QLnurnr~tu (Uqrnlngtrul ilnutlJly CODtiDuiDIL LEHRB UND WEHRE MAGAZIN PUEa EV.-LUTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLy-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol. X December, 1939 No. 12 CONTENTS PBlre The Doctrine of Justification According to Gabriel Biel and Johann von Palz. Theo. Dierks __ __________________________ . ___________ 881 Teaching the Postconfirmation Bible Class. P. E. Kretzmann . ___________ 889 Antichristian Teaching of Rosicrucianism. J. Theodore MaeDer __ 900 Entwuerfe fuer die von der Synodalkonferenz angenommene Epistelreihe __________________ ___________________ 913 Theological Observer. - Kirchlich-Zeitgeschichtliches ________ _______ 928 Book Review. - Literatur .. ----- ---- -- -- -- ---- --_______________ _____________ 953 BIn Predlger mUll rueht aUeln 1De1- dim, al80 daM er die Schate Wlter- weille. wie de recbte CbrtsteD IODen .em. IOndem BUch daneben den Woel- fen 1Deht'etl, daM de die Schate Dleht anarelfen UDd mit fal8cher Lehre ver- fuebrea UDd Irrtum elnfuehren. Luthft-. Ell 1st keln DIna. daB dJe LNtI roehr bel der 1tlrche bebaelt deaD die lUte Predlgt. - AJIOIocrte. ~rL JL If the trumpet live an UDCertIJD soWld who IIhall prepare hlmalf to the battle' -1 Cor. Iii, •• Published for the BY. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States CONCORDIA PUBLISHING BOUSE, St. LoWs, Mo. Book Review - \3iteratm: 953 Book Review - £itettttut All books reviewed in this periodical may be procured from or through Con- cordia Publishing House, 3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, Mo. The Christian Message in a Non-Christian World. By Hendrick Krae- mer, Professor of the History of Religions, University of Leyden. Harper & Brothers. 1938. 455 pages, 6% x 91f4. Price, $3.00. The Christian Faith in a Day of Crisis. By Charles S. Macfarland, General Secretary Emeritus of the Federal Council. Fleming H. Revell Co. 1939. 226 pages, 5x7I,~. Price, $1.50. Among the thirty-two books which Dr. Macfarland selected for re- view out of more than three hundred volumes as best representing the trend of religious thought during 1938 is The Christian Message in a Non-Christian World, which Prof. Kraemer wrote for the guidance of the World Missionary Conference at Madras in 1938. We quote a few statements from Dr. Macfarland's review: "This book is of special value to American readers, not only on general grounds, but because its thought is that of a Continental near- or part-Barthian, and is quite different from the American approach in Rethinking Missions . ... What is first needed is a clear consciousness of what the faith of the Church is. The realism of the Bible and the Christian faith 'simply takes seriously the fact that God is God and that, if He is God, His will is the ground of all that is.' Theology should be what its name implies, 'a tale about God.' . .. We reach the heart of the author's discussion in 'The Attitude towards the Non-Christian Religions.' The religion of the revelation in Christ revolves around two poles. 'The first pole is knowledge of God of a very special kind that upsets all other conceptions of God or of the Divine.' (The reviewer asks, Why the term 'upsets'?) . .. If the reviewer understands Barth, or unless Barth has changed his oft-changing view recently, Professor Kraemer does not share the Barthian view of natural theology. . .. The section of the volume analyzing and interpreting 'the non-Christian systems of life and thought' is perhaps the best part of it. It leaves little or no place for the seeming approaches to syncretism in Rethinking Mis- sions. . .. The missionary approach has changed. The impression that these religions were adequately approached by taking them as a vast and