Qtnutnr~iu m~tnln!1ital ilnutqly Continuing LEHRE UND ~EHRE MAGAZIN FUER Ev.-LuTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLy-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY VoI.XX December, 1949 No. 12 CONTENTS Page Augustana II: Of Original Sin. Martin H. Franzmann .. ___ _ _________ 881 Notes on the Consensus Tigurinus of 1549. John Theodore Mueller 894 A Series of Sermon Studies for the Church Year __ __________ _________ 910 Miscellanea ___ ._ ... _ .... __ . __ .... _. ____ .... __ . __ .... _._. ____ . ___ . ___ . ... __ ._ .. _ .... ___ 922 Theological Observer ..... _ ... _ .. _ ._ .... _ ... __________ . ______ . __ .. _._. __ . 933 Ein Prediger muss IDCht alleln wei- den, also dass er die Schate unter- weise. wie ale rechte Christen sollen seln. sondem auch daneben den Woel- ten wehTen, dass ale die Schate nlcht angrelten und mit talscher Lehre ver- toehren und Irrtum elntuehren. LutheT Es 1st keln Ding. das die Leute mehr bel der Klrche behaeIt denn die gute Predigt. - Apologte, An. 24 U the trumpet give an uncertain sound. who shall prepare h1mseH to the battIe? -1 COT. 14:8 Published by The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod CONCORDIA PUBUSBING BOUSE, St. Louis 18, Mo. nDf_ Dr 'D. 8. £. Theological Observer Developments in the Field of Lutheran Union. - September seems to have been an important month for activities along the union front in the Lutheran Church of America. On the 16th the representatives of three synods belonging to the American Lu- theran Council met and laid plans for a real merger. The bodies are: The American Lutheran Church, The Evangelical Lutheran Church (i. e., the large Norwegian body), and the United Evan- gelical Lutheran Church (a Danish body). We have been told that these three synods feel they are in doctrinal agreement with one another and that it is the natural thing for them to join forces. The church bodies themselves, in convention assembled, will have to speak the final and decisive word, but it looks as though their approval is assured. The resolutions adopted by the representatives read thus: "WHEREAS our respective bodies have long enjoyed the blessings of close fellowship in faith and work; and WHEREAS the mandate of the Lord and our love for the Church urge us to seek ever fuller expression of this God-given unity; and WHEREAS we are earnestly committed to the ultimate unity which shall include all Lutherans in America, and to the continued strengthening of the National Lutheran Council; therefore, BE IT RESOLVED that the official delegations of the American Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the United Evan- gelical Lutheran Church, in accordance with mandates given by their respective churches and as a forward step in the unfolding unification of the Lutheran Churches in America, each shall elect two members of a committee of six instructed to submit to a later meeting of these delegations steps toward organic union of the American Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, the delegations in turn to submit a joint report to the conventions of these three churches. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the delegations of the American Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, in joint meeting respectfully suggest that the mission boards and other like agencies of these churches jointly study their tasks, seeking effective expression for that unity of faith and purpose which is now looking forward to organizational unity." On Sept. 27 the Committee of 34, created at a meeting in January and representing the eight bodies constituting the National Lutheran Council, convened. The purpose of this committee, at least as viewed by a number of prominent men, is to bring about a merger of all eight bodies (U. L. C. A., Augustana, A. L. C., E. L. C., U. E. L. C., Luth. Free Ch., Finnish Suomi Synod, Danish Luth. Church). When these 34 men met on the date mentioned, they, of course, had been informed of the effort to unite the [933] 934 THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER A. L. C., E. L. C., and U. E. L. C., which definitely showed that these three bodies were more interested in forming a merger of their own than in merging all eight National Lutheran Council bodies. It was resolved at this meeting to submit to each one of the eight National Lutheran Council bodies these two questions: "l. Whether it would be willing at this time to approve in principle complete organic union with other participating bodies of the National Lutheran Council; 2. Whether it would join in creating a joint ways and means committee to formulate a plan and to draw up a constitution for such a union." Four resolutions of a general nature adopted previously by the so-called "Committtee of 15" were approved; "l. That we hold earnestly to the hope for unity of spirit and eventual unity of organization of all Lutherans in America; and, 2. That we desire that any structural plan which is given final consideration and approval shall offer free and full opportunity for the participation of all Lutheran bodies in America desiring such participation; 3. That none of the actions or recom- mendations of this committee shall be construed as prejudicial to any present movements for closer organizational affiliation of bodies within the National Lutheran Councilor the American Lutheran Conference; 4. That we join wholeheartedly in praying the Lord of the Church that He may add His blessing to every earnest effort to bring about understanding in the Lutheran house- hold of faith, that all human obstacles and hindrances may be overcome through the guidance of His Holy Spirit, and that our hope of a united Lutheranism in America may speedily become a reality." The Committee of 34 likewise discussed a motion made by Mr. Edward Rinderknecht (U. L. C. A.) of Toledo, Ohio, pro- posing that the National Lutheran Council be re-organized and be made an autonomous federation. No action was taken in that direction. Having all these moves and proposals before us, we cannot refrain from expressing the hope that the plan of holding free conferences for a discussion of the doctrinal issues on which there is disagreement will in spite of some negative attitudes be adopted. What better endeavor can Lutherans that do not see eye to eye engage in than to take their Bibles and the Lutheran Confessions and to determine what is written on the controversial subjects in God's holy revelation and what is the voice of the Lutheran Church on them? On the things that divide Lutherans everybody ought to read what Dr. Ruff, editor of the Lutheran (U. L. C. A.) writes in the issue of his paper of Sept. 28. He finds that the U. L. C. A. is charged with holding erroneous views concerning the inspiration of the Scriptures, furthermore with having members in its midst that are not careful enough in matters concerning their personal conduct, and with tolerating lodge membership on the part of its laymen and even its pastors, and with occasionally holding joint services with non-Lutheran congregations (see Lutheran Witness THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER 