CONCORDIA
THEOLOGICAL
QUARTERLY
Ci~lurne 49. N u n i b ~ ~ r - \ 2 and 3
APRIL-JULY 1985
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dedication -81
Robert D. Preus:A Bibliography 1974-1984. . - . - . - - - - - .83
An Assessment of LCMS Polity and Practice
. on the Basis of the Treatise. .George F. Wollenburg 87
The Lord's Supper according to the
. . World Council of Churches .Charles J. Evanson 117
Antichrist in the
. . . . . . . . . . . . Early Church .William C. Weinrich 135
Spiritual Gifts and the Work
of the Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Albert L. Garcia 149
Was Luther a Missionary? . . . .Eugene G W. Bunkowske 161
Sanctification in Lutheran
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theology .David P. Scaer 181
Theological Observer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I99
Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Books Received . . . . . . . m," .+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237
!ti j ;-/Fi7i O p f a q =
.- ,. .
- : :-'it; 3 f ';T:N~ nl , , r . .
1 - . . .
. . i .Irte
? n: :,:;, .;, ; : ,
. . .
. , ' 4,.,
i : <.-.-
i . ., : >. t-:2<:-ij
Book Reviews
WHAT ARE THEY SAYING ABOUT THEOIDGICAL METHOD? By J.J. Mueller.
Paulist Press, Ncv Jersey, 1984. 82 pages. $3.95.
Paulist Press continues to make a valuable contribution to the busy pastor by pub-
lishing its series under the heading, "What are they saying about . . ." This brief
exposition will make a valuable contribution to bring pastors and seminary students
up to dateon methods of systematic theology. The book covers four important theo-
logical methods with the help of two representative theologians of each perspective.
Thus it also makes an important contribution by providing for us a brief overview
of eight of the most influential theologians in the century.
The four methods described are the transcendental method, the existential meth-
od, the empirical method, and the socio-phenomenological method.
Mueller provides us with three questions that are useful guides in the study of
each of the theologians: (I) Because each theologian uses a method differently, what
is the vision of theology with which each is concerned (and this will include the
starting point for doing theology)? (2) Because method and content go together, what
is the step by step preparation of the method? (3) Because we should. benefit from
the u s , what difference do the consequences make for our lives today?
For pastors who have postponed their serious study of Vatican II theology, this
book is a good start. This is because Karl Rahner is the first theologian discussed
under the transcendental method. Karl Rahner (1904-1984) even after his death will
continue to occupy a prominent place in Roman Catholic theology. The most in-
fluential document of Vatican 11, Gaudium et Spes, bears the imprint of his tran-
scendental method. Rahner's point of departure is his "theological anthropology."
Thus it is through our human experience and limited horizon that we ask questions
about God @. 7). It is here that the transcendental method ("trans" - going beyond
ourselves) begins @. 5). In our finitude we are able to go beyond ourselves and be
grasped by God as mystery. It is here that revelation takes place.
Mueller gives us a four step process to apply Rahner's transcendental method of
theology @p. 11-12). Rahner's redirection of Thornism with insights gathered from
Kant and Heidegger leads to some wnclusions: (1) All theology is anthropology.
Historical people and not "a set of beliefi chiseled on stone tablets" @. 12) will
be the point of departure. (2) Rahner's theology is extremely "Christocentric in that
anthmplogy find its most complete expression of meaning in Jesus Christ." (3) Rah-
ner's theology is "evolutionary and hopeful" (pp. 12-13). That is, the process is a
''horninisation" (humanization) where one becomes "more and more Christlike
througb becoming more and more human." Through our coopemion, all creation
responds in giving birth to a Spirit-filled world (p. 13).
Rahner's theology, we can clearly see here, is (1) a confusion of special and general
revelation and (2) a synergistic model in which an incarnational model is offered
from the perspective of creation rather than redemption. I agree with Mueller that
today, if we are to be well-inhrmed twentieth century theologians, at least Karl Rah-
ner's lhuukuion ofChr-isth~ W h (Seabury Press, 1978) should be studied and read.
Mueller should, however, have had at least a reference to Rahner's latter involve-
ment with "exchatology.~' H w does eschatology relate to transcendental theology?
The second representative of transcendental theology discussed is the recently de-
ceased Canadian Jesuit, Bernard Lonergan (1904-1984). I agree with Mueller that
bnergan will be a theologian with whom we will spend more time into the twenty-
208 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY
first century. Lonergan was not influential in ktican 11. His theological work was
mire comprehensive and less interdisciplinarian than Rahner's. He attempted to
pmide in his lifetime a methodology that would be truly "scientific" for theology.
What Francis Bacon attempted for science, Lonergan attempted for theology. Mueller
pmides us with a good introduction to bnergan's classic Method in neology (Her-
dez, 19n). It is clear and easy reading @p. 13-20).
~ a u l Tillich and John Macquarie were good choices to discuss the existentialist
method. Also David Tracey and Bernard E. Meland were excellent choices to speak
of the empirical method. It seems to me that MueIIer here is at his best in his careful
explanations. However. I was surprised that he did not discuss here a more current
and influential theologian of the empirical method. I am referring to Landon Gilkey's
Naming the Whirlwind (Ihbbs-Merrill, 1%9). At least Mueller mentions Gilkey in
the bibliography (p. 81).
Mueller's book, however, has a major weakness. It should have had a section on
the "eschatological method." The theologians of hope (such as W. Pannenberg and
J. Moltrnann) are ignored. The perspective of the study of theology from the point
of departure of God as future in our reflection on history is absent. This method
occupies a prominent place in theology today.
The discussion of the "soci~phenomnological" method s h m Mueller's defi-
ciency in explaining eschatology. He lumps the "poLmcal theologians" with the "liber-
ation theologians." This is a terrible mistake. Liberation theologians apply the Manrist
"soci~anal~cal" method to theology. Their emphasis is clearly perceived by Mueller
as "praxis." "Praxis combines practice with theory together in reflection and be-
gins from action" @. 66). Hatever, political theologians like Moltmann place their
emphasis on the future of God. It is there that action in history takes place. Ruben
Alvez pointed this out quite clearly in his doctoral dissertation. Gustavo Gutierrez
also adopted this posture in his Theology of libemtion. The difkrence is great! F b
litical theologians stress the future of God to change our present injustices in socie-
ty. Marxist socio~ogists must stress revolution and the class struggle h r change to
occur. Revolution is not a deterministic conclusion in political theology, as it is to
Marxism and liberation theology.
Muellers classifies Jon Sob& as a liberation theologian and a political theologian.
Sobrino is really influenced by Moltmann and does not apply the Marxist analysis
in Christdogy uz the Cross&. Juan Luis Segundo sees Mrino (and I agree) more
as a political rather than a liberation theologian (&.El Hombre de Hay cme J e m
de N ~ r e r , 11). Perhaps if Mueller had dedicated a section to the eschatological
theologians, this confusion could have been avoided.
I am also amazed that Mueller did not choose Gustavo Gutierrez's Theology of
Lihcrurion (Orbis. 1973) as the textus clussicus in discussing the socio-
phenomenological model of liberation theology. The bibliography also omitted two
classical current texts on method. They are W. Pannenberg's Theology and rile
Philosophy of Science (The Westminister Press, 1976) and Gerhard Ebeling's
Study of Iheology (Fortress Press, 1978). On the other hand, Dr. Mueller gives us
seven "'commonalities" that the eight theologians share in method in spite of "doing
theology" in an age of "pluralism" (pp. 71-75). These are quite perceptive and rev-
eal ing.
Albert L. Garcia
BOOK REVIEWS 209
TREATISE ON THE VIRTUES. By St. Thomas Aquinas. Translated by John A.
Desterle. Notre Dame, indiana: University of Notre Dame Press. In pages. $7.95.
There is a story told of St.Thomas that when in Rome one of the popes was show-
ing him the treasure the church had begun to accumulate. The pope said, "Saint
Peter no longer has to say, 'Silver and gold have I none."' St. Thomas responded,
"that may be true; but naw he can no longer say, 'In the name of Jesus of Nazareth,
rise and walk', either!" I was reminded of that story when reading through Thomas'
Trecuise on the Vimres. Our day has multitudes of volumes written on theology. But
few, if any, contemporary theologians can boast the same command of sources, depth
of thought, and precision of expression that is seen in Thomas.
Treatise on the V i w s is a translation of Part I-II, questions 49-67, of Thomas'
Summa Theologiue. In these questions Thomas analyzes habits and virtues. Tho-
mas defines the notion of habit and examines how habits arise, increase or diminish,
and may be distinguished. Then he considers human virtue as a species of habit,
discusses intellectual, moral and theological virtues and the duration of the virtues
after this life. In the context of his discussion of the theoIogical virtues, Thomas
speaks of the relation between faith and lwe. This discussion helps to shed light
on his view that faith must be "formed" by lwe (Question LXII, Art. 4). a view
strongly rejected by Luther (LW 26, p. 88).
This book is not easy reading. It requires a great deal of time and careful reflec-
tion. Though the translator's hotnotes help a great deal, the presentation of materi-
al in Thomas is very strange to the twentieth-century reader. If some M y soul
is intensed in understanding Thomas' work, I would recommend that they first read
T i r d Understanding St. lhomas by M.D. Chenu, especiaIiy pages 79-98. Che-
nu's m r k belps one appreciate the pcnverhl arguments and weful expression in
Thomas' work. It will greatly help to make this part of the m r k of the angelus ec-
clesiae more understandable.
Charles R. Hogg, Jr.
Akron, Ohio
CARL F. H. HENRY. By Bob E. Patterson. Word Booh, Waco, Texas, 1983. 1B
pages. Paperback. $8.95.