decaying section of the spiritual life of mankind, 'steeped in dark- ness and error, has turned out to be utterly erroneous.''' The con- cluding paragraph of the digest and review states: "No pastor or teacher can afford to neglect this volume. It needs to be read with a certain amount of unconcern for some of the author's theological bases. While Professor Kraemer partakes of Barthian positive ways of putting things, he does not betray the lack of intellectual humility that characterizes Barth, and the most liberal evangelical thinker will find relatively little to challenge in the most fundamental positions of this study, even though it may not measure up to its rather over- amplified characterization by the Archbishop of York." 954 Book Review - ~itetatut We will say that no man who is dealing with missions can afford to neglect this volume. Nowhere else will he find such thorough, complete, and up-to-date information on the non-Christian religions. And much of the advice given the missionary is good. The theology of the book, however, is not good. It is, in the first place, the Cal- vinistic theology, which is not Christo centric, but theocentric. See the pertinent statement in Macfarland's review. And, in the second place, "the most liberal evangelical thinker will find relatively little to chal- lenge in the more fundamental positions of this study." This praise of the book by the liberal Macfarland condemns it. Dr. Kraemer is not, indeed, an extreme liberal. He chides "the Liberals, with their often diluted conception of Christianity," who "are making the Chinese the victims of their liberal and generous idealisms" (p. 383). Macfarland critizes him for this, for using the term "upsets." In a letter to Kraemer he states: "In your use of the word 'upsets' I should say that you overstate, in other words, that all 'revelation' is one whole, even though we may not see the relationship between the various forms taken by revelation. There are, of course, differences of degree which are so great that they become differences in kind. However, I should prefer to say 'transcends' and 'modifies' instead of 'upsets.''' But while Kraemer will not go with the extreme Liberals, he also refuses to go with the Fundamentalists. "The guilt of the Fundamentalists is not less great. From t.h.is ,xlhole fundamentalist-liberal controversy the Chinese can hardly get another impression than that Christianity is either a set of tenets about the Virgin Birth, the infallibility of the Bible, an external and juridical conception of atonement, etc., or the triumphant rejection of 'such myths'" (p. 383) . No, Kraemer is not an extreme Liberal (he insists on "the intrinsic inadequacy of man's religious efforts for the solution of his crucial religious and moral problems," p. 308, and declares: "It is not alone the Eastern mind that is constitutionally disinclined to accept the Gospel, but the human mind everywhere" p. 56) ; but he is a liberal for all that. He speaks of the "sacred oracles" of the great non-Christian religions, of "their magnificent religious philosophies" (p. 328 f.), and declares that "the assertion of the Christian claim of paramount exclusive religious truth is a wrong and utterly inadequate translation of the apostolic and prophetic nature of the revelation in Christ" (p. 302) . Furthermore, he does not believe in the infallibility of the Bible. "The Old Testament is not immaculate" (p. 330). And "the human mind, in Islam as well as in Christianity or elsewhere, expresses its desire for a sure guarantee of religious certitude in the clumsy form of the literal inerrancy of the document in which God's revelation is told" (p. 218). Worst of all, he presents the doctrine of the atone- ment in the vaguest and haziest terms. The best he can do is to say that 'God revealed Himself in Christ as the holy and loving Travailer for the redemption and restoration of the world" (p.74). "The Incar- nation means that God wants, even passionately wants, contact with man and thus through the act of His revelation shows His belief in the possibility of contact" (p. 131). He is careful to avoid anything that looks like a "juridical conception of atonement." We agree with Mac- farland that the liberal thinkers will find relatively little to challenge Book Review - .