Full Text for Book Reviews (Text)
Vol. SSXII  Spring, 19 6 5 No. 1 
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THE SPRINGPI~I~DEII  is puhlisl~ed quarterly by the faculty of Con- 
cordia 'I'heological Scnlinary, Sprinolicld. Illinois, of the 1-uthersn 
Church - Alissourj S!l~ocl. 
---A- 
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EI~ITORIAI, CORI~I\IIT'TI:,E 
I ~ I C H  11. HE,INI'ZIzceton, NEU:  Jerscy. 
Clergy changcs of address reported to Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, 
h'lissouri, will also cover :nailing change of Thc Springficldcr. Other changes 
C J ~  address should be scnt to the Business Manager of The Springfielder, Con- 
cordla 'll~cological Seminary, Spring6eld, U o i s  62702. 
Address co~~~munica t ions  to tfie Editor, Erich H. Heintzen, Concordia Theo- 
logical Seminary, Springfield, Dlinois 62702, 
Book Reviews 
HANDBOOIC OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 13y Claus Westermann. Trans- 
lated by Robert H. Boyd. Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, 
1967. 285 pages. Cloth. $5.95. 
INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE. By Pierre Grelot. Translated by 
G. Patrick Campbell. Herder and Herder, New York, 1967. 448 Pages- 
Cloth. $7.50. 
l3XPLORING THE SCRIPTURES. By John Phillips. F o r e W 0 r d by 
Stephen F. Olford. Moody Press, Chicago, 1965. Seventh pr int ing.  
1967. 288 pages. Cloth. $3.95. 
All three books are written by European born and trained theolo- 
gians; the first by a German Lutheran, the  second by a French Rolnal' 
Catholic, and the third by a British evangelical. Westermann and Grelot 
have adopted the critical position that the  Old Testanlent accounts are 
based on traditions handed down for hundreds of years and  must  be eval- 
uated for their reliability. The presuppositions underlying the  fo rm 
ical method are accepted and the conclusions are likewise accepted with- 
out cluestion. Westernlann's volunle deals only with the  Old 'I'estament7 
while those of (irelot and Phillips treat of both testaments. 
Claus Westernlann, professor of Old Testament a t  Heidelberg U n i -  
versity, is the author of A Thoq(~(~?t(Z Years  and A Day ,  T h e  Pra ise  of God 
i n  the  Psut?ns. E:.rsa ys in Old Testantent Hcr?)l.eneutics (ed i to r ) ,  a n d  
llclslc F ~ ~ ? ) I s  of I'rophetic Speech. He has become famous for h i s  use  a n d  
develo~)lnent of the form critical method, conclusions t ha t  flow f rom the 
application of this lnethodology are also found in Iln?~dOook of t h e  O l d  
?'cstcc~~rent. which is a translation of the introduction and Old T e s t a m e n t  
stXrtion of the 1lt.idelberg l>rofessor's ,\ br.iss Ribelkurrde ( ~ a n d b i i c h e r e i  
C1h7.tstc?~ I ~ I  d e r  TFeEt. Band I ) .  Westermann's book is directed t o  
those who have a familiarity with the critical nlethod but who have  no 
or little acquaintance with the I3ible. This handbook grew ou t  of the  
(;cArlllan prolessor's teaching beginners in a course entitled 13ibelkunde 
i"H1b1~ conlent") a t  the h'i~.cAZicl~s Hoc'hscll?~le in Berlin. 
?'hc reader of Westerriiann's Iwok \\rill find, as the translator,  Pro- 
fessor 1304-d, states in the preface, that the author " does not lose h i m s e l f  
i n  cu~nberson~c. mid intricate detail but opens a clear pathway i n to  t h e  
Scr l l ) tur~s  theinselircs. the readcr's interest, whetting h i s  a p p e t i t e ,  
and Ijrel)ar~~lg him for the delight of pursuing Bible study on h i s  own. 
In  this little guide hc3 succeeds i n  1)roviding an overall view of t h e  v a s t  
scope and signilicarlce of the Bil)lical message." 
W e s t ~ ~ 1 1 ~ i ~ n n  wallts his handbook to carry out the Reformation p r i n -  
c i ~ l c .  S ( ~ c ' ?  (1  ~ ( ' I . ~ / ) ~ U ) - ( I  S l l  i l ? l t ~ t - ~ l ?  f.T. Scril)ture is llsed to interpret Scrip- 
ture I-Iowe~cl-, hoi\. Scripture is u i ~ d e r s t ~ ~ d  and how parts a r e  related t~ 
other Darts ~ . l l l  dtwend on what kind of hernleneutics the in te rpre te r  
eml)lo~s That \Vester~nann interprets Scripture by Scripture is not true 
because the J3iblical clairrls wi th  regard to authorship and date are fie- 
C i u e n t l ~  erthrr l ~ n o r e r t  01.  contradict~d.  T)lis reviewer has found one of 
ih 
Book Reviews 4 5 
the  main values of the  hook in  the  simple and clear manner in which the 
author has laid out conclusions, regarding the composition and analysis 
of Old Testament from the literary and form-critical viewpoint by means 
of charts  and outlines. 
Grelot's volume reflects the  great  change tha t  has developed in the  
approach to  Scriptures by many European and American Roman Cath- 
olics, especially since the publication of Pope Pius' Divino Afjlnnte Spiritu. 
which was interpreted as  allowing and encouraging a critical approach to  
the  study of t h e  Sacred Scriptures. The present work is a revision of the 
second French edition. The sections devoted to the New Testament have 
been considerably enlarged, while chapters dealing with the Old Testa- 
nient have been revised in varying degrees. One gets the impression 
tha t  Father Grelot is  aiming his b o ~ k  a t  Rornan Catholic groups tha t  re- 
regarded the  Bible a s  the infallible Word of God. The Roman Catholic 
scholar's introduction is quite different from such Roman Catholic Biblical 
introductions a s  a r e  represented by Bonaventura Mariani, Int?'oductio 
in Libros Sucl-os Veteris l'estuntenti ; Louis Hudal and Joseph Ziegler, 
Kurxe Einleitung i n  cltrs iilte Tes tan~en t :  or John F.  Steininueller, A Cont- 
zjclnion t o  Sc?-ipt.u?-e Rtuclies. 2 volumes. Against those who refuse to ac- 
cept the critical presuppositions and the conclusions that  flow from the 
application of t h e  historical critical method, Grelot makes the  follow- 
ing  statement : 
On the  other hand, certain spirits, frightened by the Modern- 
ist danger o r  disturbed in thei r  intellectual ruts ,  confused the dog- 
matic tradition of the Church with the conservative position of yes- 
teryear's exegetes and cling without profit or  serious arguments to 
the obsolete and scientifically valueless solutions. 
Grelot's Introduction to the .Bible tries to show tha t  there was a great 
gradual development of the people of God as reflected in the Scriptures 
of the  Old and New Testaments. Scriptural texts a r e  exanlined and on 
their  basis, with t h e  aid of extra-biblical texts, he outlines a development 
in  terms of political, literary, and doctrinal history by means of a century- 
by-century analysis of events, showing how groups of disparate tribes were 
welded into a nation. Twelve chapters of the book deal with the Old Testa- 
ment  and the  centuries before the  coniing of Christ, while seven chapters 
t rea t  of the  New Testanlent. Scattered throughout t h e  entire volume a r e  55 
extra-biblical texts, designed to  show the relationship of the  Biblical ina- 
terials  to the  historical background to which they were intimately related. 
T h e  final chapter sets  forth the  views of the  Roman Church on inspira- 
tion, inerrancy, interpretation and tradition. While Roman Catholic bib- 
lical scholarship has  changed i ts  position on many matters, i t  still  ad- 
heres to the  apocryphal books a s  canonical and to  the  position tha t  the 
magisterium of t h e  Church is  t h e  God-appointed interpreter a n d  custo- 
d ian  of the  teachings of the  Sacred Scriptures! 
Exploring the Scriptures, by John Phillips, i s  a n  introduction which 
i s  quite different from those of Westermann and Grelot. The hermeneu- 
t ics and isagogics in the former a r e  traditional and conservative. Jus t  
a s  Westermann gives no hints to  h is  readers that  another way of dealing 
with t h e  Old Testament is  employed, so Phillips completely ignores a n d  
refuses to  use the  historical-critical method when dealing with t h e  books 
of the  Biblical canon. He says nothing of a documentary hypothesis* 
of three Isaiah's, two Zechariah's, of a canon still undetermined by the 
time of Christ's birth. Phillips does not question t h e  historicity of 
Genesis 1-11 or suggest that  we cannot be certain about the  activities 
of the  patriarchs. He  does not classify the  historical books of Ruth ,  Esther, 
Jonah, and Daniel as parables, fiction or historical romances. F o r m  criti- 
cism as applied to the books of the Old and  New Testaments is  ObviousLY 
rejected. I n  the gospels the  author believes we have reliable information 
about the  life and teachings of Jesus Christ. 
The  method followed in Exploring the scriptures is to "first analyze 
and then to s~n the t i ze  the contents of a given Biblical book." T h e  volume 
is concerned with an  analytical approach; i t  endeavors t o  see the  Bible as 
a. whole. The studies dealing with each book average from four  t o  five 
pages, which are too brief for dealing adequately with most books of the 
Bible. This reviewer found a number of Phillips' outlines helpful and 
instructive. 
Raymond F .  S~rb2brJ1 
THE COTTON PATCH VERSION OF PAUL'S EPISTLES. BY Clarence 
Jordan. Association Press, New York, 1968. 158 pages. Paper.  $2.25. 
(Cloth, $4.50.) 
01 the publishing of translations of the New Testament there is no 
end. Yet I)r. Jordan has done Illore than produce another newly 
English equivalent of the Greek words and phrases of Paul. H e  has used 
the rich and colloquial language of the southern cotton patch in order 
to address Paul's concerns and ideas to the social issues and problems of 
twer~tieth century h~ner ica .  
