Full Text for CTM Book Review 3-6 (Text)

472 Book Review. -£literatut. Book Review. -£itcratur. The Gospel According to Luke. By G. Campbell Morgan, D. D. Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, Chicago, London, and Edinburgh. 284 pages, 5% X 8. Price, $2.50. Favorably known to a wide public on both sides of the Atlantic as preacher, lecturer, and writer, and honored and esteemed in those circles where the Bible is still accorded its position of authority, Dr. Morgan in this book continues his exposition of the gospels, works on Matthew and :Mark having preceded this volume. What is submitted consists of steno­graphically reported lectures, as the brief foreword informs us, and one soon notices, in perusing a few pages, that in these discussions there is retained the freshness of the spoken discourse. We are therefore not dealing with an exhaustive commentary, but with a popular presentation of the chief thoughts in Luke's gospel, to which are joined throughout, as is proper, practical applications. One cannot read the volume without sincere admiration of the author's remarkable gift to make important truths and events stand out boldly, limned in striking colors on a back­ground quickly provided by a few deft strokes of the brush. Without striving to bc eloquent, the author's enthusiasm for the great subject which he is dealing with often makes his sentences vibrate with rare power and beauty. As an expositor of the Holy Scriptures he exhibits deep ac­quaintance with the holy writings in general and an acute penetration into the meaning of the particular text he is explaining. He does not use the sacred vVord as a peg on which to hang his own ideas and theories; he actually expounds. Whatever the line of thought may be which he pursues, whether he touches what we consider to be of chief importance in a passage or not, his remarks are always stimulating. The doctrinal point of view, of course, is that of the Reformed churches. With respect to the words of institution of the Lord's Supper, Dr. Morgan does not shrink from boldly saying (p. 244) : "As I see Him take that loaf and look at it and see in it a symbol of His body, then break it, and see that as the symbol of that through which He was about to pass, so I seH Him take the cup and see in its red color the symbol of His blood. He gave it to them. He did not participate. He did not eat the bread; He did not drink the cup. He dispensed it. He said: That bread, broken, is the symbol of My body. Eat it, partake of it. That fruit of the vine in thRt cup is the symbol of My blood poured out. Drink of it. I wonder if they remembered something He had said to them before, that, except they should eat His flesh and drink His blood, there was no life in them. That was a strange saying; John says, a hard saying; and when He said it, many of His disciples went back and stayed no more with Him. Whether they understood or not, here they were approaching the inter­pretation of that mystic saying." It will be noticed that Dr. Morgan com­mits the common Reformed error of finding in John 6 a reference to the Lord's Supper, when in reality the chapter merely speaks of the spiritual eating and drinking of Christ's flesh and blood, which takes place when we accept Him as our Redeemer in true faith. -Now and then there is Book Review. -£iteratut. 