern science of archaeology. In this area the publication of greatest lasting value is the final two volumes of the four-volume Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (Prentice-Hall) edited by Michael Avi-Yonah and Ephraim Stern. Resplendent with line drawings, photographs, and charts, and complete with up-to-date bibliographies, the various articles supply the student with almost everything about excavated sites.

Two books that take opposing stances are Magnus Magnusson’s Archaeology of the Bible (Simon and Schuster) and Kenneth A. Kitchen’s The Bible in Its World (InterVarsity). Magnusson, a British journalist, entertained and infuriated viewers with a series of television programs in Britain on the archaeology of Palestine. (The series is not yet scheduled for the States.) Much of the visual and textual material from the series is now available in this attractive, coffee-table volume. Kitchen disagrees with Magnusson’s frequent suggestion in the series that the archaeologist’s spade has undermined the veracity of the biblical record. Kitchen records data from a wide variety of sources and geographical areas, showing how often archaeological discoveries have been helpful in illuminating a particularly difficult aspect of ancient Near Eastern or biblical study. Kitchen concludes: “It is not the basic purpose of orientalists or archaeologists either to prove or disprove any particular ancient document, the Bible included. It is their purpose to obtain the fullest and clearest possible picture of antiquity (biblical and otherwise) for the common benefit of all.… When problems arise …, usually from incomplete or defective information, then they should be treated alike in all cases (biblical and otherwise)—critically, sympathetically, thoroughly, drawing only provisional conclusions when lack of data makes final ones impracticable.” It was the feeling of many who viewed the television series that the “high measure of agreement” was consistently underplayed and the inevitable problems overplayed. Kitchen’s book—which incidentally contains a wealth of interesting and useful information, including a discussion of the new material at ancient Ebla—sets the subject in a much more balanced perspective than does Magnusson’s.

Also helpful is Howard F. Vos’s Archaeology of Bible Lands (Moody). Following a section on the nature and techniques of biblical archaeology and on the implications of archaeology for textual study, Vos draws a brief picture of the results of archaeological investigation in each of the lands of the Bible. Similar in purpose and scope is Biblical Archaeology in Focus (Baker) by Keith N. Schoville. Sections dealing with methods and history of archaeology, the rise of writing, and the relationship of the Bible to archaeology are followed by a comprehensive survey of significant sites throughout the entire Near East. Both books, accompanied by a wealth of photographic and illustrative material, would be suitable as undergraduate textbooks on the subject. (Of more restricted scope is Jerusalem: The Tragedy and Triumph [Zondervan] by a South African journalist, Charles Gulston. It is a fascinating story of Israel’s capital from the days of David through the 1976 war.)

Sometime in the spring of 1947 the first of the celebrated Dead Sea Scrolls came to light in the wilderness of Judea. As these discoveries came to be known to the general public, they were hailed by the media as “the greatest manuscript find of modern times.” Literally hundreds of books were written about them, most of them responsible, but a few wholly misleading. Though the media appeal seems to have abated, scholarly interest in these documents continues to be unquenched. Geza Vermes, who teaches Jewish studies at Oxford University, has not only produced many scholarly studies on the Scrolls but he has provided the most accessible translation of them into English (published by Penguin). Now after the dust of the original studies has settled, Vermes offers a general account and scholarly assessment of the discoveries and their significance in The Dead Sea Scrolls: Qumran in Perspective (Collins). The text is readable by the nonspecialist but there are also copious bibliographical notes. For those who have read nothing (or nothing recent) on the Scrolls this would be a good place to begin.