Tht:  charnl of the translation. as well as its impact, is not s o  much 
ilr its clarity a s  in its way of turning a phrase. The idioms a n d  terms 
are solnetimes earthy ("Hell. no! ") , sonleti~lles hunlorous ("the God move- 
ltlelit is not doughnuts and coffee"). 111ost frequently current  (" the  s i n f u l  
habit th:~t'o in I ~ Y  driver's seat"), and regularly colloquial ( " g e t t i n g  
banged up lr~akes us tougll"). All of this is the author's way of u s i n g  
t h e  turn of a ptrrasc to take the Scriptures out of the Cla~~rOOln  and 
stained glass Ranctuary and put then1 out under God's skies, speci f ica l lY 
southern skies. Some readers may decide that the author  h a s  u s e d  
ii foreign toligue. h u t  ally southerl~er recognizes the al together t y p i c a l  
( h ~ n ~ ~ ? r ~ a t i O n a l  languilpe of the deep south on every page. 
I n  the Cotton Patch Version Paul speaks to Atlanta and B i r m i n g h a m  
Washingto11 instead of to Corinth and Ephesus and  Rome. Every 
reference to :~nd Gentile" has beconle reference to "what man and  
Negro." nlost exclusi~e of the Jews have beconle white A m e r i c a n  
Protcal~~nts-- -occasi~ .~~~nl lq.  wen pure -4nglo-saxon Baptist8. Names of pea- 
~ l e  l ~ a r c  h e n  nlodernized or changed entirely. In this way Paul g e t s  to 
be a Part of a new tinle find setting: he is given the platform o n  which 
'"2 C'flil X I ~ P Q ~  ~ I l t  011 ~ l l ~ t 1  II~attels as mc,ism, brotherhood, and the like. 
Book Reviews 47 
- 
There is some problem whether every concept remains Pauline in this 
new setting, but the concepts are surely current and understandable. 
Most unfortunate about the Cotton Patch Version-and any trans- 
lator deserves to be lynched for this-is the fact that the major themes 
of Paul and his carefully devised arguments and explanations with re- 
gard to the core of the Christian faith lose their punch too frequently 
in this translation. Some of the great classic chapters of Romans on grace 
and justification are only shadows of their former selves. The bold ab- 
solutes and universals of the letter to the Galatians, now addressed to 
the Georgia Convention, have been narrowed severely. Whether this is 
because Dr. Jordan has not understood Paul or because he is totally p r e  
occupied with social concerns, this writer cannot tell. But i t  is a pity that 
the real beauty and wonder of Paul's theology is not also addressed in 
no uncertain terms to those in the cotton patch. 
Paul is not adequately represented by this translation; yet the book 
recommends itself for the beauty and meaning and wit with which Paul 
speaks through many of its sentences and paragraphs. 
Ray F. Martens 
STUDIES I N  LUKE-ACTS. Leander E. Keck and J. Louis Martyu, 
editors. Essays presented in honor of Paul Schubert of Yale. Abing- 
don Press, Nashville and New York, 1966. 316 pages. Cloth. Price 
not available. 
Contributors to this significant Festschrilt are: van Unnik, Vielhauer, 
Goodenough, Wilckens, Cadbury, Klijn, Minear, Wm. Robinson, Dahl, 
Moule, G. Bornkamm, Fitzmyer, Haenchen, Knox, Klisemann, and two 
essays each by Eduard Schweizer and Hans Conzelmann. All nineteen 
essays appear in English. 
In the opening essay, the Dutch theologian van Unnik calls Luke- 
Acts "a storm center in contemporary scholarship" second only to the 
ongoing "quest for the historical Jesus." Students and pastors familiar 
with this volume and the nearly 7,000 entries in Mattill and Mathill's 
Classlied Bibliography of Literature on the Acts of the Apostles, edited 
by Bruce M. Metzger (Leiden: Brill, 1966) will heartily concur. 
Many readers of this volume will appreciate C. F. D. Moule's laudable 
practical concern regarding theological study in general : 
What matters most, however, is that any true insights into the 
meaning of Luke or of his sources should not be left on a merely 
academic level, but should be made available to the church's witness 
at the present time (p. 159). 
Some of the other contributors evince an almost total disregard for 
seeking to effect a marriage between biblical scholarship and the urgent 
ongoing task of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry and 
for building up the body of Christ. 
As is frequently, true of scholarly presentations, one Ands some of 
the most exciting material in the footnotes, of which there are many a t  
the conclusion of each essay. The bibliographical references alone afford 
the serious student of the New Testament a wealth of valuable suggw- 
tions for further study. 
If this reviewer may be permitted a footnote to a footnote ( # 2 1 9  P- 
183) concerning "the old suggestion that Acts 17: 18 is meant to  imply that 
the Athenians misunderstood Paul to be proclaiming a male and female 
deity," is not the writer perhaps being a bit hasty in summarily dis- 
missing this view as "absurd" (contru the opinion of the editors of The 
Oxford Annotated Bible,  p. 1342, et al.)? One might well seriously hes- 
itate adopting Conzelmann's alternative suggestion on PP. 229-230, how- 
ever, that Luke was perhaps here being facetious in deliberately m a k i n g  
the audience misunderstand Paul. 
A few other points might be raised. Sufficient lexicogra~hical evi- 
dence exists to consider seriously the possibility that in Acts 6 :2  the 
apostles' problem was one of bookkeeping rather than that  of waiting on 
tables (cf. p. 52). In  the essay entitled "On preaching the Word of God 
(Luke 8 : 4-21) " the author unfortunately fails to take account of t he  words 
en hypomonee in Luke 8:15. 
Rtudies in Luke-Acts presents a series of critical essays in tended  
for critical reading. The reader will encounter some rather f a n t a s t i c  
sweeping ~eneralizations, little convincing evidence to support t h e  Con- 
tention of certain essayists that Luke and Paul a re  theologically i n c o m -  
patible. The essayists frequently disagree with one another on s u b j e c t s  
raWinR from the date of Acts to Luke's view of history and t h e o l o g i c a l  
purpose. At the same time, there can be little doubt that  this volume 3s 
indispensable to the serious study of Luk-~cts. ~ u t  first be sure  t o  r ead  
Luke-AC~S! 
Kenneth Ballas 
PAKL AND THE AGON MOTIF: TRADITIONAL ATHLETIC IMAGERY 
IN THE LITERATURE. By Victor C. Pfitzner. Supplements to 
Xovuln Teutamentuxn. E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1967. X,222 pages. C l o t h -  
Hfl .  28. - 
The author, an instructor in New Testament a t  our sister s e m i n a r y  
in Australia, origiually presented this material in the form of a d o c t o r a l  
dissertatiorl to the University of Muenster in Germany. Dr. P f i t ~ n e r ' s  
purpose is t o  explairl the origin and the meaning of Paul's use of ath- 
letic tem~inology in the epistles. Such terms as "race", "prize". " b o x i n g " ,  
a n d  "running" are familiar to most Lutheran pastors who have d e l i v e r e d  
sanctification serrnons on the basis of the Pauline epistles. H o w e v e r ,  
this detailed and thorough scholarly work is hardly intended for h o m i l  et- 
leal purposes. 
The main conclusion of this research is that though Paul uses the 
imagery of the Greek games, he is not dependent for his thought c o n t e n t  
on the  Hellenistic tradition. Paul's imagery is so general and l a c k i n g  in  
concrete details that it would tbe next to inlpossible to reconstruct the 
Greek games merely from his epistles. An interesting sidelight is that. 
considering the Jewish abhorrence for the Greek games which always 
had pagan rel i~ioss  overtones, i t  is highly questionable t o  speak of Paul's 
Book Reviews 
love and familiarity in connection with the games. The Pauline language, 
especially the  word "agon", struggle or  conflict, resembles the  popularized 
language of the Stoic moral philosophy; but with Paul the  meaning is 
entirely different. With the  Stoics "agon" dealt with the individual striv- 
ing for personal moral perfection. With Paul the  term applies t o  qualifi- 
cations for the  apostolic ofice and a description of the life of faith. Par- 
allels are  also drawn between Paul who comes as  the  special messenger of 
Jesus Christ and the  Cynic and Stoic sage who suffers while carrying out 
his duties for Zeus. The Christian is compared to  the  runner who is still 
running but has not obtained the  final goal. While in the Greek games 
the  runner ran for his own glory, the  Christian has been inducted by 
Christ into His service. 
Dr. Pfitzner has  covered what seems to be about every facet of the 
Greek ganies in t h e  ancient world. Chapters are  included describing what 
the  games meant to  the Greeks and how they were interpreted in the 
ancient writings, e.y., Zeonphanes, Plato, Aristotle, Philo, Josephus, et a2ii. 
Most of the discussion here centers around the  word "agon." A few pages 
a r e  devoted to the death agony of Jesus on Gethsemane (Luke 22:44, "And 
being in an  agony h e  prayed more earnestly"). The Lord is not struggling 
for  peace of soul or  for inner composure for the cruel fate that  awaited 
Him in the Stoic sense, but H e  is struggling with death in order t h a t  man- 
kind may have the  victory. 
Throughout the  work one can see the hand of Dr. Pfitzner's mentor, 
Professor Karl-Heinrich Rengstorf, who, perhaps more than a n y  other 
scholar in our generation, has defined the apostolic office and who sees in 
t h e  New Testament more Judaic influence than Hellenistic. Though the 
subject is of limited scope, a s  in  most dissertations, i t  is quite evident 
tha t  the  author with hi3 research opposes the theses of von Harnack and 
Bultmann in seeing the  Pauline epistles as products of the Hellenistic in- 
fluence. The pastoral epistles a r e  considered to be of Pauline authorship 
and  the  athletic imagery, including the  all important "agon", lends itself 
to  th is  conclusion. The bibliography is extensive and an  appendage on the 
early church's use of the athletic imagery adds a further recommendation 
to  this excellent contribution to New Testament studies. 
David P.  Scaer 
WHERE FAITH BEGINS. By C. Ellis Nelson. John Knox Press, Richmond, 
1967. 231 pages. Cloth. $4.75. 
