Full Text for Book Reviews (Text)

I CONCORDIA I THEOLOGICAL 1 I QUARTERLY Volume 50. Numbers 3 and 4 -- JULY-OCTOBER 1986 Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus q- ;-re:,;--v- ,q+ . iy- r< -;;j, .' -> ;I ) f: -- -113- t. .? !A,L< a 2'Sd - .......... The Department of Systematic Theology .':': :'161 The Church Growth Movement: A Word of Caution ............................ .Glenn Huebel 165 Theological Observer. ................................ .I83 .................................. Homiletical Studies .I89 I Book Reviews ...................................... .265 Book Reviews THE GIFT OF LOVE. By Vladimir Berzonsky. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1986. $6.95. The author takes us on a personal, devotional journey through the biblical concept of love. The first impression of this reviewer is the need for the church to continuously explain and define love for God's people. Today His people are bombarded with the words love and freedom, but their meanings are becloud- ed and perverted by a sinful world. Berzonsky does not deal with the concept of freedom, but he gives us much food for thought on God's view of love. The book is written in a devotional style and proves helpful and enlightening. The work is divided into three parts: Solomon's Song of Songs, 1 Corinthians 13, and other sections of Holy Scripture that deal with the topic. His first section was this reviewer's favorite. Lutherans do not use Song of Songs very often for preaching, teaching, or devotional material. Author Berzonsky handles it well and profitably for the reader. One suggestion of the reviewer would be to place the third section first. This section seems to lay an excellent basis for the first two sections which demonstrate love in action. I recommend the book for some fine insights on Christian love. Some references to the Blessed Virgin Mary do not reflect the theology of the Lutheran church, since Berzonsky is of the Eastern tradition. One quote should help the reader gauge the nuances and insights which the writer offers: "The tragedy of envy and boasting lies in the fact that neither type of person af- flicted with those weaknesses ever comes to learn from the lessons and ex- periences of life on this earth; that is to say, the kind of person God had in mind when man was uniquely created. To go through this world measuring one's self by what we see in others is to miss finding out who I am" (p. 77). George Kraus INTERPRETING THE BIBLE: A POPULAR INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. By Terrance 0. Keegan. New York: Paulist Press, 1985. 177 pages. This is a book for anyone who confuses mythemes with actantial models, the implied reader with the ideal reader or actual reader. Seriously, if anyone is even a little displeased with the approach of historical criticism, which treats the text as a "window" to look through and not as a "mirror" to look at, then this book is for him. It is an introduction to several new methodologies, especially structuralism and reader-response criticism, and it very effectively explains their origins, tells how they work, and gives actual examples. It also introduces canonical criticism and concludes with a thought-provoking chapter on the Bible in the church today. The main portion of this book is devoted to a presentation of structuralism and reader-response criticism, and both of these rather new methodologies are presented as clearly as I have ever seen. Keegan has a good grasp of what structuralism entails: on the one hand, it is a synchronic not diachronic pro- cedure, i.e., it treats its material as constituting a meaningful system at a given time (p. 172), rather than as one stage in a temporal process or historical develop ment. On the other hand, it concerns, not surjbce structure (i.e., the words and syntax of the language as they are seen), but deep structure, the "fixed struc- 266 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY tures that are proper not merely to a given people at a given time and place in history but that are proper to human beings as such. There are fixed and determined deep structures that are used by anyone composing [any] narrative. . . .These structures. . . pre-exist and are operative in the work of corn- position whether one is conscious of them or not. These deep structures are like the principles of aerodynamics that were there when the first boomerang was designed, whether or not anyone was aware of them or not" (P. 49). What are these deep structures? They are both narrative and mythical. That is, a narrative (what Keegan concerns himself with in the main, and what is of interest to those dealing with gospel criticism) is formulated after certain patterns common to all stories, no matter what the topic, no matter what the culture (whether the story be an episode of Magnum P.I., a Russian folk tale, or the Gospel of Matthew). Lying beneath these narrative structures, however, are symbolic or mythical structures. These comprise elements which speak to the deepest needs of man. In the words of Keegan (pp. 61-62): A myth is a way of coping with the fundamental oppositions that one constantly faces in the course of human living. The elements of the myth, in a pure myth, are simply arranged in some kind of meaningless story. The meaning of myth is to be found entirely in the manner in which the oppositions, fundamental oppositions like life and death, are overcome. . . . These are fundamental oppositions that are so radically opposed that there is no middle ground, there is no way logical minds can bring the two together. Myths overcome these oppositions by providing corresponding oppositions, parallel oppositions, that can be overcome, that do admit of mediation. There is no mediation between life and death. Something or someone is either alive or dead. The way a typical myth would overcome this opposition. . .would be to replace it with another, parallel opposition that does admit of media- tion, e.g., the oppositions between agriculture and warfare. . . . Agriculture supports life since it involves gathering food, while warfare brings death since it involves killing enemies. Agriculture and warfare are opposed as are life and death, yet they are not so radically op- posed that they do not admit of mediation. The mytheme agriculture and the mytheme warfare can be mediated in the mytheme hunting, which like warfare involves killing, but like agriculture involves pro- viding food. Hence, the primary opposition, life and death, which can- not be mediated, is mediated in a myth by the mediation that hunting provides berween agriculture and warfare. In other words, structuralism reads a text in a different way. To use the phrase of Martin Scharlemann, it involves a new insight into "how a text means:' and it does not concern itself with the intention of the author, for it is convinced that "the real power of a text is to be found in the system of convictions that precedes the conscious intentions of the author" (p. 51). For structuralist afficionados, let me add that Keegan's description and use of "pertinent transfor- mation" (p. 66) in this book is quite helpful. Equally clear and concise is this book's presentation of the approach of reader- response criticism. This fairly new enterprise, taken frorn the field of literature (rather than from the field of linguistics or anthropology, as is structuralism), is a reaction to the New Criticism, which spurned the traditional analysis of Book Reviews 267 authorial intention and sought a purely objective interpretation of the objec- tive work under consideration. Reader-response criticism, while agreeing that authorial subjectivity is a fruitless field on enquiry, denies New Criticism's claim that a given work has an objective meaning apart from the activity of the reader. On the contrary, it asserts, the full meaning of literature is created by the very act of reading itself. In the words of Keegan (p. 82): Every truly literary work has both an artisitic pole and an aesthetic pole. The artistic pole is the accomplishment of the author, namely, the piece of writing. . . . That, however, is simply one of the poles. The other pole, the aesthetic pole, is the work of the reader. Both of these poles are necessary. Without both of them operating, the literary work is simply a potentiality. Its potentiality becomes an actuality when both of these poles are operating, when a reader picks up the work of an author and actually reads it. In actually reading it, it comes into being. . . . Key to the procedure here described is the phenomenon known as "filling in the gaps" (an insight of Wolfgang Iser). What this means is that an author does not tell his readers everything (this applies, again, especially well to nar- rative), which means that the readers are forced to draw conclusions which make sense out of the data presented, the facts of the story at hand (p. 85): Readers fill in these gaps by making assumptions which quite often will subsequently be challenged by further information supplied by the author. The reader must then revise, reformulate, or discard the assumption. By the end of the narrative, the reader will have a com- plete picture in which what was supplied by the text was filled out by what was supplied and revised by the reader. Not every reader, however, will have the same picture. But is there no control? Ah, that is the question! Keegan's answer is most definite: "the reader simply is not free to impose any meaning on a given text" (p. 88). To put it into conventional reader-response terminology: every work has an "implied reader:' i.e., certain presuppositions are made concerning and cer- tain expectations are made of the reader by the text, and only the reader who accepts the role mandated by the text (becomes the implied reader) can be a true reader of the text. Such a reader can be called a "slave of the text:' and "if one does not become a slave of the text, share the ideology of the text, one simply cannot read it" (p. 97). Who, then$ the implied reader (i.e., who can become a true reader) of the biblical text? Keegan's answer is both reassuring and disturbing. Only the Christian can read the text, for only Christians can assume the role called for by the text: "Having been changed into God's likeness, they can become the reader of that text" (p. 89). His use of 2 Cor- inthians 3:15-Paul's discussion of the Jews' inability to read Moses-is most helpful here (p. 89): They can read the words of the Pentateuch but they cannot appreciate them. They are unable to assume the role called forth from them by the text. Christians, however, can. Why? Because Christians have the Spirit, because the very being of a Chrisitan has been changed. 268 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY But these readers are not in isolation (pp. 146-147): What reader-response critics today maintain is that the activity of reading is a social activity. Private interpretation, the work of autonomous individuals who read a work and understand it by themselves, is an impossibility even for those who think they are do- ing it. All readers come to a book, any book, with convictions, with beliefs, with concerns, with values that arise out of a social atmosphere.. . . Everyone is part of a believing community, and the faith of that community is part of the reading process. Furthermore, one who does not participate in the faith community that is presup- posed of the implied reader of a given text simply cannot read that text. Indeed, also the text is not in isolation (p. 158): The Church came first. It was the Church, understanding itself, that later saw itself as the implied reader of this whole array of works. . . . It was the Church that saw the Spirit by which it lives as the Spirit which is involved in the implied author of these works. Precisely because the same Spirit by which the Church lives is the Spirit by which these books live, the Church saw itself as the implied reader of these books and took these books into its life. It accepted these books and canonized these books. These books have meaning and validity in the life of the Church because the Church accepts them, because the Church canonizes them. Apart from the Church they would have had no meaning, no existence. . . . These are, as I say, both reassuring and disturbing thoughts. For they obviate the necessity of finding that ever-elusive "objective method" which will give an "objective meaning" to the Scriptures, since the Scriptures can no longer be separated from and set against the church herself. Indeed, who can interpret except him who believes? But if this is true, what of the Reformation? What of an appeal to Scripture, against the teachings of the church? Keegan's challenge, especially in his final chapter, "The Bible in the Church Today:' from which the last two and the following two quotations are drawn, is very clear (p. 146, 148): The Reformation churches desperately needed the Bible for solidity, for stability, because the Bible was all they had. They had eliminated or significantly curtailed the effectiveness and meaningfulness of the hierarchical, sacramental Church. They had the Bible, but they need- ed a Bible that could provide a reliable and firm foundation for their faith and life. The subsequent development at the time of the Enlighten- ment is not hard to understand. It was easy, if not almost necessary, to entrust the Bible to the scholars' study where the methods of Enlightenment scholarship could be used to make the Bible something solid and objective on which Reformation Christianity could stand. When Scripture is separated from the Church and compelled somehow to stand on its own, then there is a need for some kind of a critical method that will give to Scripture an objective meaning. If Scripture is the Church's book, if Scripture is canonized precisely because it is Book Reviews 269 seen as speaking to the Church, as coming forth from the Church, then the needed guarantee of objectivity is to be found in the Church. The reliability of the Church is far more important than an objectively verifiable critical methodology. Will we respond to these words? James W. Voelz THE USE OF THE BIBLE IN THEOLOGY-EVANGELICAL OPTIONS. Edited by Robert K. Johnston. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1985.257 pages. Paperback. For the past two hundred years the Christian church has spent much time and energy trying to determine exactly what place the Bible should have in the formation of its theology and life. Over the past one hundred years answers given to such considerations have often been categorized under two heads. There are the conservatives and fundamentalists, who hope to maintain the traditional view of the church toward the Scriptures even within the context of the rapidly changing twentieth century. Then there are the liberals or critics who feel that modern thought patterns demand some degree of accommodation or adjust- ment of traditional views of the Bible if the church is to gain a credible hearing in today's marketplace of ideas. In an attempt to moderate between the more extreme expressions of these two viewpoints a group of Christian theologians have come forth since the mid-1940's who have identified themselves by the term "Evangelical" or, to be more precise, "New or Neo-Evangelical:' to distinguish themselves from the revivalistic mainline evangelicalism of nineteenth-century America. The book under review is a compilation of the ways in which some of the more prominent twentieth-century evangelicals use the Bible in the performance of their task as theologians. If the names of Clark H. Pinnock, James I. Packer, Russell P. Spittler, Donald G. Bloesch, John Howard Yoder, Donald W. Dayton, Robert E. Webber, William A. Dyrness, David F. Wells, and Gabriel Fackre mean anything and, if anyone would like the opportunity of peeking over their shoulders and watching as they set about shaping the data of Scripture into the matter of theology, then perhaps this is the book for him. The title of the book is indicative of its purpose and presentations. Not the nature of the Bible but the use made of the Bible in the construction of theology is investigated. The emphasis is on use, function, and methodology. The purpose of the book is summed up in the following questions posed by the editor, Robert K. Johnson (p. viii): How do we evangelicals interpret the authoritative Word? In doing theology, what is the role of the imagination? Reason? Tradition? The believing community? The Holy Spirit? The wider culture? How do we evangelicals use the Bible for faith and life? In what sense is theology necessarily constructive in its approach rather than merely descriptive? In answering such questions the book illustrates both the unity and the diversi- ty in Evangelical theology. The point of unity is that Evangelicals accept "as 270 CONCORD1 A THEO1,OGICAL QUARTERLY axiomatic the Bible's inherent authority" (p. 3). The diversity comes frorn observing the methodology of such different men as John H. Yoder, whose narne appears in the list of contributing editors for the left-of-center Eva~lgelizal magazine, Sojotlrners, to the International Council on Biblical inerrancy stalwart, James I. Packer. Of special interest were the chapters on "An Evangelical and Catholic Methodology:' by Wheaton College professor, Robert E. Webber; "The Natllre and Function of Theology:' by Gordon-Conwell's David E Wells; "The Use of Scripture in the Wesleyan Tradition:' by Northern Baptist Donald W. Dayton; and "The Use of Scripture in My Work in Systematics:' by Gabriel Fackre of Andover-Newton Theological School. The Dayton article provided a helpful insight by setting the use of Scripture within the context of the three basic historical variations of the term "evangelical'~'evangelica1" as in the sixteenth- century Lutheran or Protestant reformation, "evangelical" as in the eightseilth- century Wesleyan revival, and "evangelical" as in the twentieth-century fun- damentalist reaction. Against this historical background Dayton sulnmarizes the Wesleyan use of Scripture in terms of the so-called "Wesleyan Quadrilateral" of Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience (p. 134). For those who agree [hat "trend watchers are telling us that the next important issue in evangelical cilul-- ches is worship" (p. 138) the article by Robert E. Webber will be of interest. Webber summarizes the causes which led to the "false coilceptions of worship in the evangelical community" and suggests ways to restore a "biblical- theological and historical perspective" of worship (p. 143ff.). The article by David F. Wells struggles with the perennial problem of the relationship between a timeless God and His changeless Word and the historically conditioned human culture into which this Word is directed. The discussion centers on the distinc- tion between "doctrine" and "theology" which Wells defines as follows: "Theology differs from doctrine as what is unrevealed does from what is revealed, fallible from what is infallible, derived from what is original, relative from what is certain, culturally determined from what is divinely given" (17. 