Full Text for Homiletical Studies (Text)

CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY . , . . , ,. C ~ Q :: :!is:4 e. . Volume 45 Numbers 1-2 JANUARY - APRIL 1981 Law and Gospel in Preaching ..................... Gerhard Aho 1 Experience over Scripture in Charismatic Exegesis .............................. Thomas Bird 5 Luther's Translation of Colossians 2: 12 .... Harold H. Buls 13 ..... Augsburg Confession VII Revisited Kurt E. Marquart 17 Repentance and Faith: Who Does the Turning? ............................................ -- Theodore Mueller 27 Baptism and the Lord's Supper in the Life of the Church ............................... David P. Scaer 37 Evangelism in the Early Church ...... William C. Weinrich 61 Opinion of the Department of Systematic Theology ........... 77 Theological Observer ........................................................... 8 1 Homiletical Studies .............................................................. 89 Book Reviews ................................................................. 1 17 Book Comments ................................................................ 153 Books Received ................................................................. 158 Book Reviews I. Exegetical Studies NAVES STUDY BIBLE: REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION. KING JAMES VERSION. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1978. 1985 pages. Cloth. $24.95. This volume is an update of the original Nave's Study Bible, which many have used in their Bible study over tho years. This "Revised and Expanded Edition" is based on the King James Version, because the editors believe that in it "we have a heritage worth preserving." The following quote from the preface indicates that the editors also believe in inerrancy: "The Authorized Version is beautiful not only from a literary viewpoint, but also from a perspective that attaches importance to the reverent handling of God's inerrant Word on the part of the translators." This is an excellent study Bible. The topical notes in the margins, together with the footnotes, make this Bible worth the price. The footnotes are full of valuable information on every conceivable biblical subject. Eight new features have been added. One of them, a glossary of archaic words and phrases, is extremely handy. Such Elizabethan words as "cor," "habergeon," "helve," and "knop," receive simple but precise definitions. In the reviewer's estimation this glossary is easily the best of the new features, which include an Old and New Testament cross-reference index, tables of weights and measures, a revised chronology, a geographical gazetteer, and an atlas. Unfortunately, there aretwo other new features which would have been better left out: an outlineand index on the sovereignty of God and an outline and index on the trinity and covenant of grace. The Reformed influence is immediately apparent in the "Outline on the Sovereignty of God," which the heading calls "The Master Theme of Holy Scripture." There is no need to dwell at length on what follows in the body of both outlines. God's "call" to a person to become His child may or may not be serious depending on who the person is (elect or not). The following few sentences from the outline on the section on the covenant of grace describe exactly how the gameis played according to Calvinistic theology: "The Author of this call is God the Father . . . This call is an ir~psistible summons, since it comes from the Almighty God, whose will cannot be frus- trated. . . The subjectsof t h s call are those whom the Father predestinated. His elect . . . Thepattern of this call is grounded solely in the Father's sovereign good pleasure, in setting His love upon whom He pleased . . ." It is interesting that Romans 8:32 is used to support thisdoctrineof the "limited atonement,"but the last word in the text. "all" (". . . delivered Him up for us u p ) , is omitted. Evidently to include it would be a bit risky, sinceone of the non-elect might read it and get the "wrong" idea. All of this demonstrates, as we Lutherans are well aware, that even if a man accepts the inerrancy of Scripture, his theology may still be horribly crooked. Correct theology remains among us purely by God's grace. John W. Saleska THE BIBLE: ITS CRITICISM, INTERPRETATION AND USE IN 16TH AND 17TH CENTURY ENGLAND. By Dean Freiday. Catholic and Quaker Studies, No. 4, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1979. 195 Pages. Paper. $8.50. Since 1972 several Catholic and Quaker Studies (1 1 10 Wildwood Avenue, CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Manasquan, New Jersey 08736) concerning "the Spirit-centered Community," Christology, and "the Means of Salvation" have appeared. This, the fourth work to appear in this series and format (printed by offset, bound in plastic, with heavy paper covers, 8% by 11 inches in size), is an appraisal of the role of the Bible in English-speaking Christianity in the era of the Reformation. Certainly such a useful volume is to be welcomed. This survey begins with two preliminary chapters which discuss "The Inheritance from Preceding Centuries" and the "Developing Linguistic and Critical Skills" that occurred in the Renaissance (the "historical-grammatical method"). A review of "The Polyglot Bibles" (published in Paris, Antwerp, and London, as well as "The Complutensian Polyglot" from the University of Alcala) indicates the new prominence of Biblical studies in Tudor England. After this treatment of the recovery of the Bible and the pioneering of the new method of Scriptural study, the author presents individualized treatments of eleven key figures - John Colet ("The Pauline Renaissance"), William Tyndale ("A Pastoral Interpretation"), Thomas Cranmer ("A Bibical Liturgy"), Richard Hooker ("Law - Natural, Scriptural, and Celestial"), Hugo Grotius ("Linguistic and Historical Exegesis"), John Wilkins ("Do-It-Yourself Preaching"), John Bunyan ("Transforming the Bible into Allegory"), Richard Baxter ("How to Read the Bible"), John Owen ("Providential and Experiential Exegisis"), Samuel Fisher ("Interpreting Spiritual Truths") and Richard Simon ("Forerunner of Modern BiblicaI Criticism"). Each of these persons - Roman CathoIic, Anglican, Puritan, Baptist, Quaker. and other Dissenters - is examined as an exemplar of a particular method of studying the Word of God. This book is avaluable contribution to the history of Biblical interpretation in the English-speaking world. While the purpose of the volume is to focus on the contributions of Quakers and Roman Catholics to Biblical scholarship in the sixteenth and seventeenth century in England, that aim could not be attained without considering the broader spectrum of Anglican and Puritan theological development. As might be expected, the approach of the author favors a "spiritual" as opposed to a "literaIn reading of the Scriptures, and would indicate that Quakers and Roman Catholics, as people of Spirit and Community, tended to be iess "book-bound* and "creed-oriented" than were Anglicans and Puritans. Experience and reason are seen as complementary sources alongside Scripture. Readers of the CTQ would question this connection, as well as the author's contention that progressive seventeenth-century scholarship seemed to point toward the "historical-critical method" of Biblical study that came into favor in the Victorian era. Occasional errors of fact (as the contention that Lutherans were iconoclasts [p. 251 or that they taught consubstantiation, [p. 37J), combined with these interpretative biases, will alert the Confessional Lutheran reader to a critical use of this crucial analysis of an important era of Biblical scholarship. C. George Fry THE GOSPEL OF MOSES. By Samuel J. Schultz. Moody Press, Chicago, 1979. 165 pages. Cloth. $5.95. This is Moody's reprint of Schultz's book previously published by Harper and Row in 1974. The subtitle for this book is "God's Plan for Man as Revealed in the Old Testament." Samuel Schultz is also the author of The Old Testament Speaks. Some may wonder about the meaning of the title. Schultz believes that Moses was one of the greatest men of the Old Testament and the author of five books which constitute one-fourth of what is now known as the Old Testament. The Torah of Moses has as much content as the first five books of the New Book Reviews 119 Testament- The Pentateuch is just as important for the Old Testament as the Gospels are for a of the rest of the New Testament. The Old Testament's message says Schultz. was summarized by Jesus as "Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself." The essence of this epitomiza- tion by Jesus is found in Deuteronomy. The Gospel According ro Moses makes special use of Deuteronomy, a book about which Schultt wrote: "After years of study I came to the conclusion that Deuteronomy is the most important book in the Old Testament. Consequently after two decades of teaching 1 revised my methodology in sharing the Bible with my students by beginning Old Testament survey courses with Deuteronomy instead of Genesis. Consequently the follow- ing pages represent my personal interest in delineating this approach with those who may read these pages." (p. ix). Kine of the ten chapters endeavor t o show God's plan for man's salvation. Chapter X. "The Gospel for this Age," ties up the Old Testament with the teachings of Jesus and also attempts t o make the biblical message relevant for the twentieth century. It is the author's contention that the basic revelation of God's message to man came through Moses and was only surpassed and completed in the coming of Jesus Christ. Through Moses, God made known what was important for man to know about himself, his origin, his purposes in life Godward and manward, and his prospects for the future. The prophets who came after the time of Moses supplemented and showed their agreement with the Mosaic teachings. In Chapter V Schultz gives the history of Pentateuchal criticism and defends the Mosaic authorship over against the highercritical understanding of the Pentateuch. He accepts the view of P. J. Wiseman that Moses had written documents at his disposal in the composition of Genesis. Schultz is not employing the word "GospeP'in its narrow sense. His usecovers both Law and Gospel. As a member of the Wheaton faculty, he represents a con- servative approach to isagogical, hermeneutical. and exegetical questions. I-hose who hold to the reliability of the Bible will in general appreciate this challenging book. Raymond F. Surburg FROM BABYLOK TO BETHLEHEM. By H. i. Eiiisor~. Joirn K I I ~ X Press, Atlanta. 1979. 136 pages. Paper. $4.95. Ellison. a British Old Testament scholar, author of a number of previous books, has portrayed the history of the people of God from the exile to the Messiah. The eighteen-chapter book deals with the period between the fall of Jerusalem (587 B.C.) and the birth of Christ. This is a time period which is of great interest and importance for the story of Israel and the development of Judaism. Because many Christians know little about rhese nearly six hundred Years. their understanding of the New Testament consequently suffers. Ellison informs the reader in the preface: "This book seeks to serve a double purpose. On the one hand, it tries to make the post-exilic books of the Bible more com- prehensible so far as this can be done without a detailed exegisis. On the other, it seeks to discover the main reason why Palestinian Jewry rejected Jesus at least in the person of its leaders. and why it went down to ruinlas than forty years later. It is not one more history of the period, for there are enough of them. nor is it a description of the Judaism that lies behind the New Testament and modern Jewish Onhodoxy alike. Here again sufficient work has been done by others" (p. vii). The perceptive reader will notice that Ellison manages to exact the last ounce of information from contemporary history and literature. Ellison examines and evaluates ths activity and writings of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai. and Zechariah. cONCORD~A THEOLOGlCAL QUARTERLY He appears to favor the view that Ezra came to Palestine between the two visits of Nehemiah, 444 and 432 B.C. He challenges the contention of many scholars that the synagogue originated during the Babylonian captivity. Some of the post-Biblical books are discussed in more detail than others. Although Zechariah has fourteen chapters, he ignores questions of its content and author- ship almost entirely. Some of the Apocrypha are outlined and discussed. Raymond F. Surburg A GUIDE FOR THE STUDY O F T H E FIRST LETTER O F JOHN IN THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT. By Marvin R. Wilson. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1979. 65 pages. Paper. $4.95. Wilson's book is a 'self-study' guide intended to lead the beginner in Greek into the Greek New Testament. The First Letter of John is chosen for this purpose because it has a vocabulary range of only 234 words, its syntax is simple, and its theological depth is profound. Each of the twenty-five lessons of this book consists of vocabulary study, questions, and suggestions for further study. It is the second part, the questions. which will be of most interest t o the pastor who wishes t o review his Greek or renew his enthusiasm for New Testament study. The questions lead the student into the major grammars, lexical aids, word studies, commentaries. and textual studies which apply to First John in particular and the New Testament in general. For example, at 1 John 3:9 Wilson asks the question: "Does v. 9 teach sinless perfection? Give particular attention to the tense of poiei and hamartanein. How does Zerwick (Biblical Greek, p. 82. par. 25 1 ) resolve the puzzling paradox of I John 2: 1 and I John 3:9?" The question is intended to show on the basis of the present tense of hamartanein that the Christian does not "live in habitual sins," even though he still commits sin daily. for which the blood of Christ cleanses him by virtue of the "atoning-sacrifice" of Christ (1 Jn. 3:6; 1 :7; 2:2). It is an "honest book," without theological bias, but limited to those who take their Greek New Testament seriously. W. Degner REVELATION. By J. P. M. Sweet. Westminster Pelican Commentaries. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1979. Paper. $8.95. xv + 361 pages. The Revelation remains, as it were, the rough waters between Scylla and Charybdis, waiting to wreck the ship of interpretation either on the rocks of excessivespiritualism or those of excessive literalism. Prof. Sweet, of Cambridge University, however, proves to be a steady and reliable he!msman as he guides the reader in an evenhanded and balanced fashion through this most difficult book. In the best English tradition, Sweet's treatment of Revelation remains sane - firmly rooted in the text, guided by a n enlightened common-sense, not given to fancy or to excessive mental ingenuity. He wishes to explain, not to construct theories or systems. The result is, in my opinion, the best commentary on Revelation to appear in recent years (of English commentaries only that of G. B. Caird rivals it; it is superior t o the best recent German commentary. that of Heinrich Kraft). Sweet's success rests upon several overarching principles or perspectives which color the whole interpretation and gives it depth and focus: (1) Revelation is taken as "an impressively coherent whole," as "substantially the work of one mind" (p. 36). The ocmional strangeness of the text does not issue fonh into massive textual reconstruction (the undoing of R. H. Charles). (2) Sweet operates with a truly Biblical notion of prophecy: "A prophet in the biblical unw is not simply one who predicts the future, but one who sees info the realifies Book Reviews 121 that lie behind the appearances of this world and sets them out, with the con- sequences he sees, so that people may act accordinglyw (p. 2). This view excludes any purely futuristic understanding of Revelation and therefore allows the Revelation to be truly Word of God also to our situation. (3) The full, total dimension of the Revelation, the Revelation as a whole, is kept in mind when interpreting the details. Sweet understands that the Revelation is a piece of literary art in which "the proportions of the whole are more important than the individual scenesw (p. 13). Like a painting, the detail serves to illucidate, to flesh out, major themes. (4) Revelation is structured around major themes which are essentially Old Testament themes (of course, now understood through the prism of Christ's death and resurrection): "In fact Revelation can be seen as a Christian re-reading of the whole Jewish scriptural heritage, from the stories of the Beginning to the visions of the End" (p. 40). The "Introduction" (pp. 1-54) - which discusses questions of imagery, date, authorship, historical situation. and the like - is one of the best 1 have read. Sweet presents all the pertinent data and comes to sound conclusions, careful not to overstep