Full Text for CTM Book Review 31-2 (Text)

CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY The Ecumenical Movement HERMANN SASSE The Word of God in the Theology of Karl Barth ROBERT D. PREUS Preaching for the Church ARTHUR C. REPP-GEORGE W. HOYER Homiletics Theological Observer Book Review VOL. XXXI February 1960 No.2 NEW FRONTIERS FOR SPIRITUAL LIV- ING. By Charles A. Behnke. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959. 106 pages. Cloth. $2.00. The author has rendered his aging fellow believers a great service by writing these 43 meaty, edifying meditations. He offers the reader help in trouble, encouragement to be patient when trials threaten to over- whelm him, hope when doubt beclouds his vision, and assurance of the nearness of God when loneliness begins to settle around him. Morning and evening prayers for one whole week as well as several additional prayers that fill certain needs of aging people and ten hymns that never grow old are included. The reviewer is convinced that pastors will be glad to recommend this book to their people. ALEX W. C. GUEBERT LUTHER'S WORKS. Volume 36: Word and Sacrament II. Edited by Abdel Ross Wentz. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1959. 389 pages. Cloth. $5.00. The name of Abdel Ross Wentz as editor on the title page guarantees the literary quality of the English which Luther speaks in this volume. Credit also goes to Frederick C. Ahrens and to A. T. W. Steinhauser, one of the translators for the Philadelphia edition of Luther's works. The selection of Luther's writings in this volume should insure a flood of orders for the publisher. These are the titles: "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church"; "The Misuse of the Mass"; "Re- ceiving Both Kinds in the Sacrament"; "The Adoration of the Sacrament"; "The Abomi- nation of the Secret Mass"; and "The Sacra- ment of the Body and Blood of Christ, Against the Fanatics." L. W. SPITZ BOOK REVIEW All books reviewed in this periodical may be procured from or through Concordia Pub- lishing House, 3558 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis 18, Missouri. THE RIDDLE OF ROMAN CATHOLI- CISM. By Jaroslav Pelikan. New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1959. 272 pages. Cloth. $4.00. Congratulations to Jaroslav Pelikan, pro- fessor of historical theology of the Federated Theological Faculty of the University of Chicago, and sometime professor of historical theology of Concordia Seminary, for winning the $12,500 Abingdon Award for The Rid- dle of Roman Catholicism. After an introduction on "The Problem of Roman Catholicism," the author treats "The Evolution of Roman Catholicism," "The Genius of Roman Catholicism," and "A Theological Approach to Roman Catholi- cism." The subtitle on the dust jacket is even more telling, "Its history, its beliefs, its future." The riddle, the problem, the genius, the burden, the challenge - the words are there with vibrant phrases, salty sentences, and punchy paragraphs. They carry the reader along, and even though he may not be certain at all times whether or not the author is speaking for or against Roman Catholicism, he is certain that the author must be heard. When he has finished reading the book, he will try to puzzle through the whole problem, reread at least some sections of the book, and feel himself compelled to go further into the riddle. Luther had this to say of the Romanists (Pelikan edited the translation): "I must concede them the honor - and I shall not deprive them of it - that they have Baptism, the Sacrament, the name of the Christian Church, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Gospel, God, Christ, and Holy Writ. All these they share with us. They are invested 133 134 BOOK REVIEW with an office. Christ could not depose the Levites either. But here I draw the line, and here I renounce them, as I insist with Christ: 'Believe and obey the Gospel, or surrender your priesthood: Thus we also say to the pope and the bishops, who boast that they are God's people: 'That means nothing. You must either obey the Gospel or go to pieces. Unless you obey the Gospel, you are all lost, monks and priests, as the Jews were here.' This is the meaning: 'If you popes, bishops, and priests want to be and remain the Christian Church, you must heed the Gospel: That is how Christ must talk to them." In repeating these words of Luther this reviewer is not merely harking back to 16th-century polemics. It is to shape up the dual emphasis which Pelikan brings in his book. Luther has a sharp note when he pointedly says: "Similarly, the pope is the Christian Church inasmuch as he holds to Baptism, the Gospel, and Holy Writ, but since he is the enemy of God and of all Christians, he has fallen away from Christ and Baptism and has the devil as his father." The survey of the history of Romanism, which Pelikan makes, is tantalizingly brief. Some of the statements seem too broad, e. g., that every list of apostles' names has Peter's name first (p.35). Gal. 2:9 is not a com- plete list of all the apostles' names, but of the three pillars mentioned, Peter is the second. Can such an observation weaken the argument that "the primacy among the apostles belonged to Peter"? (P. 35) Surely the compromise and accommodations of Rome throughout the centuries vitiated the "identity" which the church should have kept - in, but not of, the world. This is true not least of all of the compromises with paganism in the period of transition to the early Middle Ages, as Henry Osborn Taylor