188). Gabriel Fackre, in "The Use of Scripture in My Work in Systematics:' deals with another variation of the same problem examined by Wells. For Fackre the concern shifts to a consideration of the tension between the particularity of "the soteriological singularity of the Christian faith" and the universality of a "heightened awareness of religious pluralism" (pp. 200 and 223). His conclusion is in the form of a chart which traces critical theological reflection frorn its setting in the world through the church, tradition, the Bible, and the Gospel to the Christ who in His particularity is the norm of the Christian faith (pp. 220-226). As with most books which consist of variations on a theme coordinated by an editor there is an element of unevenness both in theological perspective and in the method of dealing with the subject at hand. This is not the kind of book one would ordinarily read from cover to cover. For those who are interested in how the Bible is applied by those who identify themselves as Evangelical theologians there is much from which to choose regardless of one's specific area of interest. The titles of the chapters do not always prepare the reader for the exact treatment presented. Fortunately the highly visible section headings within each chapter are helpful for those who are willing to take the time to search the materials before settling down to read and ponder. To those readers willing to ponder the book offers rewards. Richard E. Muller Book Reviews 27 1 EVANGELICALS ON THE CANTERBURY TRAIL. Why Evangelicals are Attracted to the Liturgical Church. By Robert E. Webber. Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1985. 174 pages. On the whole "chatty" and informal in style, this symposium volume offers some pleasant theological light reading. Its first half is taken up with an ac- count of Dr. Webber's pilgrimage from Baptist to Episcopalian Christendom, its second half with considerably briefer reports of the movement from similar backgrounds to the same haven on the part of six kindred spirits of his acquain- tance. The common denominator in all seven autobiographical pieces is the anguished discovery of the deficiencies inherent in a spirituality focused exclusive- ly on the preached Word, along with the common sense of relief and fulfilment at receiving a balanced diet of Word and Sacrament within the Episcopal fold. Commendable sentiments are expressed throughout the volume concerning the value of the church year and the concomitant extended Scripture readings in liturgical worship, and one can only concur with the contrast brought out by Dr. Webber and his colleagues between the "man-centered" worship of the "Word alone' with its inevitable propensity to degenerate into the worship of the preacher alone, and the God-centered worship of "Word and Sacrament:' which elevates Christ above the preacher. Even so, when confronted with the authors' claim to have preserved the best of their "evangelical" heritage while reclaiming the fullness of historic Christianity, the confessional Lutheran reader is inclined to ask, first, whether Dr. Webber and his colleagues have thoroughly sloughed off their Reformed skins and, secondly, whether what they have reclaim- ed is, in fact, the genuine article. Clearly, the authors have fallen under the spell of historic liturgical and sacramental forms, but have they mistaken the husk for the kernel? Dr. Webber, for instance, has manifestly moved in a salutary direction with his realization that the Lord's Supper is not something which we do for God, but rather "God doing something for me" (p. 83); but for him the sacramental elements remain hazily symbolic instead of being plainly acknowledged as the Lord's true body and blood. The only clear avowal of the real presence in these pages comes in the contribution by Michael Anderson, who writes the best chapter in the book. He has excellent things to say concer- ning the incarnation, brings out the gnostic-dualist roots of Reformed anti- sacramentalism in a manner that would do credit to a Lutheran, and writes with high eloquence on the Sacrament of the Altar (especially pp. 94-98). An ongo- ing Reformed bias is discernible in Dr. Webber's apologia for sacramental con- fession, whose value he locates in the confessor's spiritual direction of the peni- tent and not in absolution as a dominically instituted means of grace according to John 20:23 (which does not even get a mention in this context.) Episcopalianism's appeal to Dr. Webber at least would seem to have something to do with the non-denominational (or perhaps rather non-confessional) character of Anglican Christendom. His own move from the Baptist to the Episcopal fold was precipitated by his rejection of what we would call "pro- positional revelation" in the ferment of the late sixties (pp. 25-30). For him, a theology with all the answers gave way to a perception of mystery, and he maintains that within the Anglican Communion people can be genuinely "united in matters of faith" while allowing for diversity of opinion on such matters as the nature of Holy Scripture, Baptism, and the Sacrament of the Altar (p. 74). Others of us, of course, fail to see the incompatibility of dogmatic certainty with perception of mystery, nor could we identify doctrinal unity with doctrinal 272 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERL;Y discord! Quite the oddest feature of a volun~e which celebrates the reappropria- tion of historic Christianity is the lack of concern for the implications of the ordination of women in the Episcopal church. A charismatic Episcopal deaconess armed with a phial of holy oil crops up now and then (e.g., p. 44), but nowhere do the authors confront one of the Fundamental issues of our day. Clearly, the doctrinal clarity of confessional Lutheranism would rule out the LCMS becoming a haven for the discontented "evangelicals" who write in this book. This said, one must be grateful for their loving embrace of traditional liturgical forms which are fitting vessels for heavenly treasures. They sound a timely note with their insistence that "evangelism" may not "become a substitute for worship" (p. 34). And who cannot but echo John Skillen's justified horror at the mindless use of the adverb "just" in "evangelical" extempore prayer? A reading of this book might point out to us some neglected areas of concern that ought to be addressed and would certainly show forth the wisdom of those of our congregations which have called for deeper liturgical study and training at our seminaries. And while confessional Lutheranism can have no appeal for those addicted to doctrinal latitudinarianism, might not a recovery within our circles of the "reverence" spoken of by the confessions in connection with Holy Communion (FC SD VII, 44; XXIV, l), to say nothing of a serious grasping of the centrality of the Holy Supper in the life of the Church (AC XXIV, 34; Apol. XXIV, I), render it forever impossible for any informed writer to dub the Episcopal church the liturgical church? John R. Stephenson Lewiston, New York PASTORS ON THE GROW. By Stephen J. Carter. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986. 91 pages. More than ever before all church pressures and crises require pastors to keep on top of the leadership hill to avoid the many difficulties that may arise from stress, opposition, traditionalism, and inertia in congregations. Dr. Carter does not ask how busy one is, but how one is growing as a minister to meet the re- quirements of a pastor in today's world. The author contends that growth is measured by whether a pastor matures personally, spiritually, mentally, socially, and professionally. He writes to capture the pastor's imagination, to stimulate reflection on personal needs, and to motivate toward positive action, professional growth, and more effective ministry. I believe he achieves his objectives in this matter that is so vital for a rewarding ministry for the pastor and his members. A number of valuable insights pro- vide sound solutions to the difficulties of a stressful occupation. Problems are clearly defined and targets for effective ministry are placed as reasonable goals. Helpful suggestions for further reading are offered for greater skill develop ment. Important is the section on the pastor communicating his growth need! to the laity and planning his professional growth strategy together with the con gregation. Through sharing his personal learning plan, the pastor will forge ; partnership with the parish. The link between seminary and parish is also shown Book Reviews 273 While the book is intended for pastors and perhaps a few key parish leders, its message will have a great effect on churches as it is taken seriously. It offers valuable information, motivation, identification, and resources for a vital matter. Waldo J. Wer~ing EZEKIEL. By Donald E. Gowan. Knox Preaching Guides; John H. Hayes, editor. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1985. 147 pages. Paper. The Book of Ezekiel has not normally been a favorite of preachers. The bizarre visions, the lengthy and sometimes coarse allegories, and the unusual symbolic acts of the prophet combine to make the book seem forbidding as a homiletical resource. This situation may change for those who purchase this brief, but in- teresting volume by Donald Gowan. Gowan, a professor of Old Testament at Pittsburg Theological Seminary, has previously authored Reclaiming the Old Teslamenr for the Christian Pulpit, and this present work can help reclaim the treasures in Ezekiel for many a timid preacher. The book divides Ezekiel's 48 chapters into sixteen groupings. The symbolic acts are treated all together, as are the various allegories on Jerusalem's sin and fall. The prophet's nine chapters on the new Jerusalem and temple are dealt with in a single chapter, and it can be argued that this section and several others receive too little attention. Nevertheless, the book accomplishes much in a short space. Thankfully, it does not attempt to be another commentary but is con- tent to be a "preaching guide:' as the cover claims. This reviewer has long felt a need for such a book, for there comes a moment where the preacher has dealt with the translation and the critical questions and must ask, "How am 1 going to relate all this to the real lives of my hearers?" Gowan's verdict about some of the chapters in Ezekiel is this: "You probably won't!" Some things simply are not very preachable as isolated texts, he says, and others (like the allegory of the foundling in chapter 16) may be too difficult or explicit and would serve better to reinforce some other primary text. On the other hand, he offers some helpful ideas for applying sometimes-neglected themes-the continuing relevance of "exile" language and God's continuing intense interest in good government and everyday justice being examples. This book challenged my own tendency to skip over the intervening centuries and arrive too quickly at the cross. Gowan reminded me of the postexilic com- munity's importance. Yet the context of the New Testament and the message of the cross are not neglected here. "The message [of Ezekiel] as a whole teaches us that we are saved by grace alone" is a thread woven through the fabric of the book. Some will feel that this book is written at too simple a level (do we really need a definition of "theophany"?), but on the whole the author's simplicity and down-to-earth style is a plus. The large, readable print is a bonus. Michael Kasting Akron, Ohio 274 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY RELIGION IN INDIANA: A GUIDE TO RESOURCES. By L. C. Rudolph and Judith E. Endelman. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986. $22.50. This work is a useful tool for anyone interested in studying religion in America, including Lutheranism, since Indiana has been the site of such diverse religious phenomena as Robert Owen's New Harmony Colony and the 1881 Synodical Convention that adopted Walther's thirteen theses deaIing with predestination. Religion in Indiana is a guide to primary and secondary source materials for the study of such phenomena as well as of religious institutions located in Indiana, such as our own Concordia Theological Seminary. The book is divid- ed into three parts: (1) a list of published works about religion in Indiana, arranged alphabetically by author, coded by denomination (if any) and by loca- tion of the holding library; (2) descriptions of primarily unpublished materials, eg., denominational archives; and (3) a register of congregational histories ar- ranged by county and place name. An index completes the volume. All in all, this work is a valuable resource for the serious student of American religion. Cameron A. MacKenzie A HISTORY OF ANCIENT ISRAEL. By J. Alberto Soggin. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1984. J. Alberto Soggin is Professor of Old Testament at the Waldensian Faculty in Rome and visiting Professor at the Pontifical Institute. This volume is translated by John Bowden from the Italian and constitutes the author's fourth contribution to Westminster's Old Estament Library (previous volumes include Joshuu, A Com- mentary; Judges. A Commentary: and An introduction to the Old E.stument). Perhaps the chief virtue of Soggin's study is its forthright discussion of methodology (pp. 18-40). While demonstrating his familiarity with the broad literature on this topic (Wellhausen, Noth, Herrmann, Fohrer, Bright, R. de Vaux), the author asserts his own posture without detailing its supporting rationale: "Where. then, does a history of Israel begin? In other words, is there a time after which the material in the tradition begins to offer credible accounts, information about individuals who existed and events which happened or are at least probable, when it indicates im- portant events in the economic and political sphere, and their consequences?. . .Now over the course of the last decade I have come to the conclusion that the answer should point to the united kingdom of Judah and Israel under David and Solomon" (p. 26). As inadequate as this perspective will prove to most readers of this journal, there are few other works which so concisely describe the perimeters of the current critical discussion. The fact that Soggin finds the studies of Thompson and Van Set- ters so helpful (p. 90) sets him over against the more cautious positions of schola~ like John Bright. Two concluding appendices are worthy of note, namely. Diethelm Conrad's 'Ar Introduction to the Archaeology of Syria and Palestine in the Basis of the Israelitt Settlement" and H. Tadmor's "The Chronology of the First Temple Period: A Presen tation and Evaluation of the Sources." Though clearly consonant with Sogin's ap proach, these brief distillations will quickly orient the reader to the haw issues Helpful bibliographies also punctuate every topic and provide speedy access ro tb key voices within the critical tradition. Dean 0. Wenth1 Book Reviews 275 THE PRIESTLY KINGDOM: SOCIAL ETHICS AS GOSPEL. By John Howard Yoder. University of Notre Dame Press, South Bend, 1984. 