There can be little question that Carl F. H. Henry, son of a Roman Catholic moth-
er and a Lutheran father, and eventually a Baptist of strong, conservative commit-
ments, is one of today's leading theological voices in the revival of evangeticaiisrn
as a force in modem theology. The book is one of the series of twenty or so studies
devoted to the "Makers dthe Modem ~~ Mind," for which Patterson serves
as editor. The reader will find not merely helpful biographical notes on Henry's lifk
but above all also sensitive analysis of Henry's significant contribution to theologi-
cal thought in our day. What Henry has succeeded in doing, according to IWerson,
is tantamount to the restoration of a positive image for conservative theology in the
style, or manner, of the giants of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, like
Charles Hodge, William Shedd, Franz Reper, and Louis 3erkhof. Over against Barth's
nonbiblical and even philosophical theologizing, inimical to propositional revealed
truth tbrough the inspired Scriptures, Henry was successful in "helping evangeli-
cals present an attractive and well-mned case for orthodoxy" (p. 56). He argued
"that empirical evidence should be presented in correlation with the Christian
CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUAKI'ERLY
revelation-p~supposition, and not independently of it" (p. 82), namely, that Chris-
tian teaching must be derived from and grounded upon supernatural revelation as
given in the Biblical text, and not something derived or distilled frbm mere histori-
cal phenomena, ancient or modern. Few men have been equal in the mastery of
a reasoned apologetic for the inspiration of the Biblical Word and the articles of
Christian belief taught in it. His magnwn opus, God, Revelation and Authority, sblnds
as a monument to his intellectual and profound mastery of the subject, in many ways
the outstanding accomplishment from the side of conservative, evangelical theology
in our time, according to Patterson. This is so even though the Lutheran theologian
wiIJ miss the proper emphasis upon Holy Scripture's causative efficacy for faith along
with the focus upon its authoritative power in Christian belief, a usual fiulhg in
Reformed theology wer against the means of grace in God's purposing of drings
for His church. Aside from this structure, the book will serve the reader well.
SIGURD CHRISTIAN YLVISAKER 1884-1959. A Commemorative Volume at the
Centennial of His birth. Edited by Peter T. Harstad. Bethany htheran College,
Mankato, 1984. Paperback. No price given.
It was my privilege to have met and known the subject of this Festschrifi personal-
ly. The book (illustrated aptly with photos) re&irmed the memory that I had of
Dr. Ylvisaker. Here was a strong personality who had stood tall and stmug in the
breach when Confessional Lutheran theology in the Old Norwegian Lutheran Church
in America (later the ELC) was being led into a new direction. That doctrinal laxity
has presently made the ALE a leader in the proposed formation of the "new" IN-
theran Church, scheduled for birth, January 1, 1988. In a daring move, not yet ten
years in the ministry. Dr. Ylvisaker voiced his dissent from what he conceived to
be a surrender of Scriptural and Confessional principles by resigning on June 17,
1919, at the synod's convention, from the ministerium of the church body so closely
tied to his Norwegian roots. His life from then on was intimately intertwined with
the little band of congregations and pastors who two years earlier had joined forces
to "reorganize," in their terms, the old Norwegian Synod, luyal to the principles
of true fellowship and unity, agreement in doctrine.
Rmr w e l l - b a l d chapters give his story. Each chapter has as its author a e t e
of Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato, each having either studied under Dr. Yl-
visaker during his years of presidency at the college or haviagotherwise eqiqedstrong,
direct, and personal recollections of his person aod work. All d the authors like-
wise are fhdty members ofthe cdlege. The b ' i c a l shtdy tracing Dr. Ylvisaker's
l i k is done by Juul B. Madson. MultipIe sources were at his disposal, as for the
other writers, and the net result is not the placing of a halo around the subject's
head but a good insight into the life of a remarkable man. The same holds true fbr
the other chapters. Erling T. Teigen does the next one on Ylvisaker as theologian,
the theme pretty well summed up in the d y s i s of what made the man tick, namely
that "his finely tuned conscience necessitated a denunciation of all deviations from
Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions" (p. 60). He knew and strongly re~w
the theology of the Missouri Synod and its theologians, esp ia l ly C.FW Walther,
but he deplored what he considered to be its drift, especially in the forties, towad
unionistic compromises. Always polite and straightforward, his polemic could at
BOOK REVIEWS 211
times be sharp and abrasive. Moreover, as 1 remember things, his arguments and
j-, for exarnple, against the m i l i ~ chap-, wewere also occasionally tenuous
and opes to &bate. But there was no questioning of the persuasive tenacity with
which he held them. Teigen takes note of the fact that from one point of view he
miat have been characterized by some as of negative bent and opposed to any new
departure in the church's life. That would not, however, be fair to the man, since
in all honesty he first and always intended only to maintain fidelity to the Scriptures
and the Confessions. Moreover, as the third main chapter (by Norman S. Holte)
shows, Ylvisaker was a most gifted and innuvative leader as president of the col-
lege. From there on out his influence spread widely and deeply within his church
(EIS) and beyond, especially in the Synodical Conference. Much of the success
of Bethany College and the shaping of its graduates into strongly committed Luther-
an men and women may be traced to Ylvisaker's hand on the rudder. Here was a
leader who knew where he wanted the boat to go. The valuable fourth chapter (by
Peter T. Harstad, the editor) summons up selected, often very intriguing, letters and
other literary w r k that help the reader to understand not only the rnan but also the
times and the crucial events through which the college and the synod (ELS) were
passing. The Ylvisaker M y graciously made awdable to the authors additional
sources, and the book is dedicated to Norma Norem Ylvisaker, widow of this gift-
ed, dedicated theologian, Biblical scholar (Ph-D., Leipzig, in Semitic languages),
and church leader, who at the same time was a devoted family rnan and musician
of considerable talent. The book, therefore, is not only a valuable tribute to the man
but also a valuable historical and theological resource of conservative, confessional
striving in the htheran church in the twentieth century.
TWENTY CENTURIES OF ECUMENISM. By Jacques Elisee Desseaux. Trans-
lated by Matthew J. O'Comell. Paulist Press, New York, 1984. 103 pages. Paper-
back, $4.95.
Considerable optimism pervades this history of the chu~h's truggle to wercome
its ernbarrasing divisions. Well it should be o p h k t ~ c , for Desseau, a Roman Cath-
olic priest. has headed the French Secretariat of Christian Unity and at present serves
as adivser to the Vatican Secretariat of Christian Unity. It is also an ambitious little
book, seeking to cwer twenty centuries of conflict, division, and often polemical
striving against the foes, on the part of the component parts of eastern and western
Christendom. The author is often refreshmgly blunt, asserting, on the one hand,
that Luther was a man with a righteous cause who "moved from a religion of works
to a Christianity of pure faith," contending that not "by works or penances" is man
justified, but "by grace which comes through faith in Christ," and, on the other
h a d , frankly indicting of Trent's "Counter-Reformation" theology as being "in-
capable of seeing the properly Catholic elements that were at the basis of Protestan-
tism" @. 25). Desseaux does not opt for an mrly simplistic formula for the reunion
of divided -om; nor 6 he espouse an mrly sentimental scheme for recoo-
ciliation. He is frank as to what needs to be done as the various communions deal
and dialogue with each other. Moreover, the story of these efforts is well told in
the brief s p of these less than a hundred pages of text. A student of the subject
of ecumenism, especially as a happening in this century, will find most, if not all,
CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY
of the details he needs to get the picture of what has gone on in the church, both
to divide it and to heal it, in the last twenty centuries. Yet one cannot help feeling
that once again an earnest voice has settled for a minimal formula of unity in diver-
sity. It has been tried before and it has always failed. Desseaux expresses it: "The
goal can only be visible unity in a faith that finds expression in a variety of formula-
tions and in communion in a slngle Eucharist, and this within an organic body which,
however, tolerates various types of organization" @. 74). Such relativizing of the
Christian faith's expression or formulation dooms every effort at healing the church's
divisions to failure right from the start.
E.F. Klug
FUNDAMENTALISM TODAY: What Makes It So Attractive'? Edited by Marla J.
Selvidge. Foreword by Jerry Falwell. Brethren Press. Elgin, 1984. Paperback, $7.95.
134 pages.
To get Jeny Falwell to write the foreward, and to plaster this faa on the cover,
must be granted to be quite a publisher's coup, particularly when the team of writers
then proceeds to pick fundamentalism apart like carrion crow. But Falwell fends
well enough for himself in the space of a one-page foreword, ready to admit that
there may be some flies in fundamentalism's stew but gently aftinning that the pan-
el of writers "still improperly represent some of our characteristics" and, like other
critics of fundamentalism who write from their "ivory towers," settle for the "some-
what uninformed and distorted." The editor herself describes the book as "a collec-
tion of thoughts by a variety of people." Not least among the faults of a book like
this is the failure really to distinguish between serious-minded, Bible-based, con-
servative scholars who take (and took) their Christian faith very earnestly and pastor-
ally, and the kind of fundamentalism which is simply unable to distinguish properly
between Law and Gospel, mixes up Biblical exegesis, and specializes in eschatolog-
ical toying with pre-millennial expectations. Thus theologians of the stature of Ben-
jamin Warfield and C.F.W. Walther, among other giants, all get lumped into the same
pile with fundamentalism. Such an ivory-tower sort of critique withdraws from ex-
istential reality where the action is. I make no brief for fundamentalism, but in fair-
ness the writers owed their readers a more careful distinction between certain levels
of fundamentalism and conservative Christian theology. Moreover, generalizing the
condemnation upon fundamentalism in all aspects leads to obvious stereotyping and
simplistic caricaturing. If even Martin Luther-that great evangelical, pastoral, pious
heart, who lived out of Scripture's content as few others befbre or after him-is going
to be classified among the prejudiced, bigotted, pietistic, literalistic Bible interpreters
of his day, all we can say is, let us have more like him, whatever he, or those like
him be called. The world needs his kind. Now, having said these things in criticism,
let us also say that some of the chapters will reward the reader fbr his efforts and
cost. There are challenges here, especially if one is smug in what he considers to
be the fundamentals of the faith.
E.F. Klug
BOOK REVIEWS 213
EVANGELICAL DICIIONARY OF T H E O m . Edited by Walter A. ElwU. Baker
Book House, Grand Rapids, 1984. 1204 pages. $29.95.
The expressed goal of the editor and publisher was to produce a successor volume
to Baker's Dicfionu?y of ?heobgy of 1960 that wndd communicate well and pass
the scholar's scrutiny, at the same time that the layman would judge it to be under-
standable. More than 200 contributors provided the grist for more than 1200 items,
always approaching the subject h m a theological vantage point, even when the thmg
itself lay on in apparently secular plane. Elwell's comiction was that even in the
scientific realm the deepest questionsiwariably have theological wertones. He is
uadwbtedly right in thinking so. A spot check of given entries indicates that the
reader will frnd thoughtful answers to many, if not all, of the questions that arise
in this way in his awn experience. Naturally there is some unevenness and subjec-
ti=-prefierence appap.nt d e r various categories, related to each author's own the-
ological stance; but there is help, m d x k ~ ~ , for quick drence, plus bibliographies
of suggested readings. The reader who, for example, is looking for an explanation
of neu-ortl~~Ioxy, crisis theology, or dialectical theology will not be disappointed.