the bounds allowed by the evidence. Typical of Sweet's approach is his discussion of date (pp. 21-27). He takes seriously arguments in favor of an early dating, c. 68 A.D. (most recently and cogently advanced by J. A. T. Robinson, Redating the New Testamenr, 1976), but determines that the traditional date (c. 95 A.D.) is more probable: "the earlier date may be right, but the internal evidence is not sufficient to outweigh the firm tradition stemming from Irenaeus" (p. 27). Concerning authorship, Sweet decides that certainty is impossible, although the apostle in his opinion is most probably not the author (pp. 36-38). Commensurate with his principle that one must understand the details in light of the major themes, Sweet first introduces each section with a discussion of the "big picture," often relating it to what will come or what has gone before, and only then does he comment on the book verse by verse. In this way Sweet is successful in keeping before the mind of the reader the central focus of the book as a whole and gives the reader the sense of theological movement which is so lacking in most commentaries on the Revelation. That focus is the new creation which arises out of the redemption wrought by the slain Lamb. Therefore - and Sweet brings this out better than any other commentator I know of -- chapters 4 and 5, which speak of the monarchy of God the Creator and of the victorious Redeemer Lamb, are the proper backdrop for all that happens. The rest of the Revelation reveals what that Lordship looks like under its double aspect of salvation and judgment and what the final denouement of that Lordship will be. Sweet puts the relation between chapters4 and 5 and the following chapters in Pauline terms: "the revelation andexecution of God's righteousness (his saving action to right the wrong) in the gospel is bound up with the revelation of his wrath (the recoil of his righteousness on all who ignore it). Salvation and wrath are two sides of the same coin" (p. 123). To be outside the Lordship of the Creator is to be given over to destruction, death, chaos. Also, the victory of this Lordship is finally to be seen in a new order which is simply God (the Creator) Himself: "The frail 'tabernacle' of the incarnation (John 1: 14) has been left as the one remaining reality when all else has been shaken (Heb. 12:27). The new order is simply God" (p. 296). Sweet quite nicely highlights the role such dominant Old Testament themes as Exodus, new creation, and new temple play in the Revelation's message. The sole disappointment is the treatment of the difficult passage concerning the I000 years (Rev. 20: 1- 14). Sweet rightly emphasizes the restraint of John, the insignificant role this passage plays in the whole of the Revelation (a welcome CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY realism given the excessive interest this passage awakens in many com- mentaries). However, while declaring the 1000 years to be a symbolic period. Sweet is not clear what role this 1000 year period plays in the Revelation. al- though he refers t o it as "an interim period" (p. 287). The release of Satan after the 1000 years is said to represent "man's free will, the capacity God has given for sin)) (P. 290). This almost certainly is an erroneous guess. This commentary is commendable. It captures superbly the message of the Revelation, keeping it rooted deeply where i t belongs. in the Old Testament. although Sweet is not oblivious to the parallels with ancient astrology and pagan symbolism. Sweet demonstrates that the book of the Revelation is a book worthy of study and comment. and in his able hands it has been worthily commented upon. WilIiam C. Weinrich UNDERSTANDING REVELATION: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE KEY INTERPRETATIONAL AND CHROKOLOGICAL QUESTIONS WHICH SURROUND T H E BOOK O F REVELATION. By Gary G. Cohen. Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois. 187 pages. 56.95. "Was Christum treibet."That, according to Luther, determined Biblical inter- pretation, for Christ is the center, the principium, of Scripture; all relates to Him, to His person and to His work. S o book of the New Testament so requires that this essential hermeneutical principle remain central as does the Apocalypse of St. John, and n o book has so often provided occasion for this principle's total disregard. Undersranding revelarion is a typical example of the "searching after times and seasons" which arises when the Crucified One no longer is the center of the Scripture: "Once this task. . . is accomplished"(i.e. placing the events in the Revelation "in their proper dispensational time period. and in their correct chronological order of succession"). "a framework will exist upon which the interpreter can rightly position and interpret each and every verse of the Apocalypse" (p. 15). Christ has been replaced by chronology! This book was originaIly doctoral dissertation at Grace Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, Indiana, and is the Moody Press edition of an earlier Chiistian Beacon Press release { ; 968). ii is preciicaied on the presuppositions o i premillenialism and wishes to program the sequence of events (allegedly referred to in the Revelation) in the final days: visible coming of Christ. pretribulational rapture of the church, the tribulation during which God will once more deal independently with Israel as a nation. the millenium, the final end. Clear and detailed charts throughout the book aid the reader as he wends his way through the argumentation. It is too bad the!do not help in "understanding Revelation." William C. Weinrich THE LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA ,4ND THEIR PLACE IN T H E PLAN OF THE APOCALYPSE. By William M . Ramsay. (Hodder and Stoughton, London 1904.) Reprinted by Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1979. Paper. Pages xviii + 446. $6.95. Perhaps no scholar in the English-speaking world has been so persistent and persuasive in setting forth the necessity of understanding the Graeco-Roman environment for a comprehension of the New Testament and the history of the Early Church as has Sir William M. Ramsay (1851-1939). His books remain models of scholarship which are never pedantic. sometimes creative. and always illuminating. Those who have interest in New Testament and early Chtistian study are beholden to Baker Book House for making available once again the works of Sir William in its reprint edition. "The William M. Ramsay Book Reviews 123 ~ibrary." The present book is one of the better known productions of Ramsay and remains a sine qua non for any study of the Revelation of St. John. The book does not present an exegesis of the letters to the seven churches(Reve1ation 2-3) but rather argues the thesis that the seven letters reflect through and through, in both form and content, their cultural, political. economic, and even physical environment. Virtually all conceivable questions arising from the seven letters are dealt with by the author. Chapters representative of the breadth of issues addressed in this book include "Writing, Travel, and Letters among the Early Christians"; "Transmission of Letters in the First Century"; "The Province of Asia and the Imperial Religion"; "The Jews of the Asiatic Cities"; "The Pagan Converts in the Early Church"; "Origin of the Seven Representative Cities". Additional chapters provide historical sketches and geographic description of each of the seven cities and detailed discussion of' major imagery in the letters. As the "Preface" indicates, the seven letters of the Apocalypse are. in the eyes of Ramsay, representative of that fusion between East and West which is of the essence of Christianity's historical importance. Underlying this overarching thesis is the typical belief of classic Protestant liberalism (so prominent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) that Christianity is a cultural leaven raising civilization to ever higher plateaus. This belief has been shattered by intervening historical events and by more recent scholarship, but the profit one may derive from reading this book is not thereby disminished. This book remains a true classic, but the serious student will wish to consult modern re- examinations such as C. J. Hemer, "The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia" (Ph.D. Dissertation; Manchester University, 1969). William C. Weinrich THE DARK SIDE O F THE MILLENNIUM: THE PROBLEM O F EVIL IN REVELATION 20:l-10. By Arthur H. Lewis. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids. Michigan. 1980. Paper. 65 pages. $4.95. The presence of evil forces and satanic deception in the millenial kingdom depicted in Revelation 20: 1 - j0 has given rise to some of the stranger notions of modern-day chiliasts: the future. temporal messianic kingdom, over which Christ will rule, will be a mixed bag of good and evil, of resurrected spiritual saints and tribulation embodied saints, together with those who - even in the midst of a visible, earthly rule of Chirst - still refuse to believe. Does this "mixed" view of the messianic kingdom of Christ receive any support at all from Old and New Testament statements concerning the messianic kingdom? This is the question addressed by Arthur Lewis. professor of Old Testament at Bethel College, St. Paul. The author is clearly sympathetic to the concern of modern rnillenialists that the literal nature of Biblical prophecy not be spiritualized away. Yet, after comparing Old and New Testament prophecies of the future messianic kingdom with Revelation 20: 1-10, Lewis concludes that the glorious kingdom of Christ envisioned by the prophets cannot be the same as the millenium of Revelation 20:l-10 - nowhere in the Scriptures is it allowed that the messianic kingdom will be characterized by good and evil. The view then that there will be a future, temporally delimited kingdom of Christ before the final, eternal kingdom of God is devoid of Biblical warrant. This is certainly true. But of what then does Revelation 20: 1-10 speak: "Where does the milleniurn belong?" Labeling his own position "historical millenialism," Lewis adopts in modified form the traditional amillenial view. first clearly espoused by Augustme, that the 1000 year period is symbolic of the present age between the two comings of Christ. With the second coming of Christ the 1 24 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAI. QUARTERLY "millenium" will cease and the true messianic, eternal kiligdom will begin. However, when Lewis attempts to provide the contours of his "historical millenialism," his argument becomes problematic and unconvincing. He does not wish to spiritualize the picture of the millenium - understood as t he present age - pictured in Revelation 20: 1-10: "The martyred and enthroned saints are real, the angel who binds Satan is real, Satan himself is very real, and the wicked nations in revolt against the King are real nations and part of history" (p. 50). The result is an implied adoption of the old "historical" exegesis of Revelation, which wished to correlate the images of Revelation with specific historical occurrences. This is especially clear in the treatment of the revolt of the nations: "The same nations are deceived by the devil, then not deceived for a thousand years, then deceived again. Why not consider these events as actual and historical, placing them within the world of sinful peoples of our present age?" (p. 59). And Lev is has the same difficulty as have all representatives of the "historical" approach - they find it difficult to find really good and convincing correlations. Lewis' attempt limps: the time when the nationsare not deceived is a time of "relative freedom from the domination of satanically-inspired rulers and oppressive govenments" (p. 60). And when has this occurred? "The world has always had areas of cruel domination by evil kings and leaders. Generally speaking, however, the freedom for men to believe and receive the gospel (since Pentecost) has been worldwide" (p. 60). Clearly, the vision has become opaque and dim. According to Lewis, this present period of "relative freedom" will be followed by a short final period, immediately before the return of Christ, in which the nations, once more deceived by an unleashed Satan, attack the saints of Christ. How the "historical" event of the unbinding of Satan comports with the universal assertion of the New Testament that the binding of Satan in the cross of Christ (Lewis is correct in seeing the cross as the binding of Satan, p. 52) is all- sufficient and final is a question Dr. Lewis may wish to address in another book. William C. Weinrich 11. Systematic Studies I BELIEVE: A STUDY O F THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION AND THE APOLOGY O F THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION. By Bjarne W. Teigen. Lutheran Synod Book Company, Bethany CoHege, Mankato, Minnesota, 1980. 80 pages. Paper. $2.00 This is the fifth and final study commissioned by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod commemorating the anniversaries of the Lutheran Confessions. Dr. Teigen's series is among the most valuable for several reasons: (1) all the confessions are covered; (2) the manual size and the arrangement of the doctrinal articles according to topics are conducive to teaching; (3) questions are provided for all chapters in the series; and (4) pictures of the major confessional figures from the sixteenth century and photographs of the historic places give the reader an idea of the original circumstances. Lutheranism should never deteriorate into an historical glorification. but a little nostalgia is appropriate for an anniversary. In his final study, Teigen treats the Augsburg Confession and the Apology as a unit and in several cases groups several articles from both confessions into one chapter. While the article on baptism receives its own chapter, the three articles on the church, VI1, VIII, and XV are merged into one chapter. The method avoids redundancy. Teigen combines a keen historical appreciation with a ready willingness to address contemporary theological issues. Thus he falls into neither insignificant historicism or theological truisms. Book Reviews 125 Concerning the current debate about the moment of the real presence in the iord's Supper. Teigen says, "Article X makes it evident that the Body and the Blood of Christ are present before the distribution, 'that they are present in the Supper of the Lord,' . . ." (p. 49). Teigen is at his relevant best when he addresses the employeremployee mentality with which some congregations regard their pastors (pp. 62-63): All this is a far cry from the popular conception of the minister as a sort of public relations man who has been democratically chosen by the congregation to serve as a sort of executive secretary for a loosely knit group, . . . In addition, he is expected to serve as a private psychoanalyst for those who are having some problems in adjusting satisfactorily to the stresses of modern life. Since Teigen is as much a Luther and confessional scholar as he is a systematic and practical theologian, he is constantly addressing current situations. For example, there is no ecumenical mandate in Article V11 to establish fellowship on a minimal understanding of the Gospel. as t he Gospel hereas total revelation is contrasted with human ceremonies (p. 39). Highlights are the chapters on Christ and justification (V and VI). Both are tied together clearly. Rarely is a clearer statement of the Gospel found (pp. 22-23): The death of Christ was the propitiation that removed the holy wrath of God against sin. Christ as the substitutionary victim received the full weight of that righteous wrath which sinners deserved because of their sin. not only their original sin but also "all actual sins of man." Hence God forgives sinful men and forgives them righteously. that is, without condoning sin, because now the wrath of God has been appeased by the sacrifice of His Son. Through the vicarious suffering of Christ. God and the entire human race are reconciled. By raising His Son from the dead. God has pronounced absolution upon the entire race, justifying the ungodly. Our sins necessitated Christ's atoning death. But his resurrection is the gracious reconciliation and justification of the world of sinners. A special chapter (11) discusses Luther's contribution to the Augsburg Confession. By including appropriate paragraphs from Luther's writings thro.rigIioiit the study, Teigen demonstrates further ihe Refomer's con- tributions. Though Melanchthon's flirting with Rome and Geneva proved to be an embarrassment to Lutherans as early as the writing of the Formula (1577), Teigen does give him the honor for :he Augsburg Confession and Apology which he still deserves. While Luther gave the confession its general approach, MeIanchthon "is the author of the first specifically Lutheran Confession. He gave it its form, dignity and irenic tone, and he succeeded in uniting the basic insights of the ancient church and the Reformation" (p. 9). He is credited with giving the Augustana "its balance of mildness and firmness together with its vigor and freshness" (p. 73). High marks are also given to the Apology (p. 10). The courage of the laymen in presenting the Augsburg Confession (pp. 4,5,6, 74, 75) aIso receives its due. Teigen can be thanked for pIacing Melanchthon' correctly with the theologians (p. 4) and not the laymen. Viewing the author of the Augsburg Confession and the Apology with the laity might be good church politics, but it is bad history and the~logy.