222 pages. Cloth, $16.95; Paper, $8.95. Writing out of commitment to the radical reformation tradition, John Yder has become a powerful theological voice within academic and ecclesiastical circles. In this collection of essays he seeks to free that ("Anabaptist") tradition from a persis- tent characterization: It is not, he contends, simply a sectarian reaction to "mainstream" forms of Christian faith, nor does it require withdrawal from public concern. Instead. the vision of a free church (made up of believers voluntarily com- mitted to following the way of the Lord Jesus) is "a stance whose claims are rooted intrinsically in the nature of the Christian faith" and offers, therefore, "a paradigm of value for all ages and communions." These are large claims worthy of consideration, even if (as I would judge) they are not adequately supported by the essays gathered in this volume. The essays are grouped undcr three general headings ("Foundations,""History," and "The Public Realm"). In these three sections Yoder considers respectively (1) the kind of moral reasoning and argument which will be appropriate from within the tradition of radical reformation, (2) some of the historical emphases of this tradition, and (3) its ap- plication to public life in America. Almost all the essays are provocative, but the reader gradually begins to long for a more thorough exposition of points which are made repeatedly but never given thorough argument. Yoder has a penchant for itemiz- ing and categorizing, and it soinetimes gets in the way of clear exposition and the thread of an argun-rent. Yoder wants Christians to take seriously their minority status in our society and to give up their attempts at forging partnerships with power--and then to think about society. From such a self-consciously minority perspective we shall not, for exam- ple, worry about the "generalizability" problem (i.e., what if the rest of the world were to become non-violent as we Christians are?). Nor, he suggests, shall we per- mit an "engineering approach to ethics" to dominate in our deliberations (as if results, not faithfulness, were what finally counted). Nor shall we permit national boudaries, which exclude some as outsiders, to become more important than the bond which unites Christians in every place. Yoder never makes clear why, in order to become sclf-conscious about their minority status, Christians must adopt the radical refor- mation's ecclesiastical model of a voluntary church composed of those who have conlnlitted themselves as adults. One seeks but does not find in the essays an ex- planation of how this adult commitment untarnished by pedobaptism but molded sometimes by quite structured and disciplined communities is to be called "volun- tary." And one looks in vain for contemporary examples of those voluntary com- munities which we might take as models. Indeed, in the introduction Yder distances himself to some extent from the radical reformation communities with which the reader might bc tempted to identify him. But then the church of which he speaks tends to lose its historical location. The reader wanting a more systematic development of Yoder's position might begin with his carlicr work. 771e Politics oj*Jesus. The essays in this volume merit careful reading. however, because they stin~ulate thought about hrw we should live as Chris- tians in a world that is no longer Christendom, and they will. by provoking reaction, help us to consider how characteristic Lutheran c~nphases (upon Jesus as Savior. 276 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY not just Exan~pleor Lord; upon infant baptisnl as a frecly given grace in wh~ch one can grow; upon God's two ways of governing the world and preserving it against Satan) Inay lead to a somewhat d~fkrent social e~hic. Gilbert Meilacnder Oberlin College READING THE NEW TESTAMENT FOR UNDERSTANDING. By Robert G. Hoerber. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986. Paper. 211 pages. Dr. Hoerber brings to his study of the New Testament a rich academic background as professor of classics at Westminster College (Missouri) and as professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Seminary, Sc. Louis. His purpose is to introduce the reader to some of the critical issues of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament within the severe limitations of 211 pages. He succeeds admirably. For each book he presents the isagogical questions of authorship, time and place of writing, and the intended audience. Unique in Hoerber's ap- proach is that he begins the subsections with study questions directed to biblical references in which the reader must himself do the research. Thus the reader is not simply told what the New Testament teaches but is guided by the author to find the answer himself. The reader reinforces the author's conclusions. One suspects that Hoerber, a lifelong pedagogue, has used this approach in lectur- ing to his college and seminary students. The intended audience is lay people in Bible classes, but they are confronted with some of the most contemporary work being done in New Testament studies. On this account it could be used profitably by students beginning their seminary studies for the purpose of general introduction. The seventeen chapters could easily be spread over twice the number of classes for lay use. Taking a more careful look at Matthew would give a good idea of Hoerber's approach. Study question one concerns the addressees. For clues the reader is referred to the genealogy and the frequent use of Old Testa- ment passages. The second question concerns universal grace and the third ques- tion the arrangement of the Gospel. Attention is called to the groupings of the sayings of Jesus into five parts to match the fivefold division of the Pentateuch. Study question four handles Jesus as the new Moses and the leader of a new Israel. Though the author does not include a scholarly bibliography, it seems as if here he may have used Gundry and R. T. France. In any event his approach is most up-to-date. Parallels between the life of Moses and Jesus are noted, e.g., the Egyptian stay, the slaughter of the children, and the escape from Egypt. About time and place of authorship, Hoerber presents both a 85 A.D. date and one before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70. The reader must decide for himself. Dogmaticism is out of place in some questions. Finally a somewhat detailed outline of the entire Gospel of Matthew is given centering on the five discourses of Jesus preceded by an introduction (genealogy, birth narratives, etc.) and followed by the conclusion with the passion and resurrection. What makes Hoerber's approach so refreshing is that with his working knowledge of contemporary New Testament studies he is able to introduce the lay person to more of the complex issues, but in a way that the reader is able to grasp them at first reading. David P. Scaer Book Reviews 277 AGAINST THE NATIOIVS: WAR AND SURVIVAL IN A LIBERAL SOCIE- TY. By Stanley Hauerwas. Minneapolis: Winston Press, 1985. 208 pages. $19.95. In this provocative collection of essays, Hauerwas is offering a quite different sort of Contra Gentes than that of St. Tllomas. He states in his introduction that he is trying to extend into ethics the theological program outlined by George Lindbeck in The Nalure of Doctrine. What this means in practice is an em- phasis on what is distinctive about the church's way of life, a focus on discon- tinuity between Christian morality and the morality of our society, and a free- ing of Christian ethics from attempts to serve or undergird the ethos of a nation state. Hauerwas then proceeds to exemplify this approach in a set of essays addressing the history of theological ethics in America, the Holocaust, Jonestown, pacifism as an ethic of Jesus' kingdom, and nuclear disarmament. The chapter "On Keeping Theological Ethics Theological" is important, not only for tracing the development of Hauerwas' views, but also because it offers a reading of the history of Christian ethics in this country. Hauerwas suggests that ethics was not a discipline distinct from theology until quite recent times. With the rules of the social gospel the new discipline of "Christian ethics" served to offer both theological rationale and social strategy for Christianizing the social order. Thus, in its origins, the discipline of Christian ethics in this country was committed to an intimate bond between religion and ethics. Surprisingly and paradoxically, however, within less than a century this same discipline could produce a book (by James Gustafson) titled, Can Elhics Be Christian? The paradox seems less perplexing, Hauerwas suggests, if we remember that bet- ween Rauschenbusch and Custafson ours had become an increasingly pIuralistic society. Christian ethicists still wanted to instruct and shape the ethos of the larger society (that is, they remained committed to the bond between religion and social ethics). But they found that direct Christian appeals now lacked easy entry and persuasive power in that society. Hence, they looked for ways to separate ethical conclusions from theological framework until the day arrived when that framework seemed irrelevant to the ethic proposed. And then it was logical to ask: Can ethics be Christian? Or can it get along just as well without the theological baggage? Hauerwas thinks something has gone awry here, and he thinks he knows what it is. The basic mistake, he believes, lay in divorcing Christian ethics form its particular theological roots and in trying to use the discipline to support and nourish the American social order. If the church is really a new society living out its history in the old aeon, its ethic must always be "against the nations." This leads Hauerwas to adopt a pacifist stance, and the last three chapters of the book-in my judgment, the most important ones on particular issues- take up questions of war and nuclear disarmament. Their arguments are too involved to trace here, but they are instructive in many ways. Hauerwas is par- ticularly careful to trace different attitudes toward nuclear war to different understandings of history-and then, in turn, to different eschatologies. If, as I would argue, he does not take seriously enough the demands of living within both aeons simultaneously, he is nevertheless a provocative and profound critic of many contemporary views of war. He explores critically the Roman Catholic bishops' pastoral on war (The Challenge of Peace) and the thought of nuclear disarmament advocates like Jonathan Schell, whose moral bottom line is the continued survival of the human species. There is much with which to argue 278 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY here-whether Hauerwas has really captured the ethical shape of Lindbeck's theological program, whether he has successfully captured the shape which a life of discipleship must take, whether he can still find ways to affirm that God is at work in the whole of creation and not just in the church-but also much to be learned. Gilbert Meilaender Oberlin College ELECTION AND PREDESTINATION. By Paul K. Jewett. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985. 147 + xii pages. Paper, $8.95. This is a very readable book on a complicated topic. The writer supplies an historical overview of the treatment of the subject, gives a not altogether satisfac- tory summary of the biblical data, and treats with some detail the question of election and Israel and with considerable detail the problem of election and the individual. One is never in doubt as to the writer's meaning and the goal for which he is making, nor is one left in doubt as to the position the writer himself takes. Without being rigid or unyielding, he is undoubtedly biblical and evangeIical and Calvinistic. This position comes out especially in the section entitled, "Some Reflections on the Mystery of Grace" (pp. 106-108). Among other things he insists, "The paradox of divine mercy and judgment surely corn- mends humility in those who would honor the data of revelation:' "the truth in the debate is not all on the one side:' "the doctrine is not to be neutralized by nicely balanced, artificially contrived compromises. . .the result is not a doc- trine but a committee report:' and "the doctrine must insist that the God of the Scripture is the God whose grace is grounded in his free and sovereign choice which precedes and is independent of the sinner's choice:' However, there are some aspects of the book which are not so good. The Lutheran position, that given symbolical expression in the Formula of Concord, is not presented with any fullness or accuracy- Luther is declared to be given over to a double predestination, while the teaching of the Formula is said to give a "definitive statement" to the "mild Augustinianism" of Melanchthon, earlier described as "the semi-Augustinian synergism of the Middle Ages:' Now, this is quite wrong. One wonders whether the care of the writer for once deserted him or whether this is a characterization of Lutheranism which he heard somewhere and which he uncritically retained, or whether he just did not see the possibility of insisting on the pure grace of God in relation to the saved, on the one hand, and of insisting, on the other, that the lost are lost solely through their own fault. To put the last possibility another way, perhaps he does not see that the eternal choice of God of some for salvation does not imply a choice of others for the opposite, that election does not obviously imply re- jection. Lutherans in the Formula insist both on the universal grace of God, applying to all men and applying to them seriously, and on the sole grace of God in the case of the saved. The lost are described in other terms altogether, not in terms of election and predestination, but in terms of their own fault and their own responsible choice. Some very bad logic shows up in the writer's discussion of Israel. After describ ing the view of the Reformers that "lsrael" is not Jews but spiritual Israel, i.e., all the elect people of God, both Jews and Gentiles, Jewett writes: "The church Book Reviews 279 no longer shares its status as God's chosen people with IsraeI. Rather, the church is the people of God in a way that excludes Israel, save for those few Jews who confess Christ and thereby cease to be Jews because they have become Chris- tians" (pp. 36,37). Now this is bad enough for, if to become Christians means to cease to be Jen-s, then to become Christians also means to cease to be Gentiles. But worse is to come when the author insists: "As we have already noted, this traditional understanding. . . is in fact anti-Semitic" (p. 37). Where is Galatians 3:28 in this judgment? And how can a view which says that the elect among Jews and Gentiles make up the church be anti-Semitic? Jews and Gentiles are put on the same level in this view of things. The view of Jewett is, in effect, anti-Gentile. Attention is drawn to two rather serious minor blemishes. On page 7 we have grutiu irr~sistibil~~s (instead of irresistibilis). And on page 138 we have the phrase "with the nurninosen" (Otto is referred to in the context.). This seems to be a strange carrying-over of a German adjective form into the English material; better by far would be: "with the numinous." This reviewer holds that, in spite of the various criticisms that have been made, the book is as a whole very worthwhile. No evangelical Christian could possibly find fault with its concluding paragraph and the final sentences: "Salvation is his work, not ours; it is of grace-all of grace. This is the truth we confess in the doctrine of election and the truth that we seal with a solemn Amen:' H. P. Hamann THE WESTMINSTER DICTIONARY OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS. Edited by James F. Childress and John Macquarrie. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1986. 678 pages. $24.95. In 1977 the Encyclopedia of Ignorance was published. Eminent scientists from around the world surveyed some of the many unsclved global problems. Given that educated people do not readily admit ignorance, the publication seemed to bear out the words of the Preacher: "Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh" (Eccl. 12:12). One field of study that can generate this "weariness" and where demonstration of this ignorace can be detected (even among the theologically trained) is the discipline of ethics. Formal training in the study of ethics is at best limited for both the pastor and the teacher of our church body, but there is seemingly no limit to the spectrum of theories, practices, issues and questions that confront us as church profes- sionals. The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics underscores, for the intellectually honest, how ignorant we may be when it comes to topics such as "Pederasty" (the sexual love of children) and "Genetic Screening:' while at the same time its well written subject articles can begin to bridge that gap of ignorance. John Macquarrie's 1967 publication, Dictionary of Christian Ethics, has been revised and expanded under the skillful direction of bioethicist James Childress. With approximately forty percent of the entries retained from Marquarrie's first edition, the comparative reader will appreciate the wealth of new topics and contributors. Reflecting an international background, the 167 contributors to the 620-entry publication represent a wide range of religious traditions and academic disciplines. Arranged in alphabetical order, the collected articles cover 280 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY seven major subject areas: (1) basic ethical concepts, (2) biblical ethics, (3) theological ethics, (4) philosophical traditions, (5) major non-Christian religious traditions in ethics, (6) psychological, sociological, political, and other concepts important for Christian ethics, and (7) substantial ethical problems, such as abortion and war. Most of the articles include bibliographic references for fur- ther study and a useful cross-reference system. It is not expected that the reader will find himself in agreement with every contributor on every subject. As Childress writes in his preface: "The dictionary is designed to indicate what is controversial as well as what is settled in Chris- tian ethical reflection:' This is a resource volume (with excellent credentials) and should be used (as well as recommended) for resource purposes, i.c, to pro- vide informational background, to clarify issues, and to stimulate one's own thought process. Christian ethics is that kind of demanding task where ignorance is not bliss. Randall W. Shields THE WISDOM OF PROVERBS, JOB, AND ECCLESIASTES. By Derek Kidner. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1985. 