935 of Oct. 18). One must admit that these are the chief matters on which there is debate today. Joint discussion of them should be salutary. A. Preach the Word. - Paul's well-known directive to Timothy (2 Tim. 4: 2) has timeless significance. Every preacher, however intent he may be to preach the Word and only the Word, is in danger of deviating from this objective. With rare effectiveness, Dr. Charles Ball, Presbyterian pastor in River Forest, Ill., reminds candidates for the ministry of this danger in an address published in Bibliotheca Sacra (July-September, 1949). He says in part: "No day is so glorious as the day when a man stands on the threshold of his life's calling, ready to preach Christ to a needy world. There is a sense of mystery to it. I cannot forget the day I left these very halls of learning. Joy and fear, hope and dis- couragement chased each other up and down the corridors of my soul. The magnitude of it and the solemnity of it frightened me, but the conviction that divine resources were at my disposal gave me great confidence; so I started. So will you. But let me say to you that the commonest disaster in the ministerial life is the loss of this very sense of confidence. The evil days come when the thing gets to be a drudgery, and the fire and the zeal are low; and many a man secularizes his calling so far as to preach on everything under heaven but heaven - race relations, book reviews, inter- nationalism, ethics and the like. The man who has no message from God is like Ahimaaz, who made a fine show of speed but upon arrival had not much to tell (d. 2 Sam. 18,29). Many a per- spiring Ahimaaz is making an impressive showing, but the message is not vital because it is not from God." In another part of his address, Dr. Ball says, "And so you are not an entertainer or a politician. You are not a religious commentator expressing your opinions on current events and internationalism. You are not a lecturer stating the results of research. The days in which you live and in which you must exercise your ministry are exciting and exacting, and you will have to sternly remind yourselves that the Word of God is your textbook - not the newspaper or the findings of the latest ecumenical conference. You are the heralds of God. You are to preach Christ the Son of God first, last, and always. He is the object of your ministry." In stressing the use of simple words in the pulpit, Dr. Ball reminds his audience of Mark Antony's address in Shakespeare's Julitts Caesar with its many monosyllables: I am no orator as Brutus is, But as you know me ail, a plain blunt man, That love my friend; and that they know full well That gave me public leave to speak of him; For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth. Dr. Ball asks: "How would a young preacher have expressed the last line today?" He replies, "For I have neither sagacity, nor verbosity, nor intrinsic values." 936 THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER To preach effectively is an art. But only he is on the way to a mastery of that art who has learned to preach only the oracles of God and who presents these oracles in language that is simple, clear, and intelligible to the congregation. P. M. B. Salute to the 1950 Luther Biography. - Information reaches us that the Abingdon-Cokesbury Press will publish in spring Dr. Roland H. Bainton's Here I Stand, a biography of Luther. Pro- fessor Bainton has specialized in Luther research for years. He is a member of the Society of Friends and a Congregationalist minister who is professor of church history at Yale. If his forth- coming book measures up to his delightful and fascinating The Martin Luther Christmas Book, as no doubt it will, Americans will be provided with another opportunity to acquaint themselves with the great reformer of the sixteenth century. We salute the new biography and take note of the fact that a Methodist firm is publishing it. Interest in Luther will never die. But it is particularly alive in our day. Professor Plass's This is Luther, published by our own publishing house has been favorably reviewed. Books dealing with Luther's theology and read also by members of our Church are Philip Watson's Let God be God and H. T. Kerr's A Compend of Luther's Theology. While in Europe the past summer, we suc- ceeded in getting a copy of H. H. Kramm's The Theology of Martin Luther. Our weapon against Romanism and Communism lies not in ecumenicity, not in union-at-any-price endeavors, not in a ministerial education embracing all the wisdom of Egypt, Greece, and other countries, not in more organization and organizations, not in methods and techniques of church work - though all this has its place - but in the use of the sword of the Spirit, as Luther wielded it, as the writers of our Confessions wielded it, as Walther wielded it. The proper sequence of study in the life of even the busiest pastor must continue to be 1. Scripture, both the Old and the New Testament; 2. our Lutheran Confessions; 3. Luther's theological works. P. M. B. Church Problems in Sweden. - Under this caption, Dr. Otto H. Bostrom of Hamma Divinity School, who traveled in Sweden in 1948, contributes an illuminating article in The Lutheran (Sept. 28). "In this land," so Dr. Bostrom observes, "the church holds a privileged position. It is recognized by the government as an integral and necessary part of the national life, has con- siderable influence in the affairs of state, and is assm'ed ample financial support through taxes and income from large invest- ments." But the Lutheran Church in Sweden is, according to the findingS of Dr. Bostrom, in peril. There is in the church of Sweden "a lack of close feeling between preacher and people. More often than not the preacher leaves the church without saying a word to any of the worshipers at the close of the service. . . . Most of the churches are very poorly attended." Again, "because of the close connection with the state, the church is THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER 937 affected by the political winds that blow hither and yon. Since all citizens automatically have a voice in the affairs that concern the church, it may happen that persons who have no vital interest in religious matters nevertheless become influential in deciding questions of spiritual importance." Furthermore, "Sweden has religious freedom in the sense that citizens are permitted to be members of any other Christian communion than the Lutheran state church. But hitherto the state has not permitted its people to become Mohammedans or Buddhists or to join any non-Christian or atheistic organization. Now, together with the religious educa- tion question [whether the religious instruction in the public school shall continue on a confessional basis] arises also the issue of non-Christian groups." Dr. Bostrom concludes, "It would seem that eventually state and church in Sweden must separate if the church is to remain the church. The seeming advantages of state 'support' are outweighed by serious handicaps." Dr. Bostrom appears not seriously disturbed about the danger of