and James Westfall Thompson, to name but two authorities, have shown. The role of monasticism in the annals of Romanism may help in part to solve its riddle. Vital enough to experience repeated reform movements within itself, strong enough to withstand jealousies and rivalries among its various manifestations, diversified enough to provide vast resources for the church, monasticism deserves a careful scru- tiny by Protestantism. In monasticism there are abuses, even as there are other abuses in Romanism. Popular piety, as Pelikan points out, may make more of the tabernacle on the altar or of novenas than some theologians within the Roman Church would wish. What about Corpus Christi Day? The 16th-century reformers did not hesitate to use the word "idolatry." It may be a good word to dust off for the 20th century. Popular piety will not be too concerned about Thomism - the intellectuals within the Roman Church are, Pelikan has given a lucid presentation of the teachings of the angelic doctor. Thomism, however, is not the answer which Lutheran theologians will accept for "the unity we seek." For some Protestants there is a Heimweh for Rome; there are conversions, and there is leakage. This re- viewer is reminded of the fable by Salvador de Madariaga about Litvinoff's total disarma- ment plan and repeated by Time anent Khrushchev's proposals to the UN. After each of the animals had proposed the banish- ment of the weapons he did not have, the bear proposed that everything be abolished except the great universal embrace. Rome's embrace, too, must be avoided. Perhaps we ought to be concerned about the menace rather than the riddle of Ro- manism. However, we must be confronted with its riddle, carefully examine the doc- trine, the practices, the theology, the institu- tions within the church, before we can honestly shout about its menace. Pelikan's book is a good book with which to begin such a study. It will stimulate further study. A teacher will not want higher praise than this for his instruction. C S M ARL . EYER BOOK REVIEW 135 LUTHER'S WORKS. Vol. 51: Sermons 1. Edited and Translated by John W. Do- berstein. General editor: Helmut T. Lehmann. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press. xxi, 392 pages, with indexes of names and subjects and Scripture pas- sages. $5.00. Of utmost importance is the editor's 10- page introduction to Luther's preaching, in which he describes the formidable problem of arriving at what he may have originally said, the modes by which his sermons have come down to us, the theological progress in his preaching (with 1521 the watershed), the motifs of his preaching, and particularly his Law and Gospel. Interesting is his choice of the 43 sermons in the volume, beginning with "possibly Luther's earliest extant ser- mon" and closing with the last, which he delivered shortly before his death. He points out that other volumes in the American edi- tion contain sermons, and several more are planned for this section of the series on ser- mons in particular. The annotations at the head of each sermon as well as the footnotes are most valuable. Readers of Luther's ser- mons often get the feeling that they are sifting diamonds by the handfuls rather than revolving one large cut and polished gem in their hands. Even the Gospel comes short, bulkwise, in many of the sermons. These sermons will illustrate this situation, and the introduction and annotations will explain the phenomenon. Every reader will find his favorites. This reviewer wants to shout out loud as he reads Luke 2: 1-14 for Christmas 1530 (p. 211 ff.) , on "that second faith" that Jesus is Savior and not merely Mary's Son; or "On the Sum of the Christian Life" from 1532, on 1 Tim. 1:5-7, evidently one of the best recorded sermons; or the sermon at the Baptism of Bernhard von Anhalt in 1540. We look forward to further volumes in this unit on preaching. RICHARD R. CAEMMERER LUTHER'S WORKS. Vol. 23: Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 6-8. Translated by Martin H. Bertram. Jar- oslav Pelikan, editor. St. Louis: Con- cordia Publishing House. 1959. 422 pages and indexes of names, subjects, and Scripture passages. $6.00. Luther preached these sermons on Satur- days Nov. 5, 1530, to March 9, 1532, while replacing Bugenhagen in his Wittenberg pul- pit when Bugenhagen was introducing the Reformation in Luebeck. The 45 sermons progress in expository form from John 6: 26 to John 8:41. The 'Y/ednesday sermons dur- ing the same period have already been pub- lished as Vol. 21 of the American edition titled Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount. Aurifaber first published these ser- mons in 1565 on the basis of notes taken by Veit Dietrich, George Roerer, Anthony Lauterbach, and Philipp Fabricius; these notes no longer exist. Luther was in poor health through most of this period. The reader will be much interested in Luther's "Johannine period." He will be surprised that it began so early - shortly after Augsburg. He will find it remarkable that Luther can immerse himself completely in the Johannine sphere and give minimum reflection of the previous preoccupation with Romans or Galatians. Christ's references to the eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood in John 6 are carefully differentiated from the Sacrament (note p. 118 to v. 51), but Luther does not stress Christ's giving Himself into death on the cross. Rather is his chief concern with the concept of the eating and drinking. This is faith, and a faith which is more than thinking (note pp.47ff., 123, 128, 144). Remarkable is Luther's dictum on John 6: 45, 46: "Moses and the prophets preached; but in their sermons we do not hear God Himself . . . God's words . . . cannot be different from His nature and disposition, and He is goodness, grace, and mercy" (p. 98). Interesting is Luther's interpreta- 136 BOOK REVIEW don of John 8:31,32: "Christ ... says: You will know the truth,' that is to say: He will truly redeem you" (p. 393). The chief personal applications concern the teach- ings of Romanists or fanatics from which the people had to be protected. But the preach- ing style is utterly direct, couched in the terms and often the proverbial idioms of the people. RICHARD R. CAEMMERER FUNDAMENTALISM AND EVANGEL- ISM. By John R. W. Stott. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1959. 80 pages. Boards. $1.50. The two nouns of the title each caption a section of the book. The historical section on fundamentalism is a brief but good over- view of this movement. The section dealing with evangelism has some valuable points; however, the paragraphs on decision making and conversion need more emphasis on the work of the Spirit of God through the means of grace. CARL S. MEYER A SOLDIBWS MESSAGE. By D_ C. N. New York: Comet Press Books, 1958. 156 pages. Cloth. $3.50. On June 24, 1859, Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel badly defeated the Aus- trians at the famous battle of Solferino. General Gaston de Sonis, hero of the book from the pen of an unidentified cloistered Carmelite nun, was no forced recruit, but he served his country ably and was elevated to the generalship on the field of this battle. De Sonis died on Aug. 15, 1887. The work is of interest for presenting a word picture of Roman Catholic piety. The general is under present consideration for beatification by the Catholic Church. The book is not recommended for the general reader. Inter- esting is the report of the exhumation for the process of beatification. After 42 years the body of this unembalmed miles Christi was found to be in a perfect state of pres- ervation. A brief bibliography is found on page 156. PHIL. J. SCHROEDER REVELATION AND THE BIBLE! CON- TEMPORARY EVANGELICAL THOUGHT. Edited by Carl F. H. Henry. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1958. 413 pages. Cloth. $6.00. This is, no doubt, the most complete and helpful collection of articles by 24 conserv- ative Bible scholars in England, Scotland, Holland, France, and the United States com- posed in defense of the Bible's divine author- ity and reliability as the God-breathed Book. In support of this premise it offers learned and exhaustive essays on practically all as- pects of divine revelation, general and special, Biblical inspiration, Christ's use of Scripture, the New Testament use of the Old Testa- ment, the canon of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, the canon of the New Testament, the church doctrine of inspiration, contem- porary views of inspiration, the phenomena (problems) of Scripture, e. g., its text, chro- nology, numbers, often seemingly contradic- tory, Gospels, and the like, the evidence of prophecy and miracle, the witness of the Spirit in Scripture, the principles of Biblical interpretation, archaeological confirmation of the Old Testament and the New Testament, reversals of Old Testament and New Tes- tament criticism and their meaning for con- servative Biblical scholarship, the authority of Scripture, and its unity. For further study there is added a selective bibliography, sup- plementing each contribution, and for help- ful study an author index and a subject index. While the contributions are in their very nature both apologetic and polemical, they are free from rancor, and despite their de- cisive conservatism, objective and winsome. They are written in lucid language to make them accessible even to such as have not received a special theological training. JOHN THEODORE MUELLER BOOK REVIEW 137 WILHELM MARTIN LEBERECHT DE WETTE ALS PREDlGER UND SCHRIFTSTELLER. By Paul Hand- schin. Basel: Verlag Helbine and Lichtenhahn, 1959. 336 pages. Paper. Sw. Fr. 19.30. Wilhelm M. L. De Wette was one of the most influential theologians of the 19th century. This volume discusses and presents some of his less familiar literary output- his sermons and nontheological productions, including a drama, a libretto for an opera, and two didactic romances. His high moral earnestness and his serious attempt to bridge idealistic theology and traditional belief are well documented here. In addition to his academic work, he enjoyed an occasional guest-preaching assignment. For him the best sermon wJ.S one that displayed rich doctrinal content combined with practical concerns. To be truly effective the pastor "should stand in a true inner relation with Christ, cling to Him in faith and love, and live in His spirit." Inasmuch as the aim of the sermon should be to promote unity in the faith, the pastor should not impose his own private theological views on his hearers, but deal with what he shares in common with his congregation. The 20 sermons included in this volume well illustrate De Wette's hom- iletical ideals. Because in them he largely transcended his intellectual and philosophical self they retain to this day a contemporary flavor and will repay careful study. FREDERICK W. DANKER THE POWER OF GOD IN A PARISH PROGRAM. By Joseph E. McCabe. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. 1959. 