SURVEYS Background to the Bible (Servant) by Richard Murphy is the best in the stack of surveys that has come into our hands this year. Murphy has doctorates from two Catholic schools in Rome. Evangelicals will appreciate the thoughtful and reverent handling of the biblical text and the attempt to avoid the obscurantism of extreme conservatism and the unbelief of contemporary liberalism. Subjects covered include the nature of the Bible, text and canon, principles of interpretation, archaeology and Scripture, and the relation of faith and reason in the study of the Bible. These Things Are Written (John Knox) by James M. Efird is described in its subtitle as “an introduction to the religious ideas of the Bible” and combines materials from the areas of biblical history and biblical theology in order to provide the beginning student of Scripture with a primary text. Richard H. Hiers’s Reader’s Guide to the Bible (Abingdon) offers a bird’s-eye view of the content and emphasis of each book of the Old and New Testaments and of the Apocrypha. The level at which the material is pitched is rather more elementary than are the introductions by Murphy or Efird. A Layman’s Bible Digest (Revell) by Leslie Peyton is an enthusiastic real estate developer’s sharing of what he has learned about the Bible with his fellow businessmen. People Just Like Us (Moody) by J. Oswald Sanders contains twenty-one popular expositions based on the lives of a variety of Bible personages and stresses the lessons that can be applied to contemporary Christian life and witness.

But rather than just taking others’ words for what the Bible contains, be sure to study it for yourself, with the help of a guide such as Food for Life (InterVarsity). Authors Peter Lee, Greg Scharf, and Robert Willcox write about the context of Bible study (individual and group), offer samples of various types of study, and outline basic principles of interpretation.

INTERPRETATION In addition to Knowing Scripture by R. C. Sproul, a significant number of additional volumes devoted to “hermeneutics” (the principles for interpreting Scripture) have come to hand. How to Understand the Bible (Standard) by Knofel Staton and Toward Understanding the Bible (Faith and Life) by Perry Yoder are elementary introductions to the subject. There is a revised edition and new title and publisher for a long-time favorite by Alan Stibbs, How to Understand Your Bible (Harold Shaw). Leander E. Keck’s The Bible in the Pulpit (Abingdon) is a stimulating attempt to relate biblical hermeneutics to biblical preaching, which will be of interest to pastors. At a much more technical level are three books from Fortress: The Biblical Interpreter by Richard Rohrbaugh, Story, Sign and Self by Robert Detweiler, and Meaning in Texts by Edgar McKnight. Rohrbaugh deals with the subject from the perspective of the sociological context of Scripture; Detweiler takes a look at phenomenology and structuralism, applying the insights gained from this to the literary-critical study of the Bible; and McKnight’s important but difficult monograph attempts to rescue the biblical text from the irrelevant historicism characterizing much contemporary scholarship and adapt insights from modern structural analysis into a program that he dubs “narrative hermeneutics.” Visions of Hope (Augsburg) by Donald Sneen and Daniel and Revelation (Judson) by James M. Efird apply hermeneutical principles to the apocalyptic parts of the Bible.

ON TRANSLATIONS We had hoped that by now everyone would have accepted the general principles of modern Bible translation, but that is not the case. Not only does the King James apparently continue to outsell any of the other translations, but it also has its defenders on textual, theological, and literary grounds. The King James Version Debate (Baker) by D. A. Carson is an attempt to deal sympathetically with those who continue to prefer the KJV, but the author eventually comes down emphatically in favor of some modern translations. The Future of the Bible (Nelson) by Jakob van Bruggen argues for a common, officially recognized translation of the Bible and against the “dynamic equivalence theory” of translation (which underlies the Good News Bible and other similar versions). He concludes that the KJV is the most reliable translation currently in use. Putting the whole subject into perspective without really becoming involved in the debate is History of the Bible in English (Oxford) by F. F. Bruce, an updated edition of a standard work published previously under a different title.

THE BIBLE AND LITERATURE There are a growing number of books to enhance the teaching and study of the Bible in literature classes in high schools and colleges. Introducing Bible Literature (Prentice-Hall) by Leonard L. Thompson is intended to serve as a college textbook. The author deals with his material creatively, producing a very attractive introduction for the student. The text is illustrated by a series of appropriate works of art. However, Thompson’s tendency to use jargon distracts the reader. Thayer S. Warshaw, who has, in association with James S. Ackerman, done more than anyone to aid teachers of the Bible in American high schools, has now produced a Handbook for Teaching the Bible in Literature Classes (Abingdon). Warshaw deals with alternative approaches and emphases, and the problem of religious sensibilities, using a variety of teaching aids. All English teachers who have the responsibility for teaching even a short unit of the Bible in/as Literature will rise up and call the author blessed. Byron and the Bible (Scarecrow) by Travis Looper is a compendium of biblical usage in the poetry of Lord Byron.