communistic infiltration in Sweden. However, in a letter, which this editor recently received from Dr. Gustaf Tornvall of Hiillestad, Sweden, distinguished author of Andligt och varldsligt regemente has Luther (translated into German under the title: Geistliches und weltliches Regiment bei LtLther, Christian Kaiser Verlag, 1947) Dr. Tornvall writes, "We fear most, however, the attacks on our faith coming from the East." At Bad Boll, Dr. Tornvall expressed similar sentiments. It is evident that the Lutheran Church in Sweden is in difficulties. May God grant her leaders courage hon- estly to face the problems confronting the church as well as wisdom to solve these problems in a manner which is both Scriptural and soundly Lutheran. P. M. B. The Inspiration of the Bible. - The Luthemn He1'ald, organ of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, beginning with the Sep- tember 27 issue, has published three articles on the doctrine of Biblical inspiration, at present perhaps the most ardently debated locus of Christian theology. Dr. Jacob Tanner, the author of the articles, deserves praise both for defending the received doctrine of inspiration and his wise and winning approach to the problem. The doctrine is appealingly projected against the background of the Bible's purpose and history. The first article treats introductory or general facts about the Bible. In the second, the writer approaches more definitely the moot question of plenary inspira- tion ("Everything is in there [the Bible] by the direction and will of the Holy Ghost"; "The whole content of the Bible is God's message to man"). He points out that the alleged discrepancies in the Bible a) need not be contradictions; b) may have come into the text by mistakes of the copyists; c) may have been created by inaccurate translations; d) may be removed by continued research, as indeed many have been in the past; e) do not alter a single Bible doctrine, so that they need not cause any special difficulty in our study of the inspiration of the Bible. He lastly 938 THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER shows that destructive higher criticism, which opposes the super- natural origin of the Scriptures and does violence to the sources it claims in its support, has nevertheless "not established any fact that further investigations have not proved to be in full harmony with the Bible as it stands, and with God's supernatural revelation as presented in the Bible." In the third article, Dr. Tanner demonstrates that inspiration, which must be distinguished from illumination (enlightenment) and revelation, is a fact and doctrine established by God's own witness in Scripture. He definitely states that Moses and the prophets "constantly stressed that they spoke in Jehovah's name" and that "again and again they state that their messages were given them verbatim by Jehovah." In addition, he so arrays his Scripture proof from the Old and the New Testament that verbal inspiration appears as the inescapable teach- ing of the numerous passages bearing on the subject. He con- cludes the last article by saying: "Some will say that the authors of the Bible, and especially of the New Testament, believed that they were inspired by the Holy Spirit when proclaiming the Word of God, including the writing, but that they were mistaken. Here we part company. They were not mistaken" (italics our own). We may note as an admirable feature of the articles that while they evince sound scholarship and thorough study, they never- theless are written so that the average Christian can readily understand what the wTiter has to say. The way to true church unity is not to avoid discussion of disputed doctrines, but to present them to Lutheran Christians fOT study in the light of God's Word. J.T.M. Church and State. - In its issue of Oct. 8, 1949, the Lutheran Standard published an article under the title "What Have You Learned Since 1933?" and written by Dr. Paul C. Empie, executive director of the National Lutheran Council. In this article appear two paragraphs in which Dr. Empie stresses in unmistakable terms the individual Christian's responsibility toward the State. His observations are so relevant that we are submitting them to our readers. Dr. Empie writes: "Our theology of church and state is quite sound, but many fallacious implications have been attached to it. In a democracy, above all nations, Christians must keep in contact with their representatives in government and must be responsible for the deeds of their country. While the church may not enter politics, Christian citizens dare not ignore or run away from participatiop. in national and international affairs. "It would be easier to remain aloof. If we speak in behalf of China we shall be called pawns of American imperialism. If we plead for the right of Arab refugees, we shall be called anti- Semitic. When we attack Potsdam, we shall be called Nazis. If we criticize labor, we shall be styled reactionary, and if we sympathize with labor we shall be labeled communists. It would be much pleasanter, at least for a while, blithely to ignore sL~ch controversial issues and to concentrate on liturgy and welfare work, building THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER 939 up membership rolls without reference to the indispensability of the cross for men caught in the tide of history. It is sadly true that there are many such appeasers in European as well as in American churches who have not yet learned the lesson of Jonah. Bishop Ordass would not be in prison if he had run away. The scourge of his persecutors is even now leaving raw wounds on the backs of many of our brethren in Eastern Europe. We shall be forever indebted to them, for they summon us to return our steps to Golgotha Road." P. M. B. Lutheranism in Finland. - At the National Lutheran Editors' Association meeting held last September, Dr. U. Saarnivaara, pro- fessor of systematic theology of Suomi Seminary, said: "An evan- gelistic spirit has long characterized the Finnish Church, but with this emphasis on spiritual life there has been a corresponding movement back to Luther and his theology. Luther is perhaps studied more in Finland than in any other country. More of his works are available in Finnish than in English. The spiritual awakenings that have come to the Finnish Church have opened the hearts of the people for the evangelical message of Luther. Perhaps the Finnish Lutherans, therefore, have something of real value to give American Lutheranism" (The Lutheran Companion, Oct. 5). Evidence of a loyal devotion to Scripture by a well-known Finnish Lutheran theologian, Dr. Yrjoe Alanen, we discovered last summer in Bad Boll. When German theologians were arguing back and forth about the final purpose of Christian education and could arrive at no agreement, Dr. Alanen asked for the fioor. Given the opportunity to speak, Dr. Alanen slowly walked to the front, faced the assembly, and in halting and broken German speech - clear enough, however, to be understood by all- said: "I see no merit in all this argumentation. Didn't the Savior clearly lay down the objective of