The author, a specjalist in religious education a t  Union Seminary in 
New York, offers an  understanding of the Christian faith and i t s  trans- 
mission according to the categories of sociology and anthropology. The 
lines from theology and the social sciences bisect each other in the con- 
cept that  "faith" is a mark of the  community, whose cultural norms a re  
available for study. Perhaps the most useful chapter is the one on culture, 
undoubtedly the author's forte. Culture, more than anything else, is 
responsible for the  individual's world view, values and even his own self- 
esteem. Shown also is its relation to knowledge, language, conscience, and 
self-identification. As the community is the major factor in  passing on 
culture, so the Christian community serves the same function faith' 
While communication through the community is held as the 'Om- 
munication through t h e  m i n d  ( t r a d i t i o n a l  orthodoxy, rationalism)' 
through experience (nineteenth century vintage liberalism) ? through 
selfhood (Bultmann and Tillich), and through the church (Roman and 
Eastern Orthodox Communions and High Church ~ n g l i c a n s )  are  vil- 
lainous. The critiques offered here do indicate theological perception' 
But the author should also indicate that his own views seern to be 
Schleiermacher's '*old wine" poured into the lanew bottles" of sociological 
categories. This sentence is very much in the style and thought content 
of the Berlin theologian. 
My thesis is that faith is communicated by a community of be- 
lievers and that the meaning of faith is developed by its members 
Out of their history, by their interaction with each other, and in 'ela- 
tion to the events that take place in their lives. (P.  1 0 ) -  
With such an  understanding of faith, it is not difficult to understand 
that conscience and the Bible are considered products of the community's 
tradition, i.e., their culture. Of course, this almost perfect identification 
of faith with culture necessitates and comfortably results in  t h e  higher 
critical view that both testaments are products of communities rather 
than specially appointed individuals. Revelation comes through the  events 
of the comnlunity. A final chapter offers suggestions in molding t h e  
through the church according to the principles of culture for service in 
the community. 
The author has taken a bold and interesting step in unders tanding  
theology according to the terms of the social sciences-and this  reviewer's 
tlloughts were continually challenged and sonletimes changed. B u t  the 
final and also unfortunate result is that Biblical terms a r e  given new 
nle;trlirl~s. Gra~lted that the Bible was formed f o r  the community, but is 
i t  I - @ ~ I ~ Y  f i le  product of  t h e  cor~~lriunity'? 1 s  faith only a description of a 
reliltionship to God? Is time really the test for religious t ru th  in t h e  corn- 
mu nit^? 1s revelation "a disclosure of the real significance of one's t r a d i -  
tions?" Is i t  true that there is no church "until believers a re  ga the red  to- 
gether in [\. consr:ions, voluntary fellowship with coInmon al legiance to 
Christ?" Is faith linliled by the community-what about Luther,  Wesley, 
(I1! A believer for the author is oIle old e~lough for psychoIogical e x p e r -  
lerlce within the Conlmunity---children not included ( Q .  33) .  
I t  is int.cre~ting to look at the church as a human organiza- 
through the glasses Of a sc.~cial scientist. But the focus is never  clear, 
because the chur(:h is riot a human organization but a divinely established 
group sul)erllatur~l roots, imperceptible t o  the hullIan eye. T h e  Holy 
S p i r i t  is responsjl>le for cornulunitp abd Scriptllre-not the reverse. 
David P. Scaer 
~.. 
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h'II.'1'Y KEY llf'OK1)S lK THEO[,OGY. 13y F. C. Healey. John Knox Press, 
1iicahnlond. l ! IC' i .  S 4  pages. Paper. $1.65. 
With theology chasgitlg as ranidly i ~ s  it doe5 )v[[h the  addition of new 
tt'r[ns iind lhP rrdstinitiorl o l  the older ones, there is a greater need for 
Book Reviews 
guidebooks like th is  one. As the  author, Dr. Healey, currently professor 
of systematic theology a t  Westminster College, Cambridge, points out, his 
purpose is not only that  of lexicography but also of theological introduc- 
tion. The fifty words chosen, running from "analogy" to "Word of God" 
a re  alphabetically arranged but dogmatically presented. The wide diversi- 
fication includes "atonement", "cosmological arguments", "epistemology", 
"ontology", and "teleological arguments." After the  word comes a brief 
but adequate explanation, in general no more than two or three sentences. 
Then follows a brief essay indicating the origin of the term or idea and 
its subsequent use in the  church. While the author gives a fairly ade- 
quate explanation of the term in classical Protestant theology, i.e., Luther 
and Calvin, he seems to favor newer definitions. For  example "faith" in 
the  Biblical sense is correctly stated to be fiducia, but a definition of faith 
tha t  strongly represents Schleiermacher's is favored. "A community as 
a whole may be governed by beliefs which restrict the range and quality 
of the religious experiences of all its members." The section on Holy 
Scripture relies heavily on Barth both in content and words. It is ex- 
plained as a "medium of revelation", "unique authority as historical wit- 
ness" and "a contemporary medium for God's continuing self-disclosure 
and self-giving" by which God "addresses" men. The section on "Christ- 
ology" sees Jesus a s  definitely different from other men but considers His 
relationship to  God as an unanswered theological question. What is said 
on "atonement" mentions the various historical theories but leaves the 
reader in the  a i r  since the author favors what seems a combination of 
the  ideas of Anselm and Abelard. Unfortunately the section on "Trinity" 
suffers from the same duplicity since it seems to make of equal value what 
have been three exclusive ideas-modalism, traditional trinitarianism, 
and tritheism. The section on "myth" is disappointing, with the  first 
meaning given a s  "out-moded beliefs concerning the  world and man." 
Another meaning for myth is symbol, such as "God's right arm." None 
of the meanings given fit the typical dictionary meaning of legend, in- 
vented stories, imaginary things or persons, and fables. 
The writers of the  Bible, our Lord (sic!) in the days of his flesh, 
the apostles and later Christian teachers, undoubtedly held some be- 
liefs about the  world, about man, and about past history which we 
now know were defective, or altogether mistaken. 
When Dr. Healey uses the word "undoubtedly" does he mean that  he 
is not absolutely sure  that  they were mistaken or tha t  he has not bothered 
to examine the  evidence? The author's motives a re  good in desiring to 
bring order in thological linguistics but his attempts lack the certainty 
and clarity which a re  the characteristics of the  lexicographer. For  the  
second edition t he  initial sectional sentence, "HOLY SCRIPTURE is a 
t i t le for Christian doctrine concerning the Bible," should be reworded. 
Holy Scripture is not so much the  name of a doctrine as it is a synonym 
for the Bible itself. (Cf. Rom. 1:2, 2 Tim. 3:15 ff., and 2 Peter 3:15 f.) 
David P. Scaer 
CRISIS I N  LUTHERAN THEOLOGY. Val, XI. An Anthology Edited b y  
John Warwick Montgomery. Baker Book House, 1967. 194 pages. 
Paper. $3.00. 
The subtitle of this volume is "The Validity and Relevance of His- 
toric Lutheranism vs. I t s  Contemporary Rivals." Volume 11 of in 
Lutheran Theology concerns itself with the  same issues with which Vol- 
ume I dealt. While Volume I was comprised of five essays writ ten by *=- 
Montgomery, Volume I1 contains twelve essays and articles written by 
eight different Lutheran pastors and professors. Four  of the essays in 
Volume I1 are by Dr. Robert D. Preus of Concordia Seminary, St. 
The essays in Volume II appeared in various magazines and journals be- 
tween the  years 1960 and 1966. Five of the eight contributors a r e  mem- 
bers of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and al l  but  two teach at 
theologi~al  seminaries or a thwlogieal college. The articles a r e  reprinted 
from the following periodicals and journals: T h e  Chris t ian C e n t u r s 7  
Chris t iani ty  Today, The Ezangelical Society Bulle t in,  T h e  ~ ~ r i n g f l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ '  
Concordia Theological Monthly, and Lutherischer Rundbl ick .  
This anthology of essays was arranged by Dr. MontgonlerY u n d e r  two 
rubrics : "Revelation and Inspiration" and "Biblical ~ n t e r p r e t a t i o n  and 
Ecumenic i t~  in Light of Luther and the Confessions." 
In the introduction to both volulnes of Crisis in Lutheran T h e o l o Y g  
is the  evaluatioll of the historian Winthrop S. Hudson, who c o n c l u d e d  
h i s  (:llicfi~o 1-[istory ot Alurricall Civilization volume on dn~el-iCa?Z Y1.ote.s- 
' a 7 ' t i s t l l  ( 1961) with l~igll praisp of I,ntheranisul: 
The Lutheran churches . exhibited an ability to  grow during 
the post-World \Var 11 years, with the Lutheran c h u r c h - ~ i s s o ~ * ~  
S ~ l l o d  rnaklng the greatest gains. The Lutheran churches a r e  in the 
fortunate Position of having been, in varying degrees, insulated 
from Alllrricarl life for a long l~eriod of time. As a result  t h e y  have 
been less suhlcct to the theological erosion which s o  largely s t r i p p e d  
other dehn(~lninatlons of an awareness of their continuity w i t h  a 
lllstorlc tradit~on Thus the resources of the Christian past  have b e e n  
morp readily availahlr to them, a ~ l d  this fact suggests tha t  t h e y  may 
have an increasingly lulportanr. role in :L Protestant recovery. A m o n g  
the Assets iuiiuediatelq. a t  hand alnollg Lutherans a r e  a c o n f e s s i o n a l  
tradition, a surviving liturgical structure, and a sense of c o r n l l l u n i t ~  
which, howewr much lt may he the product of cultural f a c t o r s ,  may 
=lake It easier for them than for most Protestant denolninat ions  to 
the "Integrity of church mei~lbership" without which P r o t -  
estants lire ' l l - e q l ~ l ~ ~ e d  to participate effectively i n  the  d i a l o g u e  of 
a pluralistica society 
Xmerlcan Lutheranlt;r~i, according to Professor Hudson's 
a n a l y s i s ,  
wa,r br l~@%ed t o  be 111 a posltlon to help the future of A l ~ ~ e r i c a n  christian- 
l t y  bt~cuuse L\lthr.ri\nisnl had not exper~enced the theological e r o s i o n  that 
llna aEected ot)~c>r deoo~iilnatlons. However, developments dur ing  the P a s t  
renrs huve btlowll  that hnlrr~can Lutheranism, illeluding that of The 
12urhrran Church-Ll la~o~r~  Synod. has been experiellcing "theological era- 
Book Hcviews 5 3 
sion." From the standpoint of confessional Lutheranism there are  trends 
t h a t  portend a departure from Scriptural positions. The essays and arti- 
cles in  both volumes of Crisis in  Lutheran Theology point to the extreme 
peril of the current theological situation. 