~ The confessional anniversaries are drawing to a close, but Teigen has left the Lutheran Church in his five-study series a means for the adherents of these confessions to keep them alive in the years to come. David P. Scaer CONCORDIA THEOLOCrlC.4L QUARTERLY THE ROLE OF T H E AUGSBURG CONFESSIOS. Edited by Joseph A. Burgess- Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1980. 203 pages. Cloth. S 13.95. The Year 1980 as the 450th anniversary of the ,4ugsburg Confession (AC) was an appropriate time t o ask about the possibilit!- of Catholic-Lutheran rapprochement. Back in 1967 Peter Brunner suggested Catholic recognition of the AC as one way of bridging the gap. Eleven essayists from both communions test the theological possibilities of this suggestion. Vincenz Pfnuer and Heinz Schuette for the Catholics and Pannenberg and Harding Meyer for the Lutherans express the most enthusiasm for the idea. Pfnuer sees no reason to deny that the AC is a witness to the faith of the Catholic Church with the proviso that Luther cannot be regarded as an arbiter of the contested portions. Since the Lutheran World Federation in 1963. Schuette points out. concluded "that the Catholic doctrine of justification could. from a Lutheran standpoint. no longer be dismissed as false, unbiblical, and unevangeiical" (p. 55). the major obstacle to Catholic recognition of the AC had been removed. Pannenberg urges the Lutherans to see in the AC a document lacking i n fu l l catholicity and as some- what provincial. A return to the qutj:rnus subscription is urged by Meyer, without using that technical term, when he states that the Lutheran Confessions should be viewed as historical documents subject tc the Scriptures (p. 79). The Catholic writers, Walter Kasper, Aver): Dulles. and Harry McSorley have less enthusiasm for recognition. Kasper knows that historically 1,utherans have regarded the A C as the correct interpretation oft he Scriptures and that i t cannot be isolated from the other confcssions. including the Smalkald Articles with its explicit condemnation o f t he papacy. These documents in turn were condemned by Trent. Beneath the placid waters of the AC are the Smalkald Articles, observes Dulles, who offers this caveat, "the Catholic Church. therefore. cannot properly domesticate the AC as being, without qualification. n Catholic confession (as it understands Catholicism)" (p. 136). Dulles suggests that both communions recognize each other and overlook the confessior~al problern (p . 138). McSorley sees no problem in Catholic recognition. but then hedges his bets by saying that no creeds express the full confession of faith (p. 143). Each comn~union is not really closer to the other, but both should stay in the tunnel hoping to find the light at the end. Robert Jenson, a Lutheran. offers a solution to the historical division over justification. The problem lay in what he calls "the special hermeneutical character of the gospel as a mode of discourse"(p. 159). Since the Catholics preached the law, they concluded that salvation vas b> works, and the Lutherans law-and-promise theme resulted in the sola./ide concept. Catholic recognition of the AC would mean accepting this "specific critique of all churchly discourse" (p. 163). Novel as the suggestion is. i t seems little more linguistic existentialism dressed up i n Lutheran terms and leaves untouched the old problem of whet her justification happens coranl Deo or in me. Luther's great contribution is the proclamation that justificaticn happens before God in Christ, not simply some type of preaching activity. Especially useful a re the Catholic essays as they attempt to wrestle with the AC. The writers have put behind them the historic negativism of 450 years and have gone back to square one to listen to the Lutheran concerns. Any con- temporary study of the AC cannot overlook these essays. Thc Lutheran con- tributors seem too willing to overlook the unique Lutheran confessional attitude. At the 1979 November meeting of the Socier! o i Biblical Literature, thc Jewish speaker in a panel representing the three great monotheistic faiths remarked that in too many dialogues the rheologians expressing the classical positions of Chistianity are not asked to participate. The same type of critique is Book Reviews 127 valid here. The classical Lutheran attitude toward the confessions with its quia subscription is simply missing in the essays. The Catholic writers are aware of this and are slightly wary. Catholic recognition of the AC might present an historical problem. Can any document be excised from its historical situation and be dropped down 450 years later leaving behind the original situation? Recognition of the AC would mean leaving Luther and the other confessions back in the sixteenth century. Not everyone will pay this price. Highly improbable at this writing is any meaningful Catholic recognition of the AC. McSorley is the most sober in stating that we have begun the discussion and that it should continue. David P. Scaer JESUS: GOD, GHOST OR GURU? By Jon A. Buell and 0. Quentin Hyder. With a response by F. F. Bruce. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1978. Paper. 135 pages. "Let i t be clearly understood that if the Gospels are historically reliable." states Bruce in the concluding epilogue, "their critical study can only confirm their reliability." He has in mind literary (documentary sources behind the Gospels). form (the oral material and Sirz irn Lehen that purportedly shaped things). and redaction criticism (the editorializing by the respective writers). But none of this changes the conclusion to which the two principle authors lead their readers that .Jesus was indeed "the peer of the Most High." or. as Bruce puts it. that "the validity and personal implications of his claim still challenge us to a decision." Perhaps the book's title is a bit misleading, specifically the "Ghost or Guru" part. Bueli and Hyder have effectively shown that Jesus was not merely proposing a kind of messiahship in the Jewish sense of that term (so most re- cently in Schonfield's Pussover Plot). but that He was confronting His disciples and contemporaries with the staggering truth of His fuil deity. as He does to this day on the basis of incontestably accurate and reliable sources in Sacred Writ. There is some very fine argumentation by the authors in behal C both of Christ's self-revelation as God incarnate and also in behalf of the written record in Holy Scripture. The average inquirer into Christianity, its Lord. and its Biblical Lvord. cannot help being braced and edified by the apologetics assembled in their behalf. Christianity's foes. the authors show, have approached their task with presuppositions that are as far off-target and with as disastrous results as a piano tuner who works with a faulty tuning fork for middle C. Christ did not claim to be a prophet. or a great teacher, or a holy man. among other great prophets. teachers. and holy men so-called; but He did indisputably claim to be God's Son. and His grounds and evidence for doing so are beyond cavil. As C. S. I-~wis put it . "Either this man was. and is. the Son of God." or one has to conclude that He was "a madman or something worse." The alternatives to Christ's utter truth and veracity fall of their own total absurdity, if not to say vacuous nature. Here is a book to share with that intelligent. inquiring, avowed agnostic friend who so far has only affirmed. "almost thou persuadest me tobea Christian." E. F. Klug PERSPECTIVES ON PENTECOST. By Richard B. Gaffin. Jr. Baker. Book House. Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1979. 127 pages. Paper. Gaffin. chairman of the exegetical department of Westrnins~er Seminary in Philadelphia. addresses the current challenge of "charismatic" phenomena by a t t cm~thg Lo demonstrate that tongue-speaking and the other related gifts of 1 CONCORDIA T H E O L O G I C A L QUARTER 1.Y Corinthians, in particular, were limited t o the lifetime of the apostles. he close of the canon- viewed as the near equivalent o f the death of the apostles. means that the supernatural gifts are no longer needed and are thus removed. Gaffinqs Pers~ec'tives combines popular appeal and serious exegesis. Persp~ctive.~ evolved from a series of lectures a n d classroon1 pre sen t a t i ons prepared between 19'74 and 19'78. At each of the crucial points of his argument. Gaffin critics who. as he says. have responded to the earlier essays. The exegesis is pointedly directed to matters in deba te . At no point does the reader floun- der, questioning the direction of Gaffin's arguni2"t: Gaffin does admit that his a rguments at several points [nay seem to some a little contrived. It is difficult t o disagree with his self-confession. Cerltral to Gaffin's hypothesis is a near identificat ion between the s e w Testament prophets and tongue-speakers (PP. 55-87). T h e tongue. unintelligible without the interpretation, becomes with a n interpretation \\.hat he calls the functional equivalent of prophecy ( 1 Car. 12. 13, 14). His cxe~etical conclusions about the nature of prophet and prophecy a r e then applied to tonguc-speaking. A supposed office of New Testament prophet is defir~cd i v ~ t h an amazing, though not convincing, precision. New Testament prophecy is defined as "itself the inspired, non-derivative word of God" (p.59). In another place it is defined as "the word of God in the primary. original sense" (p. 65). In regard to revelation (in the narrow sense of revealing things kno\\ n to God but unknown to men). the New Testament prophets are placed o n the same Icvel as the apostles. Pauline references, especially in Ephesians, t o prophets are understood as New Testament. not Old Testament figures. It would logicall folloiv that something written by one of these "New Testament ~)rt;phr.ts" quite independently of an apostle would have the same validity as an apostolic writing. True to his argument, Gaffin sees a place fo r t h e Rook of Revelation in the canon. not because of an apostolic. but because of 3 "prophetic" or-igin (pp. 68-70). The immediate divine appointment of Gafl ' in ' s"Yc~ Testament prophets'and their function of speaking dirrct11. for God grants them a t!,pe of immunity from apostolic supervision. This conclusion lollows trom the thcs~s that thc office of the Old Testament prophet continues in the hew Testament oi'fice or function which bears i he same name. Against this opinion it must be said plainly that .john the Baptist is and renrains the last prophet of the Old Testament 1,ariet) and that the successors of the Old Testament prophets a r e not the Nc\v Testament prophets but the apostles (who are not called prophets). Secondly. if God inspires directly wi th authoritative words the New Testament prophets. of what real use are the apostles. They have become superfluous. I t ;tpostles and New 1-estament prophets are both norms in the ea1 .1~ church. t11r1-e are at least t ~ v o problems: ( 1 ) two independent norms exist side by side; ( 2 ) Paul. a n apostle. has no ultimate authority over [he New Testament prophets. But hedoes! Though at first glance the idea of New Testament prophets speaking immediatel) for a "sovereign ~ ~ d " might seem unusually attracti\.e t o consrrva~ive Christians committed to the Bible as the inspired word of God. the concept itself' is pure Schwaemere; (fanaticism)! More importantly. Chr i s t gake 11s no prolnise about this office of New Testament prophet as being revelator!. and He cc~mrnanded US to listen only to the apostles, The church k n o w s he Neu Testament as t ht. apostolic. not as the prophetic. writings. After the Rew Testament prophets a r e presented as rCkclator)-agents on a par with the they are as being a specicr o l the same genus as the lonpe-spcakers- ~ ~ f f , , , paul's ha ndlinf o I prophesying and tongue-s~eak- ing together i n I Corinthians fo r this v ~ W . Howsver. is not our author Book Reviews 1 29 completely overlooking the fact that Paul calls for an increase of prophesying and the virtual extinction of tongue-speaking? Paul wants less tongue-speaking. even when interpreters are available. Almost inexcusable is his citation of Acts 19:6, "they were speaking in tongues and prophesying" (p. 82). Lo demonstrate that both phenomena existed side by side. This is an epexegetical "and". As they spoke in a foreign language, they also glorified God. It does not mean that first they spoke in some kind of tongue and then they glorified God. But why did the early church need these direct-pipeline prophets and tongue- speakers? Gaffin's answer is that the lack of a complete canon necessitated them: "We must ask ourselves whether we grasp our profound advantage in theaccess granted us to God's completed statement of His Word," (p. 100). Ridiculous! Does Gaffin really believe that the Thessalonians' knowledge of Christianity was limited to the epistles which Paul addressed to them? Would they know, for example, nothing of Baptism and the Lord's Supper unless it came through one of the "prophets"? First of all, the apostle orally instructed them in aNChristian truth. The presence of one living apostle would be worth more than a copy of the completed canon. After all, the canon's authority comes from and through the apostle(s). Secondly, it overlooks the role played by oral tradition. For several generations the apostolic truth existed in oral form. No immediately appointed prophets where needed to supervise it. In the course of reading this book I had to wince at a number of unacceptable exegetical and dogmatic conclusions. There is, for one thing, the identification of Christ with the Spirit (p. 20). This position is only a logical co,rollary of the Reformed insistence that the human nature of Christ is confined somewhere up there. Christ's divine natureand the Spirit are merged. Such a concept resembles modalism. The discussion of whether the Spirit was given before Pentecost (John 20) or on Pentecost (Acts 2) could have been more easily resolved by looking at the former as a reference to the induction of the apostles as pastors of Christ's church and the latter as the inauguration of the spread of the Gospel (pp. 39-41). Since the word "interpret" is used in I Corinthians. Gaffin concludes that known, intelligible tongues were used in that congregation as they were in Acts. Unanswered by Gaffin is the question of why in Acts no interpretation is ever needed. Mig!!: r?ot the wiseranswer be that in .Acts and in Ccrinthians we are dealing with two different phenomena? Isaiah 28: 1 I, cited in I Corinthians, is seen not as condemnation of the Jews in the time of Isaiah but as a direct prophecy of the Jewish obstinacy during thedays of the Messiah. But thiswould mean that the Corinthian congregation had to be chiefly Jewish, though the evidence clearly points to its being Gentile. Gaffin again adjusts the evidence to fit his conclusions. But if Gaffin were right, then the greatest manifestation of tongues shodd have happened in the Palestinian congregations just before Jerusalem's destruction. Unintelligible tongue-speaking is. contrary to Gaffin. clearly related to Gentile problems and is best explained as a practice taken over from paganism. Gaffin's logic is consistent, but the exegesis which serves as the basis of his argumentation simply does not test out against the raw New Testament data. Gaffin concludes that the current Charismatic Movement has nothing in common with anything happening in the New Testament. This conclusion means that the New Testament provides us with no principles for handling the current problem. Gaffin does not want to brand contemporary charismatic phenomena as Satanic. He sees the current tongue-speaking as "non-conceptual verbalization," i.e., noise without meaning. He proposes that we explore "the compatibility of non-conceptual verbalization in church worship." St. Paul already explored it in I Corinthians 12-14 and found it unacceptable. In the end C O N C O R D I A THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY (;affin encourages what Paul successfully discouraged. The conceptual verbalization of Acts must be distinguished from the non-conceptual verbal- ization of 1 Corinthians, ,qnd the most effecti\e way of handling the non- conceptual verba]j7.ation of modern is the method outlined by Paul In I Corinthians 14 in opposition t o the of his day. Any other way will be less than apostolic and p rhaps antl-apostolic. David P. Scaer C H l L D R E x OF PROMISE: THE CASE FOR BAPTlZiNG INFASTS. BY Geoffrey W. Bromilev. William B. Eerdmans. Grand Rapids. Michigan. 