Christian education in Matt. 28: 20: 'Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you?' Isn't this our objective to teach young and old all that Jesus has commanded?" No one had a better reply. With respect to political and economic conditions in Finland, Dr. Taito A. Kantonen of Hamma Divinity School, who lectured several months in Finland during the summer and fall of 1949, reports: "Freedom of thought and speech in Finland is astounding. There is open criticism of Communism, not only in private con- versation but also in the press and on the floor of Parliament. They naturally seek to avoid provoking their eastern neighbor to wrath, but there is no fawning or kowtowing. . . . The people of Finland have taken long strides toward economic recovery. Food and clothing are available in large quantities, but prices are high" (from Dr. Kantonen's report published in The Lutheran Companion, Sept. 21). P. M. B. A Serious Challenge for Our Churches. - The Lutheran Companion (Sept. 21, 1949) reports figures released by the Inter- national Council of Religious Education, according to which there 840 THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER were 19,060 more Sunday schools in 1948 than in 1945, but with a decreased enrollment of 21,891 during that period. There are now 232,672 Sunday schools in our country with an em'ollment of 24,588,112 pupils and 2,406,505 officers and teachers. These are indeed impressive figures. - Sunday after Sunday almost 25,000,000 children and young people receive special religious guidance by about two and one-half million consecrated men and women. Nevertheless, the loss of Sunday school pupils is alarming. As the Lutheran Companion shows, there are no less than 20,000,000 children and youth in our country who are receiving no systematic Christian instruction, and "all these persons - younger or older- have souls precious to Christ." Now, suppose that each one of the 232,672 Sunday schools had added annually a single boy or girl to its rolls, there would have been a gain of 698,016 from 1945 to 1948. "In a matter of four years, nearly a million more children would be receiving instruction in the Christian religion!" The writer closes his article with the stirring words: "Hundreds of thousands of these spiritual illiterates live at the very doors of our Augustana churches and Sunday schools. They constitute the harvest fields into which we are bidden to enter as laborers for Christ. Let no Augustana church or Sunday school fail to respond to the Master's call." What the writer here says of the Augustana churches is true of our own. But we wonder whether all our congregations fully realize the importance of the work of the Sunday school. Are our smaller town and rural churches nearly as alert in this matter as they should be? At any rate, the matter deserves early and intensive study by all our congregations. J.T.M. Passing of Geerhardus Vos. - The P7'esbyterian Guardian of September reports the death of Dr. Geerhardus Vos, for many years Professor of Biblical Theology in Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Vos was born in Holland in 1862, where he received part of his theological training. He also studied at Princeton Seminary and at Berlin and Strassburg. In 1893 he accepted the call to the newly established chair of Biblical Theology in Princeton and remained there until his retirement in 1932. At Princeton he was a distinguished member of a distinguished faculty which, during his period there, included such names as B. B. Warfield, C. W. Hodge, Robert Dick Wilson, W. Brenton Greene, William Henry Green, Oswald T. Allis, and J. Gresham Machen. Among his many scholarly writings we note the following: The Teaching of Jesus Concerning the Kingdom of God and the Church, The Self-Disclosure of Jesus, Biblical Theology, and Pauline Escha- tology. He also contributed outstanding articles to theological journals. P. M. B. Emphasis on Education by Protestant Episcopal Church.- At its triennial convention last fall, the Protestant Episcopal Church committed itself to a significant extension of its educational program. The Christian Century reports (Oct. 19) : "The Protestant THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER 941 Episcopal Church for the first time proposes to prepare its own curriculum materials. Because of the conviction that the Christian home is the key to educational development, the publication of material will begin with courses for adolescents, followed by courses for newly married young people, preparation for parent- hood, first years as a Christian parent, and on into a full program of courses for children until the cycle has been completed. Adult education is already under way. In order to implement this pro- gram, a wide-scale program of training for the clergy has already begun, seminary educational departments are being strengthened and all professional leaders will be 'refreshed' and informed of what is going on. This is the most ambitious program of Christian education in any communion today." Our own Church has taken seriously this matter of adult education and has, to that end, called a secretary of adult educa- tion. Until now his efforts have been largely confined to an investigation of the whole vast area of adult education and its many problems, to the promotion of Bible class instruction, and to a study of family life problems. Already our Church is reaping the benefit of its investment in engaging a full-time secretary of adult education. But the harvest will be even greater when once the needed materials have been prepared which will enable our pastors, teachers, and laity effectively to meet the challenge of adult education in our Church. We may never become weary in increasing, developing, and strengthening our parish schools, Sun- day schools, vacation Bible schools, and related agencies of Chris- tian education. But the time has come when we must also in all seriousness and with all the consecration the Spirit gives us, intensify our efforts in behalf of adult education. The mere con- templation of our staggering losses year after year on the young- adult and the adult levels ought make us ready and eager to know and to realize the opportunities of adult education. P.M.B. The Oxford Martyr's lVIemorial Service. - Ernest Gordon, in the Sunday School Times (Aug. 13, 1949), reports editorially on the memorial service held on Whitmonday, June 6 of this year, at Oxford to commemorate the "sad and glorious death of Cranmer and his fellow martyrs." In his address at the open-air service Dr. Chavasse, Bishop of Rochester, said: "What are the noblest words ever spoken by an Englishman? Without hesitation I would point you to the stone cross let into the roadway of Broad Street in this city, as marking the spot where they were uttered, nearly four hundred years ago, on October 16, 1555. For can you conceive a more valiant cry of faith and valor than the encouragement Bishop Latimer called to Bishop Ridley when the flames leapt around their stake in Balliol Ditch? His words have rung in English hearts ever since, reverberating down the centuries; and even now we can never hear them without a catch of the breath and a quickening of the pulse. Listen to them once again: 'Be of 942 THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out.' 