SCHOLARLY ESSAYS The Festschrift type of book—a collection of essays published in honor of some notable scholar, often upon his retirement—continues to come out at an unabated pace. In the past year, two senior professors at Fuller seminary were honored. Scripture, Tradition and Interpretation (Eerdmans) edited by W. Ward Gasque and W. S. LaSor brings together essays by former students and colleagues of Everett F. Harrison, that seek to address the current debate concerning Scripture both inside and outside of the evangelical community. Biblical and Near Eastern Studies (Eerdmans) edited by Gary A. Tuttle is dedicated to William Sanford LaSor. It features contributions not only by former students but also by some notables among Bible scholars. In honoring the veteran Reformed scholar, Johannes G. Vos, editor J. H. White chose fourteen scholars of similar theological persuasion who cast their nets over a wide area of biblical, theological, and even philosophical concerns; the result is entitled The Book of Books (Presbyterian and Reformed). A fourth collection honors the distinguished student of Jewish backgrounds to the New Testament, David Daube. Donum Gentilicium (Oxford) is edited by C. K. Barrett, E. Bammel, and W. D. Davies; the essays, in German or English, focus on the Jewish contribution to early Christianity.

G. Douglas Young is founder and president of the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem. He has lived there since 1963.

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Donald Tinder

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It is a pleasure once again to be able to present surveys of the previous year’s production of books on biblical and theological topics. These annual surveys, together with the regular book review sections, are intended to help our readers know what books to add to their personal libraries and to recommend to their church and school libraries.

Of course one must know about books that appeared before 1978. Checking our previous annual surveys, especially noting our lists of choice evangelical books, is one way to know which earlier books to obtain.

The release of The Minister’s Library: Periodic Supplement #2 (Baker) by Cyril Barber enables us to renew our high recommendation of the original volume, The Minister’s Library, issued in 1974 and first supplemented in 1976. One of the greatest problems of bibliographies is the speed with which they become outdated; publisher Baker and compiler Barber are to be heartily commended for lessening this problem by these supplements.

Last year saw the appearance of a volume that will be of immense value. Religious Books and Serials in Print, 1978–1979 is the first edition of what one hopes will be an annual production. Prepared by the R. R. Bowker Company, whose Books in Print is one of its many services to the book trade and libraries, Religious Books has 1,315 large-size pages and at $39.50 is a bargain. This is a tool with which everyone wishing to build a personal library should become familiar. Even the smallest religious bookstore or theological library needs a copy. Religious Books is not simply a selection of titles from Books in Print. It includes titles from more than 100 additional publishers. In all, more than 47,000 books are indexed by author, by title, and by subject. If you can’t find it here, chances are it’s no longer in print in the United States.

The fourth annual volume in a series prepared by Consortium Books, Religious Reading was issued last year with annotations on 1,561 books that were published in America in 1976. This series can be used to obtain nonevaluative descriptions of many recent books, especially those aimed at the general reader. One hopes that future volumes can be more complete.

Even though the four survey articles that follow may seem exhaustive, they are not. We have omitted many high quality titles that were too specialized and technical. We have had to be especially selective for the books and study guides that are aimed at the general reader and beginning student. Some worthwhile books may have been unintentionally omitted because we simply did not learn about them. We do want to thank the publishers for their excellent cooperation. We have included books for a variety of levels of readership. Mention of a title is by no means an endorsement of the book’s stance on doctrinal or higher critical matters.

Books on the history of Christianity are scheduled to be surveyed in our September 7 issue. Books on ethics and on practical theology are to be handled in the regular book review department.

The Cover: Dr. Walter Elwell, pictured in his library, has collected more than 11,000 volumes since buying his first book twenty years ago (H.B. Swete’s Commentary on Revelation). Elwell concentrated on theological books because the religious leaders he knew in his youth could not answer his questions satisfactorily. Many acquisitions came by mail order from Europe. He turned to collecting antiquarian works; the oldest one on his shelves was published in 1476—less than thirty years after Gutenberg’s printing press.