1979. Paper. 1 I6 pages. 53.95. Bromiley. w h o made "Kittel" available for the English-speaking world. offers a c a s e for the salvation of infants which should evoke a major response from the Reformed community . No new ground is ploughed by seeing infant baptism within the boilndaries o f covenant theology, but h ~ s arguments for thesalvation of infants tcill attract attention. He argues thus: Ch~ldren along with all people a r e corldemned hecause of original sin and arc also included in Christ's work of salvation. Par t i c ipa t~on i n this work demands and requires faith. Any insistence o n t h e innocence of children is Pe]agian. Such an approach is not unfamiliar to Lutherans a n d will be welcomej bv them as only they have consistently held to the doctrine of infant faith. Bromiley cannot . however, untie himself from his Reformed moorings in spite o f his eloquent presentation o f infant faith and salvation. Baptism is still the sign a n d symbol of God's working rather than the actual working itself. The covenant is seen in terms of a n agreement that God makes with families. This kind of blood-line thinking is responsible for the intolerable support that fundamen- tal ists p v e for the modern state o i Israel. Infant faith must come to fuller expression by a conscious decision. says Bromiley. While infant baptism, faith. and salvation are eloquentl? defended. Christian parents w h o d o not bring t h e ~ r children for baptism are to be tolerated i n the church . Not recognized is the strong connection between baptism and the pericopes of Jesus and the chiidren. The baslc presuppositions of Reformed theolog? a r e as real and as objectionablr as evtr. blii Brornile;. puts forth the point clearly that salvation even for infants is impossible without faith. Even though Rromile!, cannot really tear himself awa} from Calvin, 1 hope tha t he has started a debate. The Baptists, which must number about 20 million in America. should be confronted with the two alternatives that their denial of infant baptism leaves them - infant damnation or Pelagianism. David P. Scaer D O l N G T H EO1-OGY 1% NEW PLACES. Edited by Jean-Pierre Jossua and J o h a n n Baptist Merz.. CONCILIL'M: RELIGION IS T H E SEVENTIES. Seabury Press. Yew York. 1979. 114 pages. Paper. S4.95. Concilium is a n endeavor to publish ten volumesannually exploring trends in t h e sociology of- religion. liturgy. dogma, practical theology. canon law. etc. T h o u g h s o m e Protestants are listed among the editors. the direction of the essays a n d the intended audience are clearly Roman Catholic. The theological approach is definitely a\.anl garde. Some of the essays in the present volume discuss t h e process and possibility of doing theology in a modern setting. Elizabeth Schuessler Fiorenza, professor of New Testament at Notre Dame (USA) since 1970. argues that women will not have a secure place In a church leadership role u i ~ l i I ~ e " l e a r n 10 speak of God as Father and Mother, as Son and Daughter . as she a n d he" ( p . 291. Francois Bussini offers a hybrid ecumenism in Book Reviews 131 ,"Hesting a communion between denominations supervised by the Church of Rome and its bishop (p. 42). Bas van lersel kills historicalcritical exegesis with faint praise and offers a method identified as structuralism and linguistic analysis which concerns itself with the organization of the text rather than with concentrating on questions of the development of the text into its present form. ~ l f ~ e d o Bardaji encapsulates the general tenor of most of the essays by asserting that tomorrow's successful theologian will have to break with what has been traditionally recognized as theology. Concilium, a name probably chosen to the spirit of Vatican 11, is innovative, if not downright radical, but is still a real delight. With Roman Catholic Church authorities censuring the leading pioneers in the new movement, the theology of tomorrow could very well be the theology of yesterday. None of the writers seem faintly aware of any blockade in the future of theology. David P. Scaer THE NEW LIFE: READINGS IN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. Edited by Millard J. Erickson. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids. Michigan, 1979. Paper. 524 pages. $10.95. The list of authors in this basic reader in areas dealing with the sinner's regeneration and renewal, the doctrine of the church and the sacraments. and finally eschatological themes, is impressive. Readings from Luther, Wesley. Ritschl, Shedd. Pieper (Franz), Bavinck, Berkouwer. Berkhof, Carnell. Bultmann, and the like, for a total of 38 significant theological writers, is bound to make for substantive, meaty stuff. The authors are allowed to speak in their own terms - thus, for example. Luther on Galatians 3: 13, Franz Pieper on the means of grace, Wesley on perfectionism. BuItmann on mythological es- chatology. the various kinds of millennialists on the various kinds of rnillen- nialism. etc. The resulting mixtum compositum is not for the average student. Unless he is well acquainted with the formal and material principles operating in Romanist, Lutheran, Reformed, and Arminian theologies, he is destined to get lost. If he is well acquainted, he wi!l often miss key elements or theological nuances that fail to get their due. Thus, while Calvinist and Arminian viewpoints on sancti- fication are given. the Lutheran is missing, or simply assumed as being identical with one of the others. The power of the means of grace, as the Holy Spirit through them restores forgiveness and works faith, is simply not there. The same thing happens in the treatment of the important subject of perseverance in the faith; Arminian and Calvinist positions are described, but the Lutheran is lacking. The same is true in the handling of divine election and a number of other key doctrines. Discounting this built-in weakness (perhaps somewhat unavoidable in a compendium like this), the selected readings are very often weH chosen, allowing the reader to see for himself firsthand the thinking of a given theology through the mouth or pen of one of its leading spokesmen. Thus church polity is dacribcd in its representative forms, episcopal, presbyterial, congregationalist, hierarchical - with the Lutheran viewpoint again lacking, however. Some of the sh?*er essays are especially attractive - for example, Carl F. Henry's on the p n l s of independence and the perils of ecumenicity. reprints of art~cles that appeared in Chrisrianity Today. This volume is the third and last in the series. "C fir" volume treated The Living Go& the second. Mon's Need and God3 Gff . E. F. Klug 132 C O N C O R D I A THEOLOGlCAL QUARTERLY C H R I S T C A N M A K E YOU FULLY HUMAN. By Kenneth Cain Kinghorn. Abingdon, Nashville, Tennessee, 1979. Paper. i 10 pages. $3.95. "The main thesis of this book affirms that God wants us to become fully human." is t h e author's opener. It is the Barthian notion that only in Christ does the individual finally attain t o full humanity. That includes the Scripturally impossible idea tha t man is not fully human because of his present sinful state. that Christ a l o n e is the epitome of the fully human. and that He "showed us what it means t o be truly man." Kinghorn i s sharply critical of humanism's elevation of man and failure to recognize t h e broken relationship with God, but he is equally severe with orthodoxy f o r its emphasis o n total depravity. He will not grant that the fall into sin affected m a n s o deeply as to make him totally incapable of spiritual response on his own. T h a t doctrine he labels "extreme pessimism" as regards human nature. T h e image of God may have been sullied. but in no way lost. according to his Wesleyan way of thinking. Barthian theology fits well into the modified, relative perfectionism of that school, which combined free grace with man's free will, and g o o d works with faith, as the ground of man's salvation. In that kind of thinking, sanctification is hitched to justification. not only for a man to become fully human, bu t t o be saved. Kinghorn is critical of Luther and the Lutheran Confessions f o r dweiling "so excessively on the deep sinfulness of human nature that they neglect a truly bibical emphasis on God's transforming grace." Obviously h e knows very little of Luther and of the Confessions. And when he finds Luther saying something about our sinning even in our best works. Kinghorn i s thoroughly distressed even though Luther bases his case on very sound Scr ip tura l grounds. Some very g o o d things are stated about Christians becoming overly identi- fied with, o r overly withdrawn from. the world: also about Christian colleges and universities failing to deliver "both a superior academic education and sound g round ing in the essentials of biblical Christianity." Such concerns are by n o means o f small moment in our day. But why a theologian and a publisher committed to perfectionist theology would run against Webster's grain and in- sist o n spelling the word "perfectibility" as "perfectability" over and over. is a mystery. E. F. Klug B E T W E E N GOD A N D MAN. By Charles J. Fitti. Philosophical Library. New York, 1978. 49 pages. Cloth. $6.95. This b o o k is composed of two essays written by a physicist in the area of phiIosophica1 theology. The orientation of the first essay falls within the boundaries o f R o m a n Catholic pastoral moral theology. The author is quite clear in establishing his arguments in the light of the natural law. All acquainted with R o m a n Catholic moral theology know that the basic thrust of its argumentation i s found in the light of reason provided to us as we work through the nature of things. This is a basically Thomistic approach that persists in Roman C a t h o l i c theology today in spite of the more recent so-called biblical (i-e., historical) thrust since Vatican 11. (Cf.. for instance. Gaudiunt er Spec.) It is stnnge, however, that a layman, given the nature of the Roman Catholic church, should write a n essay in which he clearly places his argumentation over the teaching off ice of the church and. in particular, over the office of the "chief bishop," i.e., t h e Pope (pp. 28-29). Fitti's arguments, however. call for a "universal norm" given in a natural law. For this n o r m the "chief bishop" bears responsibility. However. within that norm there is a certain degree of randomness in which there is still part of the Book Reviews 133 universal structure of things. To this concept the author appeals through arguments connected with science. In this way he is trying to provide for an individuality that, although it might seem to be outside the boundaries of a natural norm, actually falls with the range of possibilities. Hence, he can uphold the teaching office and at the same time provide for a situational ethic within natural law. The second essay deals with the relationship of science to theology. Fitti upholds God as primary cause, but a God that is sustaining the universe through His presence. We as secondary causes are, in essence, guided and sustained by God. God, however, does not control, but coincides in His creative freedom with individual men (p. 36). Fitti's approach essentially places science in the same framework as theology. Science depends on the creative freedom of God. At the same time it depends on our creative freedom. Scientific laws are always in freedom open to the possibilities of God. These possibilities, then, are open to us as God reveals His Spirit in creation. In essence, discovery is "a pentecostal eventn (p. 41). Fitti's essay, although immersed in evolutionary thought and a concept of God that is panentheistic, makes some obervations that bring to mind basic con- servative principles of theology in relationship to science. First of all, when we talk about the possibility of miracles, let us remember that, according to the biblical view of God, God is always a sustaining presence. Thus, the world is open to miracles without any difficulty. The Resurrection, also, can be viewed scientifically as something possible, for natural law is not something fixed once and for all time. To be truly scientific is to be open to new possibilities. Science cannot say with certainty that "the dead cannot rise." What is more interesting is that it is quite impossible to theorize in a scientific setting unless there be a controlling principle in the "novelty" (namely God). Theology is most definitely related to science, in spite of frequent assertions to the contrary. It is refreshing to see a nuclear physicist of the quality of Fitti pointing out such a relationship. Albert L. Garcia EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE. By Richard L. Pratt, Jr. Presbjzerian six! Reformed Publishing Company, Phillipsburg, New Jersey, 1979. 142 pages. Paper. $3.95. Attempts to popularize the profound, provocative, philosophical, and distinctly Reformed apologetics of Dr. Cornelius Van Ti1 of Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia continue to roll off the presses. We think of such recent titles as Cornelius Van Ti1 and the TkeOlogianS ~eologicuI Sfam by Douglas Vickers (Cross Publishing Company of Wilmington, n.d.), Van 7 2 m e 7heologian by John Frame (Pilgrim, 1976). For A Time Such As This by Jim S. Halsey (Presbyterian and Reformed, I976), Van Ti1 - Defender of the Faith by William White (Thomas Nelson, 1979), as well as the older work by Rousas J. Rushdoony, By What Standard?(Presbyterian and Reformed, 1959). To these is now added Every Thought Captive by Richard L. Pratt, Jr., a book which bears the subtitle, A Study Manual for the Defmse of Christian Truth. According to the foreword by John Frame, we have here a volume which presents Van Ti1 in genuinely popular language in the form of a training manual for - of all people - high school students (pp. vii, viii). The fourteen chapters of Every Thought Captive can be readily divided into four main heads. Chapters I through 5 present, in capsule form, the Biblical- theological foundations of Van Til's thought. Chapters 6 and 7 develop this apologetic in terms of an absolute distinction between non-Christian philosophy 134 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY and Christian philosophy. Here one is reminded of Abraham Kuyper's distinc- tion between two kinds of people and two kinds of science (see his Principles of Sacred neology . Eerdmans, 1963, pp. 150-175). Chapter 10. "Structure of a Biblical Defense," presents the sum and substance of the apologetic metho- dology of the book. A sampling of this methodology is as follows (p. 94) The unbeliever cannot have any certainty about his view of God and His revelation because he has not known and cannot know exhaustively all of creation, much less God Himself. His ignorance forces him to be totally uncertain. The non-Christian, however, cannot be uncertain either, for to be uncertain is to be certainlv uncertain, and the unbeliever cannot have such certainty. Most non-dhristians can be shown the reality of this dilemma by pointing out their ignorance in religious matters. They cannot speak consistently about God or His revelation. One cannot but admire the training which some Reformed teenagers are evidently receiving. The final four chapters are illustrative of chapter 10 and tend to be somewhat mechanical and, to this reviewer, a trifle tedious. The main value of a book such as Every Thought Captive for Lutherans is that it offers us one more attempt at understanding the apologetic implications of the Van Ti1 approach. The challenge that Van Ti1 presents to Lutherans is twofold: first to understand him and second to subject his work to a thorough critique from a distinctively Lutheran theological point of view. J. W. Montgomery has. on occasion, risen to meet the second challenge. See his "Once Upon an A Priori" in Jerusalem and Athens - Critical Discussions on the Theology and Apologetics of Cornelius Van Til, Presbyterian and Reformed. 197 1 , pages 380- 391. 1 am not sure that he has really mastered the first. R. E. Muller AN INTRODUCTION T O THE THEOLOGY OF KARL BARTH. By Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1979. Paper. 