'Honest' Hugh Latimer, the speaker, formerly Bishop of Worcester, is rated by some as perhaps the greatest English preacher of the Gospel of all times, with the possible exception of Charles Spurgeon. The Royal Court, his own Uni- versity of Cambridge, and the London populace at St. Paul's Cross alike hung upon his sermons. At the time of his burning, however, he was a 'withered and crooked old man' of over 70 years [if 1490 is assumed as his birth year, which is doubtful, he was, in the year of his martyrdom, 1555, only 65 years old. According to others, he was not so very "withered and crooked"], who had cried out to Ridley in prison, 'Pray for me; pray for me, I say; for I am sometimes so fearful that I could creep into a mouse-hole.' And yet when he was stripped to be fastened to the stake, he stood up in a long shirt as straight as a dart and 'as comely a father as one might behold.''' ... Of Bishop Cranmer's heroic martyrdom Mr. Gordon records (what is well known) that he bravely placed his right hand into the fire and kept it there until it was consumed. "And oftentimes he repeated, 'This unworthy hand!' so long as his voice would suffer him; and using often the words of Stephen, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,' in the greatness of the flame he gave up the ghost [quoted from John Foxe's Book of Martyrs]." Of Bishop Ridley of London, to whom Lati- mer's words were addressed, Mr. Gordon writes: "[He] was only 53, still in the prime of his powers and reckoned by his contem- poraries to be the leading theologian of the Reformation move- ment in this country. He was a prince among men, in looks and bearing, in learning and saintly living, and above all in abounding courtesy and charity even to his enemies. During the last months of his life, he was imprisoned in the house of Edmund Irish, the mayor of this city, and suffered ill-usage at the hands of the mayor's wife, a religious bigot. Yet Mistress Irish wept on the eve of his martyrdom, and four months later was summoned to appear before the City Council (i. e., as apostate from Rome)." Mr. Gordon remarks that Latimer's words of encouragement may have also inspired timid Archbishop Cranmer six months later to endure the torment of fire with patience and courage. It is thought that he witnessed the burning of P.is brother bishops from the top of Bocardo Prison, that he was kept alive for a time in the hope that his terror of such a horrible death would extract from the chief prophet of the Reformation a denunciation of its doctrine." Mr. Gordon adds: "The three Oxford martyrs were burned for refusing to accept the doctrine of Transubstantiation. But there is far more to it than that. For it was on Whitsunday, 1549, exactly 400 years ago, that the first Prayer Book of the Church of England came into general use, and our English Prayer Book will always be associated with the name of Cranmer. The wax of Latimer's candle, feeding its flame, is the Prayer Book. THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER 943 If ever, which God forbid, Latimer's candle of fidelity to Holy Scripture should burn dim, or be put out, Christ would move the candlestick of the Church of England out of its place." J.T.M. Are We Giving God a Tip? - So asks Robert M. Hopkins in the Watchman-Examiner (Sept. 22, 1949) and we may well put the question to ourselves as we are now considering the con- gregational and other budgets for 1950, not to speak of the deficit in the budget of the past year. According to the annual survey of current business by the Department of Commerce the total national income in 1948 rose to an all-time high of $226,204,000,000. Wages and salaries totaled $133,108,000,000, which is another all- time high. Personal savings accounts last year reached the sum of $12,005,000,000. "Personal consumption expenditures" reached the unprecedented sum of $178,788,000,000. For food, tobacco, and alcoholic beverages we spent $65,232,000,000; for housing and house- hold operation $40,302,000,000; for clothing, accessories and jewelry $23,853,000,000; for barber shop and beauty parlor luxuries $1,115,000,000; for toilet articles and cosmetic preparations $1,151,000,000; for school fraternities, college football games, club dues, fraternal, patriotic, and women's organizations $806,000,000, etc. Mr. Hopkins, after having given all these and other startling figures, continues: "To the support of private education and research and also for religious and welfare activities, 1948 witnessed the best annual increase that have been reported for some time." Yet when all is said, the contributions for "church and charity" amounted to only $2,225,000,000 out of a total national income of $226,204,000,000. This means that we are giving about one per cent of our total income, or one cent out of the dollar, to church and charity. Incidentally, the tips that were given to those who served our people with food and drink amounted to $446,000,000. J.T.M. Soteriology of the Lodge. - The SilveT C01'd Bulletin, pub- lished by the Freemasons of Cleveland, Ohio, in a current issue discusses a tract issued by the Concordia Publishing House under the title, "Does God Want You to Be a Lodge Member?" The commentator has "read this publication through several times" and takes note of the fact that the argumentation of the tract is directed chiefly against the Masonic Order. The critic then fastens in particular upon this assertion: "The Bible has not left it to man's choice to believe or not to believe in Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of the W orId. There is only one way that leads to Heaven - Christ." The propriety of making this position the basis of an argument against Freemasonry is denied on two counts. In the first place, there is the opening sentence of the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal * *." The Cleveland Free- mason then has this comment: "These were not mere words of political significance, they were inspired words, words written by 944 THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER men who had placed their whole reliance in God. To believe other than that all of God's creation is in His infinite care is to narrow the vision and to refuse to recognize the whole truth." If instead of closing his quotation with two asterisks the writer had con- tinued to the end of the sentence, he would have lost the point of his argument. His second objection to the proposition that "There is only one way that leads to heaven, Christ" is in the form of rhetorical questions, heading up in this one: "Would you believe that a Jew could not be a true follower of God because he does not accept Christ as the Messiah?" It is quite certain that the writer does not realize the devastating directness of the answer given in Christ's own words, John3:18. G. The Holy Year of Jubilee. - Elaborate preparations are under way in the Roman Catholic Church for the observance of the Holy Year of Jubilee in 1950. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of faithful Catholics will flock to Rome next year to receive rich indulgences. They will come from all parts of the world, especially from these United States, and bring their tributes to the Holy See. The new railroad terminal which has been under construction for some years, will, so it is hoped, be completed early in 1950, and therefore the pilgrims' first impression of the eternal city will be a favorable one. Throughout the year, a festive air will reign in the ancient city of the Caesars. And the "Vicar of Christ" will retire every night happy over the day's revenue but exhausted also as a result of the many special audiences he had to grant. Enough of this. It is so easy for a Lutheran to become cynical at the whole spectacle. But lest we be charged with undue levity and even frivolity, we submit, without comment, the following editorial from America (Catholic weekly, Sept. 24) and have the reader draw his own inferences. Here it is in full: "On Christmas Eve in the soft glow of a hundred thousand candles held in the hands of the hushed throng of pilgrims massed in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father will strike with a silver hammer on the sealed door of the basilica. At the words 'Open up the Gates, for the Lord is with us' the Holy Door will slip to one side. The Pope will pass through the portal while the bells of Rome and the guns of San Angelo will boom out a joyous wel- come to the Holy Year of Jubilee, 1950. Open, too, at the word of the Vicar of Christ, will be the spiritual treasury of the accumu- lated merits gathered from the sufferings of the Savior, the devotion of His Mother, the witness of His martyrs, the loyalty of His confessors. "'The sanctification of souls by means of prayer and penance and unswerving loyalty to Christ and the Church' is the principal aim of the Holy Year, in the words of the Holy Father. To attain that goal, to encourage pilgrims to visit the Holy City, the Holy Father, using the power given him by Christ to 'loose upon earth,' grants rich indulgences. Indulgences are pardons, partial or THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER 945 complete, of the punishment to be endured in time for forgiven sins. For even after the offense of sin has been forgiven, there remains a penalty to be expiated in penance or remitted by indulgence. To avail oneself of this pardon of punishment, which the Church is empowered to impart from the treasury of merits, the penitent must hate all his sins, must be in the state of grace, must fulfill set conditions. Indulgences are not remissions of sin, much less licenses to commit future sins. They are, to use modern terms, applications by the Church to the credit of the contrite, forgiven sinner from the bank of merits won by others. "Osservatore Romano summarized those conditions on Sep- tember 10. They follow closely the regulations laid down by Pope Benedict XIV for the Holy Year of 1750. Many familiar indulgences for the living are being suspended in 1950. They are being sus- pended in other parts of the world to induce pilgrims to go to the Holy City. The indulgences for the dead and the dying are unaffected by the apostolic constitution circumscribing indul- gences for the living. "In 1925 the plenary indulgences of the Jubilee were made available, under conditions laid down by the local bishop, to cloistered nuns, invalids, working people and others unable to travel to Rome. This year the Holy Father is mindful of the persecuted Catholics behind the Iron Curtain. Knowing how their movements are controlled by governments intent on smothering religion, the Pope has exempted them from the need of journeying to Rome. For them the gate of God's Mercy at least is open." P.M.B. "Catholic Toleration." - Die Furche, a Catholic paper of Vienna, in the issue of June 4, 1949, says measures in Spain, Peru, Brazil against Protestant sects and minorities have caused lively discussions in the Catholic world. P. Cavallis, S. J., in Civilta Cattolica, April 1948, 1. Congars, O. P., in La Revue Nouvelle, May 1948, M. Pribilla, S. J., in the Stimmen der Zeit, April 1949, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn in W01·t und Wahrheit, May 1949, Hermann Seiler in Civitas, May 1949, made important contributions to the discussion. The paper says that there is a dogmatic intolerance which the Church must always hold fast; but that quite another matter is the relation of the Church toward those of other faiths. Here, so it is asserted, a very great change has taken place in the last post-medieval centuries. The Church has always more and more moved away from heretic hunting and the forcing of states. Cardinals Manning and Gibbons emphasized these views. Pope Pius XII in a speech called "political, civil, and social toleration a moral duty of Catholics." He referred to the principle of the Codex juris canonici, that no one may be forced against his will to accept the Catholic faith. Seiler cites Thomas Aquinas, S. Th. J., II, Q.19 a, 5: "Man sins in accepting faith in Christ when his erring conscience forbids it." Toleration must be granted from deep, GO 946 THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER inner-Christian aspects, which first today begin to unlock to the consciousness of the Church. The same issue of Die Furche reports: Franz Joseph Schoe- ningh, editor of the Catholic Rochland, does not want the Middle Ages for a political ideal nor the papal social encyclicals for political instruments. "We know that even in the Middle Ages there was , no 'Christian State,' no 'Holy Reich.' " The Protestant reader inquires, Is that in usum Delphini? Narcotic for Protestant consumption? WM. DALLMANN The Roman Catholic Chm-ch and the Doctrine of Inspiration.. - Such as believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the leading protagonist of Biblical inspiration, will find themselves disillusioned when reading two book reviews in the Catholic Biblical Quarterly (July, 1949). Lawrence M. Friedel, S. V.D., in his review of The Bible, the Book of God and Man (By James A. Montgomery, Ventnor, N. J.: Ventnor Publishers; pp. 106. $2.75) has this to say: "They [the chapters in which emphasis is laid on the fact that the Bible is a book of man] are interesting chapters, but while they may be startling to conservative Protestants, who over- emphasize the divine character of the Bible and almost com- pletely disregard its human elements [sic?], they contain nothing new to Catholics, who have been taught saner ideas regarding the nature of inspiration" (p. 345). Fr. Friedel does not explain which the "saner views" of the Catholics are, but we may perhaps glean them from a review of The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible (By Benjamin B. Warfield. Edited by Samuel G. Craig. Phila- delphia: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing House, 1948; pp. 