172 pages. Paper, $5.95. Derek Kidner, formerly warden of Tyndale House, Cambridge, has written a very readable and instructive introduction to the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. This effort does not represent Kidner's first venture into the field of chochmah literary genre. In 1964 he issued a commentary on Proverbs, writ- ten for the 7jndaIe OId Tes~arnent Commentaries, a series to which he also con- tributed commentaries on Genesis and Psalms. After an introductory chapter entitled, "Meeting of Minds:' the author devotes two chapters to each of the three major wisdom books of the Old Testament, namely, Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. In his final chapter Kidner contrasts the teachings of the three books with each other. In his three appendices he discusses the extra-canonical wisdom writings of the Near East and the two apocryphal wisdom books, Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon (considered deutero-canonical by both the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches). Kidner's bibliography (about five pages), not intended to be exhaustive, gives an excellent selection of books and journal articles. Any person reading these volumes and learned articles will acquire a thorough knowledge of the whole fieId of Near Eastern and biblical wisdom literature. All Scriptural references appearing in the book are listed in an "Index of Scriptural References:' Kidner is sensitive to both the literary form and the theological contents of the three books discussed. He adequately explains the basic structure and inner character of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. In addition to giving his analysis of these three books, he also devotes a chapter to each, presenting and evaluating the changing views of Old Testament critical scholars concerned with the Old Rstament wisdom literature. Kidner refers to over one hundred theologians and biblical specialists who over the years have expressed opinions on the Old Testa- ment's wisdom literature. The author claims that the sentence, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 6; 7; Job 2828; Ps, 111:lO; Eccl. 12:13), sets forth the uniqueness of Hebrew wisdom literature as compared with that of Ugarit, Book Reviews 28 1 Sumeria, Egypt, and Babylonia. The word "beginning" he claims might be rendered "the first principle:' It is this phrase which "keeps the shrewdness of Proverbs from slipping into mere interest, the perplexity of Job from mutiny, and the disillusion of Ecclesiastes from final despair:' Kidner rejects the tradi- tional understanding of "wisdom" as a person in Proverbs 8. This book can be of help to the novice as well as to the expert interested in the Old Testament's wisdom literary genre. Raymond F. Surburg THE PREACHER AS JACOB: A NEW PARADlGM FOR PREACHING. By Kenneth L. Gibble. Minneapolis: Seabury Press, 1985. 136 pages. Just as Jacob wrestled with God at Peniel, so the preacher wrestles with God through His Word in the sermon text to discover the will of God and the "turn- ing point" inherent in the Word for his life and the lives of his hearers. This, it seems, is the new paradigm which Gibble offers contemporary preachers in The Preacher as Jacob. The most salient concept in this work is Gibble's treat- ment of the "daimonic" Here he distinguishes the "daimonic" from the demonic by defining the former, in the words of Rollo May, as "the urge in every being to affirm itself, assert itself, perpetuate and increase itself" (p. 1.). Gibble sug- gests that this "dark side" exists in everyone, including the preacher, and is the underlying cause of all our personal and social ills. In more confessional terms, it seems the author is suggesting that the preacher recognize and confront his "Old Adam" in order to identify and to relate to the dynamics of the personal and social disease intrinsic in the text. It is through this that the preacher begins his "wrestling with God:' As he discovers his "dark sid<' the preacher employs it to confront God and His Word and in the wrestling comes to understand and appreciate the divine will against the "daimonicl' Then, in the preaching, the preacher recounts the struggle in terms which relate it to the hearers' own particular wrestlings with God. If this is done, Gibble notes, the preacher can approach and develop his sermon as a healing act. Gibble asserts that in order for the sermon to be most effective it should be inductively developed and spoken in concrete and relational terms. Gibble prefers the story-drama sermon because it can best convey the dynamics of the wrest- ling match with its use of conflict and plot development. Though this methodology can be used effectively at times, it seems Gibble's summary dismissal of deductive preaching bespeaks his lack of awareness concerning the power of strong deductive development which communication research has shown to be more effective for both didactic and persuasive purposes. Gibble's comments concerning concrete and relational language are important and should be heeded by today's preachers. He notes that so often the preacher spouts theological jargon, religious abstractions, and pious platitudes which have lit- tle meaning for most listeners. Gibble suggests that the preacher's language should be "incarnational"; language which is specific, particular, imagistic and active. Though most confessional readers will wince at Gibble's use of higher 282 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY criticism, modern psychological theory, and Tillich, a tempered study of this book may provide the preacher invaluable insights as he seeks to proclaim the Word of God in terms which are readily meaningful and important to his hearers. Donald L. Rice, Jr. Fort Wayne, Indiana GALATIANS. By Edgar Krentz. PHILIPPIANS, PHILEMON. By John Koen- ing. I THESSALONIANS. By Donald H. Juel. Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1985. Paper. 255 pages. The foreword tells us that "The Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament is written for laypeople, students, and pastors." The commentaries in this volume are scholarly productions and will be helpful for students and pastors, but are not likely to be very helpful for laypeople. The language and style used by all the writers, while not strictly technical in character, is still the language of scholars and reflects the situation of the classroom rather than that of the worshipping congregation or the Sunday Bible class. The present reviewer, who has written a number of similar popular commentaries, believes that more attention must be paid to the explanation of major matters of the text than has been done in the present commentaries. The average layman just does not pick up the im- plication(~) of a short aside as in the second of the two sentences now quoted from Krentz: "The Galatian move shocks because it is so rapid, so drastic (so quickly). No measuring point is given.'' Pastors who have used my own commentaries in Australia report that the average layman finds these too dif- ficult to understand without help. The point is, I think, that the present television- viewing generation has never mastered or has lost the art of connected reading, so that the writing of commentaries that are intelligible to them, no matter how much time is spent on making them readily understandable, is virtually impossible. To make some comments on the individual writings, Krentz is a reliable guide through the letter to the Galatians, and the many notes are as important and helpful as the commentary proper. Krentz has treated my own commentary on Galatians very generously. It is rather curious that 1 should have to be critical of him where he has been critical of me-in the outline. Krentz makes quite a point of the claim that his commentary "treats the body of the letter as one argument in three stages" (p. 102). He holds that my own commentary distinguishes what is biographical, doctrinal, and ethical. In this judgment he is quite wrong, for my commentary distinctly marks the theme as "The Gospel of St. Paul, the Only Gospel, is the Gospel of Freedom:' and the idea of freedom is highlighted wherever possible. As for Krentz, he finds the theme of the letter in verses 11 and 12 of the first chapter and formulates it as follows: "Paul's Gospel Is Not Determined by Human Standards:' The unfolding of that theme, he holds, follows in two parts: one, that his gospel is not from humans (1:13-221) and, two, that it is also not proclaimed in accordance with any human stan- dard. Two major arguments demonstrate the latter point: (1) his gospel brings liberty that destroys human legalism, (3:l-5:12) and (2) his gospel impels Chris- tians to true loving service. This theme (can a negative be a theme?) and parts completely mystifies me. Book Reviews 283 The commentary on Philippians often circles around the meaning rather than hitting it head on. This is particularly true of the discussion of the section 25-11. In spite of all the discussion of the hymn and its sources and Paul's treatment of it, the actual exegesis of the hymn itself is disappointing. The method adopted, in my judgment, is all wrong. One must start with the material itself as part of the Philippian letter-if 25-11 is a hymn, Paul has either composed it himself or used it approvingly-and only then make some comments on its origin, of which we strictly know nothing. The acceptance of the phrase of the RSV transla- tion, "a thing to be grasped:' is to put Paul or the hymn in contradiction with itself, for "in the form of God" and "equality with God" are equivalents, so that it is impossible for one with the form of God to look on equality with God as "a thing to be grasped." Koening does not want to associate Philemon with Colossians but with Philip- pians. Nothing depends on the position, but the argumentation for his view operates almost wholly with arguments from silence and neglects the close association between Philemon and Colossians in the common names of those who send greetings and the quite remarkable breadth of treatment of the master- slave relation in Colossians. Koenig sees the epistle to Philemon as being within the long tradition of Judeo-Christian attempts to achieve justice (p. 185). Actually, there is no attempt at all by Paul to broaden the case of Onesimus into the broader problem of slavery. What the epistle does show is that Chris- tian faith and love can overcome all forms of injustice from within, i.e., from within the Christian community. The two-page commentary on Philemon by Emil Brunner in his Justice and the Social Order is a necessary complement to this commentary of Koenig. There are two special comments to make concerning the last commentary, that of Juel on 1 Thessalonians. The first concerns the very critical attitude adopted by him in relation to the Acts of the Apostles. The endeavor to find as much agreement as possible between Acts and Paul is as scholarly as the endeavor to make the differences as irreconcilable as possible. There is no special value in an excessive scepticism. The second special comment has to do with the supposed contradiction between Paul in 1 Thessalonias 2:13-16 and Romans 9-11. Juel sees no other way out of the problem than to speak of a development of Paul's thought on the Jews (pp. 219-221). 1 do not see the necessity for this solution. Paul is not making fundamental statements on Israel as a whole in the light of God's plan or judgment in 1 Thessalonians. What we have is a simple reaction to bitter experiences of Christians at the hands of some Jews in Macedonia and in Judea. Paul's reaction is less than perfect from the point of view of a Christian morality, but it is natural enough. It is also not anti- Semitic. He could have made the same statement if the persons concerned had been Gentiles. H.P. Hamann 284 CONCORDIA THEOUIGICAL QUARTERLY THEOIDGIANS UNDER HITLER: GERHARD KITTEL, PAUL ALTHAUS, AND EMANUEL HIRSCH. By Robert P. Ericksen. New Haven, Connec- ticut: Yale Univeristy Press, 1985. 245 pages. $20.00. The three representative theologians in question are Gerhard Kittel of "word book" fame, the Lutheran confessional scholar Paul Althaus, and Emanuel Hirsch. Of the three, Hirsch is by far the most interesting. He was in the 1920's and 1930's ranked as one of the giants of twentieth-century German theology, along with such as Karl Barth, Rudoplf Bultmann, and Emil Brunner. But all three of Ericksen's subjects were eminently respectable figures and all three, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, supported National Socialism. Ericksen's interest is in finding out how it happened that such distinguished thinkers could end up being so disastrously wrong. Ericksen's answer is just a little limp. He suggests that neither theological orthodoxy nor clear thinking can help very much in making political judgments. Some theologians-Paul Tillich, for examp1e''jumped left and others jumped right!' If his answer is not very satisfactory, Ericksen nonetheless tells the story well, and it is a little-known story that very much needs to be told. As a student and young professor, Hirsch was an intimate friend and intellectual soul-mate of Paul Tillich's. He was, in addition, the premier Kierkegaard scholar of his day, and his political commitments must be understood in terms of the urgency of existential decision about the historically concrete. Ericksen attempts to make the case that in the early 1930's one could be ex- cused for thinking that National Socialism was the benign revolution for which Hirsch and so many others were looking. Fair enough. But one must also ask whether there were not from the beginning danger signs that, had they been heeded, might have prevented Hirsch from providing a theological rationale for the Deutschen Christen, or German Christians, who attempted to capture the church for the Nazi cause. Some of the theological danger signs were lifted up by Paul Tillich in his "open letter" to Emanuel Hirsch of 1934 (published for the first time in its entirety in English in The Thought yf Paul TiNich, Harper and Row, 1985). In Germany, Tillich and Hirsch had collaborated in develop- ing what Tillich called the "Kairos doctrine:' In Tillich's case the doctrine was employed in the service of his "Religious Socialism, " but both thinkers saw it as a useful way of understanding the intersections of historical movements and "the God who acts." In his open letter, which Ericksen also discusses at some length, Tillich criticizes Hirsch for neglecting "the eschatological proviso" that must accom- pany all historical judgments and political judgments. As Tillich insisted, there must be both a reservaium and an obligatum in political commitments. If the "reservation" is swallowed up by the "obligation:' the way is opened to "en- thusiasm" with its attendant fanaticisms. In this connection, Lutheran readers of Theologians under Hitler will be provoked to think again about the uses and abuses of the "two kingdoms" doctrine or, more precisely, the Lutheran teaching of the two-fold rule of God. And all readers of the present volume should be put in mind of the current debate over sundry liberation theologies. Indeed, there are uncanny analogies of both language and ideas between liberation theology today and the theology of the Deutschen Christen as advanced by Hirsch. The analogies are by no means weakened by the fact that Hirsch favored Nazism and current liberation theology is closely associated with Marxist-Leninism. Whatever the political differences Book Reviews 285 (and, as Hannah Arendt and many others have demonstrated, the differences between Marxism and Nazisrn are not that great), the critical similarity is in theological method and conclusion. In the case of both Hirsch and Juan Luis Segundo theological truth claims are subordinated to the "truth" of the libera- tionist struggle. Finally, even the "true church" is defined in terms of its solidarity with the cause and its ideology. Thus in Nicaragua today the iiberationists posit "the people's church" against the church defined by traditional Roman Catholic theology, much as Hirsch posited the Deutschen Christen against both the Con- fessing Church of Barmen and the Christian communities that remained politically unaliglned. (In truth, most of the Confessing Church, its subsequent image of courageous "resistance" notwithstanding, did not oppose the Third Reich politically.) This is a profoundly disturbing book, and more especially for Lutherans. Ericksen is admirably consistent in trying to understand these theologians on their own terms and in the context of their times. And that is the spirit in which the book should be read although, of course, judgments must be made. It would be unfortunate, I believe, were the reader to conclude that the remedy for the neglect of the reservatu~n is to forget the obligcrturn. Christians must continue to think theologically about the obligations and limits of politics. And most of us will continue to believe that we must run the risk of making commitments with respect to political ideas and direction. Theologiuns under Hitler is finally a cautionary tale, and those who take it to heart will be better able to engage and help others to engage the political task ifi a manner that keeps all temporal progranls under the judgment of the eternal. Richard John Neuhaus New York, New York C. S. LEWIS AND THE SEARCH FOR RATlONAL RELIGION. By John Beversluis. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985. Paperback, 182 pages. It is the author's considered opinion, and he exerts every effort to prove his point, that "C. S. Lewis needs to be rescued not only from the evils of excessive hostility but also and equally from the evils of excessive loyalty" (p. xiii). It is the latter which seems to occupy the writer above all, seeking to show that Lewis' famed apologetic in behalf of Christian faith was not grounded as securely as many thought, that Lewis' contention that he became a Christian "because the evidence seemed to allow no other alternative" was actually full of holes. Beversluis refers in turn to the various arguments which Lewis mustered for God's existence and His caring love for mankind, the argument from desire, the moral argument (which so impressed Kant), the argument from reason (against naturalism), etc., liberally quoting significant statements by Lewis to illustrate his argumentation. Beversluis is convinced that Lewis tactics over against his opponents involved setting up straw men and then shooting them down with arguments that often begged the question and were fallacious because they set up false dilemmas. Most readers will recall Lewis' famous example that focus- ed on Jesus' claim of being able to forgive sins and of being true God. Many people are willing to accept the statement that Jesus was a great moral teacher, says Lebvis, but nor that He was true God. Lewis then argues that this is an indefensible position in view of the fact that anyone who said the things that 286 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Jesus said and who was not true God at the same time could not be a great teacher of morality; he would have to be a lunatic. Beversluis quarrels with Lewis on this line of argumentation, as well as virtually all the rest of Lewis's apologetics, and questions whether in the final analysis he contributed as much to the "case for Christianity" as he has been credired with. Late in life Lewis married an American woman with two young sons, entering into what has been described as a very happy union. Yet when Lewis had to endure with her a debilitating illness that finally took her in death, it seems, says Beversluis, that then the argument from pain, on which Lewis had also grounded some of his argument for God's existence and God's caring love for suffering mankind, went into an eclipse and growing cynicism ensued. Yet Beversluis concludes that, although he has poked some holes in the "Lewis cult" balloon, "and although Lewis the man must be distinguished from Lewis the myth, his apologetic writings repay study" even still. Admirers of Lewis will, therefore, want to sift through Beversluis' argumentation for another side of the story. E. F. Klug GREEK ACCENTS: .4 STUDENT'S MANUAL. By D. A. Carson. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1985. 167 pages. It is both surprising and gratifying to be confronted by a book on Greek ac- cents in an ageof computers and MTV. Perhaps the niceties of the ancient world are not completely lost, even in our benighted world! Don Carson, a prolific writer of wide-ranging interests has, in this volume, sought to introduce the stu- dent to the mysteries of accenting, because, he suspects, "more than half the students who study beginning Greek, especially New Testament Greek, are not taught the rudiments of accentuation. . ." (p. 9). Furthermore, he laments, "the introductory grammars which deal with accents scatter their information throughout their pages . . ." (p. 10). while "some of that information [is] cor- rect for Attic Greek but incorrect for the Greek of the New Testament" (p. 10). The book is simply organized. It contains chapters much like an elementary Greek grammar, with separate lessons on the various parts of the Greek language (e.g., second declension adjectives, imperfect indicative active, third declension neuter nouns, etc.); each has an explanation fcllowed by one or more exercises; and the book concludes with a summary of all the accenting rules and an answer key for all exercises. Carson has succeeded, I believe, quite well. His presentation is nothing if not complete, especially his exhaustive treatment of small and troublesome words such as ouk and estin. Particularly valuable for this reviewer was Lesson 9, "Enclitics and Proclitics:' an excellent summary of the often arcane rules for accenting "words without accents." It tells clearly what one does with a string of enclitics: each one throws an acute accent onto the word before (p. 49)! I may also note Carson's fully correct treatment of the accenting of strong aorist imperatives, especially the exceptions relating to eipe and elthe (Lesson 17). There are, however, several problems with this book. The first is that it in- dulges in overkill. Most chapters are not needed as separate chapters, e.g., Lesson 18 (Liquid Verbs), Lesson 21 (Third Declension Neuter Nouns), Lesson 26 (Perfect and Pluperfect). They give an exaggerated sense of importance to this subject and are, in fact, chapters on morphology rather than chapters on ac- Book Reviews 287 centing per .ye. Second, the explanation of contract verb accenting (first prin- cipal part) is still too complicated (Lesson 4). One need only say: If the accent on the uncontracted form falls on the short vowel at the end of the stem, it will become a circumflex on the contracted syllable in the contracted form (cg., philiesthe-phileisthe). In all other cases, the accent remains where and as it is (e.g., t!ph~leon-eph~loun and ephilebmetha-ephilou'metha). Finally, 1 have never had any sympathy for arranging the cases as nominative, accusative, genitive, dative. 1 know the English delight in this arrangement but, given the listing of the "principle parts" of nouns as nominative and genitive, it seems to me quite silly. The order becomes bothersome, I think, for American users of a text. James W. VoeIz SUPPLY-SIDE STEWARDSHIP: A CALL TO BIBLICAL PRIORITIES. By Waldo J. CVerning. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986. Dynamic renewal in the church srems from Biblical stewardship based on God's grace in Christ. In his latest book Dr. Werning suggests that many churches practice maintenance stewardship based on survival concerns and the tyranny of the urgent. A companion volume to Christian Stewards. Confrontedand Com- mitted (CPH, 1982), this stimulating volume describes the characteristics of supply-side stewardship based on biblical priorities in sharp contrast to tradi- tional or man-centered stewardship. Werning conceptualizes a broad application of supply-side stewardship in the local parish. A balance is needed between Word and worship, fellowship, and stewardship and evangelism methodology. An over-emphasis on any of the elements or a neglect of one of these biblical ingredients leads to distortion and a shriveling of the church's mission. In an interesting discussion, Werning uses the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to describe the flow of God's supp- ly in the Christian life. Building on stewards as servants, justified and sanctified, the book describes a Biblical education process of preparation, proclamation, persuasion, and par- ticipation. Creative, spiritual leadership stresses a serving approach which disciples others to lead in the same servant style. Based on God's unending source of supply through Word and Sacraments, God's people give the best they can give as good stewards of the mysteries of God. Like its predecessor, this new book offers every pastor and thoughtful lay leader a thoroughly biblical guideline for stewardship in the parish. Werning's sage advice wilI help advance the mis- sion of the church in a Lutheran context. Stephen J. Carter 288 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE. Theories of Inspiration, Revelation, and the Canon of Scripture. By Robert Gnuse. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1985. This book "presents a general overview of the different models for biblical authority proposed within the greater Christian traditions through the ages:' according to its jacket. It is written as an "introduction to the basic issues of the Bible as God's Word!' The author perceives the modern views concerning biblical authority to be classified according to five different models: (1) inspira- tion, (2) holy history, (3) existentialism, (4) Christological, and (5) what he calls "models of limitation!' The author is a graduate of Seminex and teaches Old Testament at Loyola University in New Orleans. The outline of the book is good and is perhaps the one redeeming feature. Once the author has established his outline, however, the enterprise founders, and with the precipitiousness of the Titanic in its maiden voyage. Although the last four "models" which Gnuse treats are done with considerable detail and accuracy, the chapter which deals with "inspiration as a general model for authority" is a masterpiece of distortion. The reader is able to glean only the predilections and animadversions of Dr. Gnuse on what is the traditional, orthodox, ca$olic, and certainly Lutheran doctrine of the authority of the Bible. I will not burden the reader with specifics except to say that a paragraph on page 29, which contains five sentences, contains six errors in logic or in fact; and a paragraph on page 31, which contains eight sentences, contains eight such errors. Gnuse's treatment of salvation history as the basis of authority is a great deal more accurate and discerning. For instance, he points out that, if history is the authority for the church, then the Bible is not, and that will never do. He disagrees with the idea of Cullmann, Richardson, and Dodd that the Bible is in some sense authoritative for the church as it assesses and proclaims God's acts in history. His mentor for his critique of these scholars is James Barr, who is not known for his devotion to objectivity. The author's treatment of the existentialist doctrine of authority is quite fair, as far as it goes, although brief. Unfortunately, he falls into the same old mystical, noncognitive understanding of the function of biblical and theological language which has marked the sub- jectivistic madness of neoorthodoxy and existentialistic theology from Karl Barth's Romans Commentary to our present day. A chapter on "Christocen- tric Models" of authority discusses Christ as the center of authority for the church. Those listed as espousing this view and some kind of Christocentric approach to Scripture are Luther, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Albrecht Ritschl, Martin Kahler, Ernst Troelsch, and Albert Schweitzer. As the author presents this view, it assumes the aura of denominationalism and Marcionism. The final theory of authority to engage Gnuse's attention he calls "models of limitation." Under this formal category he includes not only post-Reformation Roman Catholicism, which limited biblical authority by stressing ecclesiastical authority, but also romantics such as Herder and Michaelis. Lineurnenturn praeter nihil: the book has little of value beyond a good outline. Robert Preus Book Reviews 289 BAKER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PSYCHOLOGY. Edited by David G. Benner. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1985. 1223 pages. David G. Benner is a professor of psychology at Wheaton College. He holds a Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology from York University, Toronto. He studied theology at Ontario Theological Seminary and psychoanalytic psychology at the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis. He maintains a part-time private practice of psychotherapy in the Chicago area and serves as a staff psychologist at Glen- dale Heights Community Hospital. Under Dr. Benner's guidance, as editor, psychologists from various disciplines and practices contributed articles ranging all the way from "Abnormal Psychology" to "Z-Process Attachment Therapy: ' Individual articles present psychological research and psychological principles in a manner understandable to college-educated readers. Theological comments and evaluation help the reader to correlate psychological principles with relevant theological considerations. Such insights will be useful to the parish pastor as he tries to understand various human behaviors with which he comes into contact in everyday life as well as in problem and crisis situations. Information in this encyclopedia can be helpful to the parish pastor as he goes about his special counseling duties. It can also help him with concepts and principles used by physicians and psychiatrists who are providing their professional services to the same people to whom the pastor ministers. While the limits of an encyclopedia must be recognized by anyone who wants to pursue depth, this volume can certainly serve as a good introduc- tion to psychological considerations for the pastor who did not major in psychology during his college years. This should be a helpful reference in a parish pastor's study. Edgar Walz PRAYER: PERSONAL AND LITURGICAL. By Agnes Cunningham, SSCM. Message of the Fathers of the Church, 16. Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, 1985. 147 pages. Paper. At first glance, this little book seems like a meager attempt towards a theology of prayer in the early fathers, since there is not much analysis here of the writings of the fathers. But Agnes Cunningham's purpose is not to formulate a theology of prayer on the basis of an extensive examination of the "message" of the fathers, for she allows the fathers to speak for themselves. By the time we are in the midst of this book, we have to agree with her decision to let us "hear" the fathers on prayer, for any extensive examination of their theology of prayer could not yield as much fruit as their very words of prayer. This does not mean to say that Prof. Cunningham's brief analysis is not worth the price of the book. Part 1 of the book entitled "The Patristic Doctrine of Christian Prayer" is her evaluation of the development of a theology of prayer in the fathers. She makes precise formulations concerning the difference bet- ween supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings; between liturgical prayer and personal prayer, both of which were formal and communal, con- sciously done within the context of a full and embracing ecclesiology; and be- tween "existential" prayers, which concern "the daily confession of faith in a spirit of eschatological readiness for the Second Coming or for martyrdom 290 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY and of intercession for the needs of the Church and the world:' and "mystical" prayer, which "enables us to relive that crossing into the spiritual world which we have already experienced in a mysterious and hidden way in baptism." Her final chapter in Part 1 shows how early Christian prayer developed, becoming "progressively theological and increasingly holistic or integrated:' Prof. Cunn- ingham classifies the theology of prayer in the early fathers under three headings: mission (prayers for the mission of the church), mysticism (prayers for the Iiv- ing out of one's baptism) , and memorial (prayers for full participation in the eucharistic life). In light of the pentecostal and pietistic problems that have plagued the church, Prof. Cunningham's book is enlightening and a great contribution towards understanding the theology of prayer in the fathers. She argues very persuasively that the early fathers centered their lives of prayer around the Lord's Prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist: Tertullian insisted that in Jesus Christ, a new kind of prayer had been given to humanity. This prayer was to be found most clearly exemplified in the formula known as the Lord's Prayer. The significance of this prayer was marked by the place assigned to it in the eucharistic celebration from earliest times and by the attention given it in treatises and commentaries during the patristic age. . .for Christians of the pre-Nicene era, the whole of their participation in the eucharistic liturgy was symbolized in their AMEN. . .the eucharistic supper enshrined in Prayer and Word became the focus of all Christian worship and the central experience of Christian spirituali- ty. . .Christian prayer, as understood and taught by the Fathers, was, essen- tially, christologica!-therefore, bibIical and ecclesiological-therefore, sacramental. If Prof. Cunningham is right, it is easy to see how today's emphasis on per- sonal and individualistic prayer, on non-ecclesiological and non-communal prayer is not in any way consistent with the theology of prayer articulated by the fathers. The prayers of the fathers, according to Prof. Cunningham, were always com- munal, eucharistic, in imitation of the Lord's Prayer, and in the context of the church. Perhaps the greatest strength of this book is the selection of writings from the fathers that illustrates the discussion of the patristic doctrine of Christian prayer. Before each selection, Prof. Cunningham gives a short introduction to the author and the context of the writing that is very helpful in understanding the writings of the fathers. The selections themselves are excellent. Two chapters stand out in particular. In chapter 6, entitled "The Lord's Prayer:' Prof. Cunn- ingham has given us access to the thinking of Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian of Carthage, Gregory of Nyssa, and Cyril of Jerusalem on the Lord's Prayer; and in chapter 7, entitled "Poets and Musicians Prag' a literary dimension to prayer is demonstrated through the magnificent poetry of Clement of Alexandria, Marius Victorinus, Ephrem the Syrian, Gregory of Nazianzus, Ambrose of Milan, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, and Romanos Melodos. In both these selec- tions of the fathers, as well as the other selections Prof. Cunningham has chosen, it is dear that the deep and abiding biblical theology of the early fathers gave them an eschatological vision in their prayers of the restoration of the world to its Source through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Aurelius Prudentius Clemens concludes in "A Hymn Before Sleep": Book Reviews 291 We seek, in sleep, refreshment, Renewal of toil-wearied bodies; We hope for protecrion From dark, threatening phantoms. Remember this, Christian; You have been washed In the saving water of baptism, Anointed with holy oil. When beckoned by sleep, You approach an unsullied bed, Place on your head and your heart The sign of the cross of salvation. Sin is cast out by the cross, Darkness and evil, dispelled. The rnind and the spirit find peace Under this sacred sign. Depart, then, tormenting dreams! Be gone, deceiver of souls! Off with y9ur evil phantoms! Peace to the sleeper! Let the false serpent be gone- Depart with seductions and fantasies; Let no evil beset The heart of the sleeper! Here is the Christ. Evil, in all forms, be gone! Before the conquering sign Let the enerny retreat! While the body seeks rest from fatigue, Short though the peaceful hours be, Even in sleep, Let our thoughts be of Christ! Arthur Just KARL BARTH'S CHRISTOLOGY. ITS BASIC ALEXANDRIAN CHARACTER. By Charles T. Waldrop. Berlin, New York, Amsterdam: Mouton Publishers, 1984. Hard cover, $40.45. 