\literntur 955 in the most fundamental positions of Kraemer's theology. Macfarland does not agree fully with the Archbishop of York, who says in the Foreword: "This volume is likely to remain for many years to come the classical treatment of its theme - perhaps the central theme for Christian thought in this age of multiform bewilderment." Macfarland says that this is a rather overamplified characterization. Neither do we agree with this characterization, but for a different reason. It cannot allay the multiform bewilderment of this age. And if the Christian message is brought to the Chinese and the others according to the directions of Professor Kraemer, it will only bewilder them the more.- We should like to quote one more sentence: "Christianity (Ya Chiao) is one of the five religions of China, and according to the testimony of well-informed men it is the best-hated and the best-liked religion of the five" (p. 378). Is that the result of the preaching of the Liberal or of the Gospel-missionary? Dr. Macfarland's review of Dr. Kraemer's book sufficiently indicates the spirit of his own book. But a few additional remarks will not be amiss. We read on page 29: "Every American minister should read at least one book of such theologians as Barth, Brunner, Kierkegaard, Berdyaev, Heim, Maritain, and others, as well as - and perhaps, to some extent, in place of-the better-known Niebuhr, Fosdick, and Brown." Most of the books surveyed and endorsed by Macfarland were written by Liberals, radical and less radical Liberals, and contain mostly philosophic speculations. They cannot tell us what "the Christian faith" is. In the review of R. Niebuhr's Beyond Tragedy we read: "Resting upon Paul's description of the ministers of the Gospel, 'as deceivers, yet true,' we are told that 'what is true in the Christian religion can be expressed only in symbols which contain a certain degree of provisional and superficial deception.' Christianity has trans- muted primitive religions and artistic myths and symbols without fully rationalizing them. The creation, the fall of man, the incarnation, the final Judgment, cannot be fully rationalized. We are 'deceivers, yet true,' when we proclaim the coming Kingdom. The Tower of Babel myth reveals the truth, etc. . .. In God's punishment of the builders of the tower by confounding their language 'we have another mythical profundity which is not literal truth and yet is profoundly true'" (p. 80) . Let Hugh Vernon White tell us what "the Christian faith" is. We quote from the review of his book A Working Faith for the World: "White seeks to justify 'liberal Christianity' as 'the true Christian faith.' . . . Christianity will have its opportunity, but it must be a Christianity freed from ... Lutheran otherworldliness. . .. It must translate God's will into terms of personal and social morality, and its faith will be 'firmly grounded on a metaphysic of Christian theism' and 'an ethic of Christian lore.' . .. 