'VII - 442. $3.75), written by A. C. Cotter, S. J., in which the reviewer states: "He [Dr. Warfield] was intellectually [sic?] con- vinced that the Bible is the Word of God, and that its inspiration is verbal and plenary. But his arguments are not as secure as he claims them to be; for having no infallible Church to fall back on, he argues mainly from Scripture itself. Not only that, but he argues from Scripture as inspired to prove inspiration, which has at least the appearance of a vicious circle" (p. 350). The "saner view" here proposed, is the one that the infallible Church makes the Bible an inspired canon and that its own witness to its inspira- tion is not sufficient. Arguments for the inspiration of the Scrip- tures become secure only when the infallible Church declares that the Bible is inspired. Otherwise there will be a "vicious circle" which invalidates all arguments for inspiration. Catholic theo- logians, however, who press the "vicious circle" argument, fail to see that they themselves are moving within a "vicious circle" when first they establish the infallible authority of the Church from Christ's words in the Bible: "Tell it to the Church," and then argue from the infallible Church to the infallibility of the Bible. They, moreover, forget that there was a so-called vicious circle when Moses witnessed to Christ and Christ witnessed to Moses. Only that circle was not vicious, but perfectly sound since THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER 947 Christ is the Messiah of whom Moses spoke. Lastly, the Romanist argument of the vicious circle defeats itself, for if the Bible cannot be relied upon when it speaks of itself, it cannot be relied upon when it speaks of God, of Christ, of salvation, or of any other divine revelation.· Scripture has a definite doctrine of inspiration, just as it has a definite doctrine of redemption, and sincere Christians believe Scripture when it attests both the one and the other. No, indeed, Dr. Warfield was right when he argued Biblical inspiration from Scripture and not from any church pronunciamento or from any experience of man. J. T. M. The Russians have the "absolute weapon." - On March 16, 1949, Dr. Harold Urey of the University of Chicago, one of the keymen in the development of atomic fission, said in an address delivered in St. Louis before alumni of his school, "The Russians do not have the atom bomb and will not have it for some years." On Sept. 23, 1949, only a little more than six months later, President Truman stunned the American public with the announcement that the Russians had exploded the atom bomb. Since that an- nouncement Americans have somewhat the sensation of a man crossing a street who sees a drunken driver bearing down on him in defiance of traffic signals. We thus move into 1950 with a feeling of insecurity the like of which our country has never before experienced. Whatever precautionary measures our government shou~d take in this emergency, we must leave to those who have been entrusted with the specific duty to provide for the common defense and to promote the general welfare. But we can, and this is our sacred duty, arouse the consciences of our people to the utter futility of putting their trust in such materialistic mechanisms as atom bombs, jet bombers, radar screens, and similar defenses of a purely materia- listic nature. Our task will also be to make our people aware that in this crisis of our age when the terrible dialog of atom-bomb threats is becoming louder day by day, our only refuge and strength is the Triune God, the Maker and Lord of heaven and earth and the Savior of all mankind. And we can perhaps lead many of our people to a greater appreciation of spiritual values and a greater readiness on their part to give freely of their material gifts for the promotion of the Kingdom - while the acceptable year of our Lord 1950 is running its course. P.M.B. The Struggle in Ireland. - Under this heading, Fred S. Leahy, Belfast, North Ireland, describes, in the August-September, 1949, issue of the Calvin Fontm, the severe tension between Catholicism and Protestantism in Ireland. He writes: "In the South and West of 'Erin's Isle' you will meet Ireland's 'clerical army' -the priests of Rome. And remember that the education, outlook, and character of South and West Ireland have been molded by the priests of Rome who have been the virtual rulers of the majority of Irish people for many centuries." And with Rome goes poverty! We 948 THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER read: "Leaving the prosperous city of Belfast and traveling west you will cross the border and so leave the United Kingdom. You will then be in County Donegal, where the far-famed Columba or Columkille was born in A. D. 521. This beautiful county with its ancient hills and rugged coastline is predominantly Romanist. And today the Protestant population is dwindling as is the case all over Eire. Donegal has not advanced since 1902 when Michael McCarthy wrote in his Priests and People of Ireland: 'This large county, having an area of 1,197,154 acres, of which 700,000 acres are arable, does not contain a single town which has a population of 25,000. It is here that Bishop O'Donnell has reared aloft his costly and magnificent cathedral of Letterkenny, which is the only achieve- ment in the shape of work which our poor people of Donegal can put to their credit. No towns, no industry, no hope, no civic life.' ... Mr. McCarthy did not exaggerate. It is the same story all down the western coast of Ireland - wealthy priests and poverty- stricken people." Quite in contrast to impoverished Catholic Ire- land stands Protestant Ulster. Mr. Leahy writes: "The six north- eastern counties of Ireland constitute the greater part of Ulster (three counties of Ulster are in Eire). Ulster is roughly two-thirds Protestant, the Presbyterian churches being in the majority over the Episcop_alians. Linen and shipbuilding have made Ulster pros- perous and- Protestantism has raised her in every respect to a con- dition greatly superior to that of priest-ridden Eire." Unfortunately, Protestantism in Ulster is weakening itself in its fight against Rome by drifting away from the moorings of the Biblical faith. The report goes on to say: "Ulster once was blessed with a strong body of Calvinists, but, alas, that day has gone. Calvinism in Ireland is at a low ebb. Rationalism has done its deadly work, and Arminianism and Dispensationalism flourish in Fundamentalist circles. Oh, yes, there are Calvinists in Ireland! The light has not gone out, and we trust that even yet the power of Romanism in this country will be shattered not by Arminianism nor Modernism, but by a virile Calvinism such as William of Orange and later Dr. Abraham Kuyper embraced and put into practice. Meanwhile the grim struggle continues. Papal Eire clamors for the abolition of partition and the coercion of Ulster. Behind this agitation is the whole weight of the Vatican with influence in Britain and America. Christians here watch and pray. But the inroads of Modernism have been serious. Our Protestantism is becoming nominal and political, and so Rome is intensifying her activities in our midst and doing all in her power to increase the Roman Catholic population with intent