Dr. Robert D. Preus was called on to write the short descriptive piece on the Book
of Coocord and the Formula of Concord, and other Lu them likewise on topics
of @ b l y Lutheran orientation. The lifk and w r k of C.F.W. Walther, who
"emerged as the most influenti1 Lutheran clergyman of the nineteenth century,"
is given due attention. There is much to commend this production by Baker Book
House.
E.F. Klug
A PRINCE OF THE CHURCH. Schleiermacher and the Beginnings of Modem
Theology. By B. A. Gerrish. Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1984. Paperback. No price
given.
To call Schleiermacher a prince of the church is an invitation to theological pitched
battle, since in the minds of cownative defenders of the Biblical faith within evan-
gelical ckkthnity he was the black knight who did most to destroy it. He used
the language of orthodoxy for the most part but denied virtually all of the articles
of the faith, rejecting the reliability of the Biblical accounts and viewing the story
of Jesus as a fabricated bundle of deliberate lies on the part of disillusioned disci-
ples. In place of their witness to Christ's deity, vicarious amement, triumphant resur-
rection, and equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, as objective
trutbs jmxmted for Edith's xceptam and the individud's salvation, Schleiermar.kr
pointed to the "consciousness of God" which the man Jesus of Nazareth demon-
strated in a preeminent way for our redemption. He enabled us to achieve for our-
selves in similar manner a unique Godconsciousoess, without the implausible and
unacceptable doctrines of the personal union of aatures in Christ and.His m e deity,
miracles, and other thqs that human reason finds objectionable in this scientific
age. In this way Schleiennacher, though reared in c o n a v e Lutheran theology
and sbougly i n f l u e d by Moravian piety during his teens, hoped to be able to speak
convincingly to the cultured despisers of religion in the days of the Enlightenment,
as well as for himself as a product of the new thbkmg that looked fw relevant cate-
gories in so-called up-to-date theology. He did not seem to realize that by his in-
tense intern of the religous experience he had created a "God" in his awn
image and to his awn liking, exchaogrng objective Christian truth for highly sophisti-
2 14 CONCORDIA THE0IIX;ICAL QUARTERLY
cated subjectivism. Schleiermacher's Jesus was a creation in his own mind. Fun-
damentally for him, as for all liberal Wlogians, the problem had to do with the
repudiation of Holy Scripture's authority in deference to human judgements. The
titIe of the book indicates that Gemsh approaches his subject with a great amount
of respect for Schleiennacher's theological contribution to modem theology. There
can be no doubt that the reader will find in this short analysis and excellent summa-
tion of Schleiennacher's thought, the author's obvious intent being to present an o b
jective, brief review; but absent for the most part is an objective critique showing
hclw the "father of modem theology" eroded the Christian faith to the hurt of the
church in his day (1768-1834) and ours.
E.F. Klug
I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. By pastors of the Evangelical Lu-
theran Synod and W-in Evangelical W r a n Synod. Edited by Glenn E. Reich-
wald. Wther Press, I30 Electa Blvd., Mankato, Minnesota, 56001.
The collection of funeral sermons demonstrates a variety of styles yet a single-
ness of content and purpose. It is exactly what one needs and expects from a Luther-
an shepherd at the trauma& time of the death in the family. This is is second edition
of the book (I have not seen the first); the fact that it sold out is ample evidence
that there is a need for this material.
The reviewer's overall response to the book is a very dehite approval. It is at
the graveside that the richness or the bankruptcy of the church's faith is evident.
What does the church say to those who face death? This volume speaks to the issues
with Christ-centered clarity.
The parish pastor vmld do well to have this selection in his library. The various
styles and applications of God's Word to this ultimate crisis of life will be helpful
in the pastor's care of souls. The styles are different, some short and pithy, some
longer and slower of pace; but all pmlaim the same content and purpose - the
crucified and risen Christ is the center piece of these sermons, the hope of the be-
reaved. The Day of Resurrection is central to the care of souls who suffer the loss
of friend or family member.
The kinds of funerals we find in the book relate to old age, i h n q , suicide, youth,
and so on. There is a wide range of material for the busy pastor. The reviewer heart-
ily recommends these sermons to the brethren in the field. It is a valuable resource.
George R. Kraus
THE CHEESE AND THE WORMS. Carlo Ginzburg. Tramlami by John and Anne
Tedeschi. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1980. $695.
Carlo Ginzburg's I7u Cheese Md the Wnns is a fascinating account of the reli-
gious belie& of one man and the social context in which he e;npressed them. Its "hero,"
Menocchio by name, was a miller by trade from the tawn of Montereale (north of
knice), who entertained unusual views of creation, Christ, and the Church; ex-
pI..essed them openly a d frequently; and finally was burned at the stake as a heretic
in 1599. It is because of his deviant views that his story survives, in that he was
BOOK REVIEWS
,gk in the snares of the Iquisition, many records of which, including remarka-
ble &tailed accounts of Menocchio's h teqa t ions , are extant to this day. From these,
Ginzburg haq put together Menocchio's story.
Ginzbu~, however, attempts to do much more than just reconstruct the story of
a 16thcentury Italian peasant heretic. Instead, he desires to use Menocchio's story
as a key to understanding the popular culture which produced Menochhio. Ginz-
I
burg states:
Even a limited case (and Menocchio certainly is this) can be representative:
in a sense, because it helps to explain what should be understood, in
a given situation, as being "in the statistical majority," or, positively, because
it permits us to define the latent possibilities of somedung (popular culture)
I known to us only through fragmentary and distorted documents, al-
most all of which originate in the "archives of the repression."'
what this amounts to in practice, therefore, is that Ginzbulg uses the inquisitorial
m r d s of Menocchio's case to describe both the "normal" majority from which
he deviated and the deviant minority to which he belonged in terms of a common
oral culture of which both majority and minority were a part. This demands a
careful distinguishing between those elements of Menocchio's religious ideas which
came from the outside, i.e., from books to which Menocchio had access either per-
I sonally or through conversation with others, and those elements which originated
with Menocchio himself. Thus, Ginzburg speaks of a ''filter" or "screen" that
Mewcchio u~~:ousciously placed between the witten word and his understanding
of itLba filter that emphasized certain words while obscuring others. . .that acted
on Menocchio's memory and distorted the very words of the text." Furthermore,
it is Ginzburg's conviction that by analyzing this mental "filter," we come into con-
tact with Menocchio's cultural milieu and discover that it "is very different from
the one expressed on the printed page--one based on an oraI tradition."'
Thus, for example, in his analysis of Memhio ' s cosmogony with its central met-
aphor that God and the angels emerged from the primordial chaos like ~ r m s from
cheese, Ginzburg examines wefully the sources which may have influenced Menoc-
chio's views, e-g., the Piomto delh Bibbia, so as to determine how Menocchio's
mind understood and modilied what he read or heard. Since Menocchio did not
simply parrot the ideas in his sources but shaped them into sometlung new and,
indeed, shocking to his judges-though not necessarily to his neighbors among whom
he lived unmolested for decades and who chose him as mayor-it is Ginzburg's con-
tention that Menacchio
made use of remnants of the thinlung of others as he rmght stones and bricks.
But the h p s t ~ c and conceptuaI tools that he tried to acquire WE- neither neuh;tl
nor bnocent. Thisis the explanation for most of the contradictions, uncertain-
ties, and incongruities of his speeches. Using terms infused with C h r i s W t y ,
neepiatonism, a d scholastic philosphy, Mewcchio tried to express the elemen-
d, instinctive materialism of generation after gneration of peasants?
But is Ginzburg's approach valid? Do the original elements in Menocchio's argu-
~ ~ ~ n t s really reveal an oral culture widespread and centuries old? Ginzburg argues
that Menocchio's case is not unique, hr there are other instances where thi~ pre-
Christian oral culture surfaces in the written records to impress likewise the mem-
bers of the Christian written culture who discuuered them. Ginzburg cites as exam-
p l e M t s from Eboli in the mid-17th century and Scotio from Lucchese in the
mid-16th. Like Menocchio, these witnesses testify to an antidogmatic, anti-clerical,
-Xiidistic view of the u n i w ~ ?
H-r, the question still remains reg- the validity of generalizing from
Menoochio and these few other cases to a -kumpean-wide, peasant oral culture, par-
ticularly since botb M e m h i o and Scolio are not themselves a part of tbat oral
culture, having learned to read and write and so transcend their mots. Furthermore,
even if Mewcchio's tcRmsIIEen were willing to put up with his vregular religious
views,thefactI.emainsthattheirawnwere~tlyo~~enoughto~
the ecclesiastical authorities so that in Montereale, at least, dK oral culture was more
Christian tban the written one to which Menoccbio aspired. In fact, as Ginzburg
demomtrates, all kinds of radical religmus works circulated in 16th- Itdy,
includiing the Koran. Is it not possible that Menocchio's original c o n t n i o o s to
this rehgious mix were the product of his awn haghation? Do we havle to
a larger cultural milieu in order to explain them? Ginzburg seems to think that we
do; however, I am not so sure.
Probably, we will never know for sure what the "ordinary" person of the sixteenth
cennrry tbought or believed, and tk Menocchios of that era prwide us with at best
a warped reflection of everymn's belie&. Even so, imwxr* &IS of Gkburg's
7 h Cheese and the Hbm will still find interesting its acmunts of haw an Italian
peasant became a defendant in the courts of the Inquisition.
1. M o G i i , llre Qoeeseondthe A6nns @ a b n o ~ b HopkiosUni~~&
Press, 1980), p. xxi.
2. Ibid., p. 33.
3. Ibid., p. 61.
4. Ibid., p. ll2f.
Cameron A. MacKenzie
MINISTRY. Joseph T. Lienhard. Message of the Fathers of the Church. Edited by
Thomas Halton. Wimington, De1aware: Michael Glazier, Inc., 1984. 183 pages. Pa-
per, n-p.
SOCIAL THOUGHT. Peter C. Phan. Message of the Fathers of the Church. Edited
by Thorn Halton. Wilrnington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, Inc., 1984.268 pages.