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Josephine Ligon

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There are only so many ways you can’t speak to someone.

Mrs. Brink didn’t like neighborhood children to get too close to her property. When we did she swatted us. It happened to me one day as I was riding my bike.

A few seconds after she hit me Mr. Parsons stopped me and said, “Go back, and tell Mrs. Brink that you forgive her for hitting you.”

“Say ‘I forgive you?’ To Mrs. Brink?”

Mr. Parsons smiled. “Forgiveness comes in many forms,” he said, “You don’t actually have to say, ‘I forgive you.’ A simple smile will do. You might just tell her that her daffodils are pretty.”

It seemed like a dumb thing to do, but children in those days did what their elders told them to do. So, I went back and mumbled something about her daffodils being pretty.

Mrs. Brink looked shocked, but that’s the last time I felt her broom.

The Parsons family often asked strange things of people in the community. And they quoted forgiveness Scripture. Something of an enigma, they were not particularly well liked, and they often wound up looking rather foolish.

Fighting, and not speaking were abhorrent to them. At least on one occasion two families were reunited because both families decided it was easier to forgive each other than it was to listen to the Parsons quote Luke 17:3 again: “And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.” But in their zeal to get people to forgive one another, the Parsons family often ignored the repent part.

One day several of us third graders put a handful of pencil shavings into the Parsons girl’s sandwich. I’m not sure why we did it. Possibly it was like Psalm 37:32 says, “The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.” I suppose we expected her to get mad. But she didn’t.

Instead, she taught us a lesson that I doubt any of us has ever forgotten. The next day, without a sign of repentance from any of us, the Parsons girl brought every child in the class a large, beautiful, delicious, hand-decorated cookie. Each one said, “Jesus loves you.”

Many Christians struggle with the problem of trying to forgive the wrongdoer who refuses to repent. And yet the person who benefits most from forgiveness is not the one who is forgiven, but the one who forgives.

Arnold Jones, who was highly regarded in his community became the object of attack by a small handful of people. One of them edited the local newspaper, and week after week, the newspaper printed lies, half truths, and innuendoes against him and his family. Finally he decided to sue. Arnold Jones won his case. His son said at his funeral several years later, “He won the court battle. But because he was a Christian, it always bothered him that he couldn’t forgive those people in his heart. I think that’s what finally killed him.”

When a Christian is attacked by a person who really doesn’t want to be forgiven, indeed delights in doing wrong, a Christian is subjected to all sorts of temptations for retaliation. Unless we’re like the Parsons family, and ready to look foolish before men, we succumb.

As a friend in such a situation said, “If only I could have thought of some clever, debilitating thing to have said to that liar right then, I would have said it!” Then she smiled. “Only then I would have been right down in the sewer with him, wouldn’t I?” And, of course, that is exactly where all too many of us wind up. It’s very easy to forget Romans 12:17, “Recompense to no man evil for evil.”

If a Christian can make it past the first temptation of leveling the wrongdoer with a verbal or physical punch, he may well fall into the second trap. That is where you can’t quite bring yourself to speak to the wrongdoer who refuses to repent.

That is the stage where we become outraged that anyone could do such a thing and not repent. If we speak to that person civilly we have the feeling we are sanctifying all the evil he has perpetrated against us. Thousands of good people for this reason never again speak to their enemy.

Once I heard a mother with a scout troop say to her son, “I will not take any of you to the zoo, if you don’t forgive Billy for stealing your candy bar.”

“But Billy doesn’t want to be forgiven,” her son said, “He won’t even listen.”

“Then make him,” his irate mother demanded.

Suddenly, her son chased Billy, knocked him to the ground, sat on him, and yelled, “I forgive you for stealing my candy bar, but I’d sure find it easier to forget if you’d wipe the chocolate off your mouth!”

Luke 6:37 says, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” A Christian feels uncomfortable with the no speaking part. What if God refused to speak to us and kept a chip on his shoulder?