473 a tendency to be ovediteral-another Reformed trait. Thus the admit­tedly difficult words of Jesus, Luke 22, 17. 18: "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say unto you, I shall not drink from henceforth of the fruit of the vine till the kingdom of God shall come," are inter­preted by Dr. Morgan in a way which, while not contrary to the analogy of faith, will hardly commend itself to Bible students in general. Dr. Mor­gan's comments are (p. 243): "What did He meanY Well, I admit that it is not easy of interpretation. My own is a very literal one. Do we find at any point afterwards in the story that He did drink of the fruit of the vine? Yes, John tells us that they gave Him vinegar, that is, sour wine, to drink, and He took it. Jesus, knowing that all things were now finished, saith, 'I thirst.' And they brought Him sour wine to drink, and He took it, and He drank it. He drank the fruit of the vine there on the cross, sour wine. He drank wine, when? When He knew that the king­dom of God had come, because all things were accomplished." We are sure that this is not the meaning which Jesus intended. He is pointing to the fulfilment of the Passover as a typical prophecy of the joys of eter­nal life. But it is only on rare occasions that one disagrees with the con-clusions of this talented Bible scholar. W. ARNDT. Christian Liberty and Church Unity. By M. G. G. Scherer, Secretary of the United Lutheran Church in America, Member of the Con­tinuation Committee of the World Conference ou Faith and Order. Fleming H. Revell Company, Publishers. 1932. 204 pages, 5X7%. Price, $1.75. This is an excellent presentation of the Lutheran doctrine of Christian liberty, its nature and practical importance, defining its meaning, that is, freedom from sin, the guilt and power of sin, freedom from the Law, and freedom from arbitrary rules and regulations of men, and drawing an ap­pealing pictme of its behavior: it behaves joyously, obligingly, unselfishly, jealously, etc. "It lives by faith and works by love and is not under Law, but under grace." (P.78.) These portions contain much material for prof­itable study. So also the second section, dealing with church unity. It stresses the point that no particular form of ecclesiastical constitution and administration is necessary for unity, rejecting and conclusively re­futing the hierarchical claims in their various forms and defining church unity as the inner unity of faith. The fine exposition of John 17, 21 is particularly valuable, which passage "is so confidently appealed to as final by those who indentify Christian unity with the organic union of the Church" (p. 92), whHe it speaks of the unity "of one spirit, one faith, one hope, and one baptism" (p. 144). The book thus contains much fine Lutheran theology. The greater the shock when one is confronted with such un-Lutheran, unscriptural statements as these: "Christian liberty does not come to the Bible as to a code of laws or a handbook of rules and of ready information on all matters concerning which man may seek knowledge for intelligent, large, right, and fruitful living. . .. It knows how to distinguish between Scrip­ture and Scripture, between the shell and the content, between the chaff and the wheat, between the letter and the spirit. Christian liberty does not fall into the sin of Bibliolatry." (P. 