Paper, n.p.
It is a matter of common iawwledge that the Lutheran Conkssions make heavy
use of the early church fathers. For the cxmkam it was not simply another way
to authenticate the Biblical truth, but the patristic sources were the very air thq.
breathed. They did not see the Reformation as a disawwal of chu~lch badition but
a confirmation of it. It is unlikely that the Lutheran pastor will puchase one of the
multi-volume sets costing several hundred dollars, and in them the classic Eng-
lish translations can be awkward. Under the general editorship of Thomas Hal-
ton, Michael Glazier, k., of Delaware is collecting the sayings of the early church
fathers according to topics, printingthem in readable, modern English and, equally
important, at a modest cost. A whole area of Christian though suddenly becomes
available in a digestable form. Social b g h z begins with the Didache and con-
cludes with Leo and Gregory (both titled the Great). Matters discussed are slavery,
BOOK REVIEWS 2 17
the t&ng of interest, and the conduct of the clergy, among many others. Perhaps
Ministry urould be of more inkrest because it always seems to be a lively topic. Au-
thor Lienhard, after a brief inpoduction about diversified practice in the New Testa-
ment, traces the origin of the bishop from Clement of Rome (ca. % A.D.) to Pope
Siricius of Rome three htmbd years later. I have found myself jmghg through these
works many times. Of course, these are only republications of ancient writings, but
most will find their message to be new to them. Though printed under Roman Cath-
olic auspices, the Lutheran claim to this history is no less than theirs.
David P. Scaer
LUKE-ACE: New Perspectives from the Society of Biblical Literature Seminar.
Edited by Charles H. Talbert. New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1984.
224 pages. Cloth, $12.95.
In the tradition of J. Louis Martyn's and bander Keck's Wies in hke-Acts: k t -
schrijijbr Pbul Schuben (1966), Charles Talbert challenges us once again to con-
sider some of our basic assumptions about the Gospels by gathermg together a group
of essays he entitles Luke-Acts. As the subtitle suggests, this book is from a seminar
of the Society of Biblical Literature, a scholariy but critical organization. These es-
says span five years of mrk by the seminar, intended to "serve as a stimulus to fur-
ther study of the Lucan writings" ("Introduction").
This anthology certainly accomplishes its stated pupose. In the past twenty years,
the= has been great interest in Me-Acts, and many of the major discussions that
have arisen concerning Luke's twi wlumes are treated by these esszrys. -They are
very challenging, and require a worlung knowledge of recent critical thought and
methodology to glean any positive bebents b r the orthodox reader.
Talbert bas divided his book into three parts: "Introductory issue$*; ''Thematic
Studies"; and "Exegetical Studies." The serious student of Luke will find some-
dung among these groups of interest. For example, among the "Introductory Issues,"
three of the four essays are bold and provocative. The first essay by George Rice,
entitled " W m Non-Interpolations: A Defense of the Apostolate," attempts to ar-
gue that tbe omissions in the text of Luke 23 and 24were due to a bias by the West-
ern scribes who were attempting to defend the apostles and justify their
pre-resumdon unbelief. We my disagree with his arguments, but as is the case
with much critical s c h o ~ p t&q, we must deal with its challenge. In any event,
it hrces us to wrestle once again with the text and the question of Western non-
interpolations and decide for ourse1ves how to read Luke 23 and 24. l b other es-
says among the "Introductory Issues" are also wrthy of study. T. Tawmend's
"The Date of Luke-Acts" does aot bring forth any new revelations, but it is a won-
derful summary of the state of critical scholarship on the date of Luke-Acts. (With
no malicious intention to spoil the endrng fw you, it can be revealed that he accepts
the middle of the second century as the date of Me-Acts). The third essay of in-
erest was cuwritten by David L. Barr and Judith L. WentIing, entitled ''The Con-
ventions of Classid Biography and the Genre of Luke-Acts: A preliminary Study."
This is a very valuable contribution to the discussion of the genre of "GospeI," a
topic of considerable interest to both the critical and orthodox scholar. They dis-
with Bultmann's conclusion that gospels are not biographies, but they do not
CONCORDIA THEOIBGICAL QUAKERLY
consider them "biographies" in the classic sense of the term. Ironically, not really
W i n g to what genre the Gospels belong, they end up concluding what traditional
scholarship has been q i n g for centuries-the Gospels are a totally unique genre
without anL precedents or subsequent imitations of enduring value.
krhaps some ofthe follawing articles included in this collection of essays on Luke-
Act. would be of interest: "Greco-Roman Imitation of Texts as a Partial Guide to
Luke's Use of !30urce~*' by Thomas b u i s Brodie; "Promise and Fulfillment in Lu-
can Theology" by Charles H. Talbert (an excellent summary of the position which
is a continuing tradition at Yale that Luke's theological intent is to demonstrate in
Jesus Christ the fulfdment of Old Testament promises); "The Salvation of the Jews
in Luke-Acts" by Jack T. Sanders; "Paul in Acts:Lucan Apology and Conciliation"
by Robert L. Brawley; "The Title 'Servant' in Luke-Acts" by Donald L. Jones (this
article deals with the prevalent view that Luke's gospel deliberately avoids the viw-
ious atonement and has no hint of Jesus* death as producing the foqiveness of sins-an
alarming thought for Lutherans and one in need of scholarly investigation by con-
servatives); "Luke 3:23-38 and Greco-Roman and Biblical Genealogies" by Wil-
liam S. Kurt.; "The Divine Purpose: The Jews and the Gentile Mission (Acts 15)"
by Earl Richard; "The Forensic Defense Speech and Paul's Trial Speeches in Acts
22-26: Form and Function" by Jerome Neyrey; "On Why Acts 27-28 and Beyond
by G. W. Trompf.
As one can clearly see, this book tackles as ambitious range of topics, and each
essay provides a challenging attempt to deal with the contemporary issues in the
current debate on Luke-Acts. For the serious student who needs to stay up with the
latest in a particular field like Luke-Acts, this book is a must. For the less commit-
ted, this book is a good way to clear out the cobwebs and confront some excellent
scholadup. What is lamentable is that there are not many equivalent collections
of essays from a conservative perspective. For once, it wuld be nice to read some
serious exegesis that does not require wading through a critical quagmire.
Arthur A. Just, Jr.
GENESIS w r r ~ AN I N T R O D U ~ O N m NARRATIVE LITERATURE. BY
George W. C w . Wm. B. Ee- Publishing Company, Grsad Rapids, 1983.322
pages.
This volume is the first in a projected series of twenty-four which will offer
a "form-critical" analysis of every book or unit of the Old Testament. The
avowed purpose of the editors (Rolf Knierim and Gene M. Tucker) is to il-
lustrate the results of critical research by "the analysis of the forms in and of
the texts themselves" (p. x).
In seeking that goal, Genesis plots a somewhat different course than stan-
dard commentaries. There is no verse by verse exposition in the classical, com-
mentary mold. Neither is there the theological application which marks more
BOOK REVIEWS 219
popular works. Rather Coats focuses pointedly on the "narrative form" of
particular textual units. The format which he follows-bibliography, struc-
ture, genre, setting, intention-eminently serves his purpose particularly when
he has the final form of the text's structure and texture in view.
It is at this point that the major benefits will come to the parish pastor.
Coats' sensitlvlty to the structure of Genesis stimulates a new awareness of
the possible ordering of the material. While one cannot achieve certainty on
such issues, the type of chiastic outline which is offered for Gen. 25 through 35
(pp. 177-178) is worthy of consideration. The author's alignment with stan-
dard critical pespectives on sources, etc., should not obscure this attention to
the final form of the text. Indeed, this volume might serve as an avenue into
several recent trends in exegesis, namely, structuralism and canonical
criticism. The pastor with an interest in the current 'state of the art' will no
doubt be better informed by this extended example than by the rather more
obtuse, theoretical discussions of a volume like Edgar McKnight's Meaning In
Texts (Fortress, 1978). Further, the bibliographies provide the interested
reader with foundational critical texts on the respective pericopies. It should
be noted that the person with sympathies for Mosaic authorship will hesitate
longest at those places where the commitment to prior sources is most obvious.
The recurrent explanations of how these hypothetical and independent
materials were combined will illustrate the highly speculative nature of such
assessments. For example, while 20:l-18 has been ascribed to E, there is now a
shift to regard it as an expansion of J (p. 15 1). Examples could be multiplied,
but the reader is invited to glean those insights which stem from the text and
discard any superstructure that departs from it.
Dean 0. Wenthe
IDOLS FOR DESTRUCTION. Herkr t Schlossberg. Nashville: Thomas
Nelson, 1983. Paper, $8.95.
For a society engulfed in humanism and addicted to idols of which most
people are not aware, this book is a clear and provocative analysis of modem
culture; and it provides the biblical concept of idolatry and judgment for
understanding the frustration and despair of those controlled by the world's
systems. The author exposes all of the idolatries of our modern world which
are substituted for the Creator and the Redeemer and which will destroy us.
Reviewing the systems which human reason, estranged from God, has built
over the years in history, humanity, mammon, nature, power and religion,
Schlossberg reveals how these systems break down basic Christian institutions
and injunctions which God set in motion in the world through the incarnation
of Jesus Christ.
A society thus de-Christianized has no moral limitations. Ethical standards
and moral principles are moving targets, propelled by the march of sentiments
and desires. Evaythmg is relativized except the idols. With a society based on
pagan assumptions, human beings act as Gad. Good and evil are purely a mat-
CONCORDIA THEOWICAL QUARTERLY
ter of sentiment, and no action can be judged, for even laws are interpreta-
tions of feelings rather than of facts or Christian thought. This leaves no stan-
dard against which to judge culture, since human idols are supreme.
The author shows, in a striking way, how humanism is a philosophy of
death, and how humanism ends in an exercise of power not of love.
Humanism's misuse of "love" is troublesome because it borrows Christian
terminology, thus befuddling many in the church. Humanism romanticizes a
love which justifies evil, and in so doing exposes its own irrationality. Both
humanism and idolatry claim to offer salvation through an ethic that makes
man into a deity.
