BOOK REVIEW All books reviewed in this periodical may be procured from or through Concordia Publishing House, 3558 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis 18, j\1iss0U1·i. THE NEW GREEK-ENGLISH LEXICON TO THE NEW TESTAMENT. By George Ricker Berry, Ph. D., of the University of Chicago and Colgate University. Wilcox & Follett Company, Chicago, 1948. 137 pages,6x9Yz. $2.00. THE ANALYTICAL GREEK LEXICON: Consisting of an alphabetical arrangement of every occurring inflection of every word contained in the Greek New Testament Scriptures with a grammatical analysis of each word and lexicographical illustration of the meanings. A complete series of paradigms with grammatical remarks and explanations. New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers; London: Samuel Baxter and Sons, Ltd. 444 pages, 711:2 X 10. $4.00. As to the book by Berry, the title is misleading. It was correct in 1897 when the book was first issued. As far as I can see, the present edition is a reprint of the work as published in the nineteenth century. It is a volume of convenient size, which may serve the beginner who is interested in the English equivalent of the Greek word and nothing else. The section on synonyms of the New Testament, based chiefly on Trench's famous work, is valuable in spite of the lapse of years. Tbe Analytical Greek Lexicon is likewise a work which can well serve a beginner. Its condensed grammar section will be found useful. In the lexical, the chief part of the work, the alphabetical list contains separate entries of the verb forms that occur in the New Testament. Thus when a reader of the Greek N. T. comes, let us say, upon the form kloomen, he will find it listed separately and described as first pers. pl. pres. indo act. of klaoo. Similarly the various cases of the nouns are included. As our generation is becoming weaker, it may need crutches of this sort. W.ARNDT BERKELEY VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK VERSION WITH BRIEF FOOTNOTES. By Gerrit Verkuyl, Ph. D., D. D., a New Testament Fellow of Princeton. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids 2, Mich. 672 pages, 4 X 5 Yz. $2.50. It is raining -New Testament translations. The British Revised Version of 1881 was followed in 1901 by the American Revised Version; about the same time appeared the Twentieth Century New Testament; in 1902 came Weymouth's translation; Moffatt's appeared in 1913, in 1923 Goodspeed's, the same year Ballantine's, Mrs. Montgomery's in 1924, etc. 377 378 BOOK REVIEW Verkuyl's rendering, now before us in the fifth edition, first was published in 1945. Dr. Verkuyl is a Presbyterian who has given much time to young people's work. The translation is readable and live. Where I have examined it, it renders the Greek correctly. The notes, while usually helpful, cannot always be endorsed. On 1 Pet. 3: 19 the author says, "Enokai, possibly referring to Enoch as preaching to the antediluvians; else, Christ preaching to them through Noah. If the slain Christ were meant, all souls in hell would have been included." That Enokai should here be connected with the name Enoch must be considered unfortunate. The idea that the preaching of Christ, as the logos asarkos, through Noah is referred to here by Peter was, it will be recalled, the opinion of St. Augustine. -On account of the discussions going on in our own midst I insert here without comment Verkuyl's rendering of Rom. 16: 17-18. "But I warn you, brothers, to keep an eye on those who cause splits and obstacles, quite out of harmony with the doctrine you have been taught, and to keep away from them. For people of that type do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by means of ingratiating talk and flattery they deceive the minds of the unsuspecting." W. ARNDT YOUR BIBLE AND YOU. By Charles R. Erdman, Prof. emer. of Practical Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N. J. The John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia-Toronto. 179 pages, 6 X 9. $2.50. To read the Bible with profit, it is useful that one be given a brief introduction to the various sacred books submitting information on the author and the purpose of each. The excellent book here reviewed is designed to furnish such introductions. After several chapters of a general nature, having these headings: The Book of Life; The Word of God; English Versions; Aids in Reading; a Divine Unity, the individual books are briefly discussed in the sequence in which they are found in the King James Version. Dr. Erdman, whose present status is pointed to in the title, is master of a terse, pithy, and yet pleasant style, and in a few well-chosen sentences he gives the reader important hints on the Biblical book to be studied. The chapters dealing with the separate books are each about two pages long. Questions of chronology and geography are not given much space; the author's aim rather is to sketch the chief thoughts of the sacred writer so that attention can be focused on them. It is the reviewer's opinion that Dr. Erdman has achieved his purpose in an eminent degree. In addition to its other good qualities, the book breathes a reverent spirit; it treats the Bible throughout as the Word of God, written by divine inspiration. In the chapter on Daniel the last sentence (p. 91) seemingly has a millennial implication. Likewise in the discussion of Romans 9-11 a chiliastic thought has crept in. The sentence (p. 133): "The rejection of Israel is not complete or final; even now some Jews are being saved, and in the future the nation will unite with the Gentiles in accepting BOOK REVIEW 379 Christ," should be changed to read somewhat like this: "The rejection of Israel is not complete or final; even now some Jews are being saved, and ultimately every member of the 'true Israel' will unite with the elect among the Gentiles in accepting Christ." W. ARNDT THE LORD OF GLORY. A Srudy of the Designations of Our Lord in the New Testament with Especial Reference to His Deity. By Benjamin B. Warfield. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Mich. 332 pages, 5;4x7%. $3.50. This is a reprint from the plates of the American Tract Society and was first published in 1907. This volume may well be considered as a companion volume to the recent volume of Warfield's writings published under the title The Person and Work of Christ. In this srudy Warfield investigates some 150 designations given to our Lord in the New Testament books. His interest is primarily apologetic against the various trends at the turn of the century which questioned and denied the deity of our Lord. Warfield treats the designations of our Lord more from the viewpoint of Christ's Person than of His work. The treatise is on the same high scholarly level as all of Warfield's writings. F. E. MAYER GESCHICHTE DER NEUERN EVANGELISCHEN THEOLOGIE im Zusammenhang mit den allgemeinen Bewegungen des europaeischen Denkens. 6. bis 9. Lieferung. Von Emanuel Hirsch. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Guetersloh. 80 pages, each, 6Y2 x9Y2. DM. 3.50 per Lieferung. Subscription price, DM. 3.15. This monumental work, of which nine Lieferungen of 80 pages each have now appeared, was discussed in this journal last year, p.556. The sixth and seventh Lieferung are the first installment of Volume II under the title Die neuen philosophischen ttnd theologischen Anfaenge in Detttschland. The eighth and ninth Lieferung discuss the theology of Jakob Boehme and its influence on later Pietistic and spirirualistic trends. F. E. MAYER POSITIVE PROTESTANTISM. An Interpretation of the Gospel. By Hugh Thomson Kerr, Jr., Ph. D. 147 pages, 8Y2 x6. Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1950. $2.50. For a long time the need has existed for a brief presentation of the essentials of Protestantism in a form readily understandable to the nontheological reader. Professor Kerr, chairman of the Department of Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, is well suited for the production of such a book, not only because of his experience in pastoral work and in teaching, but also because of his previous literary efforts in Reformation theology. The present work is, as its title indicates, an attempt to present the "positive" features of Protestantism. The term "Protestantism" has come to connote primarily a negative movement opposed to Roman Catholicism, 380 BOOK REVIEW and Professor Kerr succeeds in pointing out that Protestantism also has a positive content. This content he sees in an interpretation of the Christian Gospel, from which and from which alone Protestantism derives its reason for existence. In keeping with this conviction Professor Kerr insists that "unity must be the result of a common faith" (p. 25); repeatedly his work points to the need for unity in faith as the basis for any reunion of the Protestant churches. The book is well written and can easily be read even by one who has not been initiated into the charmed circle of the theologians. Throughout Professor Kerr keeps a basically Biblical orientation, which helps to make the book interesting as well as convincing. As was perhaps inevitable in so brief a discussion, Professor Kerr's analysis of Protestantism tends at times to be superficial and to minimize problems for the sake of clarification. Although he is deeply concerned that Protestantism articulate an adequate doctrine of the Church (pp. 132 to 139), he does not face up adequately to the development of the Church between the Apostolic Age and the Reformation (pp. 39-49). In his discussion of Protestantism he seems to this reviewer to minimize some of the difficult problems involved in defining Protestantism in view of the confused denominational situation. Is there such a thing as Protestantism? It will not do to answer such a question with a passing criticism of "confessionalism" (p. 30). "Confessionalism" may be good or bad, Protestant or non-Protestant; but no one can ignore the historic confessions of the evangelical churches in his effort to define Protestantism. As such an effort, however, Professor Kerr's discussion merits serious and careful attention. Though it cannot be called profound in any sense, it is certainly stimulating and worth while. ]AROSLAV PELIKAN FRAGEN UM DEN BEGRIFF DER NATUERLICHEN THEOLOGIE. Von Ru-dolf Hermann. 53 pages, 6 Yz X 9 Yz. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Guetersloh. 1950. The purpose of this brief essay is to examine a number of problems connected with natural theology, especially as these problems have been raised by the controversy between Emil Brunner and Karl Barth and complicated by the publication of Barth's enigmatic "Christengemeinde und Buergergemeinde" (p. 51) . It is the author's concern, on the one hand, to avoid the excesses which have been associated with the Thomist doctrine of "analogy of being," and yet, on the other hand, properly to evaluate that relation between the Creator and the creature which continues even after and in spite of sin. This latter he dges on the basis of Acts 14: 1 7, a seriously neglected text in current discussions of natural knowledge (pp. 18-21). Unfortunately, the author's presentation is so brief as to be tantalizing, but never satisfying. But his title indicates his desire to raise certain "F ragen," not to answer them. In this he has succeeded. ]AROSLAV PELIKAN BOOK REVIEW 381 GREAT SHORTER WORKS OF PASCAL. Translated with an Introduction by Emile Cailliet and John C. Blankenagel. The Westminster Press. Philadelphia. 