81.) On the same page the 474 Book Review. -mtetatur. term "symbolatry" is used in its well-known connotation. The definition of the inner Christian unity stresses love more than faith. The con­sequence is that unity in the fides quae creditur is held to be of little moment. The author permits himself to say on page 78: "It is Christian liberty that stands up and asserts its independence when one group of evangelical Christians, adherents of the earliest Protestant confession of faith (the Augsburg Confession, 1530), says to another group equally sincere in acknowledging the same faith: 'Before we can have fellowship with you, you must accept our rule that there must be absolute agree­ment in all points of doctrine and in just two matters of practise wherein we find you to be sinners.''' There is more of this unionistic spirit. The preface concludes with the statement: "Apology must be made to the reader who is seeking only the way of peace that at a few places here and there he will find himself led into the midst of a skirmish." Reference is probably had to these somewhat cryptic statements: "The word pra{)tise is by these legalists so narrowed down in common use as to include nothing else besides opposition to lodges and to any sort of fellowship with those followers of Christ who do not follow them." (P. 79.) "Some of them go so far as to excommunicate others of the same confes­sion of faith, refusing pulpit-and altar-fellowship with them, because of differences between them in regard to matters which do not involve any question of morals or any denial of the faith, but which in reality involve only the question whether we must conform our practise to legal­istic principles or be governed by the law of Christian liberty." (P.191.)-We append a few sentences from an editorial of the Lutheran on the death of Dr. Scherer: "President Dr. Knubel, in his address at the funeral services on March 11, made one statement to which the United Lutheran Church owes attention. 'Dr. Scherer,' he said, 'was the last to go of a for­mer triumvirate and the first of a new.' He thus recalled to memory Drs. Schmauk, Tressler, and Scherer, who presided at the conventions of their several bodies, who participated in the deliberations of the Com­mittee on Ways and Means that drafted the constitution of the organiza­tion resulting from the merger. . .. The election of 1918 constituted Presi­dent Knube1, Secretary Scherer, and Treasurer Miller a new triumvirate .... We respectfully suggest to our readers that the analysis of Dr. Scherer's writings and activities will exhibit a correct type of tolerance, but it will be tolerance which reacts from the possession in common of undeniable religious truth. It is not the flabby, sentimental tolerance of ignorance and lack of convictions. It is equally remote from the objective of ex­pediency and truth-obscuring schemes to increase power." T. ENGELDER. Whtttin 2nfijet. ':Del' J~UnftIer. mon id a n ~ l1.\ t e u b. ':Dtud unb mer1ag bon rr. ~erte1!!mann in @Uterg{olj. 1931. VI unn 319 EieHen 61j2 X9'h, in 13eintnanb mit :!lecfe!~ unn lRiidentitel geounnen. l1.\reis: 111. 9; geounnen: M.ll. :Sn einem ~bntud ncr trefflicfJen Hetnen 6d)rift bon D. ~au{ ~!tljau~ ,,13utfler afS bet matet nes ebangelifcfJen .reitd)enlienes" fagte unfer feUget D. ~ente: ,,:;Scf) mub flier befennen, nab hie banfbate j)teube Uoer unf ern 13utljet oei mit rein ~nile neg men mill." (13egte unb Iilleljte 66, 347.) ':Dtefes Iillott ram uns Book Review. -mteratur. 