Schlossberg shows that the solution is an intellectual revolution and fun-
damental change in values such as only the Christian doctrine can perform by
the Holy Spirit, which radically alters the understanding that people have of
their own nature, who they are and why they are on earth. When people turn
to idolatries, those faiths become incarnated in society's institutions and rot
sets in. Then antinomianism is an accompaniment to decline, which together
with naturalism, does not lead to the promised freedom, but to slavery. The
irony of humanism and idolatry is that they de-humanize.
What is needed today is apologetics, which should never be apologetic.
Idolatries are hostile to the Christian faith, and Christians need to recognize
when idolatry dons the guise of Christian virtues. God does not permit rivals,
and neither should His people.
Many vital thoughts drawn from an insightful understanding of the Bible
are applied to modem culture. This exceptional book helps Christian leaders
work more effectively in the moral morass of our day. You will do well not to
miss it.
Waldo J . Werning
GOD'S HAMMER. THE BIBLE AND 1- CRITICS. By Gordon H. Clark. The
Trinity Foundation, Jefferson, Maryland, 1982. 190 pages. Paper. $6.95.
Periodically since the coming of Christ the Bible has been under attack. In the
early Church it was Marcion who attacked the Bible. During the Middle Ages, it
was the Ram Catholic Church which tried to smother the Word of God with hu-
man mlzs and regulations. During the sixteenth and seventeenth cenbries it was
the Council of Trent which endeavored with the aid of secular governments to de-
stroy those churches who limited their teaching to what the Bible taught. The eight-
eenth and nineteenth centuries saw the Bible undermined in the churches by
rationalism and the historical-critical method. The twentieth century has witnessed
the a!tacb of various types of anti-Scriptud philosuphies on the Bible. Neoorhdoxy,
logical positivism, pmess philosophy, communism and experientialism have all at-
tacked and undermined the Judao-Christian foundations of Western civilization.
Gordon H. Clark, Professor of Philosophy at Covenant College, Lookout Moun-
tain, Tennessee, also for twenty-eight years chairman of the department of philow-
phy at Butler University, Indianapolis, and author of thirty volumes, has here issued
ten essays that deal with the Bible and its critics. this is an apologetic dUme, &@
BOOK REVIEWS 221
to Mend the inspiration and infallibility of Holy Writ against its critics and detrac-
wrs. In this book the reader will find an exposition of what the Bible claims about
itself, namely, that it is the very Word of God. In God's himmr the author discuss-
es such questions as "How may a person knaw the Bible is inspired?" In another
essq he shows that the Bible is God's truth. He defends the verbal and plenary in-
spiration of the Bible, because that is the claim of the books which constitute tbe
anon. Clark, a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, defends the plat-
form of this organization, which requires of its members subscription to the follow-
ing statement: "The Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God
written, and therefore inerrant in the autographs." It is the author's deep conviction
that the Christian belief in special divine revelation is a rational stance; and that
without special revelation there can be no certainty relative to life's most important
questions.
Wl1 versed in the history of philosophy and current philosophical systems, Clark
is well prepared to set forth the Eailacies and weaknesses of those philosophies that
are antithetical to Christianity. He has produced an excellent w r k which shows the
superiority of Biblical Christianity to all M d - b e Christian theologians who have
espoused erroneous world views. God's Hammer is a good contribution to the field
of Christian apologetics.
Raymond F. Surburg
WOMEN AND THE PRIESTHOOD. Edited by Thomas Hopko. Crestwood, New
YO*: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1983. Paper. 190 pages.
The question of women and the priesthood is but one important instance of
what I see to be the most critical issue of our time: the issue of the meaning
and purpose of the fact that human nature exists in two consubstantial forms:
male and female. This is a new issue for Christians; it has not been treated
fully or properly in the past. But it cannot be avoided today. How we respond
to it, I believe, clearly demonstrates what we believe about everything: God
and man, Christ and the Church, life and dearh. It is, in a manner of spdmg ,
our particular issue for contrweny: our gnosticism or Arianism, our Ongenism
or iconoclasm. It is the issue of our time, the issue that inevitably comes to
every age and generation [p. 1901.
Wltb this 'call m arms' Thomas Hopko concludes this book, which contains contri-
butions by six scholars from the Eastern tradition. In my opinion, Hopko has struck
the right note of urgency and significance. While most often the issue of "Women
in the Church is couched in terms of "equality," the more one reads in the litera-
ture corning from the feminist movement, the mox one is mare that the extent of
ulomen's participation in the church is not the red issue, nor the understanding of
particular Biblical passages, nor even loyalty to the Scriptures. What is finally un-
der attack is the Faith itself, the analogy of faith by which the Scriptures themselves
are to be understood. The issue of women in the church, as it is being raised in
the pmsent context, demands nothing less than a reassertion of a Christian world-
view, of a Christian vision, if you will.
With our awn cultural tendency to privatize and to individualize and with the Prot-
222 CONCORDIA THEO-ICAL Q U A m Y
estant tendency to make the "person of faith'* the center of theolgical reflection,
the Eastern approach to this issue, with its attempt to ground all in the doctrine of
the Trinity and in the universal humanity of the Incarnate Word, comes as some-
thing of a now-but, I would hope, also as a spur to broaden our own approach
to the subject. The interest of the articles by Thomas Hopko and Deborah Belonick
lies precisely in their attempt (however cursory) to understand Man as male and
female in the light of God's universal creative intent and final purposes, that is as
rewelatory of God as personal being who in Christ is in relation with His creation.
In this regard, the article by Hopko, which argues that the relationship between the
Son and the Holy Spirit within the divine being is reflected in the relationship be-
tween male and female is especially provocative (pp. 97-134).
A strength of this book is that in its appeal to the history of the Eastern tradition
it r d s the breadth of mcipa t ion in the church's life which has in the past been
open to women. Here the articles by Bishop Kallistos Ware and Kyriaki FitzGerald
are of importance for us. FitzGerald gives a good discussion of the nature of the
female diaconate, while Ware presents examples of broad scope of female service
in the church's past (from the roIe of the priest's wife to the idea of "spiritual mother-
LA"). Amcles by Georges Barrois (on the Old Testament) and ly Nicholas AEtnasiev
(on the muchdisputed Canon II of the CounciI of Laodicea) round out the volume.
It will behoove all of us to discern as quickly as possible the fundamentally theo-
logical character of the issues raised by the feminist movement. Only then will we
begin to ask questions of sufficient depth and breadth to deal adequately with the
present theological context. This book is not a set of answers, but it reflects the catholic
nature of the problem and challenges us to new and creative reflection.
William C. Weinrich
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. By Robert A. Guelich. Word Books Publish-
ers, Waco, Texas, 1982. Cloth. 451 pages.
Guelich's work is the first major study on the Sermon on the Mount in forty years.
Growing out of his University of Hamburg doctoral dissertation research, it has been
considered by several scholars as the best in recent times. Without doubt it is the
most thoroughly critical and comprehensive, using a broad spectrum of ancient and
modern sources. Guelich belongs to those influential evangelical scholars who are
incorporating the most recent criticaI techniques into their studies. He teaches at
Northern Baptist Seminary in Chicago and previously at Bethel Seminary in Min-
nesota.
Guelich painstakingly works through the text in an almost word by word, phrase
by phrase fashion, making reference to the most highly regarded critics at each point.
RedactionaI comments help place the Sermon within the congregational setting at
the time of Matthew's writing. This process is quite valuable. The chapters are or-
ganized according to the verses with each concluding with several theological dis-
cussions of prominent issues. e.g., righteousness, ethics, and the brd 's Prayer. It
is here that the reader will not only be stimulated but take exception to some of
the views offered. Any pastor preparing a sermon or Bible class on passages from
the Sermon should make every effort to ohm Guelich's study. As a resource book
on this subject, it is not bound to be replaced in our life time. Guelich makes the
contribution of noting a christological and not just merely an ecclesiological motif
running throughout the Sermon. The christological motif has been rarely recognizad.
BOOK REVIEWS 223
~n actual p h c e , however, the author never actually develops the christological motif.
radical promise ib never really delivered and somehow the Sermon still comes
across in its traditional pre-Christian hue. Since Guelich has a wealth of material
under one cover, I have found myself constantly consulting him, and I shall be one
of those who will not permit this research to go too far from my reach.
David I? Scaer
FAlTH AND PFUCTICE IN THE EARLY CHURCH: FOUNDATIONS FOR CON-
TEMPORARY THEOUXX. By Carl A. Volz. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing
House, 1983. 223 pages. Paper.
Car1 Volz, presently professor of Early Church History in Luther-Northwestern
Seminary in St. hul, Minnesota, is not unknown to readers of the Missouri Synod.
For some years he was p m h r of Church History at Concordia Seminary, St. imk,
and in my view authored one of the better volumes in the "Church History Series"
published by Concordia Publishing House, narneIy, 7he Church of the Middle Ages:
G m h and Change from 600 to 1400 (1970). That voluae demonstrated the fact
that Volz can compile and arrange historical materials with discernment and sound
judgment for the purpose of telling the story of the church's history with simplicity
but yet with clarity. That earlier book was primariIy for the student and interested
layman. The present volume is in the same mold.
The author intends to describe early Christian views concerning major doctrines
and early Christian practices and to illuminate their intedependellce; he further wishes
to reveal "the role of worship in shaping the thought of the church and giving ex-
pression to the instincts [?] of the believer" (p. 10). To carry out this intention Wlz
discusses early Christian belief and practice in six major m: doctrine of God,
doctrine of humanity, doctrine of salvation, worship and the sacraments, authority
in the church, and church and society. At the end of the h t three d o n s , he p s n t s
a short "Reflection" which apparently is intended to make clear the present rele-
vance of the doctrinal views just discussed. Why a "Reflection" does not follow
the chapters on the church's practice is not clear.
As one d d expect from Professor Vblz, the strength of the book lies in his broad
knowledge of the sources and in his ability to select information and patristic quota-
tions which illustrate his narrative. There is to be sure much interesting information
in this book. Yet, I do not believe this volume matches the standards of Volz's earli-
er book. There are frankIy too many inexactitudes and anachronisms for this to be
adjudged a really good book. I give but a couple of examples. To say that the view
of salvation as deification looks forward to "human potential" is simply wrong @.