Charlie had not spoken to someone for almost twenty years. Then behind the counter of a fast food restaurant he saw his taunting, grinning enemy ready to take his order. “You know,” he said later, “I never expected my pride at being right to hang on a cheeseburger. For a moment I almost went to the back of some other line. I had plenty of time. Then that prodigal son story struck me. It occurred to me that God wanted that enemy of mine more than he wanted me. So for the first time in twenty years I spoke to him. I said, ‘Hi,’ and ordered my cheeseburger. It was probably the best cheeseburger I ever ate.”

Not speaking can become a lifetime habit. As Christians we should try to sell heaven, not hell. And the most mediocre salesman in the world knows that you hold out an olive branch to get a sale, not a law suit.

“Sure I’m speaking to them again,” said Mary. “I was always running into them. I got bored. After all, there are only so many ways you can’t speak to someone!” Even if a person refuses to admit a wrong, and you can’t say, “I forgive you,” you can always smile and tell him his daffodils are pretty!

G. Douglas Young is founder and president of the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem. He has lived there since 1963.

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Nathan Hatch

Page 5634 – Christianity Today (19)

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The gospel demands ultimate humility—it brings us to our knees.

We live in a day of evangelical optimism. A born-again President speaks of a government “as good and honest and decent and competent and compassionate and filled with love as are the American people.” The thriving evangelical book market offers a steady diet of positive inspiration, spiritual uplift, and successful Christian living. Evangelical visionaries, building multi-million dollar enterprises in television, church growth, and education, have latched onto an upbeat style that is more than vaguely reminiscent of Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carnegie. One of these pastors recently defined faith as building self-confidence, resisting negative thoughts, and tapping the limitless possibilities within ourselves. In a similar vein, a prominent evangelist explained that what keeps people away from Christ is not hardness of heart but simply a misunderstanding of what he has to offer.

Whatever its merits, this approach to Christianity raises serious questions for evangelicals. Most disturbing is a view of human nature that differs greatly from what Christians in the past believed. Such evangelical forebears as Luther, Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, and Finney would have been amazed to hear that the people of any nation were inclined to good rather than evil. Similarly, they would have winced to hear the gospel explained only as a soothing message of comfort, forgiveness, acceptance, and peace of mind. These evangelicals of another day demonstrated that the majesty of God’s grace could not be seen without having first peered deep into what Augustine called mankind’s “radical apostasy.” The gospel does whisper peace “in strains as sweet as angels use,” declared William Cowper; but only after the “violated law” has spoken out its thunder. Evangelicals in the past agreed, likewise, that resistance to the gospel stemmed from a far more radical problem than lack of information: “The last place to which a sinner ever betakes himself for relief is to Jesus Christ,” said Charles G. Finney. “Sinners had rather be saved in any other way in the world. They had rather make any sacrifice, go to any expense, or endure any suffering, than just throw themselves as guilty lost rebels upon Christ alone for salvation.… It cuts up all their self-righteousness, and annihilates their pride.”

Are evangelicals today undermining the gospel by forgetting the nature of evil? Is it possible that we are witnessing the development of what once would have been a contradiction in terms—a romantic or sentimental gospel? Promoting evangelism or bolstering self-esteem may seem far easier if you represent man’s plight as a mere fly in the ointment rather than a poisoned well. Yet glib sentimentalism may distort the essence of our faith.

To be sure, no evangelical church or organization has changed its creeds. But that is not the issue. Doctrinal statements have always moved snail-like in relation to what people actually believe and practice. The gospel delivered from our pulpits today may not reflect the gospel in our statements of faith. The gospel understood in the pew may not equal the gospel proclaimed so simply and powerfully by the revered fathers of the faith. We can isolate three symptoms of a debased romantic piety.

Justification by faith, reliance on the Bible alone, conservative theology, personal rather than social ethics—all of these receive some attention in discussions of what it means to be a “born again” Christian. Yet, ask the question, “What does it mean to be an evangelical?” Then we hear much about a living relationship with Christ, a faith of the heart rather than of the head; of the born-again experience itself, a point-in-time conversion or awakening; and of the evangelistic zeal that compels those who have been born again to share their faith and to win the lost.