164 pages. Cloth. $3.50. Once in a great while a man comes along who challenges the existing order of things. Such a man is Joseph McCabe, former Navy chaplain, pastor of a suburban Presbyterian Church, and now a college president. Instead of bending under the existing order regulat- ing pastoral calls, funerals, weddings, bap- tisms, evangelism and stewardship, McCabe looks at the New Testament undergirding and comes up with a solid, imaginative parish program. In 11 areas of church work, he describes the problem as he found it, relates how his parish faced the difficulty, and gives the results. If you are willing to pay a dime per new idea - practical, but never a mere gimmick or "program" - then you will be happy you discovered this book. The Lu- theran reader will be excited about the au- thor's conception of what a Christian wed- ding or funeral should and might be but will be disappointed in finding Baptism treated as something slightly less than a sac- rament. DAVID S. SCHULLER THE RECOVERY OF UNITY, By E. L. Mascall. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1958. xiii and 242 pages. Cloth. 25/net. Mascall, Priest of the Oratory of the Good Shepherd, endeavors to point the way to unity between Protestantism, particularly An- glicism, and Romanism, not by compromise, but by honestly facing the theological dif- ferences which now separate the churches. His survey of existing differences takes him into a rather broad area of historical theol- ogy. Clericalism, Pietism, Mysticism, Nom- inalism, and other "isms" come under his scrutiny. The last two chapters are devoted to the church and the papacy. The Roman doctrine of the papacy is censured, but his earnest desire for union with the Latin church tempers his criticism. Quoting Ny- gren on the deepest difference between Ro- man Catholicism and Luther, namely with respect to the doctrine of justification, he says: "As far as my own position is con- cerned, I can gratefully affirm that, at any rate in its essential features, the view which Nygren describes as the Catholic view is the one I myself hold" (p. 84). Since he agrees with the Roman doctrine of justification, 138 BOOK REVIEW Mascall should not find it difficult to reach an understanding with Rome on the points of faith and order with which he does not agree, including the doctrine of the papacy. For many points of disagreement between Protestantism and Romanism Mascall ob- viously did not find room in this volume. 1. W. SPITZ DEEP FURROWS. By!. W.Moomaw. New York: Agricultural Missions, Inc., 1957. 192 pages. Cloth. $2.50. No swivel-chair theorist, Ira W. Moomaw speaks out of sixteen years of village service in India as well as repeated field trips to Southern Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Representing Agricultural Missions, Inc., and the Rural Missions Co- operating Committee of the Division of Foreign Missions (NCCCUSA) he illus- trates the principles of helping needy vil- lagers around the world help themselves to a better life. While he insists that "the spoken word should always pilot the parish ministry" (p. 6), he is impatient with any superficial verbalizing of the Gospel and con- tends that it must plow deep furrows in men's lives. He sees oral evangelism and the witness by deeds of love not as mutually exclusive alternatives but as necessary cor- relates. Every missionary who works with village people will profit from the theological in- sights, practical know-how and varied expe- rience brought together from all parts of the inhabited world, the oikoumene, by one who stoutly believes that man is a psycho- physical unity and that Christ is the Lord of all of life. The rural pastor in the U. S. A. and Canada wHl find his horizons widened and may, indirectly, be stimulated to lead his more prosperous farmers in helping strug- gling tillers of the soil abroad to find salva- tion for both their soil and their souls. Certainly, amid all our talk of creating indigenous churches today, we must also pay careful attention to the matter of creating the economic basis for self-support. One does not have to be a Marxist to maintain that the Church has a necessary economic foundation. W. J. DANKER A NEW QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL JESUS: STUDIES IN BIBLICAL THE- OLOGY NO. 25. By James Robinson. Naperville: Alec R. Allenson, Inc., 1959. 128 pages. Paper. $2.25. The basic premise of this book is that the modern view of history, with its emphasis on the existential selfhood of persons, opens the possibility for a fresh quest of the his- torical Jesus, after Formgeschichte and the study of the kerygma helped deal the death- blow to the 19th-century life-of-Jesus quest. Modern historiography helps guide us, says Robinson, to the re~Jization that the central ingredient of the kerygma, namely God's es- chatological action, is present also in Jesus' own message; for the "authentic" sayings of Jesus indicate that He gives Himself whole- heartedly to the eschatological situation sig- naled by John the Baptist and thus realizes His own history, His selfhood. Thus we have a continuity not only between the proclama- tion of the church and of Jesus but also between the Christ of faith and the Jesus of history. The authentic sayings of Jesus lend themselves to an analysis which reveals a for- mal pattern analogous to that in the epistles, suggesting a common "christological" de- nominator. This study is a penetrating discussion of the quest for the historical Jesus. It aims to validate theologically and histoncally the pos- sibility, legitimacy, and necessity of a new quest. But despite the author's vehement reaction to the 19th-century idealism, one wonders whether the "new quest" really rep- resents a new trend. Ultimately the Jesus arrived at with the help of modern historiog- raphy, as demonstrated in this study, comes perilously close to being a mere exemplar of what it means to be aware of what self- BOOK REVIEW 139 hood involves. A vital element in the chain of proof is the isolation of "authentic" say- ings of Jesus. The criteria for determining these would seem to require considerable more discussion than Robinson has allotted to them. FREDERICK W. DANKER WHO WROTE ISAIAH? By Edward J. Young. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerd- mans Publishing Co., 1958. 88 pages. Cloth. $1.50. The professor of Old Testament of West- minster Theological Seminary, one of the ablest American conservative scholars, pre- sents the case against the multiple authorship of the Book of Isaiah. In brief compass and in nontechnical language Young demonstrates that this question is not as settled an issue as many claim it is. External and internal evidence is marshaled against this "most as- sured result of Old Testament scholarship" (Sellin) . He insists first and above all that this question involves the 21 quotations from all parts of Isaiah which the New Testament attributes explicitly to Isaiah. "What settles the issue once and for all is the witness of the N. T." (p. 9). He rejects the possibility that our Lord and the N. T. writers were merely referring to a collection of writings which were generally known as the Book of Isaiah. WALTER R. ROEHRS DER IRDlSCHE JESUS UND DER CHRI- STUS DES GLAUBENS: SAMMLUNG GEMEINVERST }[NDLlCHER VOR- TR}[GE, 215. Von Hermann Diem. Tiibingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Sie- beck), 1957. 20 pages. DM 1.90. This little essay is a Barthian's answer to the basic problem posed by Bultmann's school: Must we be content with a mytho- logical Lord, the creation of the church, or is the exalted Lord of the church in con- tinuity with Jesus of Nazareth, that is, are the two identical? Diem approaches the problem by asking a historical question, whether one can locate a continuity between the proclama- tion of the exalted Lord through His church and that of the historical Jesus. He supports a positive answer to this question with the Son-of-man sayings in which Jesus claims that a recognition of the significance of His person determines acquittal by the Son of man in the eschatological judgment. Having demonstrated to his satisfaction that the his- torian's question can be answered affirm- atively, he moves on to the theological ques- tion whether the exalted Christ of the church is identical with Jesus of Nazareth. The answer to this question is found in the exis- tential situation of the church's current proc- lamation. This essay represents the digest of a major contribution to the new quest for the "his- torical Jesus." It should be translated. FREDERICK W. DANKER THE WORLD OF THE OLD TEST A- MENT. By Cyrus H. Gordon. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1958. 312 pages. Cloth. $3.95. This revised and enlarged edition of In- troduction to Old Testament Times (1953) by the professor of Old Testament at Bran- deis University has the same purpose as its predecessor: "to establish the Biblical world in its larger setting and to show the impact of the surrounding civilizations on the an- cient Hebrews" (jacket). One of the distinc- tive emphases of Gordon's presentation is "the placing of the Hebrews in their East Mediterranean context" (p. 7) which includes the Caphtorian (Mycenaean) and the Ionian sphere of influence. On the basis of his comparative studies Gordon insists on the greater antiquity of many religious concepts and the written sources. The almost unanimous opinion of scholars notwithstanding, he declares the view that Deuteronomy "was forged shortly before its alleged discovery in 621 B. C. is based on false premises" (p. 246). He also warns i40 BOOK REVIEW against dealing fast and loose with the O. T. text. But the reader to whom the O. T. is more than the evolution of religious and ethical ideals, generated by human insights, will be disappointed to find the similarities of Israel environment stressed to the point where the uniqueness of the O. T. as a revealed religion all but vanishes. This leveling process is at work not only in the patriarchal and Mosaic period but down to the prophetic era. On the basis of Gordon's book one could assem- ble material for a discussion of the religion of the Hebrews but hardly for a theology of the O. T., whose validity is upheld and ful- filled in the N. T. WALTER R. ROEHRS MATTHEW', APOSTLE AND EV ANGEL- 1ST: ... 