Lutheranisin is being teinpted to  give up its traditional doctrine of 
verbal and plenary inspiration of the  Bible. Modern erroneous theories 
about  revelation a r e  being adopted and promoted by Lutheran theologians 
a n d  pastors. The inerrancy of the Bible is being rejected by Lutherans 
who heretofore held to i t  in deference to adjusting their views in line 
with the mainstream either of neo-orthodox or liberal Protestantism. 
Some Lutherans are  willing to yield the Sola Scriptura principle of his- 
toric Lutheranism and  allow reason and religious experience to serve as  
sources for religious authority. The new hernleneutic of Ebeling, Fuchs, 
Ott and others is being adopted together with a rejection of a biblical 
hermeneutics t h a t  operated with the  principle of the  unity of Scriptures 
a n d  which accepted New Testament interpretations of the Old Testament. 
There  are also theologians in the church of the Reformation who are 
assert ing that  i t  is improper to find "propositional truth" in the Scrip- 
tures. Other Lutherans are depicting Martin Luther a s  a n  exegete who 
if h e  were living today would favor the critical approach to the Scrip- 
tures  and who reject the understanding of Lutheranism as  found in the 
age of orthodoxy. I n  the interest of affiliating themselves with the  ecu- 
mentical movement of world Protestantism, Lutherans are toning down 
distinctive Lutheran teachings so t h a t  they might appear to be in tune 
wi th  the theological views of the Reformed, Eastern orthodox and Roman 
Catholic communions. 
It is to the above mentioned developnlents in American and European 
Lutheranism that  the  essayists in both volumes of C ~ i s i s  in  Lutheran 
Theologlt have directed their attention. As in Volume I, so in Volunle 11, 
articles dealing with sound hermeneutics a re  presented by professors 
Bohlmann and Preus. The importance of the doctrine of the inspiration 
is  se t  forth by Dr. Hernlan Sasse of Australia. Dr. Spitz, Sr., shows what 
is involved in adhering to Luther's Sola Scriptura principle. The Rev. 
Douglas Carter, a renowned English Luther Scholar, portrays Luther as  
exegete. Dr. Friberg stresses the importance of believing that  in the Bib- 
lical canon we actually have the Word of God and not merely witnesses 
to  t h a t  Word. In another contributioxi he emphasizes the fact that  "prop- 
ositional truth" is found in the Scriptures. 
I n  the nineteenth century, as  Dr. Montgomery points out in the 
introduction to both volumes, Anierican Lutheranism was also exper- 
iencing a time of crisis. Charles Porterfield Krauth, who fought and won 
a bat t le  for sound Lutheranism, has made in his Conservative Reformation 
and I ts  Theology a statement worthy of being heeded today: 
Had a war of three hundred years been necessary to sustain the 
Reformation, we know that  the Reformation would ultimately have 
repaid all the sacrifices i t  demanded. Had our fathers surrendered 
the truth,  even under that  pressure to which ours is a feather, how we 
would have cursed their memory, a s  we contrasted what we were with 
what we might have been. 
And shall we despond, draw back, and give our nalnes to the re- 
Droach of generations to come, because the hurden of the hour seen1s 
to U s  heavy? God, in His mercy, forbid! If all others a re  ready to 
yield to des~ondency,  and aballdorl the strrlggle, wc, children of the 
Reformation, dare not. That struggle llas taught two lessons, which 
must  never be forgotten. One is, tha t  the  t rue  a n d  the good must  be 
secured at any price. They are  beyond all price. We dare not  compute  
the i r  cost. They a r e  the  soul of our being, and the  whole world i s  as 
dust  in the balance against thenl. s o  matter  what  is to be paid for  
them, We must not hesitate to lay down their  redemption price. The 
other grand lesson is, that their price is never paid in vain. What  
we  give can never be lost, unless we give too little . . . . If we lllaintain 
t h e  pure Word inflexibly a t  every cost . . . we shall Conquer - - . 
through the Word; but to comprolnise 011 a single point, is t o  lose all1 
and  to be lost. 
l t a p z o n d  3'. S%rb?k1-8 
THE PREMATURE DEATH OF P R  o T E s T A N T I S M. BY Fred  J. 
Denbeaux. 3. 13. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia/NeW Y01-k~ 1967.  
155 pages. Paper. $2.25. 
'rllose who111 the author calls "conventional" Christians (P-  1 4 )  w i l l  
lj~ld ~ I I U C ~  in the first chapter of this book which will immedia te ly  get 
their attention and nl,prova]. TWO quotations will make  this  e v i d e n t -  
It will I)(? long before the conventiorlal Christ ian d i s c o v e r s  
that the world a t  large callnot help but view him as a c u r i o s i t y -  l 
and like his Jcwish cousins. he will discover tha t  c h r i s t i a n i t ~  has I 
it s t a ~ i r l g  I)owcr which does not rely npon the  approval of t h e  civi l i -  I 
zntioll in which i t  participates, I 
It is unlikely that the Christian is going to solve t h e  ~ r o b l e n ~  
of h i s  :~wk\v:~l~lnt?ss by c:ommittitlg cultic. suicide. I?y now h e  wi l l  know 
\\-hat the (?arliel disciples knew-that a Christian will a l w a y s  be a 
l i t t .1~ of Step. a little alien to his civilization. Hc wil l  also d i s -  
(:o\.c?.l-. il has not already dol~e so, that he will serve his c i v i l i z a t i o n  
11ot obscuring what he believes but by being sure  t h a t  his life, 
his 111011gl11 and his piety reflect his lollely service to  his a r t .  As h e  
coIlll)Oses his rcsllonsr t o  t . 1 ~  Iiiystc:ry which shaped h i ~ n  h e  Tvill forego 
koo~) ing  a COmlllt?rcial eye on marketability. 
.xlld Yet th(: Christian caunot be indifferent to his -ti.orld 
th~llgl l  cont'c!sses daily that his citizenship is fro111 heaven.  Civil- 
izalil~ll. cr,(.alivi> : L I I ~  i1111,crrtnn~ a s  it is, is not tile mirror  in w h i c h  h e  
lintlz his i t lo~~ti ty.  \I. t h o  salllc t i ~ ~ l c  1 1 ~  does 110t seek to erase civili-  
Zati(lll. \Vll:lL t ~ t .  sceks I(> do  is uf'jpr.. of his  own ~ ~ e c u l i a r  re- 
>('Ilr(.l's. s ~ ~ l L l ( !  \ V O I ' ~  w11ic.h I I I ; I ~  bt: ]lell,ful 1.0 tllat civiliziltion in whit 
hc' l l : t ~ l . i l ' i l ~ f i t ( ~ ~ .  I.rllI 1 0  \r.llicll he  does llot o\r;e ;ill llltilllate I o y a l t y . "  
i l ~ ~ ( : \  a r .  :tlm;rd) i n  Llie first chapter arld throughout tho 
sir. ~hort: arc 1lilri~gr31)11~ \vliicll uiake the "con\.entionrl" C l l r i s t i an  won-  
"" ! *ilil[. I hc  thilr's ~ o ~ ~ e , e l ~ l i n n  of a '*eonveutionalrr C h r i s t i a n ,  
Hook Rcvicws 
or, for that matter, of Christianity itself is! What should a "conventional" 
Christian think of the  following paragraph? 
Not in whining but in faith we walk forward into a future which 
will be more responsible, in which me11 will administer better gov- 
ernments, conlpose better music, paint better pictures. Putt ing away 
our  worldly nostalgia for the past, refusing to hunger for the fleshpots 
of Egypt, we can act in faith and  trust that  the  man, the humanity, 
tha t  God has created will create better and more truly than ever be- 
fore. Christ did not come that  a civilization should go down the drain, 
but that man may, because God asks i t  of him, exercise a creative 
power which will cause the  angels to cheer. 
There is still more that puzzles the  "conventional" Christian. After 
a scathing denunciation of a shriveling empiricism which is wholly ab- 
sorbed with chaotic contemporaneity in which "universals collapse" in 
an  "endless process," and which resulted in the loss of cultural creativ- 
ity and  the fading of the American dream in an  age tha t  "began with Walt 
Whitman singing of Life innilense in  passion, pulse and  power and  ended 
with Norman Mailer saying: '. . . all I know is tha t  a man feels good 
when he corninits a murder.' ", there follows a plea for the recognition of 
the value of our "legacy," and the reader is offered a hope as  ambiguous 
and nebulous as  this:  
Thus as  we enter the  ecumenical age, the age of true dialogue, 
i t  is becoming clear that inany will find that  their legacy is, to choose 
a few points of concretion, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and  "Pla- 
tonic." Legacy enables one to escape the present contempt for in- 
stitutional religion without being a slave to the institution. Chris- 
tianity, by nature, is synthetic, opening itself a s  i t  does to  the Hebraic 
and  to the  Classical. I t  is thus possible to think of legacy both in 
terms of open confessionalism and in relation to those who, troubled 
by the shal~elessness of sheer contemporaneity, seek to absorb some- 
thing from the vitalities of the  past. I t  rnay even be possible that 
the  tinie will come when a concept of legacy will be freed from a 
confessional requirenient so that  the past can be shaped by those who 
a r e  bound by the  Christian synthesis and by those who will see them- 
selves as friends and critics of tha t  synthesis. 