Piety, conversion, evangelism—all have long been evangelical distinctives. But scant attention is given to the burning issue that Luther, Wesley, Whitefield, or Edwards faced in clarifying what it meant to be an evangelical. They believed that human nature was fallen, and that the Bible’s view of man forsook glib moralism and took seriously “the chartless darkness of the human heart.”

However prone we are to see the sternness of the law and the sweetness of the gospel as opposites, the classic evangelical message was that the experience of the latter depended entirely on first experiencing the former. The majestic Reformation view of grace followed, not accidentally, a spiritual diagnosis that sin was no mild disease of the soul. It was a cancer that demanded radical surgery. The evangelical awakening of the eighteenth century again brought into sharp relief the paradox of the gospel: that it must crush self-righteousness before uplifting the contrite; that it must root out self-centeredness before offering consolation; that it must kill off self-will before unveiling the power to live by. “For the law must be preached to self-righteous sinners,” said George Whitefield. “We must [beware] of healing before we see sinners wounded lest we should say peace, peace, where there is no peace. Secure sinners must hear the thundering of Mount Sinai, before we bring them to Mount Zion.… Every minister must be a Boanerges, a son of thunder, as well as a Barnabas, a son of consolation.”

We live in a culture dominated by the quest for peace of mind, self-fulfillment, and self-sufficiency. The tracts for our times are the smash best sellers I’m O.K.: You’re O.K., Your Erroneous Zones (a self-help pep talk), Pulling Your Own Strings, and Looking Out for #1. By any standard the message in these books is light years removed from the call of men like Wesley, who argued that the gospel applied only to “mere sinners, inwardly and outwardly self-destroyed, bringing nothing to God but ungodliness only, pleading nothing … but sin and misery.” Yet what seems to be in the works today is a convenient marriage of evangelical piety and self-help. This is a union, moreover, based on the assumption that it makes little difference if we replace biblical concepts of moral poverty, selfish blindness, and spiritual nakedness with the more fashionable psychological notions of fear, frustration, and anxiety. All, of course, without damaging the gospel one iota.

The promoters of this marriage seem to say that nothing is lost when traditional ideas are put into a modern idiom. Isn’t it an improvement over the classical evangelical contention that self-satisfaction, however religious, amounted to shaking a clenched fist at heaven to say confused people can relieve their nagging guilt by coming to Christ? Isn’t it an improvement when we picture faith today as a request that Christ overcome our mistakes and remake our lives instead of an admission of foul revolt and utter helplessness? In practice, many evangelicals contend that such changes are nothing more than going the second mile to make the gospel meaningful in the modern world. Is it possible, rather, that what may have begun as sensitive communication of the gospel is fast becoming a misconstruction of the same?

Time and again the gospel has broken in upon people and left them startled, amazed, even dumbstruck that God has acted so mightily on their behalf. Some of the finest hymns in the English language were written to reflect this questioning sense of wonder. “Isn’t all of this just too good to be true?” we hear Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, and Samuel Davies saying:

And can it be that I should gain

An interest in the Savior’s blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain?

For me, who Him to death pursued?

Alas! and did my Savior bleed,

And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For such a worm as I?

In wonder lost, with trembling joy,

We take the pardon of our God;

Pardon for crimes of deepest dye,

A pardon bought with Jesus’ blood:

Who is a pardoning God like Thee?

Or who has grace so rich and free?

These deep emotions welled up within persons who had seen their lives become part of a profound and majestic drama. They could never get over it. To have been apprehended as a traitor and marched in shame to the gallows only to find a new verdict read: full pardon and a royal decree of adoption. To have relived over and over the physician’s stark diagnosis, terminal and incurable, only to wake up healthy. To have known the anguish of thirst and starvation in the desert, only to discover cool milk and rich, sweet honey. To have been ostracized as a stranger in the land, only to find the welcome embrace of family friends. Here is the drama of the gospel.

Why does the gospel seem dull, insipid, even trivial today? We have removed the drama from salvation by underplaying the plight of mankind and overbilling the potential of persons to achieve their own self-fulfillment in Christ. The promise of self-acceptance, power, and status has mesmerized us. We don’t want to be lonely or anxious. And if Christ can give us what we ask and remove what we fear, we’ll sing “He’s everything to me.” We tell ourselves that by accepting Christ we will no longer yearn for anything.