1 STUDY OF THE AUTHOR- SHIP OF THE GOSPEL OF MAT- THEW'. By Edgar J. Goodspeed. Phil- adelphia: The John C. Winston Co., 1959. ix and 166 pages. Cloth. $3.50. This book is an isagogical rhapsody on the theme "The Greeks Hated Anonymity." Goodspeed lays great stress on Is. 8: 16-18 as a possible clue to identity of the author of the first Gospel. Like Isaiah, Jesus searched for a secretary who would seal up His teach- ing for the future. The logical candidate? Matthew, the tax collector, a whiz at figures, a man of ready pen. Repeated emphasis is placed on the mathematical formula reflected in the genealogy of Matt. 1. Goodspeed de- clares that a mathematical mind is at work here, that Jesus is the leading figure of the seventh group of sevens (the three groups of 14 divide into six groups of sevens). But little notice is taken of the fact that Jesus Himself is number 13 in the third group of 14 and not the first in a new series. With respect to the question of Greek distaste for anonymity, no satisfactory explanation is given for the church's erroneous ascription of Hebrews to the apostle Paul. Yet this New Testament writing is one of the most elegant Greek productions. In his zeal to defend the traditional authorship of the first Gospel, Goodspeed depreciates the order and accuracy of Mark's account without doing justice to Mark's theological concerns. An annoying amount of repetition is evident throughout the volume. The 159 pages could easily have been compressed into 35 without appreciable loss, but with a saving of time and money for the reader. FREDERICK W. DANKER POW'ER THROUGH PENTECOST, By Harold J. Ockenga. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1959. 128 pages. $2.00. Ockenga is a great name among American evangelicals: pastor of the famous Park Street Church in Boston, first president of the Na- tional Association of Evangelicals, first pres- ident of Fuller Seminary, across the continent, in Pasadena. This volume, in a series titled "Preaching for Today," sets forth messages on the Holy Spirit in a closely outlined and condensed style, with ample Biblical doc- umentation. Of the 13 chapters or addresses, the 12th, "The Cross in Christian Expe- rience," affirms the Gospel of the atonement and makes it basic to Christian life and service. This chapter briefly notes that it is the truth of the redemption "which the Holy Spirit uses in regenerating and renewing the nature of the believer" (p. 11 7 ). The book is a personal testimony by Harold John Ockenga to the "deeper life" which the Spirit has worked in him, and every Christian will rejoice with him in what the Spirit has ac- complished in and through him. In this reviewer's opinion the theoretical presenta- tion of the book leaves more to be desired than the practical testimony of the author's life and ministry. As "prerequisites" or means through which the Spirit operates in achiev- ing, not simply the first conversion but the deeper and higher stage of Christian expe- rience, Ockenga lists frequently, not the re- deeming message of Christ but confession, BOOK REVIEW 141 consecration, prayer, faith, and obedience (pp.22-24; 106-108, 126). Rom. 6 is set forth as a picture of the Christian's sanc- tification in which he is identified with Jesus Christ on Calvary; "by accepting the position of crucifixion, one wins victory over sin" (p. 118). Romans 7 describes Paul's tes- timony to a period of sinful living to which he reverted, refusing to accept his position of crucifixion. Rom. 8 describes his victory over the flesh (d. p. 127). Thus the work of the Spirit is defined in this book as operating on two levels - the first at con- version, the second in a Pentecost experience; the first by the Gospel of Christ, the second by Spirit baptism and by personal decision, surrender, and faith. Ockenga says so many glowing and helpful things about consecra- tion and prayer that it becomes difficult to discern his repudiation of the simul iustus et peccator principle at work in even the most advanced Christian, as in Rom. 7, and with it the replacing of the Word of the atonement by a series of human acts and impulses of the sanctified Christian. This is the process of revival substituted for the process of Word and Sacrament. RICHARD R. CAEMMERER PREACHING VALUES IN THE EPIsTLES OF PAUL. Vol. 1: Romans and First Corinthians. By Halford E. Luccock. New York: Harper, 1959. 213 pages and notes. $3.50. Anything by Halford Luccock is interest- ing. This projected series of volumes con- tinues an earlier quest, Preaching Values in the New Translations, The New Testament in 1928, the Old in 1933. From Romans, 72 short texts or phrases are treated briefly; from First Corinthians, 70. Many angles are chosen from the Phillips translation. Often Luccock's purpose is, frankly, novelty, and for jaded preachers and people this may not be amiss. Often the notes on a great text, like Rom. 1: 16 or 1 Cor. 2: 14, bring material quite on the periphery of the intended sense. Sometimes, as on 1 Cor. 14:20, whole para- graphs of preaching unfold irresistibly. And often we wish that Luccock had kept on looking at some of the texts which he passed by. Few preachers will want to quote from the Luccock scrapbooks verbatim. But they will profitably copy his zest for prac- tical suggestion and exciting relevance in the Scriptures. RICHARD R. CAEMMERER THE MEANING OF WORSHIP. By Doug- las Horton. New York: Harper, 1959. 145 pages and index. $2.75. The former dean of Harvard Divinity School, for 17 years an executive of the Con- gregational Christian Churches and leader of the ecumenical movement, departs from the customary content of the Beecher Lectures at Yale, preaching, to consider the church's wor- ship. "Preaching" and "sermon" do not ap- pear in headings or index, although he uses the preaching of Thomas Hooker to illustrate a crucial section of his subject, how the in- carnation, atonement, and salvation of Christ can be re-enacted in the life of the worshiper. The author tries to develop a theory of wor- ship from the broadest premises possible, yet at the same time, to express his own point of view as specifically Christian. He affirms Christ as the core of the Church and its worship, "the Mediator" with God "because he is the best" (p. 58), but stresses worship and the entire life of the church and the churches as not