78). I suspect that the author meant by this that this concept of saIvation was future
oriented, which is correct if a bit simplistically put. But "human potential" con-
jures up ideas which have nothing to do with deification, which remains rigidly the-
acentric. Secondly, to say in an early church context that the gospel of Christ was
the "canon within the canon" (p. M2) is anachronistically to skew the early church
view which d w q s associated that which was canonical with apostolicity. To be sure,
content was all important but so too was origin. Indeed, the secondcentury struggle
against the Gnostics was to determine just what the "gospel of Christ" was and this
the early church did by estabIishing the apostoIicity of origin for certain writings
and teachings. This early Christian insistence on (what we might call) the "formal"
principle may not be palatable in certain exegetical circles today, but one cannot
224 CONCORDIA THE0LXX;ICAL QU.4mERLY
cease being a historian for that.
The book is generally attractively done. There are very few spelling errors (Tra-
jen, p. 194, 195, should be Trajan; Cadous, p. 205, shouid be Cadoux). Unfortunately,
there is no bibliography. A good, select bibliography is really required for a book
like this, which is pitched not to the scholar, who would be familiar with major liter-
ature, but to the non-professional and student, who most likely does not knaw the
literature.
William C. Weinrich
THE HOLY GREYHOUND: GUINEFORT. HEALER OF CHILDREN SINCE
THE THIRTEEKTH CENTURY. By Jean-Claude Schmir.. Cambridge University
Prcss. Cambridge: 1983. $34.50.
A holy greyhound? A sainted dog? Yes, indeed-at least, according to the peasants
of Dombe in the diocese of Iyons, who confessed their superstitious reverence of
an animal, St. Guinefort by name, and pointed out its shrine to a Dominican preach-
er, Stephen of Bourbon (d. 1261). who thereupon ordered t!! shrine destroyed and
the cult terminated. But lo and behold, more than six centuries later, when folk-
lorist A. Vayssiere heard about Stephen's account and so asked peasants in the same
general area whether Guinefort were man or dog, back came the answer, "Why,
dog, of course!'' I t is this phenomenon which Jean-Claude Schrnitt sets out to
explain in 7he Holy Greyhod: Guinefort. Healer of Children since the 7hirteenth
Century.
In his introduction, Schmitt indicates that his w r k presupposes two types of Eu-
ropean culture stretching from the early Middle Ages until relatively modern times-
(1) a literate, urban, Catholic "Nher" culture and (2) an oral, peasant, supersti-
tious "lower" culture-which coexisted uneasily, unwillingly, and sometimes un-
wittingly; and which evolved together though time until at last dissolving into the
mists of secular modernity Since by definition written records even of the lower
culture belong to the higher one, Schmitt readily employs a wide variety of tech-
niques to explore the contents of popular culture, going well beyond a simple read-
ing of Stephen's text. Among the techniques which he uses are structuralism to
compare and contrast Stephen's account of the cult's origin with similar stories oc-
amhg elsewhere in Ind<~Europe cuitures, icompphy to explore pictorial accounts
as well as written ones, etymology to trace the diffusion of the cult and to suggest
reasons for mnfusii a dog with a man and vice versa, geograptry and archeu1ogy
to determine where the cult spread and how people observed it, and anthropology
to provide explanations for cultic observances and symbolism. The result is a thor-
ough and fascinating account of a hitherto obscure medieval "cult" which persisted,
apparently, until the end of the nineteenth century.
But are there any problems with Schmitt's analysis? Unfortunately, yes-most of
them having to do with Schmitt's determination to make up for a lack of documen-
tary evidence and his insistance upon offering an explanation where perhaps none
will do. The first six chapters are excellent. Schmin here considers Stephen's ac-
count and scpplies considerable background regarding Stephen's office and milieu
to account for the document as we have it. Furthermore, Schrnitt also places the
legend into its context of Indo-European folklore and offers an explanation for die
&ompanying rite so th.1 one cnn s& the cult as a whole for what it reveals of the
BOOK REVIEWS 225
1 peasants' mentclire, particularly their attitude toward children and sickness. Schmitt
pmrides a wealth d background on and poses alternative explanations with-
out forcing the evidence to confirm with any one possibility.
Chapter seven is also well done but of questionabIe significance, for in discussing
the cult of Saint Guinefort-its origin and diffusion in medieval Europe-Schmitt
first of all demonstrates the existence of three distinct cults involving three distinct
I persons and one of them a dog. Instead of stopping at this point, however, Schmitt
insists upon analyzing them according to cultural content-regardless of "persod-
ity" difkrences. He comes up with duee types: official cults (clerical), popular cults
(folkloric), and intermediate forms. Admittedly, the cults of each type have some
characteristics in common; but one wonders if there are not many other cults which
share these same characteristics but which Schmin does not include for lack of the
"Guinefort 7 9 name.
What LKn does this cultural analysis prove about Saint Guhehrt the dog? Not
much, for in none of the folkloric cults of St. GuinefDrt is there a legend of a dog
or even of a saint who died similarly to the hero of Stephen's story. Furthermore,
tbe rites associated with these folkloric cults, though som&mes involving children.
bare little resemblance to that described by the Dominican friar. In fact, were it not
for Vayssiere's evidence, one d d need a leap of imagination to connect the nine-
teenth century cult with that of the thirteenth.
What, then, about V@ssiere1s account? Can we accept it? Is it methodologically
swnd? Here Schmitt lets us down. He does not t d us why Vayssiere is reliable.
This ommission is especially significant since Vayssiere knew about Stephen's story
in advance of his search: and, as Schmitt suggests, he had an ideulogicd bias toward
corroborating a story which d d discredit Catholic piety. Furthermore, an account
ofthe same cult from fifty years before by a cure did not uncaver the saint's canine
identity- Why not? Schmitt offers an entire chapter regarding dogs and saints, espe-
cially those whose days fall in the "dog-days" of summer to explain this failure.
His explanation would be more persuasive, hawever, if he hsad first demonstrated
its necessity by comriocing us of kyssiere's reliability.
Hawever, even if Schmin has not demon^ his thesis completely, readers will
still find this book hscinating for its wealth of detail regarding the cult of the saints,
which was at the heart of medievd remon. Whether dog or no, Guinefort and his
fellow LLmi&" played a central role in the belief5 and piety of ordinary people.
Schmitt's Holy Greyhud helps us to see what that role was.
Cameron A. MacKenzie
POPULAR RELIGION IN THE MIDDLE AGES. By Rosalind and Christopher
Brooke. Tharnes and Hudson, bndon. 1984.
In the proIogue to their book Rosalind and Christopher Brooke define their pur-
pose as penetrating "the religious aspirations, hopes and fears, and doctrines of or-
dinary lay people in western Christendom" between the years 1000 and 1300. The
emphasis here surely is upon the word ordinary so that the Brookes eschew any
discussion of the extraordinary, whether it be the liturgical practices of the monastic
orders or the doctrinal subtleties of the schoolmen. except insofar as such obser-
vances and teachings impinge upon the piety of the people. Accordingly. this book
is not the place to go tbr the official position of the medieval church, but it is pre-
cisely the place to look for what the members of that church believed and for what
motivated them in their religious observances.
Therefore, the Brookes begin with what lay at the heart of medieval piety, the cult
of the saints, and go on to discuss those matters most central to the devotional lives
of ordbay people: church bui ld i i and furnishings; the practice of piety, particu-
larly the sacraments; the use of the Scriptures in art, drama, and preaching; and
the doctrine of the last things, a dominant motif in lay religion. The important thug
to note, however, about the topics discussed is that they emerge from the sources
themselves instead of being imposed by the Brookes upon those sources. The authors
describe the interest of people then even if the concerns of the modem believer are
far &&rent so that, fbr example, the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit receive
m, mention whereas the emerging belief in purgatory is discussed at length.
But what are the sources that the Brookes investigate? Hcnv do we find out about
the religion of ordinary people, particularly in an age when "'ordinary" meant iI-
literate and fix remwed from the culture of cloister and court, concerning which
we have extensive written records? To answer such questions the Brooks do use
written sources-wefully-especially l i t e m aimed at odmary people, e.g., ver-
nacular stories and sermons. Their chief sources, hmvever, are the churches and
their artifacts, things the people themselves used in their approach to the divine.
For this reason, the authors include thirty-five photographs ranging from a aerial
view of Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire to a telling panel from the nave of St. Martin's
in Graubunden, Switzerland. Their arguments, unhrtunately, &r often to artikts
unpictured, andthe~rethe~rmustinthosecasessiraply~tfieirdescnptions.
Throughout their wrk, the authors are conscious of the limits, the sources or
lack thereof place upon our knowledge. Within those limits, hawever, the Bnookes
do offer some interesting analysis. They emphask the importance of the saints in
tbe religion of ordinary people-how relics or apparitions sanctified certain loca-
tions to which people then urould travel fbr prayers and offerings as they implored
help both here and hereafter. Even though the doctrine of the church was that the
saints wxe inte-rs only, the practice ofthe Whhl was to treat them as dermgods,
usually helpful but also vindictive if their shrines and feast days were not attended
to pmpedy-
To discern the laymen's relationship to the church, the B r o o k consider the bap
tisteries, fonts, rood screens, and cemeteries as well as stories that were told with
rel&yous themes. They note that these centuries saw the development of the sacramen-
tal system, e-g., the institutionalization of priestly confession and the regularintion
of the mass as priestly and mysterious sacrifice which the laity viewed frequently-
though with difficulty-but partook of rarely.
With respect to marriage, the Bmokes point out that lay people increasingly ac-
cepted the sacred character of an institution which the church had labored long to
bring into her exclusive purview, in spite of the church's insistence upon celibacy
as more virtuous. Furthermore, the Bnookes do an exceIIent job of analyzing what
the people knew and did not know about the Bible from the sermons, liturgical dra-
ma, and religious art of the day. One interesting finding is that the stories of the
kings of Israel were referred to mfrequently; but probably more significant is the
fact that this epoch was one in which the humanity of Christ, especially in His pas-
sion, was emphasized.
Popular Religion in the Middle Ages is not a large book, but it is a significant
one, for it puts the reader into the religious milieu of ordinary people who, after
all, are the ones the church presumably wants to influence.Getting into this milieu
is difficult after so many centuries, but the Bmkes know how to go about it and
have opened our understanding to what the "age of Edith" meant to the people who
actually lived that faith.
Cameron A. MacKenzie
BOOK REVIEWS
MIRACLES AND PROPHECIES IN NMETEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE. By
~~ A. Kselman. Rutgen University Aess, New Brunswick, 1983. $2'7.50.