Because the author of this book scenis to think of man, made in the 
image of God, as a "maker," and of Christianity's function chiefly in terms 
of proinoting free cultural "creativity" without falling into the snare of 
absolutizing the  relative, he is able to  write things tha t  confuse the  "con- 
ventional" Christian. This is what he has to say in the chapter titled, 
"Christianity, Civilization and Sex": 
Christianity neither makes culture divine nor sees culture as 
mere debris. Thus  a t  this point theology must be most dialetical. 
It must neither absolutize the human nor deny man his grandeur. 
A s  the Christian thinker turns  his attention to  the institution of 
marriage he must recognize that man as well as God is a truly crea- 
5 6 THE SPHIKGFIEI.DEK 
- - -- - 
t 
tive being and that his creatiolls do not necessarily below to dri* 
and decay. "Our first assumption, therefore, i s  that  the organization 
of man's sexual life belongs inexorably to his destiny." 
The church must encourage the community, for  instance, to 
change its laws regarding honiosexuality. While the church recog- 
nizes that the culture has a right to define heterosexual marriage as 
the norm it does not have the right to define as criminal those who 
create a different biological and social order. i 
Our second assumption is that the new morality is no more a 1 
final answer than was the rigid morality which i t  sought to correct' 
The apparent nihilism of the new morality i s  little more than a re- 
i 
i 
action against a system of nliddle-class ethics which had absolutized I 
its sexual order. The new morality aims a t  loosening-UP Victorian i 
structures, struct~lres which had mixed human creativity with 
creativity. Excessive relativization must be understood as  an answer : 
to excessive absolutization. Christianity, committed to man's j 
humanization, cannot be comfortable with a system which identif ies ' I: 
the divine will with a social norm. Christianity is  committed t o  the ' 
dognla that no man (or woman) i s  queer before the  eyes of God, al- l i 
though he nlay seem to be so by conventional standards. The redernP- i 
thre lnercies of God are not limited to those who exist within statis- 
tical 1 l O r l i l ~ l ~ ~ .  The chtlrch can be grateful tha t  the new morali ty has 1 I 
shaken easy absolutes. The church may have followed t h e  l i n e  of i 
least resistallce and identified itself with bourgeois inst i tut ions but / 
the living (;od is not a shopkeeper. 
i 
-4t t.ll(! salll~! time the church must be as critical of n o h e m i a n -  
as it is of the ~rliddle class. If the norm of the middle-class man 
callllot be wuated with the divine neither can the expectations to the 
ll()l.lll be 1Hildf: illto it quasi-religion. The disciples of a more e x p e r i -  
meIltal attitude toward sexuality are not free from r n e t s p h y s i ~ a l  Pre- 
'rnsioll; chaos is 11ot the goal of human creativity. T h e  goal is 
as Illan is enabled to honor process by being flexible, t o  honor 
strllcturt? by achieving definition. The chllrch lllust be to 
man  he achieves his definitions and as he llolds those definitions 
wi th  gent.leness of sllirit. 
. . l h l s  is the kind of book roncernillg ll~uch more could be, p r o b a b l y  
s ) L ~ ) I ~ I c ~  be s a i d .  I)llt this is ('r~o~igh to indicate that it is t he  kind of book 
which ~nakes  interesting reading. but which requires critical reading. 
H. A. H u t h  
-. - 
CHRISTIASS ACTIVE IS THE IYORLD. Hy Yres Collgar. H e r d e r  and 
llerder, S c w  York 196s 21s pages followed by all index of names 
and ail lndcs oI subjects Cloth. $5.95. 
The cokrr tells tile reader that this hook "is a selection of Father 
Congar s wrlhngs . . Writings that were influential in creating t h e  the- 
olog~cal c l ~ n ~ a l e  111 wl~lch the decrees of Vatican I1 were nur tured  and have 
flour~shed" The author is a rnan r h o  "had already achieved r e n o w n  as 
Book Reviclvs 
a distinguished ecclesiologist, a pioneer ecumenist, a spiritual writer of 
the first rank, and a n  earnest advocate of Church reform" when the  names 
of Rahner, Lonergan, and von Balthasar were still "relatively unknown." 
All this makes this book worthy of the  attention of anyone who wishes 
to be informed about Roman Catholic thinking about the Church and 
social problems. 
In eleven chapters such diversified topics a s  lay participation in 
Church affairs to interracial marriages are discussed. Chapter five is 
titled "Outlines for a Theology of Catholic Action," and is of special impor- 
tance for understanding the Rornan Catholic conception of the  role of 
the Church in the world, and for seeing the theological principles upon 
which this conception rests. 
"The Christian Idea of History" is  an  especially valuable chapter, and 
for this reader the  last paragraph was an  "experience" that deserves 
sharing with all who read this review: 
I t  is not for nothing that  the Creed, in which our faith is  suin- 
med up, that  Creed we are  about to recite together, begins with the 
words 'I believe', but ends with the words 'I expect'. I believe in God 
and in Jesus Christ his only Son, but I expect the  world to  come. 
Amen. 
The first chapter is titled, "Respect for the Apostolate of the Laity." 
While one should not expect to find the Lutheran doctrine of the  priest- 
hood of all believers in this chapter, one does find a scholarly investiga- 
tion of the question "how, in what context, and therefore why, initiative 
on the  part of the laity has sometimes been neglected and even unknown" 
(p. 3 ) ;  and one finds also what Father Congar thinks the relation of 
priests to laity ought to be: 
Clearly the relation between priest and lay people can only be 
one of full collaboration, of apostolic and missionary action in com- 
mon. 
This collaboration between priests and laity has often been de- 
scribed by the names of 'team' (or 'crew') or even the 'priesthood- 
laity couple'. I like this expression for its mental associations, and 
also for its accuracy. The couple is both a community and a hier- 
archy, a friendship and a legal structure, a diversity and a mutual 
completion. 
The following paragraphs (from tb.e chapter which discusses "The 
Christian's Attitude in n Divided World") makes i t  quite clear this book 
was written by a Roinan Catholic theologian: 
Here it is necessary to recall the Catholic principles in all their 
force. I t  is very dangerous, and a wrong method of action, to propose 
a theory of fact before proposing a theory of right, or to propose a 
theory of life before that  of the  structure. Life exists and must be 
respected, but in the  framework of the structure. The fact exists, but 
must be written into the framework of the right. Such are the  general 
and practically classical principles received in Catholic theology (I 
say theology because they are not dogmas). 
Fi r s t  principle : 
There is a religious truth,  there  is a revelation proceeding f r o m  
God, a religious t ru th  or positive revelation of which the  Church h a s  
charge, with the charismata or  graces appropriate t o  tha t  charge  of 
teaching; graces of truth. i 
Second principle: 
The chief end of men, and of the  world too, i s  i n  f ac t  supernat -  
ural. God h a s  created the world f o r  himself, for  cornnlunion in his 
own innernlost life. Further, temporal society has  no  other  e n d  but 
that  of individuals, and their last end  i s  supernatural.  
Conclusion : 
I 
I 
I 
The temporal authority must so ar range  t h e  social order as to i 
favour that supernatural end, with which the  Church i s  e s s e n t i a l l y  
concerned. Now the tenlporal authority cannot succeed i n  t h i s  u n l e s s  
it obeys the Church. The ideal is therefore a temporal  society direc- 
ted by the Church. I remark that  in by opinion th i s  does n o t  Pre- 
judge the lnanner in which we conceive the relations of t h e  church 
with telnporal society. This in 110 way implies t h e  idea of what  has 
heen called a jurisdiction of the Church over the  city, a t hes i s  which 
I for  one do not support. I believe tha t  t he  requirements of C a t h o -  
lit doctrine are satisfied if the relations of t h e  Church w i t h  t e m p o r a l  
society lire conceived, not a s  relations of jurisdiction, b u t  a s  those 
of a n~agisteriulli. This position has  been called i n  theology a ' d i rec-  
tive powt?r'. 
This book should be read by all serious Lutheran  theo log ians  vrh0 
wallts to keep abreast of I ~ o i i ~ a n  Catholic thinking in several  m a j o r  thee- 
l o ~ i c n l  and sc~ciological areas. 
H .  A. H u t h  
TIIT!: MOl)EKN VISION O F  DEATII. Edited by Na than  A. S c o t t ,  Jr- 
.Johll I~~11--111 Light of Social Science a n d  Christ ian 
I"ait1i." K ' ' Q ~ ,  ~sllcclRlly as he draws into question t h e  too e a s y  assever- 
;',.iol1 t! l i l l  111~ s('i(intifir: niethod and pel.specti\.e, particularly of the social 
ilrt' ill)l( ' really t o  interpret man and eoml)etent to p a s s  c r i t ica l  
)~danil l lr  1ll)oll llle Ciiristian Br.rspecti\.e we with h i s  c o n c l u s i o n  
' "h t  " l i r i s [ i~!~ c R ~ ~ ~ u I I Y  interprets and uses the kllowledge from 
t h ~  ~ ) c i i i l  s~il.n(~l:s ill his own particular interl,retatio,ls men, in 
t i i s  t!thical (:ollslderationsv ( p ,  70) Keith R ,  Bridston ,,Rers Christian 
' "f sf!cili:lr A~lthr~j~l~iopie~; .  ,. i i)arwinian, Marxian, 
Book Rcvicws 
Freudian views on man in a short chapter. These a re  useful delineations, 
but the  chapter itself is a little weak on the Christian side, particularly 
in his  notion (Scott and Sinith join him) that  "true man" must be dis- 
covered in the person of the only True  Man who has ever lived, Christ. 
This Barthian idea reverses what Paul has to say about "God sending 
His own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin 
in the  flesh, that  the  righteousness of the  law might be fulfilled in 
us . . . " (Ronl. 8, 3f.) 