475 immet unb immer mieber in ben l5inn, a15 mit bas Ilotliegenbe ~etf Iafen. ~!l ift ein vriicljtiges, dn3igartiges ~ed unb beganbeU unfetn £lutljer bon dner 6eite au!!, bie unfer!! ~iffen!l noclj nie fo boUftiinbig beganbelt roorben ift. S)er met'" faner ift bet bdannte .ll'ircljengiftoriter in (!;t!angen I.j5rof. D . .\'jans I.j5reuf\, bet cin befonbets offcnes ~uge fUt bie cljtiftlicljc .ll'unft gat, bet fcljon betfcljiebene I5dJrif" ten libet 53utger getausgegeben 1)at, bie aUe bon einem eingegenben I5tubium £lutl)erll unb bet ffiefotmattons3eit 3eugen, unb ben roit fUr ben bebeutenbften unb veften Q)eurteHet bet cljrifHicljen !tunft bet ®egenmurt {)aUen. ~ir fiinnen am beften bas ~uclj cljaraftetijieten, roenn roir dne ftberjicljt liver ben ~ngalt geben. 1ler erfte ~eU beganbeU lI£lutl'Jer unb bie Q)i(ber" unb 3erfafit in folgenbe UnteraOteHungen: Ill. £lutget a{s ZJeicl)ner. 2. ~e!clje .ll'unftroerfe 1)at £lutger ge~ fannt, unb mie gat er fie 1ieurteHt? 3. £lutger unb bie lBUber. 4. £lutger unb bet .ll'itcljenbau. 5. £lutger~ I5cljiinljetgemjJfinben." 1let 3meite ~ei1 beganbeIt .£lut1)er unb bie ·WlufiI" unb fUgtt bor: ,,1. S3utget5 .ll'enntniS. 2. S3utger alS au!!libenber Wlufifet. 3. £lutljer 01S .ll'omvonift. 4. S3utgers UdeHe Uber bie Wlujif. 5. 1lie l:hu)!iclje ~nmenbung." ~er btUte ~eH begunbeft IIben ~idJtet" unb fligrl bot £lutgetll ~icljtung, £lutljers I.j5rofa, unb 3roat naclj lJt£)\)tgmus, .ll'lang unb 15tH; unb im vieden ~eH roitb bann ,,~er .ll'Unftfer" unb ,,1los flinftfetifclje I5djnffen" beljanbeH. '!Bit miidjten aber auclj einige ~lU!lfUgrungen miebergeben, um ben teidjen, fdjiinen ~ngult bes lBucljes bar3ufteffen. I.j5reu\3 fagt: lI~mmer mieber fommt £lutget aUf Die Wlujit 3U fvrecljen ag ljmlicljes ®otte~gefd)enf, bas ben ~eufcl bertreillt, ben ®eift bet ~rautigfeit, ber f1ie~t, roenn fie angeftimmt roirb. II .Wluftf foU bot aUem Bum recl)ten @ottesbienft bie &',leraen ent3ilnben, \nie benn voqeiten bie .ll'itd)e bor bet Wleffe I.j5falmen jingen lie\3. . .. lBefonbers foU man ben S'd5hel.ntnft bes ®ottesbienftes im ®cfang Clusftromen {affen: ,~uf dne gute I.j5rebigt foff man ein ftad ®ebet tun ober einen guten S3obgcfang.' II (15. 125.) ~n dnet onbern I5teffe ljei\3t es: lI~in ~icljttgeologe, ber ®ermonift ~.~. Q)erget, trifft bie .\'dau~tfadje, !venn er in feinem £lutljer\netf bon £lutgers I.j5rebigt bie tT'reubigfeit l)erbot£)ebt, ,bie audj in ber urbcutid)en mujif cineS: ~og. Seb. ~adj fo gto\3artig leut, abet bei tomanifcljen unb englifdjen .ll'an3elrebnetn bergebHclj gefudjt roirb'." (15.206.) I.j5reufl meifJ S3ut~erg unerfd)ovflidjes I5djrifttum red)t geraus3uftteid)en, roenn et bas ~Drt bes uetanntcn .ll'unftfritifers tT'erDinanD ~benorius onfii£)rt: ,,~ir ~a1ten S3utljer fUr bie griiflte flinftferifdje .ll'raft, liber bie unfer I5d)tifttum bcrfligt. I5djon aUein ber Umfltng feinct I5Hmme! (!;r farm aUes fagen, bOll ciner faft butlesfen ~raftit Ubcr bie giicljft gefdfmungene erfdjUtternbfte ~ragif 015 3ur innigften I5timme ber \Hebe unb bon hem mHbeften ~ro~ bis 3Ut' gefetteften .