253 pages. $7.95. Who could be better qualified to write a one-volume summary of Barth's thinking and theology than the man who has done the yeoman task of translat- ing Barth's twelve volumes of Church Dogmatics irom German into English. and who. by his own admission. has had "a lifelong encounter with Barth" through classroom teaching? The facts are that few will have the time or inclination to plow through Barth's wordy, often complicated. sometimes confusing definitions and discussions. Bromiley's strong point is that he not only knows the subject through his minute attention to the text and meaning, but that he can unravel what is complicated through helpful distillations, constantly citing chapter and verse, as it were, so that the reader may, if he wishes, check the subject out in Barth's own original. There is probably no reason to fault Bromiley for being sympathetic to Barth's thinking on most points. What else could one expect from one who has devoted so much time and effort t o Barth's theology? Thus he presents Barth's position on the Word and Scripture in a fully sympathetic manner; but many doubts naturally remain in the minds of those who take the inspiration of Scripture seriously (according to the obvious meaning of the Scriptures themselves) when Barth is able to say both "Yes" and "No" to the teaching. Barth may beshown to be critical of liberal theology because of its attitude toward the text, but in the final analysis one may rightly wonder whether his position was any better. For the Scriptures remain for him no more, in the end, than a human witness to the Word, as Bramiley also admits. No wonder, then, that the conten lions of Con- Icmativc theology concerning Scripture's inspiration and inerrancy seem like "interminable squabbles" to Brornilcy. as wdl as to Barth (p. 44). Book Reviews 135 When Bromiley is critical of Barth's position he never lets it disturb his ob- jective presentation of Barth's position. So, for example, he apparently disagrees with Barth's view that all people are elect in Christ, but nonetheless articulates Barth's position fairly. He also shows how Barth intertwines redemption with creation, how universalism seems implicit to Barth's way of presenting objective reconciliation, how Barth will at times turn a blind eye to Scriptural evidence which does not suit his purposes, now "infant baptism [becomes] and erratic bIock that does not belong to authentic baptismal teaching and practice" (p. 242), etc. There are evident good reasons for considering this analysis to be a fair and very useful tool in getting to know Karl Barth's theology, whether this be in the classroom or in the privacy of one's cwn study. E. F. Klug THE PHILOSOPHY OF REVELATION. By Herman Bavinck. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1979. Paper. 349 pages. $7.95. One would have to cast far to come up with a more incisive, intellectually satisfying, philosophically knowledgeable, and Biblically oriented treatment of the subject of revelation. Though the book is old and a reprint of a 1909edition, it is still a classic. Bavinck taught theology at the Free University of Amsterdam for most of his life, and stood between the redoubtable Abraham Kuyper and present-day G. C. Berkouwer at that institution. Some of these chapters were delivered as lectures at Princeton in the early part of the twentieth century, at a time when that seminary was trying to fight off the inroads of liberalism. "With the reality of revelation, Christianity stands or falls," is Bavinck's platform; he contends, moreover, that "belief in such a special revelation is the starting-point and the foundation-stone of Christian theology" and "knowledge of God rests on his revelationW(pp. 20-24). Havingstated these thetical truths the author proceeds to show the philosophical, religious, historical, and cultural connecting-points to the epistemological question of how man knows what he knows concerning theology, or talk concerning God. "God, the world, and man are the three realities with which all science and all philosophy occupy them- selves" (p. 83); and Bavinck is able to lead the reader through the labyrinth of thought-systems that have engaged in this pursuit. Early on he points out the difference between two giant Reformation figures, Luther and Erasmus. The latter, Bavinck notes, moved away from Pauline theology to a kind of Sermon on the Mount theology and thus became internalizing religion rather than directing the sinner outside of himself to Christ, as Luther did, following the Apostle's lead. Bavinck has put his finger on a key eiement in Luther's thinking with this distinction between the two sixteenth century giants and is thus able to show that without Luther's kind of Christ-centeredness not only theology but all of history loses its bearings, "its heart, its kernel, its centre." and "becomes a chaos, without a centre, and therefore without a circumference" (p. 141). In fact, it is at this point that Christianity differs from all natural religions: "Without revelation religion sinks back into a pernicious superstition" (p. 169). and becomes the catalyst for all manner of cultic forms. Bavinck recognizes, of course, the reality of both general and special revelation; also that there is a certain amount of inter-action, or inter-dependence, between the two, that "general revelation leads to special, special revelation points back to general," that "the one calls for the other, and without it remains imperfect and un- intelligible," that "together they proclaim the manifold wisdom which God has displayed in creation and redemption" (p. 28). One may not wish to accept every CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY implication here, but Bavinck is much closer to the truth of things on this matter of revelation than, for example, Karl Barth; and it is good to be able t o read that "for this purpose God has deposited the truth in nature and Scripture, that we might have it, and by knowing it might rule through it" (p. 82). Perhaps the main flaw in Bavinck's theology in this otherwise significant text is the absence of a proper emphasis upon the means of grace in the whole matter of special revelation. But this lack points to the major gulf between a Lutheran and a Reformed approach. E. F. Klug Ill. Historical Studies DER REICHSTAG ZU AUGSBURG UND DIE CONFUTATIO. By Herbert Immenkoetter. Aschendorff, Muenster, 1979. Paper. 1 10 pages. There is a particular timeliness for the appearance of this scholarly monograph. It tells the story of the Augsburg Diet and the presentation of the Augsburg Confession by the Lutheran party in 1530. In its second part Immenkoetter, a Catholic scholar, includes also the Confutatio with critical apparatus. This is based on the August 3, 1530, copy as it was read at the Diet. Thus there is available here, albeit in German, the most reliable version of that famous response to the Lutherans' historic Confession, which then in turn triggered Melanchthon's notable Apology to the Augsburg Confession of 153 1 . The avaiIability of an authoritative text of the Confutatio alone makes this monograph valuable to scholars on both sides of the Reformation con- frontation. Undoubtedly it merits translation into English. Immenkoetter's introduction is likewise a good, succinct, generally very objective presentation. He tells the story of the several recensions through which the Catholic efforts went in trying to reply to the strong, evangelical, appealing statement of the Lutheran princes and theologians. There wasevident shame on the imperial, Rornanist side for the feeble responses that were successively offered. Charles V wanted a substantial, convincing reply, a ~ i d it was not coming forth in spite of feverish efforts and commotion by the Catholic theologians. Finally, the August 3 version was completed. In arriving at this finished answer there were numerous interchanges and dialogues between the two parties, and lmmenkoetter observes. no doubt correctly for the most part, that never again, before or after, were the divided parties closer together o r nearer to a resolution of the religious differences. He quotes Luther's comment in that regard from his Table Talk (WA TR 4,495); but it is unlikely that Luther was by that date very optimistic, as his letters at that time and other sources indicate. There was no official publication of the Confurario that lollowed its public hearing; thus Melanchthon and the Lutheran party had to employ their own ingenuity and notes in formulating the response of the Apology by April 15, 1531. This makes the appearance of this critical version by Immenkoetter, from the Roman Catholic side. all the more valuable. It does not change the pertinence, or the accuracy, of Melanchthon's response, however. E. F. Klug A HALF CENTURY O F THEOLOGY. Movements and Motives. By G. C. Berkouwer. Translated and edited by Lewis B. Smedes. k rdmans , Grand Rapids, 1979. Paper. 268 pages. $6.95- The place of Dr. Berkouwer, now retired after many years of teaching at the Free University of Amsterdam, has a secure place in this century's parade of Book Reviews 137 notable theologians. With more than twenty V O ~ U ~ ~ S on systematic theology to his credit the venerable dean of Reformed dogmaticians has left his mark. As a result, one can only be grateful for this summary of fifty years of theology since the 1 9 2 ~ ~ . Included in this "hit parade" are the big names in theology, the four "wsw (Barth, Bultmann, Brunner, Bonhoeffer) and a host of others. The book, however, is not play, nor a simplistic rehearsal of theological cliches. Berkouwer is too astute and keen a theologicaI thinker for that. However, it may be said in partial criticism that there also is a certain amount of parochialism in the attention given to Dutch theologians whose names (and often whose thoughts) will mean very little to readers beyond the Rhine, the Maas, or the Atlantic. A consuming objective for Berkouwer is "the question of the truth and cred- ibility of the Christian faith in our modem world" (p. 23). This leitmotif runs through the book. Does Christian faith retreat into its own sheltered enclave or does it strike back boldly in the world of Christ's sake? Berkouwer, of course, opts for the latter and seeks to demonstrate the urgency of this task. Karl Barth, for whom as the years went by Berkouwer gained greater admiration and respect (admitting to me that during the years through personal contact he changed his mind concerning Barth), receives more attention, perhaps deservedly so, than any other twentieth century theologian. It is plain that Berkouwer agrees with Barth's criticism of the various "forms of anthropocentric theology, in which not God, but man was the focus" (p. 47), so typical of liberalism. Barth wanted to make God the center of his own theologizing, but a critical analysis of his work leaves many wondering whether that is so and whether in final assay Barth had not also actually made man the center - witness Barth's own pretension of sounding the ^ propheticw voice himself! He remained more indebted to Kantian- Schleiermachian thinking than he admitted. Berkouwer, however, is at his best when he demonstrates how some of those who leaned on Barth, like J.A.T. Robinson (of Honest t o God fame), came off as "flatfooted" theologians (p. 65). "Robinson's book," said Barth in disgust, "reminded him of a man sipping the foam from three full glasses of beer, with the etched-on initials R.B., R.T., and D.B. respectively. and then claiming to have discovered the theological miracle drink" (lbid). Somewhat inexplicable is Berkouwer's apparent support for Barth's criticism of Luther for handling faith's power against evil in "lusterless fashion" (p. 68). For Berkouwer, theology's challenge today zeroes in on these four points: (1) the problem of authority, specifically and especially Scripture'sauthority; (2) the possibility of dialogue between faith and reason, and the question whether faith is merely an irrational phenomenon in this world; (3) the centrality of eschato- logical concern for a theology that addresses the life and work issues which the ~ctmenical movement has singled out in a world filled with poverty and injustice; and (4) the central questions concerning the Christian faith itself, Christ's deity and His atoning, reconciling sacrifice, or the meaning of theology of the cross. E k k ~ t ~ w e r undoubtedly has his finger on the neuralgic points. Hisanswers may cause more stir in some instances than comfort, Thus, on the first point, critical of o*hodoxy, including Luther and Lutheran orthodoxy because of their theological "positivism," Berkouwer opts for a relativized, functional view of Scripture's authoritative, inspired, inerrant nature. Showing the tension that has always existed as faith meets reason, Berkouwer states the case for faith's dependence upon revelation in a more traditional and satisfying manner: 'If we are to speak of a ground for believing, our only recourse is divine revelation" (p. 147). He also indicates his preference for Luther's stand against that "whore reason." because Luther depended not on an C O N C O R D ~ A THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY irrational commitment (like Tertul~ian with the "absurd") but completely upon the rheologia crucis. Critically reviewing writers like Tillich, Pannenberg. Moltmann, and others, Berkouwer agrues with considerable success that theology has no need t o "commit intellectual suicide." His chapter on the passionate Concern which Christian faith. theology, and the church must retain in behalf of the sick body o f mankind traverses the movements. trends, and thinkers of ourday - with s o m e notablegaps. especially on the side of liberation theology. The final chapter, "Concern for the Faith." is somewhat disappointing. This is not due to any failure t o record the movements and the men that have played leading roles in theology's movement in various directions in recent years. Most of these are spoken to a n d about. But the chief criticism must arise from Berkouwer's charge against orthodoxy for supposedly being Docetic in its thinking concerning the divine nature of Christ and the d i m e side of Scripture's nature. When liberalism under higher-critical presuppositions has so radically undercut Christ's deity a n d Scripture's divine inspiration. Christian theology would be remiss indeed if it d id not meet this assault head on. even at the risk of being unjustly dubbed Docetic. Berkouwer seems overly committed to what is termed scientific theology, too ready to accept Lessing's critical stance over against truth as absolute. "If G o d held all truth in his right hand" Lessingstated. "and in his left the everlasting striving after truth, so that 1 should always and everlastingly be mistaken, and said to me, 'Choose,' with humility I would pick the left hand and say, 'Father. grant me that. Absolute truth is for thee alone' " (p. 263). Luther would never have acceded to such feigned humility, in view of God's revelation of Himself and His gracious purposes to man. When Erasmus chose skepticism and relativizing over Holy Scripture's assertions of God's unchanging and changeless truths, the great Reformer commented: "Take away assertions, and you take a w a y Christianity!" E. F. Klug ENCHIRIDION O F COMMONPLACES. Against Luther and Other Enemies of the Church. By J o h n Eck. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1979. Paper. 