'The principle of Christianity is that of an ethical religion or of a religious morality'" (p. 112 fl.) . It is the old story: Rationalism, Modernism, finds the essence of Christianity in moralism. And Macfarland thinks well of this: "In this volume we have a good primer for perplexed Christians." Reviewing the book of a lone conservative (H. Sasse, Here We 956 Book Review - ~itetatUt Stand), Macfarland writes: "The reviewer has given enough of its contents so that the reader hardly needs to have attention called to the seeming absence from it of intellectual humility. . .. But, perhaps happily, there are many Lutheran leaders in Europe who do not find as many irreconcilables as Sasse does as between Lutheran and other in- tellectual understandings of the Gospel" (p. 37 f.). "How far Professor Sasse represents German Lutheran thought at the moment it would be hard to estimate. If he does to any appreciable degree, we would seem to be back in Marburg with Luther and Zwingli, leaving the World Con- ference on Faith and Order at an impasse" (p. 203). Yes, Sasse and some other Lutherans have not progressed beyond Marburg. TH. ENGELDER The Rible and Things to Come. By David Freeman, Th. M., pastor, New Covenant Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pa. Introduction by Prof. J. Murray, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadel- phia, Pa. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Mich. 139 pages, 5%x7%. Price, $1.00. Pastor Freeman presents in this volume nine fairly brief discourses on the ever popular and important subject of Biblical eschatology under the following headings: "The Second Coming of Christ and Salvation," "When will Christ Come?" "The Signs of Christ's Coming," "The Jews, Their Conversion and Their Land," "The Man of Sin," "Will There Be a Millennium?" "After Death- What?" "The Day of Judgment," "The Final State." A faithful student of Dr. Machen, the writer champions his famous teacher's amillenrualistic doctrine, refuting the chiliastic views very strikingly. With regard to the "conversion of the Jews" he declares that, while their recovery or salvation will be racial or national, "not all Jews will be saved when Christ comes." Had the apostle meant this, "he would have to be understood as teaching that all the Gentiles are to be saved." But "any idea of a universal salvation is foreign to the teaching of the Bible" (p.69). However, the Jews as a nation will be saved "only in the way in which they are converted now" (p. 77) . . In other places the author makes it clear that only the elect in Israel will be brought in, and that before Christ's coming. While he admits the cogency of many of the arguments declaring the Papacy to be the Antichrist, he denies that the Pope is the "son of perdition," though his reasoning at this point is extremely weak, and he completes this discussion with a hazy conjecture. Rejecting millennialism in its dual forms of "pre" and "post," he writes: "One thing is certain - the Book of Revelation and the rest of the Bible do not teach that the saints will come back to this earth to engage in battle or to reign upon an earthly throne" (p.103). On the whole, it is the conservative Presby- terian theology of Charles Hodge which the reader finds represented in this in many respects helpful book. In the Preface, Pastor Freeman says: "Underlying each discourse is the acceptance of the Bible as the inspired and inerrant Word of God." Since the topic of the "last things" is at this time much under consideration and in controversy, it may be well for our pastors to treat it in sermonic lectures as does the author, whose addresses may be studied with profit. J. THEODORE MUELLER Book Review - mteratur 957 meue ~l1rfdJungen unb S::e;l;te jur Q.lefdJin,te ber beutfn,en )lmef. .i;)erausgc" Qeoen in @emeinfdJaft mit .Rurt 'Secfe~ uno ~rid) 3immermann bon .i;)ans lnoUmer. 3.nit 4 'Silbtafeln unb 4 ~nitialen. 1939. ~fai>emifd)e lnw IagsgefeUfd)aft ~tgenaion,~ogbam. 