\'dau5biitermeisljett." (15.207.) I.j5teufl fagt: ,,£lutljcril ganses I5cljrifttum if! mit feinfter 9Jtenfcljenbeoliacljtung butcf,i3ogen. (5;r greift ljinein ins boffe ·mlenfdjenfelien, nnb \no et's Vad!, Da ift es inteteHant. ~r jieljt, roie nut ein ~ic!)tet fiegt." (15.247.) Unb ~reu\3 lie!egt bies bann mit £lutfJcr~ morten Uber "ben I5cl)\viirmer", Uliel' ,{jroingli unb (!;mfer, Uuer ~rominentfein~ moUenbe S3eute, tibet cingebilbete I5djriftfteUer, tilier bie 'IDudjerer, bie .ll'latfclj~ rocilicr ufro. mon ben letteren fagt £lutgcr: ,,£lutas, ~av. I, fagt, Wlaria fei enbelid) [= eilig] gegangen, bas ift, 3Udjtig unb nid)t io aull jjiirroit unb leicl)t" fettig, roie ba~ lunge ®efinbe in bie WliIdj, BU :tan a unb auf bie .ll'itcljroeig geljet, bon einem ,\;laus Bum anbern miilct)et unb aUent~aIDen .il'(a~\lerbQ.nHein a1tf~ fc!)liigt unb bie ~ugen bagin lInb bortlJin roirft. ~ungftauen unb jjrauen foffen in iljren .\'jiiufem bleiben unb auf bet ®affe fein enbelidj bonftatten geljen unb nidjt aUe ZJiegdn auf bem 1laclj nod) aUe I5jJctfinge unter bem 1ladj ,iilJlen nDd) untctroeg~ aUentlJallien l5tQ.nbner galten." (6. 249.) ~n cinet anbem I5teUc 476 Book Review. -\lUeratm. tebet lllteu~ babon, IDie \luU)et bie !Engel malen fann, hlie et ben steufer fd}ilbett, unb immer ift bas nid)t nut intmffant, fonbcrn bringt aud} cine \JUUe t~eo~ !ogifcljer !Erfenn!nis. @ana befonbers fcf)iin lueifl lllreu~ \lut~er afS SDiclj!er au fcljilbern, unb fo bid one!) fd)on Ubet biefe lSael)c geiag! hlotben ift, immer tuicber finben ficlj feine neue 'Scobacljtungen. ISo jagt lllreufl: "Wie fcierliclj hlud}ten bie fUnffU~igen ;;samben3ei!en bcim beutfd}en Sanctus ein~et: ,;;selaia, bem lllro~ lJ~eten, bas gefclja~, ba~ er im @eift ben ~!Emn fiten falJ', gehlaltig hlie bas et~ ~abene ~orbHb ;;Sef. 6. @oeH)e nannte biefes meb ,oarbarifcf) grof, bas l)et~t boclj wo!)I unlJetmIiclj, borweltliel), in bto~enbet SDifhllt3 BU uns Heinen, Uugen \leuten. SDas @cgcn!cil DUaU finb bie einfudJ uUtagIiel)en ffilJl)tlJmeu bet .RatecljiS~ musliebet BU leicl)tem lUushlenbiglernen unb ~erfte!)en: linb bas <.15utetunfet: II SDies jinb bie lJeH' gen SelJn @ebot', SDie uns gab unier ~G:rre @ott SDutd) W1ofen, jeinm SDienet treu, ~od) aUf bem 'Setg lSinai. ~l)tieleis ! lI~ater unfet im ~immelteid), SDer bu uns aUe lJeifleft gletcf) 'Stuber fein unb bicl) rufen an 11nb hliUft bas 'Seten bon uns ~a'n. SDas ift, rlJlJtlJmifel) angefelJen, ~augfoft, biefer einfacljc jambifclje lSecf)s3eUer." (IS. 152.) @ana 1Jriicl)tig ift, hlie ~reu~ bie brei WeilJnacf)tsfiebet einanber gegen~ UberfteUt, um ben fcf)o1Jferijel)en ffilJgtlJmus \lutlJers BU etfennen: ",@elobet feift bu, ;;s!Efu (;£lJrift' -bie boUe theologia crucis! ;;sn jebem ~ers au~er 'oem Ietten ift bet @egenfat 3wifcljen W1enfel) unb @ott, 3hlifel)en \Jinftetnis unb \licljt, ~tmut 1mb ffieiel)tum, lSel)hladjlJeit unb ~raft betUlJrt, bie ~onbefBenben3 @ottes, bet ~et3fel)Iag IutlJetifcl)en @lllubens. SDaneben bas finbliel) leiel)te ,~om ~imme{ ~ocl), ba lomm' iel) ~er'. !Es fel)eint mit noel) nicl)t genUgenb oeacl)tet au fein, ba~ fiel) in biefem mebe me~tctC ISlJraclJfotmen finben, bie bet ~inberf1Jrael)e an~ gclJiiren unb hliei>er 3eigen, hlie fein fid) 2utlJer in bie ~inbetfeele aU berfeten ber[tllnb, nid)t blo~ in bem jebem flefannten 'Stief an fein S';iiinscl)en. 