312 pages. $9.95. With the 450th anniversary years of Augsburg and the Apology with us there is a peculiar significance t o this work. Eck was also a primary author, after all, of the Confurario, which was Rome's response to the Augsburg Confession and which prompted Melanchthon's Apology of the Augsburg Confession in 153 1. Here we have Eck's most notable work in an English translation for the first time. Originally begun by Eck in 1525 the Enchiridion went through 91 editions by the year 1600. The present translation is based chiefly on the 1529 edition, with collations from the 1532 edition and compared with the 1572edition. Thus. while the author terms his work "provisional in nature," it is most useful in making another of the important sixteenth century documents more accessible to the English-speaking world. It represents Eck at his definitive, dogmatic best. His work was "ostensibly directed against the Loci Communes of Philip Melanchthon, although Lu the r is, of course, his prime target, " the translator reminds his readers. Substantively there is much here that will appear again in the Confutation. Therefore, t h e translator is, no doubt, correct in claiming that "a study of Eck's argumentation in relation to his opponents will open up for the student the whole Protestant-Roman Catholic dialogue from its inception in 1517 to the period immediately preceding the Council of Trent." He minces no words in p d n g the blame o n Luther who *with perverse will" set himself ayimt the authority of the whole church. The fint locus or chapter is on the Book Reviews 139 church and its authority, and Eck very plainly asserts that the Roman church's is primary, even when compared with Holy Scripture; moreover, bbScripture would not be authentic without the Church's authorityn (p. 13). He rejects the teaching that the una sancta is properly to be thought of as hidden, and he simply identifies it with the Romanist structure: "The church is her prelates and leaders gathered together." Hence its supreme authority! In his second chapter Eck repudiates the notion that lawfully assembled councils can err; also the Protestant notion that the laity may judge in matters of doctrine. The primacy of the Petrine See is defended in the third chapter with Eck's customary eloquence, but with the usual loopholes remaining unfilled and unsatisfied. Because he lumps Lutherans together with the heretics who rashly introduced their own notions into theology, Eck justifies the conclusion that "it is necessary for there to be another judge than Scripture, namely, the Churchn (p. 48). In all there are thirty-eight topics or chapters ranging over the articles of dogma in the Roman church. There czn be little doubt that this volume constitutes a valued addition to Reformation studies as a counterfoil to the challenge which the Romanists were facing in Luther and the other voices that were crying for reform. Although the book is apparently produced by off-set print froma typewritten manuscript, it is very well done, easily readable. E. F. Klug A COMPANION TO THE STGDY OF ST. AUGUSTINE. Edited by Roy W. Battenhouse. Reprinted by Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Paper. xiii + 425 pages. $7.95 Baker Book House is doing a real service in making available once again books of nierit which have earlier gone out of print. Good books, like good wine, stand the test of time. and Baker Book House has shown considerable foresight (and no doubt good marketing sense) by recognizing the enduring quality of truly worthwhile books. The present book was first published by Oxford University Press in 1955, the t 600th anniversary of St. Augustine's birthday, and had as its central theme "the continuing vitality of Augustinian wisdomw (p. vi). Concerning Augustine the "Preface" went on to say: "Augstine's appeal has never been more pertinent, probably. than today. Our own twentiethcentury tensions, bred of a secularized society in torment, find a close parallel in his fourth-century Mediterranean world. Augustine was then the interpreter of such tensions, the analyst at a profound level of the spiritualdeficienciesand cultural decay which characterized Roman life and indirectly were disturbing the Christian community. By his personal involvements in the situation, along with an acute vision of its deeper meanings, he made of the crisis an exercise of transition of new foundations" (p. v). That was written in 1955, twenty-five years ago, a time now regarded with nostalgic reminiscence as "the good old days." Today the tensions are greater, society more secularized, even paganized, the Christian community not indirectly but directly confronted. The times, if anything, are worse, but for that reason the "Augustinian wisdom" shines the more clearly. As the title indicates, this book was offered as a guide and introduction to the works and thought of St. Augustine. It is divided into three sections: (I) "Introduction," which presents broad, comprehensive essays indicating the richness of Augustine's life and work and his continuing significance: (2) "A Critical Guide to the Major Works." which gives a systematic exposition of the contents of Augustine's chief works (e.g., anti-Manichean, anti-Donatist, anti- P c h h n writings, On the Triniry, Cir.v of God): (3) Special Aspects of St. COSCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Augustine's Thought." which consists of interpretive essays o n faith and reason. creation, the person and work of Christ. ethics. and the devotional life. The essays are of consistently high quality and accomplish admirably their intended purpose - t o guide and to introduce the reader to the study of St. Augustine. Llke a good wine. this book is highly recommended. William C. Weinrich THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRIKE. By E. H . Klotsche. With additional chapters by J . T . Mueller and David P. Scaer. Revised edition. (First published, 1945.) Baker Book House. Grand Rapids. Michigan. 1979.387 pages. Paper. 95.95. Most of o u r readers are familiar with Klotsche's handy, one-volume historical survey of Christian doctrine. It has served as a standard text in many seminaries and colleges - and for good reason. simply because i t is a reliable. objective, compact presentation for the most part. At the time oi i ts first appearance Dr . J . T. Mueller had supplied a necessary concluding chapter on "The Christian Doctrine in Its Modern Setting." Klotsche himself had been unable tocomplete the work because of his sudden death in 1937. Wow the thirty-seven page addition t o the text by my colleague David P. Scaer. "Theological Developments Since World War 11." has successfully brought the survey up-to- date. In many ways this section by itself makes the book worthwhile for the reader who I S looking for a capsule treatment of the theologians and the t heolog~caf trends during the last forty years. The theologies and their chief pro- ponents a re all present: neoorthodoxy (Barth. Bultmann. Brunner. Tillich); secular theology (Robinson. Altizer. Cox. Fletcher): theologq of hope (Bloch. Moltmann): theology of histor) (Pannenberg); liberation theology (here the leading names. l ~ k e Garaudy and Gutierrer. are missing): ecumenical theology; etc. Prof. Scaer also includes a short vignette of the survival of confessional theology in the Lutheran church as a result of the inner struggle within the Missouri Synod for Biblical and cc~nfessional integrity during thelate sixtiesand seventies. There is even a short e\.aluation of the Bible versions which in recent years have crowded cach othcr for attention. Dr. Scaer closes wit11 a pertinent reminder: "The effectiveness of conservative biblical theology will depend largely o n how the challenge posed in contemporary questions is met ." Here and there the proof-reading leaves something t o be desired. as dropped letters and transposed o r missing sentences creep into the text. In one instance (in the or ignal version) the sense of a given sentence a n d teaching is completely reversed through the dropping o f a "not": "The redemptory functions and actions which belong to the whole person a re predkafed only of one o r the other nature" (p. 2 15). The sentence should read that "they are nor predicated only of one o r the o ther nature" but of the entire person of the God-man, in whom both natures a r e conjoined and who performs the works of His office a s the world's Savior a c c o r d ~ n p t o both natures. Afterall, Klotsche wanted toexplain the third genus (apof~/esmof i r~rnl ) of the cornmunicat~on of attributes in Christ. Aside from a few shoncominps, however, the book in its revised edition merits renewed at tent ion and use. E. F. Klug BAPTISTS AND T H E BIBLE: Baptists' Views of Inspiration a n d Inerrancy and Present Controversies. By L. Russ Bush and T o m J. NettIes. Moody Press, Chicago. 456 pages. 5 10.95. This Baptist history of dogma begins with Balthasar Hubmaier.a supporter of Zwingli a n d a u t h o r o f "Eighteen Dissertations.-A long roster of church Ieaders Book Reviews 141 1 is reviewed. quite different from those reported in Lutheran treatises. John smyth repudiated baptism, but baptized himself by pouring water over his head The ordinances. Baptism and the Lord's Supper. are not prominently tmted, s incethe emphasisof this book is Hoiy Scripture. The word"sacramentn hardly occurs, except as on page 17: "Baptists believe that two ordinances (not ,Cmrnents) were by Christ. Baptism by immersion is the initial act of obedience Chrlst '~ command. It symbolizes the reality of the believer's baptism (complete immersion) into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit.. . The memorial supper is to be practiced by the church as a remembrance of the Lord's atoning dea th until h e returns." In the index the reader is referred to u~rdinances" under t h e entry "Lord's Supper." There is no discussion of the fact that early B ~ P ~ - ~ ~ ~ ~ w e r e not wholly devoted to immersion. On the doctrine of Holy Scripture there isa special index of five columns. The Quaker citation of the Bible "without regard for the context" is repudiated. On the other hand, infant baptism is rejected because the term "infant baptismn does not occur i n the Bible. In general the inerrancy of the Bible is ably defended, to the great satisfaction of this reviewer. Biblical "scholarship" has to so great an extent become simply Biblical fiction, attempting to reconstruct the history and the documents of the Bible according to arbitrary theories. This is the principle source of t h e undermining of Christianity in America and Europe. considering t h e popular repudiation of creeds and confessions, Chapter Seventeen offers an amazing treatment of confessions which have been issued by the Baptist world. The various chapters have imaginative titles: "The Spirit of God Moved u p o n t h e Face of the Waters," "The Waters Brought Forth Abundantly," "The Beginning of Sorrows," and "Of Them Which Keep the Sayings of This Book." Otto F. Stahlke RELIGION IN NORTH AMERICA. By Ronald J. Wilkint Wm. C. Brown Publishers, Dubuque, Iowa. 1979. 201 pages. Index. Paper. $3.50 There are several features that make this book an attractive study tool on denominations i n America. Its general make-up, many illustrations, easy style, low price are all pluses. T h e minuses come on the question of general suitability for use as a college or seminary text. Perhaps on the college level, or with adult study groups, it might be quite useful, if used in conjunction with one of the standard reference works. The compact nature of the six main chapters puts it easily within reach of the average reader. "Religious pluralism has tended to lessen the influence of one or another denomination," t h e author contends, "while at the same time it has increased the influence of religion in general." Some might want to argue with this judgment, but the a u t h o r is probably right in saying of the present moment of religion in America t h a t "the evangelical Churches are experiencing unprecedented growth." T h e introductory chapter is devoted to describing thegeneral religious picture in America, as Wilkins sees or understands it, including a cursory look at Some of t h e t r e n d s and cultic happenings. The second chapter focuses on a swnmary of religion among America's native peoples prior to the coming of the white man. It is interesting, but probably too sketchy to be of real, significant value. In t h e t h i r d chapter Wilkins attempts to portray Christianity's begin- nings and then for some strange reason couples Roman Catholicism with this treatment. The reader is left with the impression that this church body is the Successor of the apostles. The Eastern Orthodox do not come into the S W ' , and then only for a few pages, until much later in the book in achapter on 'Orher influential Religious Groups," among which are the Jews and Mormons- 142 C O N C O R D I A THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY T h e Mormons, in fact, get a completely disproportionateamount of space in the text, more than almost all o thers , except the Roman Catholics. One can only wonder a t the motivation. T h e cults , Jehovah's R'itnesses, Christian Scientists, Seventh Day Adventists, etc., get short shrift, a few paragraphs. Even the mainline c h ~ r c h e s a m o n g t h e Protestants -- Baptists, Methodists. Lutherans, Episcopalians. Presbyterians - merit at most a half-dozen pages each in the chapter o n "The PrincipaI Pro tes tan t Denominations in 3or th America." The author shows little u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the difference between conservative and fundamentalist theology. Hence Missouri Synod Lutheranism is simply dubbed "fundamentalist." The b ib l iography is rather extensive for each chapter. Strangely missing. however, a r e F . E. Mayer's Religious Bodies of America. A. C . Piepkorn's Projles in Belict and PI. Hoekerna's Fmrr Afq;or Cuffs , to mention just a few significant w o r k s that a serious scholar of the subject would neglect only at peril t o t h e o u t c o m e of his project. Listed as primary advisers for the book are Rabbi E d w a r d Z e r i n and Martin E. Mart?. E. F. Klug THE LIVES OF T W O MEN. By Ernest Eckhardt. Enterprise Publishing Company, BIair, Nebraska, 1967. 88 pages. Paper. S3.75. The two men a re Ernest E c k h a r d t Senior and Ernest Eckhardt Junior. Ernest GAd~ardt Senior (1868-1938). a native of the Kingdom of Saxony, Germany, was for seventeen years t h e statistician and chronologist of the Lutheran Chruch-Missouri Synod, a pos i t ion which he ably filled (his "zeal for accuracy" meant that few statistical e r r o r s appeared in the year-books; i t was said that the maximum number recorded was eight -- not bad when one realizes that the annual, even in the 1920's, w a s "a big book dealing with hundreds of reports concerning a synod with o v e r 1,000,000 members"). Prior to his call to St. Louis. Ernest Eckhardt Senior h a d been a pastor in Nebraska. the editor of a number of works (especially thegrea t opus, t h e Real-Lexikon), and an author and essayist. T h e early portions of th i s v o l u m e tell his life-story, with his emigration from Germany and his education at Concordia College. Ft. Wayne. and at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, a n d t h e n give a summation of his 47 years in the Lutheran ministry. Ernest Eckhardt Jun ior ( 1895- ), a native of Nebraska. was, at the time of his retirement on December 3 1, 1965, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Congregation, Hooper. During his forty-five y e a r s in the Lutheran ministry. Ernest Eckhardt Junior served but two c o n g r e g a t i o n s (in keeping with the old Lutheran ideal of long pastorates in one pIace) - b o t h of thcm in Xebraska -the first, a Russian- German parish in Gering, a n d t h e second, lmrnanuel Church, Hooper (for thirtyeight years). His h a s been t h e life of a faithful pastor to Lutheran people o n the prairies. We have in this hook n o t o n l y t w o biographies. but also a series of vignettes of Lutheran faith a n d life o v e r three-quarters of a century. In the microcosm of Nebraska congregations we see reflected the very issues that involved a n entire Synod - war (the Spanish American War, two World Wars, as well as the Korea and Vietnam Conflicts), t h e language question (with the transition from German t o English), supply (with alternative seasons of "shortages" and "surplusesw of pastors), expans ion of the church (as Lutherans began to reach out t o the unchurched in t h e i r communities), and preservation of the faith (in some very troubled t imes) . Certainly August Suelflow of the Concordia Historical Institute is to be commended for having encouraged Pastor Eckhardt to write these recojlections, f o r ir is precisely this kind of personal. pastoral. cMlgregarional t h a t will help future generations understand what Book Reviews 143 it meant to be a Lutheran minister in the American Midwest. As the author admits, this is not "a masterpiece of literary art," nor is he a professional church historian. But Eckhardt has described two representative lives in a fashion that enables the reader to empathize with the opportunities and problems of Synod's ministers. Readers of the CTQ may secure copies of this book from the bookstore of Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, as well as directly from the author (I 614 North Union, Frernont, Nebraska, 68025). C. George Fry CHARLEY GORDON: AN EMINENT VICTORIAN REASSESSED. By Charles Chenevix French. Allen Lane, Penguin Books, London, 1978. 320 pages. Cloth. $13.95. The American "hostage crisis" in late 1979 and the concurrent intervention by Russian troops in Afghanistan both serve to give a strange relevance to this new biography of General Charles George Gordon who died in Khartoum, the Sudan, in 1885 fighting against the Mahdi and his Muslim insurgents. By the author's own confession, since his death "General Gordon has been portrayed, or caricatured, as hero, martyr, evangelist, rebel, imperial proconsul and anti- imperialist." Certainly he "chain-smoked, he was at times a poseur. and a heavy drinker." Contemporaries such as Lord Cromer described him as "mad or half- mad," and Gladstone was told he had "a small bee in his bonnet." During the course of a life spent in Europe, Asia, and Africa, Gordon "changed his opinions so flagrantly and so often that, whatever views are held of him, evidence for them can be found . . ." Such a colorful character has attracted his share of bio- graphers and film-makers. This well-researched and readable biography by Charles Chenevix French admits Gordon's many weaknesses, adding that "on his last mission t o Khartoum he wholly misjudged the situation, military and political . . ." Having made these concessions, Trench continues to contend that "with all his imperfections, he was . . . a hero of heroes; a magnificent fighting soldier; a man inspired by a deep, if highIy idiosyncratic, reIigious faith, of extra- ordinary energy and fertiIity of mind . . . a much loved, infuriatingeccentric." 1 recommend this book - to students of church history and lslam -- as a fascinating chapter in the story of the Victorian Age. C. George Fry THE GROWTH O F THE CHURCH IN AFRICA. By Peter Falk. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1979. Paper. 