231 pages. $4.50. To the church history student, Pascal is known chiefly as the author of the Provincial Letters, which played so great a role in that attempt to reform the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church and lead the clergy of France away from Jesuit Pelagianism and back to Augustine's doctrine of grace, the Jansenist movement. To others he is perhaps better known as a mathematician of genius and a great inventor. The purpose in offering the Great Shorter Works, the editors say, is "to make essential classical Pascalian literature, other than the Provincial Letters and the Pensees, available to discriminating readers who might find the original texts difficult and discouraging." Forty-five letters are presented, written during the intensely active period of his life, from the age of 20 to his death at age of 38. It is difficult to see why some of these letters were included in this collection (despite the valuable introduction); most of them do "reflect the variety of Pascal's interests. For this reason, among others, they are of value, not only to those who are interested in Christianity, but also to those who are interested in physics, or mathematics, or philosophy." Hence the book will help to clarify the picture of the man who not only gave to the world "many tangible legacies, including the calculating machine, the barometer, the hydraulic press, and the omnibus," but who (and this stands highest to all who love true Christianity) promoted and defended that tragic movement, the defeat of which, strengthening Jesuitism in its vicious activity and cementing the bonds between the Church of France and the already hated French government, did so much toward turning the agents of the French Revolution against Chris-tianity and against all religion. THEO. HOYER THE LUTHERAN TRAIL. A History of the Synodical Conference Lutheran Churches in Northern Illinois. By Louis J. Schwartzkopf. 698 pages, 8Y2 X 6. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, 1950. $3.50 net, plus postage (shipping weight, 3 lbs.). The purpose of this compendious volume by Pastor Schwartzkopf is to provide the reader with authoritative information about a representative group of Synodical Conference congregations. The work extends over the entire northern part of the State of Illinois and brings us brief histories of the Synodical Conference congregations in that area -250 in all. Such a work as this is not in the professional sense history, since it is concerned principally with a chronicling of events, personalities, buildings, etc. But it is most certainly the stuff of which history is made and, as such, of primary usefulness for the future historian. The history of the Christian Church is not only the history of its theologians and officials, but pre-eminently the history of its people. Too often in the past the 382 BOOK REVIEW history of various groups, like the Missouri Synod, has restricted itself to the official actions of those groups and has ignored the religious life of the people themselves. Pastor Schwartzkopf has rendered our Church a great service in making these materials available. It is to be hoped that other areas of our Church will follow suit, so that at some future date some future historian may write the history of the. Missouri Synod -not only of its conventions, theologians, and officers, but of its congregations and people. Several illustrations and many quotations help to enliven Pastor Schwartzkopf's sprightly narrative and to make it very interesting reading. JAROSLAV PELIKAN AN OUTLINE OF NEW TESTAMENT ETHICS. By Lindsay Dewar. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, c.1949. 280 pages, 5YsX7%. $3.00. Canon Dewar herewith presents a summary of the passages of the New Testament which deal with behavior. As that, the book is remarkably complete and useful. Some of the author's relationships are stimulating. The book is useful in emphasizing that the authors of the New Testament were interested in virtues, in the practical behavior of various classes of believers. On the other hand the book fails to describe adequately the redemption of Jesus Christ as the source of the Holy Spirit and of love. The author's construction of the concepts of "commandment" and "teaching" need improvement in the light of the over-all significance of the Redemption. Particularly Titus comes short in his treatment. RICHARD R. CAEMMERER TAKE A SECOND LOOK AT YOURSELF. By John Homer Miller. Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, Nashville, c. 1950. 187 pages, 5 ~ X 71;2. $2.00. The author is pastor of a Congregational church in Springfield, Mass. His book is one of many current at the moment on the problems of personality under fear. The author writes engagingly and has a wealth of literary allusion at his disposal. With the exception of one line on page 96, this reviewer was unable to find an explicitly Christian power for the overcoming of fear or the rebuilding of the structure of the mind which the author envisages. RICHARD R. CAEMMERER THE CHURCH AND HEALING. By Carl J. Scherzer. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 272 pages, 51;2 X 8. $4.00. This volume should be of special value to all who have a particular interest in the subject of healing. Beginning with the miraculous cures of the sick as recorded in the New Testament, it gives a comprehensive overview of the services rendered to the sick in Apostolic, medieval, and Reformation days down to the present. Among the subjects discussed are: The work of deacons and deaconesses in the Early Church, medieval medical practice, Catholic religious orders, modern nursing orders and church BOOK REVIEW 383 hospitals, modern healing cults, the Emmanuel movement, medical missions, and current hospital chaplaincy and clinical training programs. Naturally, we cannot vouch for the authenticity of the author's findings nor for all of the views which he expresses, but he who would orientate himself on the specific ministery to the sick throughout the New Testament era will find this a handy reference work. A bibliography of more than one hundred volumes covering the various phases of this subject is appended. The price seems a bit high. O. E. SOHN FIFTY DEVOTIONAL SERVICES. First series. By Paul N. Elbin, Ph. D. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York, 1950. 255 pages, 5YzX8Yz. $2.50. The services included in this volume were prepared by the president of West Liberty State College, West Liberty, W. Va. They are intended largely for churches, schools, and colleges; each includes a prelude, an invocation, suggested hymns, responsive readings, a central thought, and a prayer. The author disapproves of the use of inferior means of worship, and though he does not employ the historically great liturgies of the Christian Church, the services he has prepared are orderly, logical, and well integrated. He uses no less than 159 quotations, prayers, and readings, in addition to many quotations from the Bible. From the theological point of view, one must often disagree with the author, e. g., when he says: "Jesus' death upon the cross was not enough; there must be more crosses raised before the world can be redeemed" (p. 175). Too many services slight our Savior and His blessel Gospel, particularly in the fore part of the book. He also repeats certain hymns too often, and many of the hymns he recommends are not known to our people. Like much other devotional literature of our day, the present volume indicates clearly that a strong reaction against revivalistic services and Gospel hymns is coursing its way through American Protestantism; services and worship materials of this type have done great harm to the worship life and experience of many churches. Dr. Elbin's book was written to help remedy this unfortunate situation. WALTER E. BUSZIN RIGHT HERE, RIGHT Now. By Margaret T. Applegarth. Harper and Brothers, New York, 1950. 269 p a g e ~ , 5 % X 8 ~ 1 . $2.75. Miss Applegarth's book contains twenty-eight complete worship programs. In these, dramatic incidents and stories are presented in word pictures which are to "enrich the understanding and deepen devotion at the same time." While some are built around brief biographies of Christian people in varied times and situations, others seek to interpret chapters of the Bible through dramatic means, and still others draw parallels between trials of ancient days and those of our own day. All follow a similar pattern and usually include a call to worship, hymns, prayers, and readings in collect or antiphonal form. Miss Applegarth is clearly not a novice at 384 BOOK REVIEW preparing materials of this kind. She knows how to create and sustain interest, combines unity with variety, and she carefully avoids what is commonplace, cheap, and vulgar. In her attempts to be ecumenical the author often refuses to become specific; her book was prepared to accommodate people of divergent religious views. While treating the passage: "Father, I pray that they may all be one, as Thou and I are one," she speaks disparagingly of those who dare read into this passage the added sentiment: "For our own creed only" (p. 25). Our pastors, teachers, and other youth leaders would have to do much revising and deleting before using most of the materials here presented. While these worship programs may hardly be said to be pointless, they are not as Christ-centered as we have a right to expect; what, after all, is worship and what does it accomplish if Christ is not its very Center and Core? A worship program, too, should have the welfare of the human soul in mind. While other wholesome means definitely have their place and purpose in the life of the human being, they cannot do what only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can do. This, we believe, should be accentuated in a worship program; failing to do so is succumbing to the most unfortunate weakness of our age and time. WALTER E. BUSZIN BOOKS RECEIVED From Concordia P u b l i s h i 1 ~ g House, St. Louis, Mo.: CONCORDIA BIBLE TEACHER. Vol. XII, No.3. CONCORDIA BIBLE STUDENT. Vol. XL, No.3. The History of Israel, Part II. April-June, 1951. Edited by Rev. John M. Weidenschilling, S. T. D., Auspices of the Board for Parish Education, The Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod. $1.00 and 65 cents per annum, respectively. PORTALS OF PRAYER. Daily Devotions No. 104. By Various Authors. April 15-June 5, 1951. 10 cents per copy. ANDACHTSBUECHLEIN No. 104. Das Wort vom Kreuz im christlichen Leben. 15. April bis zum 5. Juni 1951. By Carl Gieseler. 10 cents per copy.