'Seif1Jiele: SDie iiberfcl)rift aeigt fcl)on an, tuas \lut~er lJiet borlJat: !Ein ~inberIieb aUf bie WeilJnacl)t (,l;lJrifti. !Es negegnen uns bann \Jormen wie ,fielJ bort ~in', ,~ti1J\le~ lein', ,;;s!Efu1ein', ,bis hliUefomm', ,lSufaninne' -aUes finblidj bomtiimlicl)e 'SH~ bungen. SDas britte ber WeilJnael)tillieber atmct ftaftig reformatorifrlJ tro~igen @eift. ,~om ~immel fum ber !Engel ISd)ar' mit bem lSel)lutfa3it: ,3ule~t mU~t if)r boel) lJaben reel)!' -bas ift bas \lutf)erbilb im @ermanifcl)en 9Jhljeum bon 1533. @ut fagt W. ~eUc: ,SDie ~ngeI reben ... gcrabe3u lutlJerijc!,J. lSie milffen ben ~itten in \lutlJers Woden bie ffieel)tfertigung aus bem @lauben betfiinbigen.' II (IS. 155.) ,,~on unglaunlicf)er \Jeftigfeit ift bet ffi~t)t!)mus bes DfterIiebes ,(;£~rift lag in :tobesbanben'. SDie fUn ftc unb fecl)fte Seile ift jebesmal ein tro\jiges ~odjen, bas jebe lSilbe gleiel) ftad betont: man lef e laut, mit j c!,Jarfer ISfanbietUng bes troel)iiifel)en ffi~\)tf)mus, bie beiben erften Seilen unb bie jubelnb aufge!lifte IScf)Iu~~ aeire." linb baun mael)t ~reu~ aUf ben @cgenfa~ aUfmedfam, bas ftiebebolle ~umingen bes. lSimeonfcl)en ISterbeliebes: W1it(j'rieb' unb \Jrcub' ic!,J fal)r' ba~in ;;sn @ottesWillen, @etrojt ift mit metn ~er3 unb IS inn, lSanft unb ftiUe, Wie @ott mit ber~ei~en lJat: SDer stob ift mein 1Sel)laf hlorben. Book Review. -~itetatur. 477 "lffie1d)e ~etu~i\1ung, l1JeTdjet \}debe, bet ~jj~er ift benn urIe mernunft, negt liver biefen .sellen ausgevreitet, lvle cin m:benb~altd) libet f ntten \}e1betn, unnad)a~m~ HdJ,m:usbtucr dnes gan, groflen Stlinftlers. 6pitta nennt bas meb ,5.Jut~er5 metrifd)cslJReiftetftlicr'." (6. 153.) mon bem 6d)u~~ unb %tu~1ieb 5.Jut~er5 ,,~in' fefte lButg ift unfet @ott" *) fagt ~teufl: "m:udJ bem ftumpfeften O~te ttJirb ell einge~en, bafl ~iet et1tJas \}teubig~~li~nes, '!lal)lnftriimenbes !aut l1Jirb, etttJas Un~ aUfl)altfames 1tJie bon &)cmsmaffen, bie bor1tJiittsbriingen, bie 3U .!'eampf unb 6ieo ausaiel)en. :;'jn bet ,1tJeiten ,I)iilfte 'oet 6tropl)en aber ftaut lidj ber ~ampf. ~s tommt 3um glal)fampf. '!lie 5.Jan3en 1tJerben borgeftrecU. ·illlit tuqen, abet nidjt 3urlicrllJcld)enben 6d)ritten gel)t es aUf ben aHen bojen \}einb los, unter bem alar~ mimnben, bierfadJ ttJiebet~oHen 6tof3 bes ~tomme!ttJirbels./I (6.154.) 6dJon m:lt~au5 liat in bet anfangs crttJii~nten lBe!)anblung treffenb batauf aufmetffam gcmadJt, bafl bie llie!en einfifbigen Worter in ber ,,\}eften lButg/l bem me be einen befonbers feietlidJ et~abenen (,l;~atattet betlei~en. ~reufl attiett bann im 6c!)lufl~ fapite!, ttJenn er bon 5.Jut~ets unermliblidJet 6dJaffensfraft rebct, etn 5.Jut~etttJott, bas uns dnen !8!icf tun liitt in bas @e~eimni5 bet Wetfftatt bes ffiefotmators. ~utljer fagt (Ivir geben bas lateinifdje Wort gleidj im :iDeutfdJen l1Jieber): '''~s liegt mir cin jluang Db, bar, lc!) %ag unb 91ac!)t branbe unb lobere an frberflirIe rounberfamer ®cbanfen. :iDle fann idj aber nidJt aUe im @ebiid)tnis be~a{ten, benn igret linb ultenblidj bide; fo mut idj lie rafd) mit 311Je1 ober brei msotten aU ~apiet bringen, um lie fpiitet bieUeidjt einma! aus i~tem dJaotifc!)en ,suitanbe in georbnete \Yorm 3U brtngen.' '!let '1Lnsbrucr aestuare [ben ~utl)ct i1n 5.Jateb niidJen geIJrauo)t] gilt bom Walfer 1tJie bom \yeuer; ct bebeutet alio, 1tJie eben gefagt, branben unb lonem. '!las Q)i!b beranic!)aulid)! in beiberIei 6iun fegt braftifef) bas immer luieber~olte Illnbtingen bon ®ebanfen. ~r 1tJi!! alio iagen: :;5dj fann midj bor bet