D. G. Brown presents "The Secular Challenge to  the Christian View," 
deftly jabbing a t  what  "Christian" theology so often proposes for its 
"Gospel," "that the life of Jesus was a revelation of the possibilities of 
human beings" (p. 98) .  "This," h e  says quite appropriately, "is not 
Christian doctrine." But then he expects no inore help from Christian 
theology either, in the  final analysis, than from a dozen other sources, 
apparently hoping t h a t  by a kind of process philosophy each rnan will 
ultimately be his own best a u t h o r i t  y. Pieter de Jong's chapter on 
"Teilhard's Vision of Hope" succeeds admirably in unraveling th is  puz- 
zling thinker's viewpoint, although th i s  does not inean that the reader's 
vision of hope will be enlarged! Also excellently done is Reginald H. 
Fuller's syinpathetic treatment of Ronhoeffer's "The World Come of Age" 
theme, in which he endeavors to defend the Ger~nan martyr's "religion- 
less Christianity" a s  a new understanding of the Christian life in terms, 
not of a Gospel which proclainls forgiveness, life and salvation, but of 
participation in the suffering of God a t  the hands of a godless world. 
Fuller adinits finally, however, when i t  comes to "a critique of the  auto- 
nounlous world from the perspective of the God of the Bible," that  
"Bonhoeffer offers little or nothing here" (p. 161). He is kinder than 
most, in view of the fact that  the God-is-dead crowd like to trace their 
lineage back to  Bonhoeffer. The editor's own concluding chapter, "Christ 
and Man," challenges, anlong other things, the mechanism of basing 
Christian anthropology on Christology (see above! ). As a possible so- 
lution to the lwesent huinan dilemna, Nicholls cancels oiit the various 
alternatives which come fro111 the side of secularism and which exalt the 
autonomy of man, and  then he suggests in their place what he terins 
"theonomy" (Tillich's term),  in which man sees himself living under 
and before the  sovereign Lord, like Christ, for, a s  Nicholls contends, 
"no one but Christ himself has fully demonstrated the theonomous life" 
(p- 219). Even though he hedges this about carefully as  "a gift of Christ" 
(P 220), i t  is difficult to see how such "theonoiny", no matter how sophis- 
ticated the theologizing, can be distinguished a t  its best from old line 
Calvinism, or  a t  i ts  worst from sinlple Pelagian thinking. 
E. F. K1zc.g 
THEOLOGIE DER EVANGELISATION. By Hans-Lutz Poetsch. Verlag 
Stelten & Co., Bremen, 1967. 167 pages. Cloth. DM 14.4. ($3.75 
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis). 
Pastor Hans-Lutz Poetsch is the Lt~tl~erun Hour speaker in Germany. 
In this little book the author addresses himself to the probleni of evangel- 
izati0n i n  Germany, both to the readers of the Free  Churches a n d  t o  the 
L a n d e s k i ~ c l ~ e ? l .  It is very instructive for the American reader, who can 
only with difficulty understand the  difficulties of evangelization in  a land 
whose citizens have twice in this century lost confidence in the i r  church- 
state unity, loose as this unity is. 
Pastor Poetsch treats ''Evangelization as  the  question addressed to 
the church," "The answer froill the  Confessions," "The bearers of evan- 
gelization." ' ' E ~ a n g e l i z a t i ~ ~  in the narrower sense," "The probleln of the 
evangelistic approach," "The evangelistic message," ' d ~ v a n g e l i z a t i o n  pra"' 
tically considered," "Evangelization and  the Inass media." 
I t  beconies clear to an A~lierican reader tha t  t h e  na tu re  and for'" 
of the ?~o?l(lcrkirc?~e is indeed a roadblock which t h e  American church 
docs [lot encol~nter. When the Lcn2(lesl;i,-c.ljr considers its ecunlenical 
relations as a Part of the rebuilding of the  good name of Germa.nyy 
t h e  
1)roblelll is Only intensified. If the interdenonlinational evangel izat ion is  
I)ror)osed in land where Lutheran and Reformed already in te rco lnmune '  
an8 dlllost everyone i~alongs to a church by virtue of t h e  payment of his 
taxes, the cluestions regarding the proper and  t h e  n a t u r e  of t h e  
ln('SSagc! llWd indeed to be asked. 
~ t t o  F . Stcthlke 
('ON('C)Rl)I:.\ CATECIIISAI S);I;RIES. \!'alter M. Wangerin,  Editor- Col'. 
vordia I ' t ~ l ~ l i s l i i ~ ~ g  I - ~ o u s ~ .  st. Louis, 1967. 
r .  1 l i (1 1!15!1 (.lonvt.~itiou of tlie I,~lthrran church-hf ~ S S O U ~ ~  Synod author- 
izt:tl the  I',oilrtl for Parish E d u c a t i o n to develop graded catechisxl' 
111ate1-ials. 'l'he Concordin (:itt.e(;hislil Series, the product of  eight years Of 
1vor.k b): t l~c !  Hoartl nlld its Catec.ilisl11 Comnlittee, r epresen t s  the 
Irient. of tilt: c:o~lvt~ntic.)~i's ;~ssignllicnt. The Catechisiil series was prepared 
to II(?II) the ci~t(?chist. i l l  his t . x ~ k .  
'rllr: Sc?l'ic:s t!o~lsisl,s of 16 books. s i x  catechism ItetrtZe7-s i n t roduce  
l h ( h  \lri111:tr!' and 111iddle-grades child to  siillple f u n d a m e n t a l s  of fai th.  
' T h i s  IS follr)wi.d by t 1 1 1 ~ ~ c :  sets. enc:h of three books, each book conta ining 
62 I ~ ! S S ~ ~ I S .  Thc:~ct ilrr dr.r;iy:-n~d esst?llti:Llly [or Jlmior High pupils: 3..v-7~ea 
(;f)d ! ' h ( ~ s ( '  . l lo t r .  'l'l~is is illtentled for grade sex,-ell, give or  t a k e  one g r a d e .  
111 this cbi)t\l.sc! Iiiljle 1-Jistory? 2.1 I . C C O Y ~  of (;odVs qreat acts,  c h r o n o ~ o g i c a ~ i ~  
~lri'sr~lltcxl. 11rovid(:s Ille basis. The  liest. cotlrse, y1],is 1 s  ?'he ~?~.?-'ist.in?z E'CL i t ) ! .  
follows lI1i? S I X  ch ie f  ]~;~l.ts a s  give11 i l l  J,utherls slllall c a t e c h i s l x ~ .  This 
is dc:sistuld for ~r.nd(: eight sttldcl~ts nl\d is ~,resulllably t h e  second a n d  
l i ~ \ i i l  Year rc~tl1;ll. 6011 lirln;~t,io~~ i l l ~ t r ~ ~ t i ( ) ~ ~ .  -11, (2 IJ,iz;e U?lcZe,?- Ill i597, is 
~ k t ( '  t t l i l ' c l  !'(';lr ( ' ( l l l t s c :  it11d rl~;ly take11 for  study in  t h e  third year 
( i f  i l  tlir~:~~-vl.~;rl ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ i i ~ ~ l l i ~ t i i l ~ ~  prcl );lra ioll, or in  the  u o s t - c o n f i r ~ ~ ~ a t i ~ n  y e a r .  
ylli!; ( '(~~1rs('  d~it \ \ .s  larcely fro~ll  Iht .  ll\aterials already presented ill t h e  
t1vo 1)rt!li!)Us ('olll'l;~as. but  i s  dcsiglied ;,nd structllred to det-clop tite zc.ol' 
r b l l 1  ill.' ( ( 1 1 '  1 1 ~ ~ 1 ~  rnl~lir~licd, or q \ -en  in the tllird year of pre-coo- 
1 I .  .I.llis a~yi(?i~rs to be tlie flllfilllllrllt Of the 
11""si"l~"r~'~ 11riiyrl Y t  ;I \'nodies\ conference 
~ d , , ~ ~ t i ~ ~ ,  "Would t h a t  1\11 k l ~ ~ \ \ l ~ : d ~ ! .  ( 3 ~ ) t ~ l d  I I I J W  Iicscornc \\.firshil,," 
for each year. W h e n  God Chose M a n .  The authors, and there are  many, 
each a theologian and an educator, hope that  students in about the  sev- 
enth grade will find th is  an  exciting way of learning about God's work 
for t h e  sinners' salvation. The 62 lessons are  subdivided into larger-than- 
lesson units of work. The  first unit,  or  section as  they are  called, begins 
with the  story of t h e  child's baptism. I t  thus  l)ersonalizes God's great 
acts from the  very beginning. The sections follow: 
God's Covenant With  Me 
God's Plan for Man 
God's Covenant with Israel 
God's Activity in Israel, His Own People 
God's Covenant in Jesus Christ 
God's Holy Spiri t  nuilds Christ's Church 
The seventh and last Section is  titled 
I Praise God for His  Plan of Salvation 
Each Lesson ill th is  basic text book in each set has:  A Bible Story. A 
Closer Look. To Help us Remember. What This Means to Me. My Prayer. 
An appropriate hymn verse. Each Lesson is profusely illustrated with 
symbols and sketches. 
Next to the text book comes the Pz~l~i l ' s  Guide. This  is  a typical work 
book. I t  contains a great  variety of questions to be answered, based on the 
Bible story; I3ible texts to be memorized; synlbols and their meanings; 
request for answers to thought-provoking questions; searching of the 
Scriptures. While th is  course is basically a Bible History Course, t.he Cat- 
echism parts relevant to the  main lessons, r~l)plications to personal, to 
fanlily and parish life, a re  constantly in evidence. 
Then comes il'itc !l1enche?'s Rclition. In this the teacher's book, the  con- 
tents of the basic text  are  literally rel~roduced in smaller print (on the 
left hand side of a n  open page) and the  Pupils Giiide i s  likewise literally 
rei~roduced in  smaller print, (on the  right hand side of the  Teachers Edi- 
t ion).  This is done to stinlulato and aid the teacher to cnrich still more 
the content of the total unit exposure. It has in each lesson paragraphs 
on Preparation, O ~ e ~ i i n g  Devotion, Approach, Helps to  Renienlber (and 
Inemorize), Worship. Thc content and purposeful selection of materials, to 
keep the  focal point and the desired outcoine constantly before the  pupils, 
all is  planned for t h e  teacher. H e  could enter into the  teaching-learn- 
ing situation without any prel~aration and planning. Hut, there is still 
roo111 for the teacher to enrich and to keep his personal cxperierices i n  the 
total unit of exl~crience. Questions and discussions a r e  regularly provided 
for.. 