Yet evangelicals who are counseled and coddled, stroked and soothed stumble when the gifts cease. We may have once thought that emphasizing sin dulled the splendor of grace. Self-absorbed evangelicals are learning that those who have been forgiven little also have a desensitized palate to taste grace.

As evangelicals in the past knew a sense of wonder that we do not, they also were gripped by a fear we don’t know. They realized that the most perverse form of evil did not appear in debauchery, blasphemy, and drunkenness, but in the smug and pious smiles of the self-righteous. The Puritan Thomas Hooker insisted that the real “hellish nature” of sin was that persons in its grip often became outwardly more decent and upright. Following our Lord’s blunt assertions about the whited sepulchre of pharisaism, evangelicals have long considered the heart most desperately wicked when, giving little appearance of evil, it smugly dismissed the indictment of being “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”

When counterfeit faith was considered a distinct possibility, a different light was shed on the process of conversion and doctrine of assurance. The danger was that a person would assent to justification by faith but never relinquish that deep impulse to trust in himself and his own morality. Deceitful as it as, the heart could exert complicated gymnastics in order to avoid the admission of moral bankruptcy. Above all, then, the gospel had to mount a frontal assault on a self-righteousness, as Luther emphasized in the introduction to his commentary on Romans—the proximate instrument of Wesley’s conversion: “The object of this Epistle is to destroy all wisdom and works of the flesh no matter how important these may appear in our eyes or those of others, and no matter how sincere and earnest we might be in their use.” Those who meted out comfort, furthermore, had to do so with great care, lest someone assent to the gospel in self-righteousness and never come to real faith.

We are so busy going in the opposite direction, removing every possible inconvenience that one might have to becoming a Christian, that the danger of self-righteousness is hardly a fleeting nuisance. Why shouldn’t everyone have new life in Christ? If we could just upgrade the banquet a bit and advertise it better, why wouldn’t everyone want to come? It hasn’t crossed our minds, apparently, that some people already may be filled and have need of nothing. To make matters worse, many evangelicals glibly offer assurance of faith (chapter and verse to build an iron-clad case) to anyone who raises the hand or who walks the aisle. The danger of counterfeit faith simply has evaporated, given our overriding assumption that human instincts are oriented toward rather than away from truth. Although evangelicals in the past assumed that persons would do almost anything to avoid coming to Christ on his terms, we assume that they will do almost anything to find him.

The same romantic view of human nature is evident also in a form of Christian living that is shorn of self-doubt. Evangelicals have always stressed the power of the Holy Spirit to transform lives; they have also recognized the danger of self-deception, what the Puritan John Cotton called “man’s perverse subtlety in inventing ways of backsliding.” We hear all too few sermons that begin to peel away the skin or husks of self-righteousness. We take our own piety far too seriously, never asking whether it has actually become a mask for self-interest. We forget that pride is the worst spiritual cancer and quenches the purifying work of the Spirit. “The real test of being in the presence of God,” J. I. Packer has said, “is that you either forget yourself or see yourself as a small, dirty object.” In our own day the growth of a form of piety that gives free rein to the ego is sufficient evidence that something fundamental has gone awry.

Within the evangelical community today numerous interest groups vie for attention, each laying out what seems to it the most biblical agenda for the church. Evangelism and missions, a Christian approach to social action and politics, a correct view of biblical authority, “body-life” within the local church, “inner healing” for the Christian psyche, the fullness of the Holy Spirit. All of these rightly demand our attention in one way or another. But all too easily they assume that every Sunday school child, every person in the pew, already knows the gospel and that the problems of the church today result from not fleshing out a biblical life style. Amid such a flurry of activity, we are in danger of losing sight of the foundation of our faith: that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

G. Douglas Young is founder and president of the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem. He has lived there since 1963.

    • More fromNathan Hatch
Page 5634 – Christianity Today (2024)

FAQs

What happened to Christianity Today magazine? ›

The journal continued in print for 36 years. After volume 37, issue 1 (winter 2016), Christianity Today discontinued the print publication, replacing it with expanded content in Christianity Today for pastors and church leaders and occasional print supplements, as well as a new website, CTPastors.com.