frberfliUe meines fd)o~ferif djen '!lranges faum retten./I (6.284.) Wit miiffen anbreef)en. ~s ift iett in '!leutfef)lanD, ttJie man fo)on ofters gcfagt !jat, elm 5.Jutgero\Renaiffance l1!af)tnel)mbat. :iDie 6tubicn, bie ®e!eljrte !nte Wi!l)elm Waltget, &)oll, 6tange, !8Bljmer, &)itfd), m:!tljaus, ~reut, \}icfet, ~rIttJein, !8uef)ttJalb unb anbere beroffentlidjen, 3eugen babon. Wit: ljeffen, bat tie nid)t nIoa ~iftorifdJes :;Snterelfe er1tJecren, fonbetn auef) \}rlief)te flit bas, ttJas ung bie &)auptfad)e ift, bie ::t1)eologie, bring en lucrben. Unb foll nun UltS in m:metifa bas alles, aUes betlorengeljen, ttJei! 1tJit nid)t megr bie 6ptaef)e bes gtoam, e1n' aillen fficformators berfteljen TBnnen ober -ttJollen? £. \} li r b r i n g e r. The Religious Aspects of Swedish Immigration. A study of immi· grant churches. By Geoge lJ1. Stephenson. 542 pages, 6%X9%. The University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. 1932. Price, $4.50. Professor Stephenson is a member of the Augustana Synod and Asso­ciate Professor of History in the University of Minnesota. His large and well-printed volume is based upon research into the best libraries in America and Sweden, also into parish records on both sides of the Atlantic. As *) illlan nenne boc!) ja nio)t biefell ~ieb \3utgers nad) &)einrid) &)eine "bie illlarfeUaife bet \Reformation", ttJie idJ bas iett faft iebes :;Sa!)r in bem einen obct anbem tirdj!idJen lB!att leie unb fogat idjon tiber bas ffiabio ge!jort Ijabe, ais Db '\deine bamU cine feine !8cDDaO)tung gemar!)t unb eine groBe WalJtljeit auiJgefllrodjen Ijiitte. '!ler rcformiette .!'eirc!)engiftorifcr ~l)i1ipp 6c!)aff fagt mit mCO)t: "It dif­fers as widely from the Marsellaise as the German Reformation differs from the godless French revolution." 478 Book Review. -~Herntur. a result we have a valuable contribution to the history of Lutheran origins in America. Not only the Swedish Lutherans in this country, but also the Baptists, Mormons, 11ission Friends, and other religious movements that have received their share of the Swedish immigration are discussed, always with detailed reference to the European background of these movements. In addition we have much information on the process of assimilation, jour­nalism, cultural strivings, distribution of settlements, politics, the immi­grant pastor, the proselyting of rival churches, nationalistic traits, and other factors that influenced Swedish immigration. In his judgments on doctrinal questions the author is not always reliable. A study of the theo­logical background is wanting in such opinions as this on Waldenstroem: "When the cobwebs of theological controversy are brushed aside, Walden­stroem's doctrine and that of the state church are seen to differ only in emphasis and in terminology." (P.108.) The book has a really splendid bibliography, and the footnotes scattered through the volume show that the sources are not listed only, but have been used. 'l'H. GRAEBNER. '!lie ebllugeHfdien !l3eriflllJen be!3 Sl:irdienjll~re!3, in I.j1rebigtftubien au~gelegt im IIlffiaga3in fUr ciJ~Iutf) . .i;lomiletil", 1888-1908. !neu l)erausgegeben bon D. 53. jJ U r b r i n g e r. ~arl .i;lirfd) muc£j~ unb ~unftberlag, ~on~ ftan3 (SDcutfcf)ianb), ~reu3Iingen (<SC~roei3). mertden ftit ~merifa; Con­cordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. 826