A siniilar description of content and organization of materials could 
be given of the  other two scts of three hooks: il'1~i.y is the Christian Fuith 
and And Live U?trler Him,  the  former following Luther's S ~ n a l l  Catechism, 
content and organization, and the lat ter  concentrating on sanctified living 
with special emphasis on many facets of corporate and personal worship. 
This  latter course is  a somewhat novel emphasis on the Church Year to 
transfer learning to living, whether given in the third pre-confirmation 
Year of instruction or in  the post-confirnlation year. There is in t h e  ent 
course hardly a single theological and  psychological principle of effect 
curriculum assin~ilation which does not find a place in this new Catechi 
series. Unless it be that  the n o s t  illlportalit factor in  effective curricul-  
assimilation, the pastor (teacher) is tempted by the  tremendous amo1  
of Planning which meets him, to feel that  he  needs to  do n o  p lann ing  ' 
tha t  he is perhaps a superfluous factor in the  total learning s i t ua t i  
As one experienced Catechism teacher (pastor)  said recently: "1 Obser 
and  listened to them with such interest t,hat when I looked a t  m y  wa 
I found the time was up and I had done no teaching yet." 
Let the user of these nlaterjals be alerted to  the  temptation t o  wh 
all work-book users are  subject to  again become lbookish' in the  t e a c h  
of the  Christian religion. The Holy Spirit can use and  can d i s p e n s e  
Illany audio-visual aids, of which there are  illany suggestions in  the 
ers  Edition, but the personal face to face teaching is a vi ta l  factor 
('0nlmunic:ating effectively tlie seriousness of sill and  the  jubi lant  jo3 
grace- The Holy Spirit wants and needs YOU t h e  teacher i n  t h e  pro< 
of vitalizjng doctrine and making the catechism 'come to life'. 
(:andidat's a n d  professors at our Springfield, St .  Louis, R iver  Fo 
and  S w a r d  sr~ninaries will joill this reviewer i n  saying, Well  d 
\sritel's. illustrators, C:atec]lisll~ Conimittee nlelllbers and Ed i t o r  
11. \vangt'l'itl. Col~gratulations! 
11enl.y J. Boe t t cher  
J'ARr1'S1.:HS I S  PI~EXC'FIINC:: clergy and Laity i n  Ilialog. BY Reue 
I-[o\\.c. 'rhe Seab111.y Press, S e w  York, 1967. 127 pages. Cloth. $: 
Ilo\\-i: ,.oiltc~lds cluite corl'ectly that  preaching a t  its best  i s  d i a l o g  
It is ;r faillrrc: n.he11 it is monological. \;)'hetller. or llot p r each ing  mril 
cii~lo~ic';ll c1ctl)ends not only upr.,n tile preacher but also lipon t h e  lister 
111 pr(?ai:hing tllc clergy a n d  laity arc  partners. 
1'rc;lchinx will he dialogical only i f  the sk>eaking of t h e  Prea 
u c n e t r a t ~ s  the  harriers to meanillg ill  tile in i~ld  of t he  listener. 
As a ids  to dialogical {,reaching Ho\\-e recollllklends t h e  use  of s1 
#roul)s to h(:llj t h e  pustor see how layllle~i interpret the  f a i t h .  H e  
W S ~ S .  104). t ' ~ c d - ~ ~ a c k  sessi[?lls to hell) a pastola see how the ~ e r l - 0 ~  
I)reachcd w a s  intc!rl)reted b y  tllc? laylrlen. Anyone who w-ants his s e r n  
t o  h e  illor*' tll:tll j u s t  talk will he interested ill th i s  vollrllle as we] 
J-iowc 4:urlicr work. T'hr Jf, i l .{ l~fc o! Dinlog. 
F A  lT1ll . ' l~lJ IIElIELS. Uy Roy 13ltirnllorat. Coucordia P u b l i s h i n g  H c  
S ( I  6 101 pages. Paper $1.75, 
This tlook 1s n rerbort of Hoy Bluml~orst's two-yeiir l ~ l i k ~ i s t r y  in 
hMh-rlw Merlna Towcrfi in  Chicano. 
- ~ 
'IIII' rulunic describes ijlumhorst'e atte11,pt to reach t h e  segmellt 
~ ~ ~ ' i ~ ~ l  t h i l l  Llilr fled t o  the central city and to agartnlent l i v i r lg -  
~ i i i t t ' n f l  1s Rlerina Towers are those who prefer the trlloll,.lllit~ and 
don1 from household chores which apartment living affords. Although 
many are  not irreligious, they a re  surfeited with the programs of the 
institutional church. They are  faithful rebels, indeed. 
How do yo11 reach people who don't want to be bothered? "Dig wells," 
says Roy Blumhorst. His book tells how he provided opportunities for 
small group discussions, building bridges froin ar t ,  music, philosophy, 
and other disciplines to Hiin in whoill all things consist. 
This volun~e is helpful, not only for the one who wants to get a 
glimpse of life in te high-rises, but also for the  person looking for an 
analysis of the urban man. Reflecting on his work in the high-rises 
Blumhorst adds significantly: "I an1 increasingly convinced that  the pro- 
per adjective is not high but urban, and that urban Illan is increasingly 
t o  be found in the  suburbs and towns as well as the tall towers of the 
city" (11.10). 
Iienry J .  Eggold 
-- 
CALLS AND VACANCIES. Oscar H. Reinboth, editor. Concordia Pnb- 
lishing House, St. Louis, 1967. 70 pages. Paper. $1.00. 
This little volume is one which belongs in every church library. It 
offers helpful guidelines for the pastor considering a call, for the  congre- 
gation sending a call, and for ministry during a vacancy. 
I t  is a hook that  answers the  question, "What do we do now?" when 
a pastor receives a call. I t  offers sage advice both to  pastors and congrega- 
tions on proper procedure when a pastor receives a call and when a con- 
gregation is calling a new pastor. 
In the final chapter, Reinboth reminds congregation ~nembcrs  that 
they are indeed ministers. Someti~nes it takes a vacancy to help Chris- 
t ians understand both their privileges and their responsibilities. 
Reinboth helps them see. 
H e n r y  J .  Eqgolfl 
- 
CONTEMPORARY PRAYERS FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP. Edited by Caryl 
Micklen~. Wm. H. Eerdman's I'nblishing Coinpany, Grand Rapids, 
1967. 1 4 1  pages. Cloth. $3.00. 
Prepared initially for use in Congregationalist worship services, these 
prayers are  intended to answer the  demand for a conlprehensive collec- 
tion of prayers which niake use of modern language and thought-forms. 
The prayers nlay be of little direct use in the fixed liturgy of the Lutheran 
main Sunday worship service. But because the use of modern language in 
prayer no less than in preaching must be faced by members of all liturgi- 
cal traditions, these prayers a r e  a helpful contribution to  the  general 
liturgical conversation. 
The book is intended to be used as a working manual by ministers 
of the Free Churches in England and the Church of Scotland. In the 
Introduction the compilers declare that their chief stimulus has been 
the  publication and regular use in their churches of the New English 
Bible. They point out that once it was only in the sermons and the church 
notices, if then, that  modern language was heard  in church, and t' 
Sons, prayers and hymns were all solidly archaic.  But  since lg6 
bloc, too, has  been breached. And now, not  only in  t h e  Free  Ch 
but also in t h e  Church of England,  i t  has  begun to Seen1 plainly 
gruous that  the  people who haye just listened to  t h e  ancient gospel 
in the language of their owl1 t ime should be asked to make their P' 
up-to-date response to the  gospels in the  language of t h e  day  befa 
terday. I n  this  situation, nlodernization of t h e  language of public 
is  the obvious starting-point. 
The colnpilers have come up with a book of prayers t h a t  arc 
cut, true to exl>erience, and lnodels of directness a n d  verbal ec 
There is dignity and clarity in t h e  choice of words. This  book 
Prove stimulating to the Lutheran Pastor who is  seeking n e w  
which to clothe the perliianent t ru ths  in Christ ian worship. T h e  
is classified under three headings: Prayers fo r  General Use, Pra 
O x m c t i o n  With Sacraments and Ordinances, a n d  Prayers  for 
tian Year. The prayers epitolnize a n  approach which g u a r d s  
triviality, Wants neither "palliness with the  Deity" ( to  U s e  1-I. F, 
phrase) nor the  consigning of (::od to a, realm outside our everyday 
This aI l~roach is  evident, for exanlple, in the  following confession;  
el': "Merciful ( h d ,  we confess to you now t h a t  w e  have sinned. W e  
the sins thi~t. no  one knows and the  sins tha t  everyone knows:  
t,hat are a burden to  u s  and the  sills that  do not bother us  because  7 
!!.ott(:ll used to thern. IYc! confess our sins a,s a church. W e  hi 
loved one ;lrlot,her as Christ loved us ,  We have not forgiven O n e  
as  Iv( !  l l ~ l ~ t '  I)f:c\11 forgi~c211. lye ll i l \ ,c  1l0t gi\rc,ll ~ ~ ~ r s ~ l ~ ~ s  ill love  a1 
i ( ~ !  sol. rhc: wor.ld as C,'lit.is~ ?;.:.ak.(: Hil~lsplf for 11s. Ipat.her, f o r g i v e  U 
f-101~ Spirit 1 0  US. that 1-le ,>lay give 11s power to  live as ,  by your 
yell (Xllcd 11s t o  live. Throng11 Jesus Christ  Our Lord" (p.  : 
DrnYC?rS show that the use of nloderII English in public ' 
does llot neC(:?;~arily del)rive tile collgregation of t h e  devot.iona 
ul'es of Vast 0 1 .  Cut i t  off fro111 catholic liturgical t r ad i t ion .  