76 unb 237 5eUen 6% X9%. ~reis: RM. 24. 5l)ies ift nun fd)on bet neunte 'Sanb Mefes etJod)emael)enben ®edes aUf bem @ebiet ber beutfd)en 'SioelforfcTjung, unb eil foU bon botngerein oetont iDerben, baB bem .i;)erausgever aUe ~d)tung gebUgtt fUr bie ~u§bauer, mit ber er bie fid) geftecften 3iele betfolgt. 5l)as in biefen neun 'Eanben gcfammelte SJJlatetial ift bon fofcTjer ®id)t1gfeit unb bon foldJem ®ert, bat fein 1}orfd)er aUf bem @ebici bet beutfclJen 'Eioel bes 3.nittelaftcrs es fid) berfagen barf, bie gebotenen ~bbrude unb ~adJbtUcfe 3U ffiate 3U 3ieljen. ~n bem botliegenben 'Sanbe treten uns 3 iDei ncue mHtelaltcrlicge frhcrfeternamen entgegen, niimHd) :;'SoTjann 'EifclJolf, ber ®iener 3.ninorit unb .i;)ofprebiger, beffen 'Semertungen 3um beutfel)en ,,~blln" gefiatium" abgebtucft finb, unb 9lUolaus 5traub, ber ~otar in .I~aUe iDar, bon bem bie fogenannte \lciNiQer .i;)anofcf)tift cines ~bangeliums lJetrUTjtt. :!ler .i';)ambutget ~falter in serinio 142, bet 3uetft gcboten IDirb, entlJiilt Die ~falmen 1-71,6 unb 73,2--76,20. 5l)er frberfet\er folgt ber lEulgata unb bietet mand)c .i;)atien, bie ernftlid)e 5prad)ftubien beniitigen. :!lie 'Semerfnngen unb ~nmer" fungen bes .i';)erausgefJets flub fUr ben inteUigenten @ebrauc[) bet frberfet\ung faft ul1CntucljrfidJ. 5l)cr 3iDeite steil bes 'Sanbes bietet ,,:!lat ll~ge ;teftament tI)O bube ll , bas TjeiUt, bie a !tefte nieberbeutfel)c itbet±ragun\l bes \lutljcrfdJen ~cuen ;teftamentS (5eptember 1522) bon einem unbefannten lEerfaffcr im :!lrucr bet "anonl)men .i;)llml)1trg~:!ltltdcrei" (~reffe ber &l:eter), .i;)amlJUrg 1523. \lutTjcrs gan3c'l3ottebe ift in bet ftberfe~unQ mit Illtfgenommen, unb bet &;lerau5geber biefes ;tens, .Rurt ~ecfe~, iDitft mit feinen bielen ~nmetfungen immer luieber 53id)t aUf fd)iDierige 5teUen. lniele ber 13utgerfd)en frberfe~ung eigentUmlid)en 5tJracl)IDenbungClt finb in biefer tJlattbeutfd)en frbertragung beibef)aUen, lute 'Sede~ immer luieber 3eigt, unb es 3eigt fid) auel) ~ier, baB iebe iiuctietung ber 'Sibel 3ugleid) aud) q;egetifd)en )illert ~at. - ~n einem 'Seil)eft Mefes neuen 'Sanoes bietet D. S~ans lEoUmer ,,13cgenben nus beutfd)en &jiftot1enbibeln beil 3.nittcla(ters", hie 3um ;tei! aUf atJoft~~~ifd)en, ,um ;teH aUf tJfeubetJiaratJlJifd)en (iDie 3. lB. The Arehko Volume) betlt~en. 5l)er lBanD rei~t fld) jeinen mot" giingern iDUrbig an unb fei ~iermit aUen 'SibelforfelJetn aUf bas entfel)iebenfte anem~fol)len. ~. ~ . .R ret man n ~boH 6t/ilattet unb lffiilijehn 2fttgett 5um @Jebiit/itni;:l. lEon ~aul ~ml)aus, ®erlJarb ~ittef unb .i;)ermann 5trat~mann. lEetlag [. 'SedefSmann, 05Uterslol). 1938. 55 5eUen 5%X8lJz. ~reis, fartoniert: RM.1.50. '!lai\l 6t/irtfttutn \lon $r(Jfeifot D. Ill. 6n,fattct. ,8ufammengefteUt bon ~fatter Wnbolf 'Sre3ger. 89 5eiten. ~reiS, fationiert: RM.2.50. ~{11l 19. 3.nai letten ~af)res ift D. ~lbolf 5cl)latter, langi1iTjtiger ~rofeffor ber ;tlJeologie in stlloingen, im !)olJen ~lter bon 85 :;Sagren geftorben, \lnb bas ~r' fcl)einen ber beiben obengenannten 5d)tiften legt es nal)e, nodJ etiDas Ubet biefen ;tlJeologen, ber in bie @efd)id)te bet ;tlJeologie ber le~ten fUnf3ig ~agre g(1)ort, etiDas BU fagen. 'Seibe 5cl)riften finb etfd)ienen aIS .i;)efte in ben lI'Eeitriigen But j'forDemng dJtiftIid)er stTjeologie", bie bon 5d)latter unb bem oefannten neutefta~ mentHd)en 53ebitogratJl)en .i';)ermann [remer begriinbet iDorben flnb, iet\t im bier" 3igften ~alJrgan\l ftel)en unb ,eine utei~e bebeutfamer unb iDertboUer t~eolo\lifd)er 958 Book Review - S3iteratut 9Jlonogta.p~ien gebrad)t ~aben, bon benen aud) dne Illnaa!)l in biefer ,{leitfd)rift unb in ber fru!)eten "S3e!)re unb [\le!)re" angeaeigt roorben 11nb. :;Sett tuerben biefe ,,!Beitriige" ~erausgegeben bon ~rof. D. ipaul