Who is Russell Moore of Christianity Today? ›

Russell D. Moore
Residence(s)Brentwood, Tennessee, U.S.
EducationPh.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; M.Div., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; B.S., University of Southern Mississippi
OccupationEditor-in-Chief of Christianity Today
Websitewww.russellmoore.com
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Who is the CEO of Christianity Today? ›

I enjoy every podcast I do, but I absolutely LOVED the conversation I had with Dr. Timothy Dalrymple, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today.

What kind of magazine is Christianity Today? ›

Christianity Today, also referred to as CT Magazine, is an evangelical Christian magazine founded by the late Billy Graham in 1956.

What is the biggest religion in the world? ›

Current world estimates
ReligionAdherentsPercentage
Christianity2.365 billion30.74%
Islam1.907 billion24.9%
Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist1.193 billion15.58%
Hinduism1.152 billion15.1%
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What is the oldest religion? ›

Hinduism has been called the "oldest religion" in the world, but scholars regard Hinduism as a relatively recent synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no single founder, which emerged around the beginning of the Common Era.

Is Russell Moore kin to Beth Moore? ›

Russell Moore and Beth Moore are often mistaken for siblings, spouses, or even parent and child in social media discussions. While they share no familial relation, Russell and Beth have shared similar joys and heartbreaks in their Christian lives.

How large is Christianity Today? ›

According to a PEW estimation in 2020, Christians made up to 2.38 billion of the worldwide population of about 8 billion people.

Who is the current leader of Christianity? ›

The current pope, Pope Francis, is known for his particularly diverse group of cardinals- if you can call a group of old, male, Catholic diverse. There are currently 128 serving cardinals. Of those, Pope Francis created 88 from 56 countries.

Who reads Christianity Today? ›

Now, Christianity Today is a global ministry that reaches 50 million people per year across all media, advancing every single day the stories and ideas of the kingdom of God. Graham's vision carries on, and we steward a remarkable legacy and honor the labors of those who went before us.

Who was the former editor of Christianity Today? ›

Mark Galli (b. August 24, 1952) is an American Catholic author and editor, and former Protestant minister. For seven years he was editor in chief of Christianity Today.

What is the status of Christianity Today? ›

About 64% of Americans call themselves Christian today. That might sound like a lot, but 50 years ago that number was 90%, according to a 2020 Pew Research Center study. That same survey said the Christian majority in the US may disappear by 2070.

Is Christianity growing or shrinking? ›

Christianity, the largest religion in the United States, experienced a 20th-century high of 91% of the total population in 1976. This declined to 73.7% by 2016 and 64% in 2022.

Are Catholics considered Christians? ›

Christianity is an important world religion that stems from the life, teachings, and death of Jesus. Roman Catholicism is the largest of the three major branches of Christianity. Thus, all Roman Catholics are Christian, but not all Christians are Roman Catholic.

Is Christianity a religion or a faith? ›

Christianity, major religion stemming from the life, teachings, and death of Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ, or the Anointed One of God) in the 1st century ce. It has become the largest of the world's religions and, geographically, the most widely diffused of all faiths.

What is the status of Christianity today? ›

About 64% of Americans call themselves Christian today. That might sound like a lot, but 50 years ago that number was 90%, according to a 2020 Pew Research Center study. That same survey said the Christian majority in the US may disappear by 2070.

What has happened to Christianity? ›

From the mid-twentieth century, there has been a gradual decline in adherence to established Christianity. In a process described as secularization, "unchurched spirituality", which is characterized by observance of various spiritual concepts without adhering to any organized religion, is gaining more prominence.

Why did Christianity take off? ›

Ehrman attributes the rapid spread of Christianity to five factors: (1) the promise of salvation and eternal life for everyone was an attractive alternative to Roman religions; (2) stories of miracles and healings purportedly showed that the one Christian God was more powerful than the many Roman gods; (3) Christianity ...

Where is Christianity concentrated today? ›

Christianity is the predominant religion and faith in Europe, the Americas, the Philippines, East Timor, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Oceania.

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