554 pages. S9.95. In his foreword to this exciting and useful volume, Charles Kraft, noted anthropologist, observes that the growth of Christianity in Africa in this century has been nothing short of phenomenal. In 1900Iess than three percent of Africa's people were Christian; now it is more than thirty percent, with the prospect of reaching the figure of fifty percent by the year 2000. This book tells the long story behind the recent spurt of growth. Starting with "a promising beginning," early Christianity took root in Egypt, Nubia, and North Africa. After initial success, it was plunged into "a millenium of darkness" (640- 1652) in the wake of the spread of Islam. Most of the material in this text centers on the recent awakening of mission interest in Africa, tracing the developemnt both regionally (North, West, East, South, and Central Africa) and chronologically (about equally balanced between the eady and late modern eras). Useful chapters at the end deal with conditions promoting and retarding the growth of Christianity, as well as various consequences of the Christian movement on the earth's second largest continent. C O N C O R ~ l ~ THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY A graduate of Fuller (wi th a D. Miss. degree) and professor at the School of Theology of Kinshasa, Z a i r e , Peter Falk has prepared a valuable English- language textbook, continent-wide in scope, that will place church-historians, missiologists, and M r i c a n ~ l o ~ i s t s in his debt for years to come. C. George Fry THE HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY I N ISLAM. By Tjitze J . De Boer. Translated by Edward R- J o n e s . Dover Publications, New York, 1978. 215 pages. Paper. $2.75. This classic study of I s l a m i c philosophy (and theology) in the Middle Ages (from Muhammad through Averroes) by the celebrated Dutch scholar. Tjitze J. De Boer, was originally publ i shed by Luzac and Company in 1903. Dover Publications of New York re-issued it in a paperback edition in 1967 and it has consistently re-appeared s i n c e t h e n as an almost indispensable aid to the serious student of Muslim thought- It is still being published and will be a valuable asset to a new generation of Is lamicis ts (and at what is today a modest price of only $2.75). De Boer begins his s u r v e y of Islamic thought with a consideration of its antecedents - both in t h e O r i e n t (Arabia, Persia. and India) and the Occident (especially Greece in b o t h t h e Hellenic and Hellenistic eras. though the Greek contribution to Islamic civilization was not consistent - the Arabs had little interest in Hellenistic thea ter , poetry. art, and history. though the preservation of Greek philosophy for pos t e r i ty will forever remain a major legacy of medieval lslam to the West). A desc r ip t ion of five main divisions of lslamic philosophy follows - grammar, ethics. doctr ine, literature. and history. This is followed by an analysis of the fate o f t h e major Greek systems of philsosphy in the Arab World - particularly t h e Pythagorean, the NeoPlatonic. and the Aristotelian. Major Islamic philosopher-theologians are given their due attention, as al- Kindi, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina , al-Gazali, Ibn Khaldun, and Ibn Roshd (Averroes). The reader will have t o l o o k f a r before he can find such succinct coverage (less than 216 pages) of such a v a s t amount of philosophical reflection. In many respects the b o o k i s dated (much research has occurred since 1903 which is not indicated in t h e t ex t ) . there is no bibliography. and the "dry-ssdust" sytle of presentation will deter all except the sincere and dedicated student of Muslim thought. For se r ious readers. interested in "the lslamic Mind" (and its major contributions t o M e d i e v a l Christian Thought - after all. St. l'homas Aquinas borrowed much of his methodology from the lslamic South, and Aristotle, for better-or-worse, was reintroduced into Christian Europe form Muslim Spain), De Boer's b o o k remains a helpful slartinp point. C. George Fry MODERN ISLAMIC L I T E R A T U R E : FROM 1800 TO T H E PRESENT. Edited by James Kritzeck. New American Library. New York. 1972. 334 pages. Paper. $1.95. Dr. James Kritzeck, l ong- t ime Professor of Oriental Languages and History at Notre Dame, has wri t ten (p. 9): . . . what can be sa id a b o u t the recognition and appreciation of modern lslamic writers? C e r t a i n l y every great modern Russian author has been translated into English, usually more than once. and his works have been studied in depth a n d inserted into the curricula of most of our universities. Nearly every great m o d e r n Japanese author enjoys similar recognition. We always hear of, or not we actually read. books by prominent Latin American, and ~ f r i c a n writers. We could hardly avoid learning the Book Reviews 145 names of the great and semi-great E u r o p e a n and American writers. Yet there is scarcely one modern Moslem au thor whose nime is famiiiar to most of us. and not a single one. a l l of w h o s e works are available in - translation. This excellent anthology is an effort to c o r r e c t t ha t situation- In the 328 pages of text within this vo lu rne professor has excerpts representative of all pans of the ~ u s l i n l (not only from "the World of Inner Islam." the Middle East, and "the W o r l d of Outer Islam," Black Airica and Indonesia. but also from "the World of the Muslim Diaspora," including such Western Muslim authors a s the B r i t o n . Marmaduke Pickthall), the major bluslirn languages (Arabic. P e r s i a n ~ u r k i s h ) as well as the minor (rach as Urdu and Fulani). and all classes o f s o c i e t y Peasants to Persian Emperors, from secular Turkish i n t e l l e c t u a l s t o religious leaders such as Muhammad rZga Khan) and various literary forms (fromfolk takes toessays. as well as poetry. proverbs. short stories. and t h e o l o g i c a l treatises). Even a quick survey of the pages of this book will i n t r - o d u u e the Westerner to Muslim wit ("Politics is the profession of those who have neither tradenorartW),aspirations (as in President Gamal Abdel Nasser's work on The Philosophy of the Revolurion). belief (particularly in [he c r i t i q u e of immanuel Kant by Sir Mohammed lqbal in his essay. "Is Religion YossibleT') . daily life (as in the selection. "A Change of Faith." by the T u r k i s h f emin i s t , Halide Edib, dealing with the problem of the love of a Christian man f o r a Muslim woman), and Christianity (as in Muhammad Karnel H u s s e i n ' s reflections on "The Apostles' Self-Reproach." probably the most profound M u s l i r n literary encounter with the death of Christ in this century). I t has been said that the peoples of planet earth are oftwotypes - verbaland visual. Muslims are a people of the Book and b o o k s . and literature occupies a cenrral place i n their lives. This antholog) p r o v i d e s a valuable introduction to the faith and thought of the world's 750 m i l l i o n M u s l i m s . interested readers are also direcred to the reviewer'snwn anthology ( c o m p i l e d with Dr. James R. King. .4n an tho log.^. of Middie Eastern Li~erarurt. .f i-om rhe 20th Cmturv, Springfield. Ohio. Wittenberg University. 1974). C. George Fry ME1,.4NC11TI4ONS R R I F F W E C ~ ~ S E L . K R I T I S C H E UND KOMMEN- TlERTE GESAXITAUSGABE. lm A u f t r a g der Heidelberger Akademie der W~ssenschaiten hg. He~nz Sche~ble Stilt tgart- Bad Cannstatt: Frommann- Holzboog, 1977 ff . Volume 1: Regesten I - 1 109 ( 1 5 14-1530). 1977,456 pp. DM 195.00. Despite the importance 0 1 Philipp Melancht hon for studies in Renaissance humanism. history of education. the R e f o r m a t i o n period, Luther interpreta- tion. research into the Lutheran Confessions. and chllrch history. scholars have been seriously hampered by the inadequacy of the publislled source collections. and especially oft he correspondence. T h e r e f o r e , tllr appearance nithe extensive new Melanchrhonr Briefwechsel ((M BIY) is a n event of paramount impoflance to historians. theologians, and philologians. - . Under the capable editorship of Dr. Heina Scheible and the sponsorship of the Heidelberg Academy of the Sciences, a m o n u m e n t a l reference tool presenting Melanchthonvs letters in some 80 volumes is faking place. The project is to consist of five parts; 1. The Regesra (in 7 volumes to be described below) 11. The Register or Indices (in 2 or 3 volumes) 111. The Catalog of Manuscripts (in 2 or 3 volumes) IV. The Edition of the Letters (calculated to comprise 35 volumes) V. The Commentary on the Letters (expected to reach about 35 volumes) Although Scheible is a relatively young man, the work will likely extend beyond his life-time. Therefore, the Regests are appearing first, and the actual editions of letters, Part IV, are to be accompanied closely by their respective notes in Part v. Between 1834 and 1842, Karl Gottlieb Bretschneider pioneered by publishing some 7000 letters in the first ten volumes of the Corpus Rtformatonrm (CR). Unfortunately, his editorship predated modern critical scholarship. He missed several thousand letters, many of which were later published in various books and scholarly journals. In some periods over 19 per cent of the letters are erroneously dated. (See Heinz Scheible, "Uberlieferung und Editionen der Briefe Melanchthons," Heidelberger Jahrbucher 12[1968]: 135-6 1, and especial- ly p. 155). This is one of the reasons why MBW is starting with the Regests. These are chronologically arranged listings of the documents with short descriptions of the contents of each letter or paper, their location as manuscripts or printed sources, and references to important investigations. These Regests will serve scholars using less satisfactory editions during the many years of waiting for the 35 volumes of the letters in MBW. and will also serve as introductions to theletters when they appear in MBW. Notes on the correspondence, to be given in the Regests and in the Commentary, are more important than the casual reader might realize. There are many instances where the documents require highly-specialized knowledge for an accurate interpretation. For instance, Melanchthon's letters contain many cryptic words and names. Granvella was called "Lucius Gelliusw and the bellicose Nikolaus von Amsdorf was known by the cryptonym leokrates; important political figures and movements were likewise disguised. Some of these pseudonyms are manageable (see glossary in C R 10:317-24) but others are baffling. Help is needed to recognize and identify such references. Past failures have led to faulty interpretations of ~e lanch thon and his thought. Therefore. the importance of the notes in MBW is clear. The significance of Melanchthon has often been obscured by lack of information or even party prejudice. But his crucial importance for the Reformation era and for subsequent developments in education and theology is becoming increasingly evident and demanding of attention. MBW is un- reservedly recommended to every serious scholar working in related areas. Its use will be indispensable for any investigation related to Melanchthon and the history of the Lutheran Church and its Confessions. Every larger library will need to obtain the work, and every theological Iibrary and center of studies in Renaissance humanism will need to make this work available to its scholars. Scheible is a competent scholar and his work will supercede those which have gone before. Lowell C. Green THE CELTS. By Kora Chadwick. Penguin, Baltimore, 1971. 301 pages. Paper. $3.50. This Pelican original has been a consistent profit-maker for Penguin Books Book Reviews 147 for almost a decade. That explains why it continues in print. It does not account for its appeal. In part the continuing popularity of this volume is due to the scarcity of (when was the last time you saw a good book on the Celts?) as well as its literary and scholarly quality (where else can one find such a multifaceted introduction to Celtic history and culture, with chapters on the Celts in Europe, Celtic kingdoms in Britain, as well as Celtic institutions, mytho)ogy, ar t , literature, society, and Chrisitanity?) and the fact that its creator, Nora Chadwick, writes with authority. (She has spent most of her life doing Celtic and Nora Chadwick was born in 189 1 .) For the Christian reader this book about the Celts, who once occupied much of Western Europe (ranging from the Irish Sea to the shores of the Danube and from the Pyrenees to the Harz - both Bohemia and Bologna are Celtic words) before Roman and Germanic invaders forced them to retreat to "the Celtic Fringe" (Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and Britanny) at the "edge of the earth," has a unique interest. The Celts were important participants in the Christian adventure right from its inception and made valuablecontributions from the age of Paul to that of Patrick. The Gaiatians to whom the Apostle wrote were of Celtic ancestry (Galatae). Constantine, the soldieremperor who befriended the Christians, came from Romano-Celtic Britain. Theologians as orthodox as Irenaeus, as heterodox as Pelagius, labored in Celtic lands. For centuries the Celtic Church was a rival to the Roman for the leadership of Christendom. Many feel the Celtic Church surpassed the Roman in intellectual brilliance (after Augustine, any Medieval European who knew Greek was surely Irish), missionary fervor (Celtic saints took thecross to much of Western Europe; some say, also to America - did St. Brendan really discover the new world? was the Quetzalcoatl of the Mexican lndians really a Celtic evangelist?) and moral and doctrinal purity. No wonder Arnold J. Toynbee once speculated a b ~ u t he possibility of a n Atlantic Celtic Christendom standing over against the Greek Orthodoxy of the Eastern, the Roman Catholicism of the Western Mediter- ranean. Capitulation t o the Pope and conquest by the Anglo-Normans ended such Celtic aspirations. But for all Protestants it is important to remember that there was a distinct Christian Church in the North before "the Papal Conquest." For anyone interested in church history and the cultural life of the Atlantic community, The Celts by Nora Chadwick will prove to be rewarding reading. C. George Fry EERDMANS HANDBOOK TOTHE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY. By Tim Dowley, Organizing Editor, and John H. Y. Briggs, David F. Wright, and Robert D. Linder, Consulting Editors. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1978. 656 pages. Cloth. $19.95. Inspired by the success of the EERDMANS HANDBOOK T O THE BlBLE (over 750,000 copies sold worldwide by 1977), Eerdmans Publishing Company decided to prepare and publish a companion volume on the story of the Christian Church from Pentecost to the prcrcnt. Similar in design and format to its predecessor, EERDMANS HANDBOOK TO THE HlSTORY OF CHRISTIANITY is a succinct and exciting summary of almost twenty centuries of Christian cornunity life. This HANDBOOK is divided into eight smions - "God and History" (composed of essays rdlecting on the historical nature of Christianity). * k b i n n i n ~ , 1-325" (from Christ to Constantine the Great), 'Acceptance and Conquest, 325-600" (from Athanasius t o Patrick), "A Christian Society. 600- CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY 1500" (from Gregory the Great to Savonarola), "Reform. 1500-1650 (the Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Free Church. and Roman Catholic Refor- mations), ''Reason, Revival, and Revolution, 1650-1789" (from the Peace of Westphalia to the Fall of the Bastille). "Cities and Empires, 1789-1914" (focusing on theology and missiology in the nineteenth century), and "Towards 2000" (on the middle and late twentieth century). Within each unit there are several main chapters and numerous shorter sections written by an inter- national team of seventy contributors from more than ten countries. The use of various colors for different sections of the book and the inclusion of 450 photographs (many in full color). plus maps, charts, and line drawings make this a cheery book to read and to view. Coordinating the writing and compiling of the HANDBOOK was Tim Dowley, who holds his Ph.D. from the University of Manchester and who was with the British and Foreign Bible Society for some time. Assisting him were John H . Y. Briggs. Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Keele. David F. Wright, Senior Lecturer of Ecclesiastical History at the University. of Edinburgh, and Robert D. Linder, Professor of History at Kansas State University. The aim of producing "a rounded picture of the worldwide development of Christianity" has been attained in splendid fashion. The authors, eachanexpert in his area, have striven to show that "they are committed both to Christianity and to the unhindered pursuit of truth." In my estimation this is the most com- prehensive, objective. and sympathetic exposition of Christian history I have seen in many years. As with any work of encyclopedic scope and with a multiplicity of author- ship, there will be errors of fact (as the notion. long since disproven. that medieval man expected the world to end in A.D. 1000. p. 234: or that early churches were oriented toward the west. p. 152 - actually, it was toward the east, for "orient" means east; or that ordination was "at one time a ritual merely tacked on to the communion," p. 149) and statements ofdenominational bias (as the contention that the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a medieval teaching, p. 257; o r that the Church suffered a great loss through the exclusion of the Montanists, p. 74; or that so-called "believer's baptism" was normal, "infant baptism" abnormal, until late antiquity. p. 257). Rut given these qualifications, I recommend this HANDBOOK as a visual. verbal. and spiritual delight. It is a must for the minister's library. C. George Fry IV. Practical Studies THE INTEGRITY O F THE CHURCH. By E. Glenn Hinson. Broadman Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1978. 195 pages. Cloth. Hinson is a professor of church history at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville. As he states in the preface. he writes this book in "the Southern Baptist context." Hinson's main arguments develop from his reading of Alvin Toffler's well-known book Future Shock. We live in such rapidly changing times that the individual needs a place where he can take the change. Ne~etih~less. the church as it keeps its identity needs to be open to change. The author. however. sees the very nature and function of the church changing with the times (p. 10). This is a tragic compromising of the nature of the church. The church. although it has t o work with new problems, hasas its primary task the preaching of Christ as it is clearly expounded in the Great Commission (Matt. 28; 18-20). A change in approach can never replace the very nature of the church. Book Reviews 149 One of the themes that the author employs is the Kingdom of God. In the light o f a faulty of John 3: 16-17 (p. 7% the author upholds what he calls a conversionist approach. In this approach he wants to incorporate a realism that sees in culture evil, along with an optimism that at times generates work for the transformation of culture (p. 8 1). This transformation is possibleeven at present for y jod so loved the world that he gave his only Son. that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him" (p. 79). The saving of the world is stressed, according to this position, in order not to fall into a Gnostic approach. John. however, as we can see clearly from the context, points t o eternal lifeand the salvation of the world in that light. We who hold this position, not affirming the world. are not Gnostics bya long shot. The world per se is not evil. God still affirms and sustains His creation. But evil is in the world and that very tension is found in the Gospel of John. in which Jesus is seen always a s the light shining in the darkness. Through reading Hinson's book one finds several symptoms of a disease that we all need to be aware is present at a Southern Baptist Seminary today. Hinson's prejudice is evident, for instance, in regard to the doctrince of Scripture: "First, it is questionable whether the Bible itself supports a theory of infallibility a n d inerrancy as Lindsell argues" (p. 32). The Scriptures, to Hinson are not the Word of God but contain the Word of God (p. 35). The author also states, "The Bible affirms that God directs this process [of creationk it does not tell how. To affirm evolution is not to deny God, therefore" (p. 140). This last statement gives us more problems than solutions. I wonder how the author can explain evil in this light. He makes no reference to Genesis 1-3 but we could certainly guess what his interpretation of these chapters would be. SHEPHERDING GOD'S FLOCK. By Jay E. Adams. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids. Michigan, 1979. 531 pages. Paper. $8.95. This book is a combination of three previous publications by Adams. The subject matter embraced would be covered in courses in pastoral theology, pastoral psychology, and parish administration. There is much in this book to be commended t o the discriminating reader. There are helpful insights into the use of Law and Gospel in dealing with people in counseling situations. We can wholeheartedly subscribe to the thesis from which Dr. Adams operates: "The only proper basis for Christian living and pastoral ministry is biblical and theological." At the same time, Lutheran pastors will find in places that what Adams has to say theologicaIIy unacceptable. This book is based on the foundation of Reformed theology, and Lutherans will be less than comfortable with Adams' concept of sin and thc way he uses Law and Gospel in dealing with solutions to problems. Furthermore, his categorical rejection of the use of secular insights, techniques, and skills in the area of counseling (he considers them to be inimical to the Christian faith) is objectionable. The reader will find that kkims' writing is clear, stimulating and provocative. Read withdiscretion. the book could well prove helpful to the parish pastor. Norbert H. Mueller SPEAKING BOLDLY GOD'S WORD O F RESCUE. By Arthur E. Graf. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, 1979. 31 pages. Paper. This book is one of a serics of guidebooks put out by the Task Force for Planning and Coordinating of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The author writes in his usual simple and easy-to-understand style and makes a good use of Scripture in telling the reader about organizing for evangelism. He C O N C O R D I A THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY asstu-f~es the reader is not a pastor, but a layman. The book is a useful tool for layman or Pastor. T h e chapters on organizing and doing evangelism were quite helpful. He does, however, make one wonderjust what he means. as a Lutheran, in asking for a commitment (p. 25). since much discussion centers on this point. There is also a question as to whether the pastor, by virtue of his training. actually has n o advantages in witnessing over and above the layman. Robert H. Collins PASSPORT TO MISSIONS. By W. Guy Henderson. Broadman Press. Nashville, Tennessee. 1979. 180 pages. Paper. The author, W. G u y Henderson, served as a foreign missionary 1958-78. and now serves in t h e stewardship department of the Mississippi Baptist Con- vention. He brings many moving anecdotes into his pleading for greater concern for missions a t home and abroad. These personal accounts of sacrifice and heroism in mission service move the reader to a new commitment to mission support. The au tho r urges Christians to go beyond tithing and points to a con- gregation in a Western state whose member gave as high as sixty percent of their personal income fo r church support and missions. Giving should flow from love, not a legalistic ten percent custom, Henderson writes. Church growth expertise is applied to world mission strategy. With missions of mercy must go witnessing of the Christian message. The unique contribution of this book is its appeal to Christians t o use their vacations for mission field visitation. There the vacationer can visit. encourage and support the foreign missionary of the place visited: study. record. and photograph the foreign mission operation; and report back to the home con- gregation on the dramatic work being carried on in missions. What better way to use vacation t ime a n d money? Harold H. Zietlow PASTORAL C A R E IN T H E BLACK CHURCH. Bv Edward P. Wimberly. Abingdon, Nashville, Tennessee, 1979. 127 pages. Paper. $3.95. One does not have t o complete the book to get the author's ideas. He describes himself as a black man who was surprised at the reaction of other blacks who were pastors: "While working with black pastors, I became aware of the difference between what I was learning in pastoral care at the seminary and what was being practiced by these black pastors . . . This book is the result." It is well- written and easy to read but has the problem of trying to "provew that it is a necessary book. T h e reviewer (also black) sees no real purpose in trying to show that pastoral c a r e varies according to ethnic groups. Pastoral techniques may vary, but not t h e ileed for pastcia! care. Wimberly makes several remarks that do little to enhance the image of black parishioners. He assumes, wrongfully in my view. that the advent of black store- front churches is a carry-over from an inability to relate denominationally and follows the familiar Southern rural pattern. Actually in the South black store- front churches a r e quite rare in rural areas. The reason for the Northern store- front churches has t o do with economics (it is too expensive to build, even if one found the land) a n d proximity to the people, not rural customs. Wimberly's idea of how a black pastor is seen by black people is downright offensive. ''Many people in the black community have assigned to the black pastor wisdom a n d competence in all matters of living. . . Because of this assign- ment, many of the laity haveexpected the minister to be omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent . . ."(p 36). This assertion all but depicts black people as a bunch of cultists. More importantly, however, the statement is false. Book Reviews 15 1 Wimberly has attempted to observe "other" blacks and then to "justify" what he considers a bit strange (from the view point of his training). He brings in several interesting concepts very familiar to most pastors involved in counseling (e.g.. systems method and crisis counseling) in an attempt to validate black ministry. The attempt fails and, more importantly, it reallj isnot necessary! His hook goes on and on calling many things "blackw with which non-blacks also identify (caring, guiding, etc.). I am not sure what kind of readership the author anticipated, but he obviously did not expect it to be well-informed. Whether black, white, yellow, brown, o r whateyer, the people of God have the same assets and liabilities. To assume that one ethnic group needs a different sort of pastoral care than another is an insult to the Holy Spirit, who calls all men to Christ. Robert H. Collins THE DYNAMICS OF DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING. By Gary W. Kuhne. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1978. 162 pages. Paper. $3.95. One of the first ideas the author expresses is that Matthew 28:18-20 is not I really a passage to be used for evangelism, but for discipleship training. He erroneously states that '?he command to evangelize is no where given. Yet evangelism is the usual emphasis derived from this passage" (p. 12). His definition of a disciple is "a Christian who is growing in conformity to Christ, is achieving fruit in evangelism, and is working in follow-up to conserve his fruit" (p. 13). He proceeds from here to tell the reader his criteria for being a disciple, criteria to which the original twelve would have found it hard to measure up. He I I does have good goals for the disciple. but he seems to emphasize far too much the role of the person in the place of the role of the Holy Spirit in bringing this maturity about. Kuhne's goal of having people involved in the church is a commendable one that should not be ignored by any person dealing with the souls of men. There are. however, "rough spots" in the book. In one section the author seems overly concerned that the Christian protect his image by not being seen in certain places (like a party where alcoholic beverages are served), instead of taking the biblical example of Christ who loved enough not to worry about being seen with harlots and tax collectors. Another point is the idea that the one a Christian is discipling will "tend to copy your life in all areas, not only the specifically spiritual" (p. 47). This places a particular burden on the "mature" Christian to worry (unneces- sarily) about the newer Christian. It would have been better to have both focus more on Christ as an example. The book mentions what could appear to be "new" categories (life trans- ference, etc.) that really amount to new names for old groupings. They are valid categories, but Lutherans will recognize them as sanctification, justification, etc. Although Kuhne puts entirely too much responsibility on the trainer, he does make a good point that the trainer is to be a good model for the trainee. One could say that the "meat" of the book is in the first three chapters (new terms, new challenges, etc.). After that, it is a matter of reading some of the routine things to which those who work in evangelism or follow-up are most f accustomed. Kuhne's comment on not expecting too much from one's labors is w~~c0med: "Often as Christians we will work and not see any immediate results. We must learn not to be discouraged by this . . . The important thing is to do i God desires when He desires it" (p. 64). Kuhnsh point that Christians should be ''thinkers" is indeed welcome. They should know how other Christian groups u s similar terms but have dkcrsnt meanings. The author's point that 152 C O N C O R D 1 A THEOLOGICAL Q U ARTER1.Y one should not have ''faith in faith.. but in Christ is meaningful. hitting hard at those who preach Christ w i t h o u t the mention of sin and grace and forgiveness. "The thinking isthat if you are committed and there is a job t o be done. then God wants you to do that job. H o w tragic this becomes. Since when is need the sole criterion for determining God's will?' (p. 97). Here is a very good statement leading to the simple conc lus ion that none of us can d o evervthing and we need proper priorities. Kuhne's s t r e s s on being simple is sirnil& to Synod's KISS ("Keep It Simple, Sir") a p p r o a c h . The book has bright moments. especially in the first portion (chapters 1-31, but loses its vitality after that. Robert H . Collins DYNAMICS O F S P ~ R I T U A L LIFE: A N EVANGELICAL THEOLOGY OF RENEWAL. BY Richard F. I . . o v ~ ~ ~ c c . Inter-Varsity Press. Downers Grove. Illinois, 1979. 455 Pzges. P a p e r . $8.95. Richard F- Lovelace is a l r e a d y well-known for his work i n the field of ethics (he is the author of Homosexualitl~ and the Church and has been active in the struggle t o bar practicing h o m o s e x u a ~ s from ordination to the ministry in the Presbyterian Church) and h i s t o r y (he wrote The American Pierism qf Cotton Marher and is currently P r o f e s s o r of Church History at Gordon-Conwell Theo- logical Seminary). This b o o k m a r k s his debut in a new area. one which he has entitled "spiritual theology ." The interest of Dr. Lovelace in "spiritual theology" dates from his conversion. In 1952, at the age of twenty-one , while still an atheist studying philosoph: at Yale. Lovelace cameacross a c o p y of Thomas Merton's Seivn Store,\. iUounrain. Reading that work of "spiri tual theology" caused him to abandon atheism as a viable option. After toying w i t h Roman Catholic monasticism and Protestant Fundamentalism, Lovelace f o u n d himself et home in the Reformed variety of American Evangelicalism. eventual ly graduating with a l 'h. D. from Princeton and accepting ordination i n t h e PresbyTerian c ~ m m u n i o n . His career in Protestant academia. however. surprised him in at least one respect. Protestant theology, whether 1-iberal o r Conservative, seemed to him about "as super- natural as a Sears Roebuck catalog." He observed (p . 23 1 ): I was amazed to find t h a t most Protestantsv~ere ignorant of the body oftra- dition which seemed t o me to be the living heart of the Reformation heritage. There was n o t e v e n a name among Protestants for the sort of thing 1 wanted to study. C a t h o l i c s had one - spiritual theology . . . This volume is written t o fill t h a t gap. The contention of Professor Lovelace is that the heart of Protestan~isrn has been a "living Orthodoxy," seen in Martin Luther and John Calvin, eclipsed in the scholasticism of the seventeenth century. but revived in Pietism and Puritanism, then expressed in a kind of nineteenth-century Ekangelical Consensus which broke d o w n by the time of the First World War, fragmenting into various components - Liberalism. Fundamentalism, Conservatism. Seo- Orthodoxy - each of which maintained but a few elements o f t he "wholeness" of Classical Protestantism. A s we enter the 1980's Lovelace is persuaded that the New Evangelicalism a n see a reintegration of these ingredients into a faith that has sound theology, a dynamic personal and social morality. an intense spirituality, and a sense o f de s t i ny . Evangelical ~ h ~ ~ l ~ g y replaces New-Orthodoxy a s the dominant moufln American Protestantism, th i s volume will become ever more valuable a5 an insjde dixlosure of the emphases and intentions of those who are increasingly responsible for the training of America's mlnlsters and the of Ihe ~ v a n ~ e l i c a l future. C. George Fry