Ill!t~aus in ~dangen. @5d)lat~ ter l1.1ar ein eigenartiger @e(e!)rter, unb alS iel) eine modefung bon i~m in !Berlin, tuo er bamars Ij:\rofeffor ber st:lJeologie an ber Uniberfitiit roar, befud)te, roar et burel)aus niel)t ein befonbers an3ielJenber %)03ent, unb man munte fic~ an feinen ftad fclJtueioerifd)en %)ialeft erft getuiilJnen. ~r lJat aud) feine eigene @5d)ule ge~ grunbet, unb bod) gat er toeitge!Jenben ~inf!un in engeren unb tueiteren ~reifen ausgeubt. ~r gegiirte nid)t bet lut~erifd)en ~itd)e an, fonbern roar unb bIieb reformiert, toie ia bie Ganoe befannte tyamHie @5el)fatter 3U hiefer ~ird)e ge!)iide. ~ud) in feinet st:!)eo(ogie roar er eigenatiig unb burd)aus nid)t ort!)obo!:. @5ein [\lerf ,,0Hfe in !Bibernot", fo mand)cs @ute unb @5d)iine es aud) ent!) iirt , !JUft nid)t aus 'ocr lJIot, roeH er bie gCtn3e, boUe :;Snf.pltation ber @5d)rift in ~brebe ftcfrt ltnb :;Srrtiimct in bet @5c!)tift ftatuiert, ultb feine merfii!Jnungs(e!Jte greif! bas 0er3 bes ([!)riftentums an, ba fie bas "fiir uns" nid)t boU unb gan. anedennt. ~r !Jat jebod) in feinen lilletfen, bie fid) faft iiber bas gan3e @ebiet 'ocr st:!Jeo(ogie mit ~usna~me ber .praftifel)en st:l)eologie etftrecfen, liefonbers auf ebegetifd)em unb lJiftorifclJem @ebiete, !Bebetttenbes geleiftet, bas bon benen, bie 311 lJriifen ber< ft clJ en, mit lJIuten gebtaud)t roerben fann. ~r !)at felbf! bie @efd)iel)te feines S3eoens in einem intereffanten Heinen !Bud), ,,~rrebte5If, roieberum gana in feincr eigenar!igen [\leife, befd)rieoen. %)abei roat er gat nid)t barauf bebad)t, ~l)te unb ~nfe~en iU edangen, unb forfd)te unb arbeitete unermiiblid) tueiter, unbetilm~ lIlet! barum, DO bie !~eolo\Jifd)e [\leU aUf fetne @5d)tiften ad)tctc ODet nkryt. Ill!!) fein fiinfunbfie03igfter @eliurtstag gefeiert rourbc, et3ii~He et bon einem .RoUegen, ber i~n dnmal fo d)ataftetifiert ~abe: ,,@5d)Iatter, dn religiiifes @enie, dne roiff enfd)aftliel)e ~UUfI; er f elbet fiigte bann ~inau: ,,0ier im @5aal fitt tein refigiiife§ @enie, fte!;t aud) teins - berftanben? ffieligiiifes @enie gibt eiJ nicl)t! lilliffenfd)aftlid)e ~uU - nun, bas roitb fid) aeigen." (@5. 18.) lJIad) bem ~r~ fcl)einen bes erften :teils fdner ilst:~eologie bes lJIeuen st:eftaments fl fcf)rieb Scl)Iaitet an ben medeger: ,,:;Sett, roo @5ie bas @an3e Uberfe~en, berfte~en @5ie roof)l, roatum iel) gana befcI)eiben unb Dod) ted)t fro~ aUf bie %)arfteUung :;S~fu ~infel)e. (\;5 ift ni(~t biet brin, tuas nid)t in ben ~bangeHen fte~t, unb bail mad)t mid) frof). SJlatiitlicf) ~at micf) bas, ivail iel) liber bie gefdJid)tficf)en ,{luftiinue neil erften :;Sa~r~ lJunbetls roeiB, immer begleitet, aber es briingt fief) nief)t bor. (\;s lag mir nid)t baran, ben @ete~rten 3U f.piden. ~s ift aud) tein ein3iger fc!)iiner @5al\ barin. (\;5 ~at mid) mand)ma{ ber [\lunfc!) gefant, gfUl;enb 3U fc!)rciben, mit .pacfenber, ~inreiflenber @5tiide ber ~m.pfinbung; aber id) fonnte nicf)t. (\;5 roar mit immet tuieber fo 3umute, at§; 00 id) mid) borbriingen unb ben 0(;);rtn mit meiner !Bereb~ famteit em.pfel;len InoUte. (\;5 lag mit cin,!g baran, Deumd) 3U fein, fo gut idj fann, tua~r au benfen, roie ic!)'ll bermag; ell blinft mid), es fei bod) etroail bom milbe :;S(;);fu 'orin. II ,{ltuei st:atfadjen mogen lUuftrimn, Db @5cI){atter eine hJiffen~ fcf)aftHdje lJIuU roar. :;Sm :;Sa~re 1902 erfclJien fcine @5tubie If@5lJrad)e unb 0eimat beil bierten (;);bangeHf!en" unb rourbe atuan,ig :;Sa~re lang in bet fogenannten hitifd)en ~uslegung bes :;Sof)annesebangeliumil naf)e3u ignoriert. lJIod) in ber WHtte bet 31nan3iget :;sal)re ~at ciner ber lJrominenteften .Rommentare fie nid)! ciner ein3igen ~rroii!)nung fUr roert gef)alten. :;sm :;Sa~re 1922 fd)rieb aber bet befannte 0 bfDtber ~rofeITot murnet) fein mud) The Aramaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel unb eroiigH, roie er erft nad) ~ofd)lun biefeil !Buc!)ell "the highly important work by Professor A. Schlatter" fennengelernt {lave, in bem feint Book Review - £iteratur 959 ~~efe fd)on "in the fullest possible manner" burd)gefli~rt fei unb bas "a marvel of industry and intimate knowledge" bes ~a!iiftinifd)cn Ouellen~ materialS fei. '-!lrof. @etfJatb ~itter, bet ,s;)erausgeber bes gto~en 115!:~eologifd)en ®iit±etbuef)s sum 91euen 5!:eftament", eqCil)lt in feinet @cbiidJtniStebe aUf 15ef)Iab ter, ba~ ein anberer befannter @eIe~ttet, ber aud) in biefer 3eitfdJtift fd)on ofters ettviifJnte !lIref. 15ir Gblllt)n ,s;)esft)ns in ~ambribgc, i~n in 5!:libingen befudJt fjabe unb, oblllofjI er bie! tfjcologifd)e .I3itel'atur gelefen fjatte, bon 15rI)!attet fo gut luie niel)ts iuu~te, llleH e!Jen in bet einfcl)liigigen £itnatut fein 91ame eine IJetfJiiItniSmii\lig geringe moue fpieIte. ~tttef nafjm U)n bann mit 3U 15cl)lattet, unb bet Gtnbrua, ben 15h Gbtvl)n heim erften SSefuef) fJatte, Illat fo tief, ba~ et nun aUein jeben 5!:ag, ttlii~renb ~itteI fe1bft in bet Unibetfitiit befdJiiftigt Illat, ben SSefuef) tviebetfJo1te unb bali er fief) beim ~bfd)ieb bon %libingen fiimtlid)c SSiicl)er 15cl)Iatteril laufte unb mit nad) (i;nglanb nafJm. QUS ,s;)oilfi)nS ID37 ftatli, fjintediefl ct dnen faft fettigen ~ommentat bes biettcn GbangeIiumil, unb bail~ jenigc SSud), bas fid) bei feinem 5!:ob ars bail 3etIefenfte auf feinem 15d)reibtifd) fanb, Illar 15d)lattetil :;So~anne!lfommentar. 150 fiinnten tvit noel) me~r bon 15d)lattet unb feinen ®etfen fagen, tvenn eil ber maum geftattete. !fiir ertviifjnen nut nod), ball bail erftgenannte ,s;)eft bier SScittiige entfJiilt: ~ltfjauil: lI;'3um @e~ biiclJtniS bet aligerufenen .Iderauilgeber ber ,SSeittiige' 15d)lattet unb £htgeti"j .R:HteIs "@ebentrebe" liber 15d)latter, im ifeftfaal ber Uniberfitut ~libingen ge~ lJaIten; ~ltlJauil: 15d)lattetll lI@aoe an bie ft)ftematifd)e %fjeo1ogie", unb 15ttatfJ~ manu fcfJteibt liber ®Hfjeim £litgctt, ber ebenfaus ein aUf Ci;egetifcfj~fjiftorifd)cm @cbiete biclgenannter 5!:l)colog bet 91eu3cit Illar. mon 15clJlatters Iitctatifd)et st:iitigfeit gchJin1tt man eillC1l Ginbtucf aus bem 51lleiteu ,\left, bas 74 !ScUm mH ben st:Heln bon 15el)lattets !fietfen, ~rtHeln unb !lItebigten flillt. .13. if II r b l i 11 g e r Expository Preaching. By R. Ames Montgomery, Professor of Homi- letics. Fleming H. Revell Company. 90 pages, 5X7o/s. Price, $1.00. This book can be read in three hours. The first two chapters are very encouraging. Present conditions in the world are described, and over against these the Word of Scripture is said to be the only means to bring about a change for the better. Therefore no topical preaching, which neglects the Word, but expository preaching, which presents the Bible in its fulness and in its application to the spiritual needs of man. "There must be a revival of doctrinal preaching." "There is the Scrip- tural doctrine of sin that is greatly neglected in the preaching of today." Great preaching, says the author, calls for theological greatness. The in- creasing emphasis on liturgical values or the participation of the con- gregation in the service, he says, has developed from a conviction that such rituals are necessary to meet religious needs. "They would save the worship hour from the hazard to which poor preaching has too often subjected it." All this has been well said. But even when reading the first chap- ters, we became somewhat doubtful whether the author, in spite of some statements which seemed to indicate it, would clearly state and emphasize the Scriptural doctrine of the vicarious atonement as the only remedy against sin and as the real content