265 pages. In his published doctoral dissertation, Dr. Waldrop offers a pleasingly writ- ten and, on the whole, meticu!ously researched account of the main features of Karl Barth's Christology. Those who regard Barth as the foremost twentieth- century heir of the thought of John Calvin will react with surprise to Dr. Waldrop's conclusion that the Base1 theologian's Christology belongs in the Alex- andrian rather than in the Antiochene camp when it is considered in patristic perspective. Of course, all hinges on the definition of key terms, so that it is well to begin by examining the sense given by Dr. Waldrop to6'Alexandrian Christology." The latter exists, we are told, when one identifies our Lord as the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, who took a complete human nature into the unity of His person at the incarnation, with the result 292 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY that "Jesus" denotes not a human person distinct from God, but God's incar- nate Son (p. 194). That Barth advocated this position is amply demonstrated in the chapters "Barth's Alexandrian Christological Doctrine" and "Barth's Alexdandrian Christological Language:' In this way, however, Dr. Waldrop has proved merely that the structure of Barth's Christology meets the minimum requirements of Christian orthodoxy. He has not by a long chalk indicated the Alexandrian credentials of the substance of Barth's Christology. Reflection on the mystery of Christ's person can oniy be hampered when cen- tral concepts are rendered intentionally vague, as is the case when Dr. Waldrop operates with two distinct definitions of the term "Antiochiant' On the one hand, it refers to the fifth-century theologians of Antioch who taught some kind of union between the rnan conceived in Mary's womb and the divine per- son of the eternal Logos. On the other hand, it also denotes the post- Enlighten- ment "Christology" which posits some association between "the person God" and "the person Jesus:' When Dr. Waldrop begins his book by outlining the divergent views of the contemporary scholars Welch and Mclntyre, the confu- sion is only made worse. The reader is not quite sure whether these gentlemen are talking for themselves or for Barth. Nor is one's bewilderment cleared up when one finds Barth himself claiming that only "God" is a "Person" and not, as has traditionally been supposed, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, That Barth can bounce back with talk of the intra-divine relations of three "modes of being" is evidence of the tantalizing ambiguity that marks his whole thought. In simply linguistic terms, Dr. Waldrop makes a convincing case that Barth's Christology is what he is pleased to call "Alexandrian" but, when one presses through the words to the underlying realities, one is inclined to think that the early chapter. "An Antiochian Interpretation of Barth's Christology:' has more to be said for it than its author supposes. This chapter brings out those aspects of Barth's thought that have been most distasteful to conservative I,utherans, namely, his teaching that Holy Scripture and proclamation only "become" God's Word in the "event of revelation." Lurking around in the background seems to be some subliminal Hegelianism which becomes eloquent on the wings of Barth's rhetoric but is unmasked as sheer nonsense when carefully scruiinized. Thus Barth can dazzle us by pronouncing that our Lord's person and work are identical and that He assumed a sinful humanity which was nevertheiess sinless! Within an overall structure which avows the anhypostasis of Jesus' manhood and its enhypostasis in the Logos, Barth's Christology nevertheless takes a Nestorian turn by speaking of the obedience of Christ's human to His divine nature (rather than of the obedience of the one divine-human person to the Father) and by telling us of the "confrontation" and "fellowship" of the natures with each other (rather than of the permeation of the manhood by the Godhead). Again, Barth refers the state of humiliation to the divine nature (rather than speaking scripturally of the humiliation of the one divine-human person, whose manhood was from the outset "in the form of God"). Barth's Calvinism shines through in the statement that the incarnation itself (rather than the Lord becom- ing our substitute) is a humiliation of the divine essence. And for Barth the analogy of two planks of wood glued together actually overdoes the unity of our Lord's person (cf. FC SD VIII, 14; Tappert, p. 594). Each of the major chapters documents Barth's fierce hostility to distinctively Lutheran Christology, Book Reviews 293 so that his putative "Alexandrianisni" cannot be construed as including any affinity for the most distinguished representative of that school, St. Cyril of Alexandria himself. Dr. Waldrop's greatest blunder occurs in his closing pages (178-190), where I he ponders whether or not Barth's theology as a whole is to be labelled "Alex- andrian:' In the negative column he enters Barth's pronounced differences from the famous theologians of Alexandria, Clement and Origen. Thus the gnostically- inclined so-called "Christian Platonists of AIexandria" are placed in the same ball-park as the great doctors of the church, St. Athanasius and St. Cyril! This I 1 unsightly blemish notwithstanding, Dr. Waldrop's volume can be commended j to the attention of professional systematicians as an indicator of today's theological climate and as a reminder of the enigma that was Karl Barth. John R. Stephenson Lewiston, New York SPIRITUAL CARE,. By Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Translated by Jay C. Rochelle. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986. Paperback, 93 pages. In this text Bonhoeffer does not deal so much with the nuts and bolts of pastoral care as with the basic theological framework in which the pastor serves. He reminds the pastor of who he is and what he is to be. And this for Bonhoef- fer involves the proclamation and application of the Word by the pastor himself personally and to every area of his ministerial functions. The need for applica- tion of law and gospel is stressed in a fine chapter by that title. But one would object to Bonhoeffer's statement, "There is a principle here for spiritual care: the law must be contained in the gospel and the gospel must be contained in the law" ( pp. 43-44). On the other hand, for pastors for whom theology is the sine qua non, Bo~ihoeffer has a sobering admonition: "The greatest dif- ficulty for the pastor stems from his theology. He knows all there is to be known about sin and forgiveness. He knows what the faith is and he talks about it so much that he winds up not Iiving in faith but in thinking about faith. He even knows that his non-faith is the right form of faith: 'lord, I believe; help my unbelief' (Mark 9:24). Knowledge reveals his daimonism. It drives him fur- ther and further into factual unbelief. We can then have no experience of faith. Our only experience is reflection on the faith" (pp. 67-68). The book is stimulating and recommended for anyone, especially those engaged in spiritual care. Norbert H. Mueller CHURCH, MINISTRY, AND SACRAMENTS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. By C. K. Barrett. Grand Rapids; Wm. B. Eerdrnans, 1985. Paper. 110 pages. C. K. Barrett, professor emeritus at Durham University (England), is a well respected name in New Testament studies. The advertising blurb indicates that this present study is the fruit of his participation in the Methodist-Anglican dialogue. It also says that, for the New Testament church, ministry and sacraments are both central and secondary. If this observation is inherently con- 294 CONCORDlA THlXlLOGlCAL QUARTERLY tradictory, or paradoxical, to use a more acceptable theological term, it is so intended. According to Barrett, there are no real structures in the New Testa- ment. The paradox of whether such things really exist in the New Testament brings the reader to the brink of frustration. Traditionally used citations for baptism and the Lord's Supper are reinterpreted. It is impossible to determine with any definiteness who the bishops and deacons (ministers) of Philippians 1:l are. Corinth was without any local leadership. In the early church all were equal. Paul's authority was personal. Barrett develops his themes according to the separate books or writings, e-g., Pauline, Petrine, Johannine. This is helpful, but the conclusion is the same: the New Testament does not offer definite outlines for the ministry and the sacraments. This book's title promises much, but the book delivers little. David P. Scaer THE FOUNDING FATHERS: The Puritans in England and America. By John Adair. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986. Paper. 302 pages. Dr. Robert Jenson, in a lecture delivered at Concordia Theological Seminary, remarked that because of the heritage of our nation every church was by defini- tion Calvinistic While no confessional Lutheran would want to think of himself as espousing Reformed theology, it is difficult to deny the reality !.hat our nation was conceived in the womb of the Puritan heritage. Our Americanism with its origin in Puritanism inevitably shapes and influences our religion. Adair traces the origins of Puritanism from its English source through its twin development in both the old and the new England to its demise in the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. Though it was not able to maintain itself as a religious move- ment, its ideas have become part of both the religious and secular American fibre. Certain Puritan ideas are easily identifiable: long e\- corde prayers, some lasting Tor an hour; long sermons; two church services each Sunday; strong anti- Roman Catholicism; and simplicity in liturgy. Puritans merged the secular and religious realms in devotion to their work as a divine goal in their lives. Perhaps most importantly, the Puritans understood themselves, as both a church and a society. as God's special people who had a divine destiny. They interpreted the benefits and catastrophes of nature as Cod's direction of their lives. Such views persist to this day as traditionally American. Though belief in Christ as God and in God as Trinity were tenets of their faith, their devotion was to God without reference to Christ. With an awareness of nature as Cod's revelation to them and a low practical Christology, Universalisnl and Unitarianism were not unnatural results of Puritan theology. Adair writes a very readable history. To understand their people, the situation in which they work, and even themselves, Lutheran pastors can greatly benefit from this history of the religious and political origins of our country. David P. Scaer Book Reviews 295 MARRIAGE HOMILIES. Edited by Liam Swords. New York: Paulist Press, 1985. 95 pages. Paperback. Perhaps the kindest way to describe this compilation of homilies is to say that "if you have read one of them you have read them all:' For the most part the "homilies" are not worthy of such an ecclesiastical designation. They could have been written by philosophers or psychologists, marriage counselors or humanists. Generally they are void of basic Roman Catholic theology relative to the "sacrament of marriage:' There are some interesting statements made by the editor: "Marriages, they say, are made in heaven. Marriage homilies, regrettably, have humbler origins:' "lronically, the priest whose homily is a dismal failure too often wows the guests with his after-dinner wit:' "If they [the homilies] don't always inspire, they may at least challenge our acceptance of mediocrity:' I did not find the sermons to inspire me, nor am I ready to settle for mediocrity concerning the oppor- tunities ministers have in the marriage ceremony for solid theological teaching and Christian witness. These sermons contain outright errors (i.e., concerning the origin of love or the view that God's presence is contingent upon our loving one another) and from time to time indiscreet and even shocking references to marital intimacy. Especially offensive were portions in the homily entitled "Sex- ual Love." If you can endure the reading of these sermons, perhaps the best that can be hoped from them is a better appreciation of truly biblical sermons grounded on solid theological principles relating to the holy estate of matrimony. But one will have to go elsewhere for those sermons. Jerrold Lloyd Nichols Ft. Wayne, Indiana THE SACRAMENTS IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH: ESSAYS. A presen- tation to t he Eleventh Consultation of the International Lutheran Con- ference, meeting at Obot Idim, Uyo, Cross River State, Nigeria, West Africa, on November 2-11, 1984. Edited by Karl Wengenroth. Munich: Indepen- dent Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, 1984. This collection of essays presented to the Eleventh Consultation of the Inter- national Lutheran Conference was a serious attempt to address a key issue before the church todayL4The Sacraments in the Life of the Church." The essays could be divided into two categories: theological essays dealing with baptism and eucharist in the life of the church and cross-cultural essays that apply baptism and eucharist to specific contexts in the life of the church. The majority of the essays fall into the first category, and unfortunately most of them are simply restatements of the basic Lutheran positions that are familiar to most seminary students and pastors. With the exception of the article introduced by Ralph Bohlmann, a reprint of pages 59-65 of his essay in Forn~ula of Concord and pages 8-16 of the CTCR document on "The Nature and Implications of the Concept of Fellowship," the theological section is void of any new insights con- cerning the centrality of the sacraments in the life of the church. Even the pastoral implications of this topic are restatements of the positions of John Fritz in his 296 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Pastoral Theology. Expectations were high for some fresh thinking concerning this vital issue, but in essay after essay the author failed to deliver any new and challenging perspectives. The second category of the essays was smaller, containing two essays about the particular problems confronted by Lutherans in non-Lutheran contexts. Thomas Batong's piece, entitled "The Ministry and the Administration of the Sacraments in the Life of the Church:' dealt specifically with the practical pro- blems of Lutherans in the Philippines. In light of the present situation there, this essay made for interesting reading. So also did the final essay by Udo Etuk, entitled "The Theology of Contexualization and the Challenge of Cultural Revival." This essay was fascinating, extremely well written, and gave us an ex- cellent survey of the history of missions in Africa and the current crisis in "con- texualization theology:' Although his conclusions also failed to deliver any new insights, the essay itself was very satisfying. It appeared that these final two essays reflected more accurately the capabilities of most of the presenters. Arthur Just PEOPLE'S REFORMATION: Magistrates, Clergy, and Commons in Strasbourg, 1500 - 1598. By Lorna Jane Abray. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1985. Cloth. The urban Reformation has played a prominent role in Reformation studies for at least the last twenty-five years. Bernd Moeller's essay, "Imperial Cities and the Reformation" (English translation; Fortress, 1972) prompted much of that interest by explaining the appeal of the Reformaton (especially that of Zwingli and Bucer) in terms of its compatibility with the communal ethos of medieval towns. Steven Ozmenr, however, offered another explanation in his Reformation in the Cities (Yale, 1975) by arguing that the Reformation succeeded by freeing the individual from the burdens and obligations of late medieval religious life. Now, however, Lorna Jane Abray has taken yet another tack, not only by focusing her attention on just one city (and a fascinating one at that, Strasbourg, 1500-1598), but also by showing how the Reformation succeeded instead of seeking only to explain why. The results are, for the most part, satisfying. Building upon the work of others who have previously studied the social, political, economic, and cultural milieu of Reformation Strasbourg, eg., Thomas A. Brady, Jr., and Miriam Usher Chrisman, as well as Francis Rapp for late medieval Strasbourg, Abray very carefully describes the social structure, the religious factions, and the political mechanisms by which the Reformation was effected in Strasbourg. The story is a complicated one-from the 1520's and the repudiation of Rome through the 1530's and the establishing of a reformed church under Bucer all the way to the 1590's and Strasbourg's acceptance of the Formula of Concord-but Abray's account is well organized and is par- ticularly valuable for its explanation of how Strasbourg ended up Lutheran in- stead of Reformed. Abray has divided her book into three parts. In the first of these she describes the composition goals, and powers of the three groups responsible for implemen- ting a reformation in Strasbourg-the magistrates, the clergy. and the commons-and outlines the initial religious settlement of the 1530's. In the Book Reviews 297 second part, she carries the story forward to Strasbourg's acceptance of the Formula of Concord in 1598 by describing the milestones in this evolution, especially as they occurred in the context of pressures from outside the city and of dissent within. Finally, in the last part of her book, Abray analyzes the im- pact of the Reformation on the values and lives of the Strassburghers. As her title suggests, Abray's focus throughout her work is upon the laity- whether ruling class or commons-and their perception of the need for refor- mation and of its effects on their lives and politics. Thus, she eschews any ex- tensive discussion of theological issues on the grounds that it was only the clergy to whom such things really mattered. For example, of the magistrates she con- cludes that what they "wanted from Lutheranism was not confessional preci- sion but peace and salvation. They avoided doctrinal debate in their own chambers because it fostered division, and they sought to prevent such debate among their subjects for the same reason" (pp. 180-81). What led the citizens of Strasbourg to accept the Formula of Concord was not so much personal con- viction regarding its truth but a shift in foreign policy from the Calvinist Swiss and French to the German Lutherans. The Lutheran clergy of the city were suc- cessful, therefore, in finally establishing strict orthodoxy in Strasbourg because it contributed to foreign and domestic peace and tranquility. Abray's analysis is certainly correct as far as it goes. Governments are more concerned about peace and order than they are about doctrinal niceties. But for anyone interested in the theological side of the Reformation story, Abray's book is not the place to look, for The People's Reformation is about those who made the Reformation in Strasbourg and how they did so but not about the theology of the movement as a whole. Even so, however, Abray has contributed much to our understanding of how the Reformation took hold in one city, Strasbourg, and why that city eventually became Lutheran not Reformed. Cameron A. MacKenzie FOLLOWERS OF THE CROSS: Messages for Lent and Easter. By Harry N. Huxhold. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1985. 79 pages. Paper. Nine messages for Lent and Easter are presented in a biblical perspective that enables the characters to come alive and offers excellent applications for the present-day disciples of our Lord. The nine messages deal with Peter, the fickle follower; John, the timid follower; Simon of Cyrene, the reluctant follower; the mother of our Lord, the related follower; the unnamed women, the sympathetic followers; the Apostle Paul, the non-violent follower; the liturgy in the Upper Room, the aesthetic follower; Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, the hid- den followers; and the followers of the cross in general. One would want to challenge the author's definition of the cross, which treats afflictions unrelated to the Christian faith as crosses (p. 30); his idea of the church's creation at the time of John and Mary's great exchange (p. 40); and his empathy with the hid- den followers, which could give encouragement to those who deny the validity of the established church or are indifferent to it (p. 68). I would recommend this sermon series to the parish pastor as one that keeps the cross of Christ central in its proclamation of the Gospel. Jerrold Lloyd Nichols Fort Wayne, Indiana 298 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF DOGMATICS. By Hendrikus Berkhof. Translated by John Vriend. Grand Rapids: Wrn. B. Eerdmans, 1985. 114 pages. Paperback, $7.95. Long before Karl Barth appeared on the scene to challenge liberalism's domination of theology in the modern era, Peter Forsyth of England had elo- quently and pointedly warned that so-called scientific theology with its higher critical methodology "is a good servant but a deadly master" (Person and Work of Jesus Christ, p. 49). Hendrikus Berkhof, a Dutch professor now in retire- ment, approaches his task with more or less the same awareness. He is best known for the crowning work of his many years of teaching, a one-volume dogmatics, Christian Faith, published in translation by Eerdmans in 1979. In writing the present "introduction" Berkhof admits that it may appear as though he is belatedly "ventilating [his] own ideas under the guise of an impartial introduc- tion" (p. 2). In his behalf it should be said that it could or should hardly be otherwise. The two works constitute good matching pairs. Berkhof is naive to think, however, that this compact little book is suited for "young students, just beginning their study of dogmatics.'' It is probably more an incisive concluding summary for mature students of the dogmatic task as he sees it. Berkhof does not appear to posture arrogantly in an effort to say something strikingly new; for, as he points out, quoting a fellow Dutch thinker (Isaac van Dijk), "to say something that has never been said before you is to run the risk of saying something that will never be said again after you either" (p. 24). Berkhof successfully pleads the case for retention of the term "dogrnatics" in theological curricula, refuting the charge that it must immediately imply heavy- handed authoritarianism. No doubt, he reflects upon his own life and practice when he opines wisely that "a dogmatician should also preach regularly:' to keep his theology in touch with the people; otherwise he risks the possibility of being numbered among the "theologians in the bottom of hell," as C. S. Lewis warns, "more interested in their own thoughts about God than in God himself' (p. 15). Berkhof, nevertheless, counts himself among those modern theologians who are open to the so-called assured results of scientific theology, that is, higher criticism, and the ecumenical dimensions that stretch not only to Christian groups but to men of all faiths, Judaism, Islam, etc. As a result, he labels theologies committed to Scripture's authority and inerrancy with the pejorative tag of "biblicistic theology.'' He passes the same verdict upon those who cling to their confessions with tenacity, unwilling to leave "room for ex- ploration" (p. 20). The dogrnatician needs to keep his "ear open to Bible scholar- ship:' Berkhof states, and be more concerned that theology be "related to the situation of the present" than simplistically grounded on "prooftexts" (p. 37). Yet he cautions that "many scholars are so eager to do their theologizing vis-a- vis the themes of our times that they make the gospel into a confirmation if not an echo of answers already available in the culture apart from the gospel" (p. 63). Ultimately Berkhof lets the whole question of authority in religion hang in the balance, reminiscent of theologians who assert Scripture's primacy in their theologizing and at the same time accept neoorthodoxy's (Barth's) judgment that the Bible must be seen as a human product "from below" and not "from abov<' thus subject to higher critical dissection. In Berkhof's considered opi- nion, "there [is] too much material in the Bible that [is] not in harmony with the concept of infallibility ascribed to it" (p. 77). He takes the same position in his dogmatics cited above, Christian Faith (pp. %ff.). The identical syndrome Book Reviews 299 is at work in the final chapter of his present book as he comes to describe some of the loci of dogmatics, including the person of Christ. Thus, the Christologies of Hans Kueng, Eduard Schillebeeckx, and Karl Rahner, among many others which he cites, are viewed as viable options in modern theology committed to the posture of viewing Christ only "from below:' as the Jew from Nazareth. That is a presupposition which no serious Christian theologian can grant. E. F. Klug JOHN 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of John: Chapters 1-6. JOHN 2: A Commentary on the Gospel of John: Chapters 7-21. By Ernst Haenchen. Translated by Robert W. Funk. Edited by Robert W. Funk and Ulrich Busse. Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. 308 and 366 pages. Cloth. As totally embarassing as any commentary can be, Haenchen's encyclopedic study of the Fourth Gospel is destined to be a storehouse for Johannine studies for the next generation, whether or not his own conclusions are completely con- vincing. The commentary itself is divided into forty-four chapters, one for each of the identified pericopes. Before discussing the text of the gospel, Haenchen provides a discussion of how the gospel has fared from the age of the early church up to the most recent times. Thus, for the early church period, he traces uses of it in the fathers. Since the nineteenth century the gospel has been dismantled by the modern critics. Kaesemann, the last authority cited, is agnostic about its origins. Other chapters in the introduction cover such matters as text, rearrangement, languages, sources, and its Christologies. For Haenchen, the gospel's author was not a gnostic but grew up in one of the sects which were later incorporated into the church. A final redactor made it accessible to the wider church, which he calls "the great church!' Thus, the Fourth Gospel reflects both a theological and political development of church groups as they formed the one church. His theory of this gospel's origins plays a significant role in his exegesis itself, which is hardly the strong point of this commentary. The gnostic interpretation delayed but did not prevent John's final and rightful in- clusion in the canon around 200 A.D. Each of these introductory sections, along with the sections on the individual pericopes, is preceded by extensive bibliography. The sections on the pericopes provide a verse-by-verse discussion. Appended to the end of the two volumes is a 113-page bibliography. Students of the Gospel of John will probably find no other work as bibliographically thorough as this one. For such a reason alone, serious scholars will be com- pelled to include it in their collections. A massive amount of information is placed at one's fingertips. David P. Scaer FUNERAL, HOMILIES. Edited by Liam Swords. New York: Paulist Press, 1985. 90 pages. Paperback. There are seven divisions comprising this book of funeral homilies: ( 1.) "Death of a Yaung Person:' (2.) "Death of a Parent:' (3.) "Death of a Single Person:' 300 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY (4.) "Tragic Death:' (5.) "Death after a Long Illness:' (6.) "Death of a Han- dicapped Person:' and (7.) "Death of the Elderly!' For the most part these sermons attempt to bring consolation and comfort to the bereaved at the time of the death of a loved one. There are some helpful insights and observatjons as well as useful illustrations. Surprisingly the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory is not noticeable; in fact, there are many statements that, upon the death of a loved one, he or she has gone to be with the Lord and, in fact, is ever with the Lord. The writers have discovered what 1 also have found to be true, namely, that the funeral not only is an opportunity to comfort the sorrowing but also is one of the finest opportunities for Christian witness to our faith in a gracious God in Christ Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life. The writers of this compilation do a much better piece of work of presenting the Gospel in the context of death than did the writers of the companion volume on marriage. Jerrold Lloyd Nichols Fort Wayne, Indiana ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSIGHTS FOR MISSIONARIES. By Paul G. Hiebert. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1985. 315 pages. Paper, $13.95. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us:' With these words St. John introduces us to the miracle of God's incarnation-His means of reconciling all aspects of creation to Himself. These words also introduce us to God's way of communicating the Word to unreached people of other lands and cultures. God intends His Word to become incarnate in a person's life, which includes his allegiances, basic presuppositions about life, perception of reality, in short his worldview. This cannot take place unless the Word enters a person's culture- bound world, dwells there, and exercises sole lordship over it. The incarnating of the Gospel in a person's culture, as Paul Hiebert rightly states, can only be a divine act, yet He accomplishes it through human agents. While not ignoring the divine, Hiebert's work focuses on the oft-neglected human dimension of God's redemptive communication. Drawing from his years of experience as a missionary in India and as a professor of anthropology (currently serving at the School of World Mission), Dr. Hiebert offers a plethora of practical insights for both the novice and veteran missionary. The reader is first provided with the theological and anthropological assump- tions underlying the book. We rejoice in Hiebert's clear support of the authority of Scripture, Christocentric interpretation and application of Scripture, and strong emphasis on the church as God's instrument for mission, the priesthood of all believers as God's springboard for missions, and dependence on the Holy Spirit (rather than on man's ability) as God's power for missions. We likewise can appreciate his anthropological assumptions which rise from Christian rather than humanistic presuppositions. With these in place he introduces us, through a highly compressed but helpful presentation, to culture-the organizer and integrater of human life. Cultural differences greatly affect the three components of the communica- tion process-sender, Gospel message, receptor-and so the book is organized to explore each in detail. In looking at cultural differences and the missionary a number of valuable insights are presented. The treatment of the causes, effects, Book Revietb5 301 and cures for culture shock will leave anyone who has passed through such trauma thinking:'] wish 1 had known this before I went overseas. HOW much grief 1 might have been spared:' The chapter or] Western cultural assumptions challenges anyone involved in Gospel proclamation to re-examine, in the light of God's revealed Truth, aspects of his culture which previously he had accepted uncritically. The necessity of submitting all aspects of life and culture to the Word forrns the basis of Hiebert's discussion of cultural differences and the Gospcl rnesbag:. The missionary is reminded, however, that he sees through a glass darkly and cannot assume that his own church's exposition of the Word (theology) has ad- dressed all the realities of life that people in other cultures face. Hieberr carefully lays out the process for churches in other cultures to build a biblica! theology that rests only on Christ and serves the prophetic aild priestly roles nee0ed i!~ that cultural context. At the same time he points out char the development of an incarnational church cannot take place in cultural or theological isolation from the rest of Christ's universal church. This premise underlies the thinking on the final link of the communication chain-cultural differences and the recep- tor community. The conclusion drawn at the end of these pages is that both missionary and receiving community remain co-students of the Hal:,. Spirit as He leads them into the truth. The excellent content of the book is equalled by its presentation. Each chapler is carefully arranged with topics and sub-topics clearly delineated for cluick rcfcr- ral. This makes the book quite useful as a primary test for courses dealing with cross-cultural ministry and reference work for particular missionary concerns. Contributing a great deal to the writing are nulnerous illustrationi, charts, and diagrams. Study exercises, short case studies and de\.otionaI material provide ample resource for reflection at the cognitive, emotional, and spiritual ievels. The incarnation of the Gospel into anorher culture is no simple matttr. Paul Hiebert has aided the church tremendously by pulling together, into an understan- dable whole, thz many complexities that make up this God-commissioned cask. Any person concerned with reaching all peoples with the Gospel will be valuably informed and edified by reading this book. He will realize beyond a shadoli- of a doubt the necessity of an incarnational approach in Gospel proclamation. When the Word does not become flesh, that is, when it remains unrecognizable as God's Word and does not dwell at the center of a person's life, it remains for him a meanir~gless, irrelevant message. Roberr Neu tan Fort \Wne, Indiana THE NEW TESTAMENT AS CANON: AN INTRODL'CTION. By Bre~ard S. Childs. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983. As early as 1970, Brevard S. Childs was calling for a neq d~rection in Bil~lical scholarship. In that year his Biblical Theology in Crisis chronicled the soncep- tual inadequacy which marked the so-called Biblical Theologv lMovt.nlt.nt. A decade later, Childs provided an alternatike for those M ho shared his nli~giv- ings about certain of the methodological assumptions of historical-critical scholarship in an Introduction to rhe Old Te.