simply the experience of the mediation, but the re-enactment of the life and meaning of Christ in the worshiper. The author is highly conscious of differences between denominations and between Chris- tian and non-Christian, and of doubt con- cerning many of the Biblical materials of worship forms. He urges that the minister should neither destroy the creed of the wor- shiper nor set up a system of thought "in such hallowed precincts that no breath of newness can ever reach it" (p. 105 ). Inter- 142 BOOK REVIEW esting is the description of the gains of COill- man worship to be inserted into routines such as parish meetings and administration. Horton seeks to analyze the common denom- inators of sacramental forms able to bridge the gaps between denominations. His visions of ecumenical order parallel those which E. Stanley Jones publicized some years ago, a sort of federated organism of denomina- tions. He feels that there is already a con- sensus of faith. Beautifully written, this book baffles because of the recurrent question in the reader: Can Dean Horton communicate his vision of ecumenical worship to others? \)Vhat word of God is at his disposal to do it? RICHARD R. CAEMMERER ST. aDO OF CLUNY, by John of Salerno, and ST. GERALD OF AURILLAC, by St. Odo (trans. Dam. Gerard Sitwell, O. S. E.). New York: Sheed and V/ard, 1958. xxix + 186 pages. Cloth. $4.50. This is one in a series, The Makers of Christendom, under the general editorship of Christopher Dawson. It typifies the objec- tive of the series - to present Christian bio- graphical (and autobiographical) documents from the opening of the Christian era to the present day. One would indeed be disap- pointed not to see considerable mention made of St. Odo in such a series, and the pious layman, Gerald of Aurillac, deserves a place in the biographical roster as welL John of Salerno, canon at Rome, later prior, perhaps at Salerno, was a contemporary of the second abbot of Cluny. John does a sober and truthful biography of Odo, emphasizing the Samuelian child- hood of his spiritual godfather and recount- ing in vivid detail incidents, small and great, from the life at the Aquitanian foundation which became influential in the life of the medieval church and was significant in fixing the status of the papacy over against imperial interference. Of special interest to the scholar is the cultural impact of Cluny on the bar- baric times after the Carolingian debacle. Notable in John's biography is elemental simplicity so alien to our contemporary cul- ture. The bibliographical material is well documented. Gerald of Aurillac was a layman of noble birth. The biography by Odo describes the times around 855, the year of Gerald's birth. Much in the biographical sketch is typical of medieval piety. There are the ascetic prac- tices and a goodly share of near miracles. The biography is actually more of a word picture of Odo than of the subject he writes about. The medieval biographies may be read with real profit despite our disagreement with much of the theology and our question- ing of the authenticity of a great deal of the material presented. The explanatory notes add much to the volume. PHIL. J. SCHROEDER INSIDE METHODIST UNION. By James H. Straughn. Nashville: The Abingdon Press, 1958. 192 pages. Cloth. $3.00. THE LONG ROAD TO METHODIST UNION. By John M. Moore. Nash- ville: The Methodist Publishing House, 1943. 247 pages. Cloth. $3.00. Straughn, Moore, and Hughes sat at the presiding officer's desk at the Kansas City convention on May 10, 1939, when the plan of union was adopted and the Methodist Church was organized. Both Straughn's ac- coum and the older work by Moore adopt the historical approach. Both contain some detailed documents of value for the history of the union of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Protestant Church. Moore's work has greater value for the his- torian, Straughn's for the churchman, in appraising unification. Both works are con- tributions to American church history and the history of ecumenicism. CARL S. MEYER BOOK REVIEW 143 BOOKS RECEIVED (The mention of a book in this list acknowledges its receipt and does not preclude further discussion of its contents in the Book Review section.) Great Women of the Christian Faith. By Edith Deen. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1959. xix and 428 pages. Cloth. $4.95. The Price Tags of Life. By C. Roy Angell. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1959. 125 pages. Cloth. $2.75. The Story of the Revelation. By Otis Madison Hayward. Cambridge, Md.: Reve- lation Press, 1959. xii and 363 pages. Cloth. $4.95. The New Shape of American Religion. By Martin E. Marty. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1959. x and 180 pages. Cloth. $3.50. The Bible in the Making. By Geddes MacGregor. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1959. 447 pages. Cloth. ,$6.00. The Layman's Bible Commentary, ed. Bal- mer H. Kelly. Vol. 1: Introduction to the Bible; K. J. Foreman, B. H. Kelly, A. B. Rhodes, B. M. Metzger, and D. G. Miller; 171 pages. Vol. 2: Genesis; by Charles T. Fritsch; 127 pages. Vol. 14: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah; by Jacob M. Meyers; 176 pages. Vol. 18: Luke; by Don- ald G. Miller; 175 pages. Vol. 22: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians; by Archibald M. Hunter; 144 pages. Richmond: John Knox Press, 1959. Cloth. $2.00 each; 4 or more, $1. 75 each. I Have Called You Friends: The Story of Quakerism in North Carolina. By Francis C. Anscombe. Boston: The Christopher Publish- ing House, 1959. 