~n the wake of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, the Roman Catho-
lic h r c h in France had to deal with social forces such as urbanization which radi-
cal]~ altered the social structure in which the church had prospered for centuries
and &Uectual currents such as liberalism and Iater positivism which actively
challenged and attacked the traditional piety and beliefs ofthe church. How extraor-
dinary, *&re, that the the period and place shoukt also see a mewed interest-
indeed, a revitalized belief-in divine and supernatural intervention in the afEairs
of fi is, w r , & of m&h in his Miracles and Prophe-
&es in Nineteenth-Century Fmnce that such a coincidence is not, after all: soex-
-&nary; instead he contends that the rise of miracle cults and the popularity of
prophetic litemhm as the response, first of all, of ordinary people seeking help and
k&ng and, secondly, of the institutional church, deknding itself from its critics
and pursuiog its pastoral goals.
With mpect to the miracle cults, Kselrnan refrains from passing judgement on
the authenticity of miraculous cures. He does take pains, however, to pmvide an
~~the..agernesswithwhichpeoplesoughtsupematuralhealingsthmugh-
out the century. T h factors stand out: (1) the mdequacies of secular medicine and
(2) the social utility of miracle rites by which those estranged from the community
by mshap or illness were united again to their fellow believers. To explain this laaer
point, Kselman relies heavily upon the social sciences to show how relqgon satis-
fied the social, psychological, and perbaps even physical needs of those who sought
cures. One problem with his analysis, however, is that he f d s to integrate into his
explanation any account of those who sought cures and were not healed. Certainly
such people must have existed in large numbers; and yet the miracle cults continue
to prosper. Why? Unfortunately, this is one aspect of his subject which Kselman
doesnotreallyaddress.
On the other hand, he does consider failures in his other great category of the
ostensibly supernatural, viz., prophecies--direct pro~ouncements of God through
chosen individuals of His will h r the present and the future. Kselman points out
that such pmphex5es were not new to France in the nineteenth century. What was
new, however, was the degree to which such prophecies were applied to the social
and political circwmtams which m n e d the French church and her members.
Sometimes the prophetic unord explained present miseries by failures of faith and
piety, e.g., the first and public message of the V i Mary tothe shepherd children
at La S a l e ; and sometimes it provided a vision of hope for the fuhue after turmoil
and tribulation, e.g., the plethora of pamphlets and speeches predicting a Catholic
and @,,France triumphant after the coliapse of the Sea,nd Empire. Udbrtunately
hr the visionaries, the Third Republic emerged instead.
The heart of Kselman's work is his analysis of the ways in which the Roman Cath-
olic Church used new manifestations of the miraculous to foster its cMn goals
in Frame. Unlike previous epochs, the nineteenth century saw the French clergy,
inc luhg aod especially the hierarchy, not only tolerate but actively embrace the
mkiwulous. The establishment of regional and national shrines staffid by additional
clergy, the grawth of the accompanying confraternities, and the promotion of na-
tional p- to such shrines are the phenomena Kselman seeks to explain. k-
des is the outstanding example, but it is not by any means the only instance of such
M m in ~ - c e m r y France. What purpose, then, did the church have
acknowl- and promoting the miracle cults?
228 CONCORDIA THEOUXfICAL QUAKERLY
Kselman's amwr is both compeilmg and f a s c a . as he describes, for instance,
the way in which the church used the new devotions to promote its doctrines, espe-
cially the Immaculate Camepion, and the skill with which the church and her apol-
ologisrs used prophecies and miracles to defend her faith and practice against the critics
and to mairdain for the ikithfd a fmnew~rk of traditional religiosity in :he face
of social change. Tbus, the church used miracles and prophecies to promote both
its institutional and pastoral goals, i.e., to bolster and to enhance its own p o s i h
within the life ofthe French nation and to strengthen, confirm, and affirm its mem-
bers when W e d by persod or national cmams.
Kselman's approach is not at all theological; but readers of this journal will still
find his book valuable reading, for it is a fine example of historical narrative and
analysis. His decision not to argue with reports of the miraculous and supernatural
but rather just to accept them at face value as evidence of what people beIieved per-
mits him to make a sigdicant d b u t i o n to our understanding of haw and why
the Roman CathoIic Church encouraged its members in devotions to national mira-
cle shrines.
Cameron MacKenzie
T B L E AND TRADITION: Toward an Ecumenical U i x k m d m g ofthe Eucharist.
By Madair I.C. Heron. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. Paper. 192 pages.
The occupant of the chair of Reformed theoIogy at the University of Erlangen
.~thedocbineoftheLMd'sSupperfrom~~ond~.esthrclughCalvin
and concludes with some of his OWR personal observations and suggestions for the
modern era. On the negative side, Heron throughout remains true to his Refonned
heritage. On the positive side, he brings together in an easily digestible form recent
scholarly thought on the sacrament. Whether Luther deserves only six pages and
Calvin aver forty, as a kind of mediator between Zwingli and Luther, is a question
which the reader will have to consider. This seems out of proportion, as the Sacra-
ment played a central part in Luther's theology and not in Calvin's.
Heron's contribution wmes in analyzing the New Testament data, where he relies
heavily on the contemporary Roman Catholic scholar, J. Betz, whose major work
has been in the early Greek fathers. For Betz, as well as for Heron, the institution
narratives must be recogmd as liturgical tern and the differences among the four
must be understood as reflecting specific emphases. Matthew and Mark reflect the
Servant Songs of Isaiah and stress the redemptive significance of the Supper. Paul
and Luke pIace the emphasii on the identification of the bread and cup with the
body stld blood of Christ. Equally valuable is the structural paralleIism between
fohn 6:35-47 and verses 48-58 with tfae stress of the first on Jesus as the bread from
heav-en and the secomt on Jesus as the bread to be eaten. k p t f d i y Heron goes
against his own evidence when he leaves open the question of irow the bread is to
be emen- Clearly H e m is wrking t o w m h some kind of mppchernent among
Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and the Refonned, but he is honest enough to point
out that such a recent attempt as the Leuenberg Concord can be read either in a
Lutheran or a Calvinistic way.
Since Heron makes no attempt to cwer up his Reformed orientation and hence
also purposes, Eble and Tmdition provides a very valuable service in a readable
form of current discussions on the Sacrament. Not only is this useful for the scholar
who is lookmg for an averview of the current discussion, but also for the pastor
who would like dierent homiletical approaches on sacramental preaching.
David P. Scaer
BOOK REVIEWS 229
THE PRESENT-DAY CHR1STOLXX;ICAL DEBATE. By Klaas Ru&. Issues in
Contemporary Theology. Editeii ly I. H. Marshall. kmarsity Press, Dmvmm G m ,
Illinois, 1984. Paper. I20 pages. $5.%.
The intmduction of the historical-critical method into exegetical theology, which
views the person of Jesus from the historical W v e , challenges the orthodox
dogmatical procedure, canonized by Chalcedon, which begins Christology with His
divinity. In other wrds, should we move from the humanity to the divinity (modem
appmach) or should we reverse the procedure and move from the divinity to the
hmmity (Chalcedonhn approach)? Runia present the Chrktdogy d Nicea and Chal-
d o n , to which he adberes, and then examines the Christology of prominent the-
ologians in twentieth century: Barth, Rumenberg, wfoltmann, Schoonenberg.
Sch i l l ekk , Kung, Flesseman, J. A.T. Robinson, the process theologians, and those
involved in the myth of God debate. The theologians who approached ChristoIogy
"from belowy' have nd been able to reach an ontological Christdogy which under-
stands Christ as God as having a d preexistence. At best they can go little beyond
a revelational Christology; i.e., in some sense we can laKMr God in Jesus, though
this is not an exclusive revelation. Runia has written what may be consided one
of the best werviews of the subject and is not at all antagonistic toward those of
whom he writes. In fact, he sees a positive contribution in their work. He has sim-
plified (if this is d y possible) a m y cornpiex and wide area and carefulIy anaylzsd
the motivations of each theologian. Runia does not Eail to let his w n views come
in. For example, if the term "Son of God" had no ontological meaning for the Jews,
how can it be explained that the gospels are agreed in seeing that the Jews put him
to death because of this claim (p. 93)? Haw does one explain the early church's m r -
ship of Jesus? knia has a keen mind and is welJ versed in his subject.
Runia raises certain issues that have a M t e effect on Chistology including our
tradition. For example, Luther like the modem critics did operate with a Christolo-
gy "from below." The humanity of Jesus was kqr to finding the divinity. Modern
critics have a difficulty making this bridge. Lutheran dogmatics may, in fact, not
do Christology as Luther did; maybe it should. It would have been helpful if Runia
had developed Luther's view for the readers, if only briefly, since it is frequently
cited by him. The treatment given Bar& may be a little too kind. One wonders if
Barthian Christology is more a revelatiorid rather than an ontologtcal one. This is
not an easy question to answer. In EdCt, it may be unanswerable. Barth understands
the Triune God as the h e a l e r , the Revelation, and the Revealedness. Wlt does he
or wen can he go behind this? Another question: Does tbe Old Testament stress
the unbridgeable gulf between the transcendent God and the theme man (p. 94)?
Mbrkmg with this hypothesis the inarmtion is for Runia unexpected. I think that
the Old Testament evidence lies entirely in the otber direction, begmning with the
image of God and God's waIking in the garden (Genesis 2 aod 3). This hypothesis
I urould like to attribute to Rmia's Reformed commitment, though his Christology
finally seem throughout to be closer to Luther than Calvin. These final remarks
are not added as strictures, but only as avenues of discussion. Runia has made a
needed and remarkable contribution to the current Christological discussion which
is u n h e s w y recommended.
David P. Scaer
2 30 CONCORDIA THEOIDGICAL QUARTERLY
FOUR CYI'HER GOSPELS. By John Dominic Crossan. Winston Press, Minneapo-
lis, 1985. Cloth. 208 pages.
What if there were other Gospels not included in our New Testament? This ques-
tion has intrigued the church whemr such "gospel" documents have surfaced. Cros-
san, editor of Semeia, "an experimental journal for Biblical criticism sponsored by
the Society of Biblical Literature," determines through critical procedures the in-
terrelation of the four canonical gospels with four excluded gospels. Perhaps his
conclusions should be presented first. The Gospel of ?&omas has no bearing on the
canonical four. It is simply a discourse gospel with no namtive. Canonical Mark
was dependent on Egerton Papyrus 2. It was operative before the distinction between
the Synoptic and Johannioe traditions. Canonical Mark is dependent on the Secret
Gospel ofMark which he dismembered. The Gospel ofPeter is both dependent and
independent of the canonical four.