Gerhnrd A 
Iierc arcb twrnty-three furir:1.al sermons, first published in 19 
rc~ylsed i n  vart and ~reparr:d for publication t)y the  au thor ' s  son 
l'. I3artenher~cr Tllc collection iticludes serrllons pre i~ched at  the 
of iL suicide, :In aged hlirid eo~l\-crt,  a younz 111an \v110 died sud< 
-. 
~)rei~lnt.ure child, n yollng fa~hi:r. J. Ii. I lartenberger,  p a s t o r  fo 
Pc'al'.', i l l  lied Jlud. lllrnois. d i d  13ot write these serxrlons w i t h  a 
hi~vil~l:  1 llenl ;~l)llc':i~. i ~ i  print. T h e y  nrr silllplt: in language,  horn 
ul~atlr.)r~~cd i r i  sI).lc. l?ut for tllis yensoI1, they a r e  also r e f r e s h  
lllc i'rc;~c!ll~!r 5 l )~ ikkx  l ~ l i ~ i ~ r l y  xn(1 zoes right to the  l l f a r t  of t h e  m 
hali(i. l i i k ~ ~  l r x t  seriotisly, relating i t  to  sjlecific c i r c u n  
i l i  (111% l i f l l  i l l ld d(!iitli of the  dcepabed. There is ill t h e  serrxlons both 
I '  l d  1 I 1 ,  ' r h ~  preachel. slleaks t h e  c o m f o r  
Gospel with concern for people a n d  also with the  authori ty of a su re  Word 
of God. It is well t ha t  Baker Book House has  reprinted, in i t s  Preaching 
Helps Series, t h i s  book of funeral sermons by a Lutheran pastor who 
knew how to speak Law and Gospel to  people's needs. 
Gerhard Aho 
HIGHLIGHTS O F  CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. Ry Harold R. Cook. Moody 
Press, Chicago, 1967. 256 pages. Cloth. $4.95. 
"A History and  Survey" is the  subtitle of th i s  brief, popular history 
of missions in t h e  New Testaillent church. T h e  history of nlissions is re- 
viewed in ninety pages from t h e  days of the  apostles to t h e  ecuillenical 
nlovement. T h e  next forty pages t rea t  "A Survey of Home Jlissions," 
touching the  Indians,  the  Negroes, frontiersmen and highlanders, rural  
a n d  city missions. The  various continents a r e  reviewed in 110  pages, in-  
cluding India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Southeastern Asia, China, Japan and 
Korea, t he  Middle East,  Africa, Latin America, Oceania, and Europe. A 
selected reading l is t  is added, and an index. T h e  author keeps the  promise 
of the title, "Highlights," in a pleasant style. F o r  high school, Saturday 
instruction, a Bible Class series, and siinilar applications th is  brief his- 
tory  deserves to  be recomnlended. 
Otto F .  Stcrhlke 
ROOSTERS LOUD IN AFRICA. By Iringard Muske. Translated by Erich 
Hopka, a r t  by Betty Wind. Concordia Publishing House. St .  Louis, 
1968. 126 pages. Cloth. $3.75. 
This is t he  story of Gerda Helvig, doctor in a South African nlission 
hospital. The  s ty le  of wri t ing and  the  iilakeup of the book reconimend 
th is  simple ta le  to the  candy-striper set, who might well be recruited 
for  service in mission hospitals. Their inothers in  the Lutheran  Women's 
Missionary League will also find i t  pleasing and instructive reading. This  
reviewer can vouch for the  anthenticity of t h e  narrative after  a brief 
visit to several nlissionary hospitals in Nigeria and an  extended visit 
with Bantu pastors  and nlissionaries of the  new Evangelical Lutheran 
Church of Southern Africa. The  story also demonstrates tha t  t h e  rela- 
tions between the  races a r e  everywhere not so vitiated by the  apartheid 
problem a s  thc  Aillerican reader might  have come t o  believe. 
Otto E'. Stahllce 
THE SIGN LANGUAGE O F  OUR FAITH. I\y Helen S tua r t  Griffith. 
Wm. B. Eerdnians Publishing Conipany, Grand Rapids, 1966. 96  
pages. Paper.  $1.95. 
This is one of the  finest little books we have seen for teaching Chris- 
t ian  symbolisnl t o  the laity. T h e  author intends that  t he  reader o r  stu- 
dent  will become acquainted not only with the  "pictures" of the  faith, 
b u t  with the  fa i th  which i s  expressed by symbols and emblems and figures. 
We see a number of excellent devices i n  th is  paperback edi 
Technical terms a r e  kept to a minimum. The drawings of t h e  ecclc 
tical s ~ n ~ b o l s  a r e  crisp, clear and simple. There i s  a str iving f o r  au 
ticity. Scripture and church fa thers  are quoted i n  a responsible ma 
Moreover, the author has  chosen the  most significant symbols. ShC 
not cluttered the  book with remote or confusing references. 
This is a fine reference book for the church library. I t  could 
be profitably used for a course i n  symbolism in  youth o r  a d u l t  cl: 
The symbols provide a good review of the ac ts  of God, the  Perst 
Christ, t he  apostles, and the chief doctrine of t h e  holy, Chr i s t i an  
CHURCH MUSIC IN TRANSITION. By William Loyd HooPer. Broa 
I'ress, Nashville, 1968. 208 pages. Cloth. $4.00. 
The dust cover of this volume states 
Most studies in church lnusic are devoted primarily to de 
merit within the three large liturgical denominations of E u r O p  
America-the Ronla~i Catholic, the Lutheran, and  t h e  Angl ican  
c o ~ a l ) .  Ghlhl.ch Jlqlsic i ? ~  Tynnsitio?~ is distinct in  t h a t  i t  is 
from the perspective of nonliturgical denominations . . . the 
of church nlusic froill Bible tillles to the present, wi th  n l a j o r  em 
the evangelical g r o u ~ s  in the United States. 
Contents irlclllde a historical survey of music in t h e  Old 
Testanients, music iri t h e  Early Church, during the  ~ e f o r m a t i o ~ p  
Singing school, tlie Gospel Sollg, the ~iitlsic of the  Baptists ,  Meth 
Presbyterians a!ld I)isciples, l l~usic ill worship, and 1,roblems an 
spects for  better church music. 
The author wisely cautions against the danger of r i t u a l i s n l  in 
~ i c a l  ( l a ( [  nonliturgical worship, both of which can fall in to  the pit 
rigid inflesi1)ilit.y (pp. J . T G - ~ T ~ ) .  
~~~~~h Af1 l . v  i f :  i i z  rl'nlns,it io.i1 is both rendable and i n f o r m a t i v e  
volume will assist l i t ~ r g i c a l l y - ~ r i ~ ~ ~ t ~ d  Christians to gain  a better 
s t .andin~ of the corporate worship life of nlillions of n o n l i t u r g i c a l  
gelicals. have unfortunately done precious l i t t le  to a p p r e c i a t e  a 
dcrsta~ld the others' point of vielvi.. 
hlost Lu theran  readers, however, will illso fillish r e a d i n g  thi 
t h a n k l l ~ ~  God for  the rich liiusicai heritage of their  own c h u r c h -  
shanlc 'hat, we do riot make fuller llse of what \ve llave. 
Kenneth  Bu~Z 
BOOKS RECEIVED 
Lutl~er- f o r  ( f ? ~  IJ'CI~~IICIL~CNZ ..I!Jc. C a r l  S. J l rycr ,  ctditor. Concordi:l l-'rr;.)lishing Ilouse. 
St.  I , o i ~ ~ s ,  l!)f;7. .311 I'ogcs, iIlot11, $11.00. 
r/,lli: . ~ r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ , ~ ; ~ ~  , / , / ~ ~ ~ t  . I I O ? . ~ ( Z .  I;? ~ : I ! \ v ~ I I . ( ~  I < : I I ~ ~ : I I I ~ .  WIII .  1:. E ( J r c l ~ ~ ~ x ~ ~ s  I'~iL)Iisl~il~g 
' I I I I : I  I ,  I 1 J ( .  I .  1 i I .  ! l  $3.50. 
~ ~ ~ ~ . f f c r . i ) ~ { l :  i l ' ( ~- .~or~i~l .  L ~ , I~ .Y)J ( :~! / ; ,  c. '1'. I;. 31:~1stot1. J;ro:rcl111a11 l'r(%ss? ~asbvillt! .  
196s. 87 pages. CIot l~.  $2.30. 
,JC.Y,L.$ f1)1(7. 11r.t: /71r~r~i~~li(r~r .  1;)- IYillii1111 ~ ~ : I I I S O I I .  I\:III. 1;. Esrf1~1i:~ns l ' ~ ~ l ) l i s J ~ i u g  COIII- 
]1:111~.. (;r;111(1 Ii;l]>i(l~. I!)li,S. C):;l; [ ~ : I ~ I ~ s .  C'10tl1. 8S.9.5. 
C'ltr-istinns Aclicc in ilrc Il'o?-Id L;!: Y ~ * C S  Cougar. Herder & ITerder, New Pork,  
l!)(iS. 227 I)agc3s. C1ot:)i. q5.9S. 
(;,-out. prnyo.s. I:y I l a r ry  S. I~Iusllolrl. Coucordi:i l'oblisliiug Ilousc, S t .  Z~ouis, 10t;S. 
104 pugss, Cloth. $2.7:. 
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f1(:11st-, (;~.ari(l 1;txpids. 1!)5(;. 124  :J:I~TS. ~ ' : I ] I I ~ I - .  $ 1  .!),5. 
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Sc:ll)nry I'rvss, SIX\\. Yorl;, :I.!)C;S. 154 11:1gcs. P :~pcr .  $?.,SO. 
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I ~ ~ l h c r ' s  ?Vo~ks. 1,ccturcs O I L  (;olosis Chaplers 2fj-::u. George V. Scliicli alld I-'a~\l U. 
P a l ~ l .  Trznslators .  Col~cordia  I'ublislling I-ioust., 1'365. 411 pages. Cioth. $6.00. 
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r.tlitor. . \bingdol~ l>rpsa, ~ : l s l ~ ~ i l ~ l ~ ,  1 9 ~ ~ .  :;"I) \)ngcas. Clot11. $5.3) .