407 pages. Cloth. $5.00. Gnosticism and Early Christianity. By Robert M. Grant. New York: Columbia University Press, 1959. ix and 227 pages. Cloth. $4.50. Le Prophete Nremie. By A. Aeschimann. Paris: Editions Delachaux et Niestle, 1959. 245 pages. Paper. Fr. Sw. 9.50. La Sagesse de Dieu: Explication de la premiere Ep£tre aux Corinthiens. By Gaston Deluz. Paris: Editions Delachaux et Niestle, 1959. 294 pages. Paper. Fr. Sw. 10. Saved by His Life: A Study of the New Testament Doctrine of Reconciliation and Salvation. By Theodore R. Clark. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1959. xv and 220 pages. Cloth. $4.50. Mysticism and the Modern Mind, ed. Al- fred P. Stiernotte. New York: The Liberal Arts Press, 1959. xiv and 206 pages. Cloth. $4.50. The Savoy Declaration of Faith and Order 1658, ed. A. G. Matthews. London: Inde- pendent Press, 1959. 127 pages. 9/-. Con/irmatio: Forschungen zur Geschichte und Praxis der Kon/irmation, ed Kurt Frur. Munich: Evangelischer Presseverband fur Bayern, 1959. 202 pages. Cloth, DI\1 13.20; paper, DM 11.20. The New Testament and Mythology. By Burton H. Throckmorton, Jr. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1959. 256 pages. Cloth. $4.50. The Christology of the New Testament (Die Christologie des Neuen Testaments). By Oscar Cullmann; trans. Shirley C. Guthrie and Charles A. M. Hall. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1959. xv and 342 pages. Cloth. $6.50. Readings in the Psychology of Religion, ed. Orlo Strunk, Jr. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1959. 288 pages. Cloth. $4.50. Greek Horoscopes. By O. Neugebauer and H. B. Van Hoesen. Philadelphia: The Amer- ican Philosophical Society, 1959. ix and 231 pages. Cloth. $6.00. Christianity and Communism: An Inquiry into Relationships, ed. Merriman Cuninggim. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1958. xii and 136 pages. Cloth. $4.00. The First and Second Epistles to the Thes- salonians. By Leon Morris. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1959. 274 pages. Cloth. $4.00. The History of Religion and Its Methodol- ogy, ed. Mircea Eliade and Joseph M. Kita- 144 BOOK REVIEW gawa. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959. xi and 163 pages. Cloth. $5.00. How Can 1 Get Right with God? by Her- man W. Gockel; 12 pages; 72 cents per doz. How to Conduct Family Worship; 13 pages; 72 cents per doz. Which Church? by Wil- liam H. Eifert; 11 pages; 60 cents per doz. The Last Word; by Martin H. Scharlemann; 8 pages; 50 cents per doz. The Church and the Lodge; by Kenneth Mahler; 5 pages; 50 cents per doz. What Is Seventh-day Ad- ventism? by Roland H. A. Seboldt; 22 pages; 25 cents each. St. Louis: Concordia Publish- ing House, n. d. Tracts. The Prophets of Israel. By C. Ross Milley. New York: Philosophical Library, 1959. ix and 143 pages. Cloth. $3.75. First Fruits: God's Guide for Giving. By R. C. Rein. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959. 111 pages. Paper. $1.00. Missionary Life and Work: A Discussion of Principles and Practices of Missio'lZS. By Harold R. Cook. Chicago: Moody Press, 1959. 382 pages. Cloth. $5.00. Romans for the Children's Hour with 1 and II Timothy: A Family Devotions Book. By Kenneth N. Taylor. Chicago: Moody Press, 1959. 190 pages. Cloth. $2.95. The Art of Personal Witnessing. By Lome Sanny. Chicago: Moody Press, 1957. 128 pages. Paper. Price not given. Sex and Love in the Bible. By William Graham Cole. New York: Association Press, 1959. 448 pages. Cloth. $6.50. Anglicanism. By S. C. Neill. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1958. 466 pages. Paper. 95 cents. Religious Drama 3. Selected and intro- duced by Martin Halverson. New York: Meridian Books, 1959. 314 pages. Paper. $1.45. A History of Science, Technology and Philosophy in the 16th and 17th Centuries. By A. Wolf. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1959. Volume I, xvi and 349 pages. Vol- ume II, xv and 350-686 pages. Paper. $1.95 each. The Cultural Significance of the Reforma- tion (Die Kulturbedeutung der Reformation). By Karl Holl; trans. by Karl and Barbara Hertz and John H. Lichtblau. New York: Meridian Books, 1959. 191 pages. Paper. $1.25. Church and People, 1789-1889: A His- tory of the Church 0/ England from William Wilberforce to "Lux Mundi." By S. C. Car- penter. London: Society for Promoting Chris- tian Knowledge, 1959. Three parts; 581 pages. Paper. 5/- per part. Le Royaume de Dieu et sa Venue: Etude sur l'esperance de Jesus et de l'apotre Paul. By Jean Hering. Paris: Editions Delachaux et Niestle, 1959. 292 pages. Paper. Fr. Sw. 12.50. Le Decalogue d la lumiere des recherches contemporaines (Der Dekalog im Lichte der neueren Forsch1~ng). By J. J. Stamm; trans. Philippe Reymond. Paris: Editions Delachaux et Niestle, 1959. 62 pages. Paper. Fr. Sw. 3.50. Father Connell Answers Moral Questions. By Francis J. Connell; ed. Eugene J. Weitzel. Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 1959. xiii and 210 pages. Cloth. $3.95. Thomasius Old Testament Selections with Interpretation and Homiletical Adaptation. By J. Michael Reu; translated from the Ger- man by Max L. Steuer. Columbus: The Wartburg Press, 1959. x and 704 pages. Cloth. $6.75. Teaching the Catholic Catechism with the Religion Workbook (Katechismumnterricht mit dem Werkheft). Volume II: The Church and the Sacraments (Von der Kirche und den Sakramenten). By Josef Goldbrunner, trans. Bernard Adkins. New York: Herder and Herder, 1959. 108 pages. Paper. $1.65.