~lument crs Scripture (Fortress, 1979). This work begins with the statement: "1 am thoroughly coil~inied that the rela- 302 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY tion between historical-critical study of the Bible and its theological use as religious literature within the community of faith and practice needs to be com- pletely rethought" (IOTS, 15) . The rethinking that Childs provided in this magnum opus (already adumbrated in his Exodus commentary of 1974), caused major ripples through the world of Old Testament scholarship. Colleagues like James Sanders of Claremont, whose own Torah and Canon struck a consonant note-, were most positive and receptive Among the gainsayers, the most vigorous critique was offered by James Barr in his Holy Scripture: Canon, Authority, Criticism (Westminster, 1983). What is at issue? To oversimplify, Childs suggests that the almost exclusive concern of historical critical scholarship with diachronic questions has led it away from its duty to place the final form of the text in its distinctive position as the normative document for the community of faith. It should be made clear that Childs is not suggesting a return to precritical scholarhsip. On the con- trary both his work on the Old Testament and the present volume on the New Testament provide some of the most lucid descriptions of the development of the critical discussion which can be found. (Often Childs identifies himself with the reconstructions most forthrightly.) Rather than a return to precritical methodologies, Childs is really attacking what he sees as dichotomy between the "historically reconstructed text and authoritative ScripturCY i.e., the final form of the text loses its integrity as a guide for the community of faith. In a more recent review of the issues Childs has said: "By a canonical approach to exegesis I am suggesting an interpreta- tion which is consonant with the shape which Israel gave its Sacred Scripture, but which also involves the interpretative activity of the modern reader in con- frontation with an ancient canon which is heard in a fresh way by each genera- tion" (Interpretation, 1984, p. 69). All of this places The New Testament As Canon: An Introduction in its pro- per historical framework. Indeed, this work also advances Childs' claim that "what is needed is a new vision of the biblical text which does justice not only to the demands of a thoroughly post-Enlightenment age, but aIso to the con- fessional stance of the Christian faith for which the sacred scriptures provide a true and faithful vehicle for understanding the will of God" (p. 37). The con- tinuity with the programmatic of IOTS is immediately evident. Several aspects of this work should be held up as models of scholarly crafts- manship. First, Childs' command of the secondary literature is massive. His summaries are characterized by balance and succinctness so that the reader gains an accurate overvim of complex discussions. This difficult achievement is made all the more remarkable by fact that Childs' chief focus has been Old Testa- ment scholarship. Thus, simply on the level of the status questionis, this work ranks with the studies of Kummel (the German perspective) and Neil (British) though its length is more abbreviated. Secondly, this reviewer would suggest that Childs is perhaps the most sug- gestive author on the whole hermeneutical question within the contemporary academic community. For example, he addresses probing critiques to Krentz, Stuhlrnacher, and Braun with their apologies for historical criticism (pp. 44-47). He is equally clear in his rejection of the Gerhard Maier position (The End of the Historical Method). Thirdly, the standard concerns of this journal's readership will include authen- ticity, and here Childs' path is an interesting attempt to place the question within a different framework. The canonical approach, Childs asserts, "seeks to pay Book Reviews 303 close attention to the theological function of the eyewitness claims (Luke 13, John 21:24) without immediately translating the biblical testimony into a question of historical referentiality. Similarly it attempts to interpret the function of a claim to Pauline authorship of a letter which appears to have ex- tended the witness beyond the historical period of Paul's ministry (cf. the Pastorals )" (p. 52 ). It's at this sensitive point that one wants to ask when the question of historical referentially or pseudepigraphy becomes significant in the canonical process? Or, do these questions lose their gravity in view of the larger canonical process which is at work? Finally, it is refreshing to read about the importance of the larger canonical context for each book (e.g., Jude, p. 493) and to meet such respect for the often forgotten exegetes of a more cautious approach (e.g., the appeal to Adolf Schlat- ter, p. 434 and passim.). One's differences with the specific postures which Childs espouses do not diminish the importance of The New Testament as Canon: An Introduction. It is required reading for all who seek to be informed on contemporary issues in Biblical interpretation. Dean 0. Wenthe THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, VOLUME V. Edited by Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdnians, 1986. 521 pages. This volume continues the Old Testament counterpart of Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Estament. Though this latter work undoubtedly pro- vided the inspiration for TDOT, there are significant differences in the manner in which the "word-studies" have been executed. The lucid critique of James Barr's Semantics of Biblical Language (1961) continues to bear fruit in the broader focus of TDOT on semantic fields and actual usage rather than the sometimes narrowly etymological emphasis of TDNT. The present volume goes from the root hmr to the tetragrammaton YHWH. Often an individual entry is subdivided into sections which are authored by different specialists. Hence, Gamberoni describes the larger meaning hapar and Botterweck its translated equivalents in the Septuagint (pp. 107-111). A particularly useful feature of TDOT is its information on cognates and semantic parallels in Ugaritic, Akkadian, Sumerian, Hittite, and Egyptian. Since each of these languages sometimes renders valuable data on the larger linguistic context of a biblical term, the serious student of the Old Testament is provided with an overview which would otherwise not be readily available. For example, the discussion of the root tal as it appears in the Ugaritic texts provides con- notations with which many Israelites may have been all too familiar (pp. 327-30). Any theological dictionary faces problematic methodological choices. TDOT, perhaps due to the relative uncertainty in dating the rabbinic texts, has chosen largely to ignore this corpus. While this is readily understandable, the decision to provide only a minimal commentary on the occurrences at Qumran and the equivalents in the LXX seems less fortunate. By any measure, however, TDOT is a major contribution for which the publishers are to be congratulated. The evenness of the prose (though many of the articles are translations), the format, and the refined approach in assess- 304 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY ing the actual semantic freight of a term (insofar as these factors are still ac- cessible to us at such great historical and cultural distances) are to be commended. While one may differ with the inferences sometimes drawn from the data, it will be necessary for those who propose alternatives to take into account the contours drawn in TDOT. Without doubt, the exegetically astute pastor will want this resource on his shelf. Dean 0. Wenthe EZRA, NEHEMIAH . By H. G. M. Williamson. Waco: Word Books, 1985. 417 + lii pp. British Old Testament scholarship frequently has provided a focus on the Second Temple Period which was lacking in German circles, where this epoch was regarded as a downward spiral from the prophets to the legalism of priestly and scribal schools. The Albright archeological dimension of American scholar- ship similarIy stressed the earlier Bronze period and directed its major energies there. The prolific pen of P. R. Ackroyd of the University of London (so outstan- ding in its sustained analysis of Second Temple texts) is now joined by that of his fellow-countryman H. G. M. Williamson of Cambridge University. Ezra-Nehemiah is volume 16 in the Word Biblical Commentary, a series which has aIready published thirteen of the projected fifty-two volumes on the Old and New Testaments. Hence the format follows that commentary's sequence of a fresh translation, textual notes, bibliographic survey, form, structure, set- ting, comment, and a concluding "explanationl' The great plus in this order- ing of the exposition is that it permits the reader to dig in at a particular point of interest without surveying the entire text. The parish pastor or serious student of Ezra-Nehemiuh will find this a stimulating study for several reasons. First, Williamson achieves a remarkable degree of readability as he discusses the interpretative options. The clarity of his prose reminded this reviewer of John Bright's History of Israel. Secondly, while the author is clearly within the historical-critical framework of assump- tions, his discussion displays remarkable balance. For example, he refers the reader to the "excellent sketch" in D. Kidner's more conservative work (p. xlviii). Thirdly, the breadth of the citations is so extensive that one is provided an ex- cellent window on the "state of the discussion." With respect to specific issues, Williamson lucidly underscores the labyrinth of introductory questions which attend the interpretation of these two books (xxi-lii). It is noteworthy that he aligns himself with ancient tradition in regar- ding Ezra-Nehemiah as two parts of a complete work (rather than a extension of the Chronicler's work with the prevailing "scholarly consensus"). There is also an independence in the commentary's defence of "the view that Neh. 13:6 is historically accurate in saying that Nehemiah was governor of Jerusalem for twelve years, then had a break in Babylon, and later returned to Jerusalem" (p. xxvi). In this same vein, Ezra is credited with a key role in the narrative's formation: "This looks much more like the writing of someone trying to justify his record than it does like the work of a later pious and idealizing biographer" (p. xxxii). This framework of decisions on introductory matters sets the stage for the rich discussion of the commentary. Particularly the comment sections will reward Book Reviews 305 the reader with a wealth of data for use in Bible classes or serrnorl preparation. For example, the description of the reading of the law (Neh. 7:72-8:18) esplores the theological, cultural, and social components of the event with insight and unsurpassed thoroughness (pp. 286-97). While one might raise a question here or there (e.~., the two-redaction schema of 400 and 300, p. xxxvi), this commentary will surely serve as a standard for some time. This concluding accolade is in order nor simply for Williamson's scholarly paradigm, which is impressive in its own right, but also for the theological profundity which marks his linkage of such things as the comple- tion of Jerusalem's wall and the larger meaning for the kingdom of God. To put it in Lutheran terms, Williamson sees Israel's history as incarnational in a manner parallel to Horace Hummel's The Word Becornir~g Flesh. Word and Sacrament are, as it were, held together when one reads (pp. 376-7): The dedication of the newly built wall of Jerusalem is a climax to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. . . . It may be felt by some, however, that this is all too physical. . . . 1s not the physical merely a framework for the spiritual? The biblical author will not entertain such a dichotomny! If the spiritual be not expressed through the physical, he seerns to say, then it is not spiritual at all but mere hypocrisy. But equally, if the physical is not inbred with commitment to and dependence upon God, then it is, quite simply, an arrogant materialism. Dean 0. Wenthe LAW AND NARRATIVE IN THE BIBLE. The Evidence of the Deuteronomic Laws and the Decalogue. By Calum M. Carmichael. Ithaca: Cornell Univer- sity Press, 1985. 356 pages. Cloth, $35.00. Perhaps the best one can say for this curious and idiosyncratic study is that it well exemplifies the current chaos in non-traditional biblical study. If Car- michael of Cornell University can be said to make any forward steps, however, he makes at least as many backward ones at the same time. It will immediately strike the conservative reader's eye that Carmichael shares the widespread frustra- tion, also in many academic circles, with traditional historical-critical approaches. In this book he is especially incensed at the carelessness, if not stupidity, usual- ly ascribed to the compilers and "redactors" of the laws in Deuteronomy 12-26 (p. 14 ): With a little distance we can see just how shaky the historical method is.. . .the attempt at historical illumination has in fact, despite the spate of recent research, produced little that is agreed to.. . . The procedure is a dispiriting one, dull to read, difficult to follow, and largely ilusory given the paucity of the results and the conjectured historical realities dotted here and there over a vast span of time. Its most depressing aspect is the no doubt unintentional demeaning of the intelligence of the lawgiver who was responsible for the presentation of the material available to us. But what does Carmichael have to offer as an alternative? In his own words he summarizes his thesis as follows (pp. 17-18): The laws in both Deuteronomy and the decalogue arise not as a direct, practical response to the conditions of life and worship in Israel's past, as is almost universally held, but from a scrutiny of historical records about 306 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY these conditions. The link is between law and literary account, not between law and actual life.. . . This lawgiver sees himself in the prophetic line.. . .He is 'a prophet like unto me: namely, Moses (Deut. 18:15). He sincerely believes he has authority to make judgments on issiles that arose in his nation's past because he possesses the mind of Israel's first lawgiver. . . . The procedure should be compared with the manifest fiction of the prophetic judgment to be followd by its fulfillment in the writing up of the history of the kings. . . .The events had already taken place, but a hindsight based upon a certain ideological perspective sees their inevitabili- ty and casts it in the form of prophetic foresight. Already this limited sampling will alert the reader that Carmichael's own "ideological perspective" is still very much "historicai-critical:' His quarrel is with the way it has usually been executed, not with its heremeneutical under- pinnings. Perhaps his approach could be classified under the umbrella term of "rhetorical criticism:' that is, one of the many relatively more holistic and syn- chronic approaches to the traditional text as we have it, which are currently quite popular. But, if so, it is also clear that Carmichael retains much more of the tradi- tional historical-critical baggage than do many other "rhetorical critics:' In broad outline, at least, he simply assumes the documentary hypothesis of the Pen- tateuch and, specifically, a form of Noth's hypothesis of a single "Deuteronomic" writer or school (Carmichael prefers the former) responsible for both the book of Deuteronomy and the "Deuteronomic history" (Joshua through Kings). Hermeneutically, he is every bit as skeptical of facticity and as relativizing of the authority of Scripture as his predecessors. It is not easy to summarize in more detail Carmichael's method. But, by his lights, the sequences in Deuteronomy's laws are determined by various associa- tions of word or topic with earlier "events" in Israel's history. We shall attempt one summarizing illustration. The three laws in Deuteronomy 25:4-12 (the un- muzzled ox, a man's refusal to perform his levirate duty, and a woman's im- modest grabbing the genitals of her husband's opponent) are all alleged to be dependent upon the story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38. A literal reading of the prohibition of muzzling the ox is allegedly nonsense because the ox would eat or destroy it all, and no "seed" would be left. Hence, the text itself "invites an original figurative sense" (p. 292). Since "tread" is figurative of sexual in- tercourse, the law must have been stimulated by reflection on %mar's difficul- ty in getting someone to "tread" her and produce "seedl' Since Onan's failure to his duty by Tamar led to his death, that reminiscence next suggests to the lawgiver "the task of devising a penalty appropriate to an Israelite who proved disloyal to his dead brother" (p- 295) . In the ceremony prescribed, "the shoe represents the female genitals, the foot the male organ, and the spitting semen" (p. 296). Then, for balance, there is "a desire to contrast a shameful female with a shamefuI male" (p. 298), the "idiosyncratic" occasion triggered by the fact that Tamar too was "in contention" with her father-in-law when she seduced him! And so it goes throughout the Deuteronomic laws (chapters 12-26). Even the decalogue must be similarly occasioned, argues Carmichael. The critical failure to disentangle "Deuteronomic language" from the decalogue and reconstruct some primitive pre-Deuteronomic form must mean that it too was probably corn- posed by the "Deuteronomist " in comparabIe fashion. (The details are no more convincing, but here we will at least applaud CarmichaeI's much needed in- Book Reviews 307 sistence that "Ten Commandments" is a misnomer, because we really have "ten utterances" in a narrative framework @p. 14, 313-15, and 318). Has Carmichael accomplished anything in his investigation (somewhat of a synthesis of his own frequently cited essays and the labors of his mentor, David Daube)? in our judgment, very little, if anything. There is ample reason, both internally (in the Bible) and externally (other ancient literature) to presume that the Orient had different ideas of organizing literature than those familiar to us in the modern West. But we need a plausible alternative! One cannot but wonder if Carmichael's own model is not the halakic and haggadic procedures of the Talmud, which traditional Judaism tends to view as an outgrowth of and sequel to the "TaNak" (the Old Testament). In any case, although there may be occasional exceptions (e.g., in the transition suggested between the first and second laws above), on the whole this reviewer finds Carmichael's thesis con- trived, artificial, far-fetched-in short, most unconvincing. From neither literary nor theological viewpoints does he offer anything superior to run-of-the-mill higher criticism. Horace D. Hummel St. Louis, Missouri