of Scriptural Gospel- preaching. In chapters III and IV the author attempts to show how expository preaching should be done. He uses the Gospel according to 960 Book Review - 2iteratur St. Matthew as an example. His outline fails to bring out the real Gospel content of that New Testament book. That is not a true exposition of the Bible which does not clearly present that truth for the sake of which it has been given, to wit, that "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us:' Gal. 3: 13. But if those preachers who preach topical sermons on short texts, which present hardly any sermon material, preaching platitudes instead of enriching the Scriptural knowledge of their hearers and supplying all their spiritual needs, could by the reading of Montgomery's book be persuaded to discontinue that practice in favor of real expository preach- ing, the small purchase price paid for it would be a very good investment. J. H. C. FRITZ Handbook for Congregational Officers. By Theo. Graebner. 136 pages, 4%X7%. Paper binding. Price, 50 cts. The Yoke Made Easy. By Alfred Doerfiler. 119 pages, 5X7%. Paper binding. Price, 35 cts. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. Both of these books are well known in our circles and have fully proved their worth in the experience of many a pastor and parishioner, so that it will not be necessary to recommend them again to our readers. Concordia Publishing House has done well in offering these books in a paper-cover edition and materially reducing the prices. We hope that this reduction will encourage many congregations to buy a number of Dr. Graebner's books and to present a copy to the pastor, to all old church officers at once, and to all newly elected officers at their induc- tion. Pastor DoerfRer's book well serves as a gift for the sick and ailing, the shut-in, the convalescent, in fact, anyone that is at times dovm- hearted and dejected. The comfort and admonition from God's own Word as dispensed in this book will help to ease the yoke of many a Christian. Pastor Doerfiler's book is still available in the more sub- stantial cloth binding, at 75 cts. TH. LAETSCH NOTICE TO OUR SUBSCRmERS In order to render satisfactory service, we must have our current mailing-list correct. The expense of maintaining this list has been materially increased. Under present regulations we are subject to a "fine" on all parcels mailed to an incorrect address, inasmuch as we must pay 2 cents for every notification sent by the postmaster on a parcel or periodical which is undeliverable because no forwarding address is available or because there has been a change of address. This may seem insignificant, but in view of the fact that we have subscribers getting three or more of our periodicals and considering our large aggregate subscription list, it may readily be seen that it amounts to quite a sum during a year; for the postmaster will address a notification to each individual periodical. Our subscribers can help us by notifying us- one notification (postal card, costing only 1 cent) will take care of the addresses for several publications. We shall be very grateful for your cooperation. Kindly consult the address label on this paper to ascertain whether your subscription has expired or will soon expire. "Dec 39" on the label means that your subscription has expired. Please pay your agent or the Publisher promptly in order to avoid interruption of service. It takes about two weeks before the address label can show change of address or acknowledgment of remittance. When paying your subscription, please mention name of publication desired and exact name and address (both old and new, if change of address is requested). CONCOIUlIA PUBLISHING HOUSE, St. Louis, Mo.