To come to these conclusions Crossan takes case studies from each of the "four
other gospels." He intends only to introduce the reader to his solution and not to
i provide an exhaustive, encyclophc deknse of his conclusions. Since the Secret Gos- pel ofMark is seen as the mast influential of these gospels, the example of the resur-
rected youth may suffice. Put briefly, the youth is raised by Jesus, after he has rolled
away a stone from the door of the tomb. The youth is said to lwe Jesus and to be
very rich. After six days he comes to Jesus wearing a linen cloth over his naked
body. The claim is made that Mark dimembered this story in the Secret Gospel
of Mark and included it in his wn .
Before seriously considering slny of Crossan's proposals, huge hurdles must be
jumped. For example, if the Sacrer Gospel of Mad were prior to our canonical gos-
pel, it would mean: (1) that its form of a deedless, wisdom-teaching Christianity
preceded in time the cross-centered Christianity of Mark; (2) that Mark and subse-
quently Luke and Matthew have to be very late, though the author never gives any
approximate dates to these connections; and (3) that Jesus was closer to Gnostic
Christianity, even as a cause, than Be was to the kind embodied in the canonical
gospels.The big problemis whychriaianiry should ever substitute the uncomfort-
able martyrological fohn for the Gnostic.
In the book's last paragraph, Crossan comes close to confessing himself to be a
Gnostic himself as he f i r s to "the fictional realism with which Jesus spoke in para-
bles and with which they spoke about him as parable itself." Though capable of
tracing the relationships between the four other gospels with the canonical four, he
finds it marvelously coincidental that Matthew and Luke use Mark in almost the
same way. W sometimes can be oblivious to the most obvious.
David P. Scaer
C. S. LEWIS AND THE SEARCH FOR THE RATIONAL RELIGION. By John
Beversluis. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan,
Paper. 182 pages. $9.95.
C. S. h i s died in 1963, long enough ago to be canonized. The chairman of the
phlosphy department at Butler University (IndmnapoIis) writes against the suppos-
edly uncritical cult that has grown up around his works and memory. The title could
have been just as easily called ?&e Debunking of CS. b v k . Beversluis does not
indicate where his interest in h i s developed, but his intimate knowledge shows
BOOK REVIEWS 231
that he may b e once been e-oured with him. As in cases of inlhation, the
object of devotion becomes one of loathing. This is only my historical recOnSmc-
t h n of the author's motive, but 1 would endeavor to say this assessment is close to
the facts in the case.
In the fim four chapters Beve~lius tackles Lewis' arguments for God: apologet-
ics, desk, m d t y , and reason. For example, in the chapter on morality,
is scored fbr not being aware that principles of ethics have been developed apart
from r ewon and even by atheists, e.g., Bertrand Russell. But was Lewis really say-
ing that without God morality was impossible or that atheists were necessarily im-
moral? Or was he rather saying that the existence of God provides the best possible
e x p l d ~ n for morality or an ethical code, which in some sense must be objective,
if society is going to exist at all? At another point Lewis is chastised for offering
fdse dternatives: either Jesus was God as He claimed or He was a madman. After
d l , other messianic contenders were not considered mad. True-but others did not
claim to be Cbd- T h m who understood this claim thoughrHe was in league with
Satan had the devil within Himself. Beverluis does concede that W i s does
hiwe so- to offer, but it muld be hard to find what that would be. A final
broadside must be taken as an attempt to discredit Lewis once and for all. "Taken
as a whole, then, h i s ' apologetic writings do not embody a religion that satisfied
his definition of rationality. His arguments for the existence of God fail." (In
a Sense such arguments never succeed in creating faith, but they are never totally
unhelpful) Why was J. B. PhiHipps' claim that Lewis visited him from beyond the
grave mentioned? Was this Lewis' fault?
One Mnders if this book should have ever been written at all. k was sru' generis
in a p-e that tcmk him fmn unbelief to a general sort of belief in God and
then M y to Christianity. He was not a systematic thinker and did not intend to
be. Lewis was a populanst who intended to show that the arguments being raised
against Christianity should be examined on their own merits. His borrowing from
diffkring and opposing systems to further the cause of Christianity should not be
scored for their inconsistency and sometimes mutual incompatibility, but should be
seen as a skillful lawyer using whatever weapons were at his disposable. Since when
have the opponents of Christianity ever been consistent or logical3 Lewis may have
succeeded more with those who d d y accepted the faith than he did with un-
believexs. Only God knows this. I have not been a Ean of Lewis, and it may be that
the adulation of him is somewhat promiscuous. Only the most intoxicated admirer
urould fail to see some flaws in him, even at the first reading. Still he raised issues
and made connecrions which no one in our time was raising. Others developed and
adjusted them. This is what happens with all great W e n . Their followers are of-
ten tbe conquerers of Canaan. Books debunking logical inconsistencies in Jesus
abound. C. S. Lmvis is in good company. (.Ohsus l&ralis duplex est)
This book will find a market only with concerned admirers. This is making a
profit off another's memory b r the wrong reason. Those who are not convinced
by Lewis could swceiy care less.
I
David I? Scaer
232 CONCORDIA THE0UX;ICAL QUAmRLY
EGYPT AND BIBLE HIS'IDRY EARLEST TIMES TO 1000 B.C. By
Charles F. Aling. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1982. 144 pages. $5.95.
The role of the Egypt~ans in Biblical history is the subject of this volume, written
by Charles Aling, the Academic Dean and P m k s o r of Biblical Backgmds and
Old Testament in Valley Baptist Theological Seminary, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
.4ling has dealt especially with that segment of Egyptian history which is related
to Bible times. The period covered reaches from earliest times to 1OOO B.C. The
eight chapters of this study are organized as follows. Chapter I gives an overview
of Egyptian history from earliest times to the time of Abraham. Chapters 2 and 3
concern Joseph and his activities- Chapters 4 to 6 treat of Israel's Egyptian sojourn
and the Exodus. Chapter 7 details what the Bible has ro say about Israel and later
Egyptian history. Chapter 8 describes the contacts between Egypt and Israel.
The "small book" @. 133) is designed to M p and encourage readers of the Bible
to learn some of the information which Egyptology has made avaiIabIe to Bible stu-
dents. The author has obtained his information from a wide range of literature (both
secular and theological) produced by the best minds in the field. Aling correctly
claims: "It must be stressed that the people and mnts of Bible times fit into a broader
historical picture than given in the pages of the Bible." A knowledge of the broader
historical picture is vital to a proper understanding of the details of the biblical nar-
rative. One purpose of this study was to &knd the fifteenth century date of the Exo-
&as, the stance of Unger, Wood, Archer, and other co~l~ervatives.
Raymond F. Surburg
ESTHER, JUDlTH, TOBIT, JONAH, RUTH. By John Craghan. Michael Glazier,
Wilmington, Delaware, 1982. 230 pages. $7.95.
This is volume 16 of Old Testament Mesqes, a commentary series edited by Cam11
Stuhlrnueller and Martin McNarnara. As in the other 22 ~Iurnes of this "Biblical
Theological Commentary," pages vii and viii describe the characteristics and goals
of this Roman Catholic Old T m n t commentary series which is aimed at the en-
tire English-spealung wrid and thus is the cdecriw effort of an international team.
The twenty-one contributors are women and men drawn from North America, Ire-
land, Britian, and Australia. They are schoIafi who have published in scientific jour-
nals. Although the writers are Roman Catholics, the editors believe that "like the
Bible itself," the commentary reaches beyond inte-ns restricted to an individual
church and so enables men and women tooted in biblical faith to unite and so to
appreciate their own traditions more fully and more adequately" @. viii).
Judith, Tobit, and the Septuagintd Additions to Esther are apocryphal works ac-
cording to the Lutheran understanding of the Old Testament Canon. John Craghan
has grouped all these writings together because they are said to be stories. Ruth and
Jonah are not treated as factual records of historical events. The historicalcritical
approach dictated ail interpmtatbns found in mlume 16 of Old Testurnem Messages.
Craghan, trained at Columbia University and the Pbntifical Biblical Institute, is
associate editor of the Biblical Theol'ogica! fhltefin and the author of two volumes
on Old Testament theology.
Raymond F. Suhurg
BOOK REVIEWS 233
TYPOS. T y P O u x j I ~ I N T E R P ~ ~ o N OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
IN THE NEW By m d G o ~ ~ e l t . Translated by D. H. Madvig. W111ia.m Eerd-
mans Publishing CoXnp~Y, ( 3 r d %'ids, 1982. 264 pages. Hardcover.
hi^ is an English translation of doctold dissertation written at Erlangen (1938-39)
by Goppelt. In 1969 fhis dissertation was reprinted with an added appen- dix on apocalypticism and typology in Paul. (chapter 10, pp. 209-237). Goppelt's
volume has inexst because af its significance for Biblical hermeneutics.
m e merhodology of Biblical i n t e e t i o n has been the subject of r e w e d interest
in the last decades. Goppelt endeavored to find a normative hermeneutics for deal-
ing with the Bible as a whole-
In answering the crucial question of Christ's relationship to the Old Testament,
he found it in the principle of typology. TO justify his theory Goppelt devoted a con-
sidemble discussion in the opening part of &= book to the difference between al-
legory and typology @p. 1-19). After his intfOductoIy key c-r Goppelt divided
his revised edition into three parts: "Typology in Late Judaism," "Typology in the
New Testament," and 'Apocalypticism and 'l'ypology in Israel." Goppelt examined
the place of typolo& in both Hellenistic and Palestinian Judaism to determine h m
it was employed by Jewish writem.
In his discussion of typology's use in the New Testament he examined the por-
trayal of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts. In his examination of the latter
books he concentrated on Jesus as tbe Prophet, as the Son of David and Lord, and
as Son of Man. Each of these characterizations Goppelt related to the Old Testa-
mem typologically. Ln his study of the church in A . again he bund a typologid
relationship between God's people in the Old Testament and the church of the New
Testament. The Pauline epistles were examined to see h