ultimately to outnumber us. Silent penetration is her policy. The wholesale buying of property is giving much cause for concern. How will the struggle end? Much depends on a. Rome's fortunes in Europe; b. on whether she can keep Eire in subjection; and c. on the increase or decrease of true Protestantism in Ulster." It is remarkable how little the average reader hears about Ireland and the steady, silent, hard fight that is going on there. But even a few hours' stop at Shannon has brought THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER 949 Ireland very close to the writer. There is something unspeakably uncanny about Rome's silent, but influential presence on "Erin's Isle." Everywhere there are priests and nuns and faithful people who reverence that mysterious might that radiates from Rome. There is but one weapon with which to conquer Rome, and that is the open Bible with its sola fide. Unless Protestant Ireland goes back to that, it is no match for wily, conquering Rome. The writer just wonders how Lutheranism would fit into the picture of Protestant Ireland's fight against Rome. There are no Lutheran churches, so far as he knows, in Ulster. J. T. M. Items from Religious News Service Selected by A. W. C. Guebert Archbishop Erling Eidem has announced that he will resign next spring as Primate of the Lutheran Church of Sweden because of advanced age. His resignation will become effective on May 1. A chapter of the twelve Lutheran dioceses in Sweden will be con- vened early next year to appoint a successor. A merger of the Pocket Testament League of New York and the National Businessmen's Pocket Testament League of Phila- delphia was effected at a meeting in Philadelphia. The merged group immediately took the name of the National Pocket Testa- ment League and elected Joseph M. Steele, Philadelphia contractor, president. It was announced that the League will meet a request of General Douglas MacArthur for 10,000,000 copies of the New Testament in Japanese. Dr. E. G. Homrighausen of Princeton Theological Seminary said in Brooklyn that the United Evangelistic Advance, uniting thirty-seven Protestant and Orthodox denominations in a fifteen- month campaign to evangelize the nation, represents a new day in evangelical Christianity in America. Speaking before a city-wide convocation of nearly 500 Brooklyn clergymen, Dr. Homrighausen said the campaign represented a gain not only in co-operative work but in Christian unity as well. "The unity that is sought is not organic," he said, "but a unity which issues from a concentra- tion upon the great common objective - the bringing of persons into a creative relationship with Jesus Christ to secure a clear-cut decision for Him as Savior and Lord." A new series of Protestant radio programs was announced in New York by the Protestant Radio Commission. Entitled "Someone You Know," the series will be heard each Thursday night, begin- ning September 29, from 10: 30 to 11: 00 P. M. Prepared under the guidance of the Department of Pastoral Services of the Federal Council of Churches, the series will be aired over the facilities of the American Broadcasting Company. The broadcasts will deal with mental health and pastoral counseling and will feature such personalities as Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. John Sutherland Bon- nell, pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York, 950 THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER and Dr. William C. Menninger, Kansas psychiatrist. Each broadcast will dramatize a personal problem commonly met by clergymen in the course of their pastoral ministry. Following the dramatization a panel of expert ministers, doctors, and educators will discuss the problems raised by the program. Among the subjects to be covered during the 13-week series will be juvenile delinquency, alcoholism, mental illness, old age, bereavement, marital difficulties, physical handicaps, personal prejudice, and pre-marital counseling. A campaign known as "Religion in American Life" will get under way in November to bring to the attention of all citizens the importance of religious institutions in their lives and in the life of the nation, it was announced in New York. Intended as a na- tional inter-creedal effort, the drive will be spearheaded by the United Church Canvass. It will have the support of the Federal Council of Churches, Church W orId Service, the Synagog Council of Am~rica, and seventeen other national religious bodies. It is expected that Roman Catholic churches in many local communities will join the campaign. A World Parliament of Religion, sponsored by The World Fellowship of Faiths, Inc., was held in New York from October 25 to November 4. Convened to consider the "fundamental problems of spiritual life," the parliament was to cover such topics as freedom of worship, youth and religion, life after death, the technique of spiritual life, progress in religion, women in the ministry, defense of religious liberty in the courts, medicine and diet in relation to religion; music, art, and literature as spiritual forces; and the press, radio, and motion pictures. There was also to be a union service of worship conducted by clergymen of the following faiths: Eastern Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, Protestant Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Divine Science, Spir- itualism, and the Universal Spiritual Church. Delegates from the United States, Canada, Latin America, and leading European countries attended the twenty-ninth Interna- tional Congress of the World Union of Free Thinkers which met in Rome September 9-12. Chief topics discussed were: The Prob- lem of the Schools; The Religions, the Churches, and International Relations; Humanism and Free Thought. A religious ministry for more than 1,600 migrant farm workers in the eastern part of Pennsylvania is being provided through the Pennsylvania Council of Churches in behalf of all Protestant de- nominations. Three ministers are working among the American Negroes and Puerto Ricans in the migrant camps. Church services and Bible schools are conducted, recreational programs have been arranged, and counseling service is offered. More than 97% of all University of Delaware students con- sider themselves affiliated with some church according to a registra- THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER 951 tion survey. Upwards of 2,100 students were polled and only 48 failed to specify a religious preference or wrote "none." Dr. William S. Carlson, university president, said he considered the poll results a refutation of criticism that college students today tend toward a "godless cynicism or that a public university cannot contribute to their spiritual life." According to the college poll, 26% of the students are Methodists, 21% Roman Catholic, 17% Presbyterian, 14% Episcopalian, 6.5% Hebrew, 4.5% Lutheran, 2.5% Baptist, 2% of unspecified denominations, and 1.5% members of the Society of Friends. The remaining 5% were divided among fourteen denominations including Evangelical and Reformed, Greek Orthodox, Congregationalist, Christian Scientist, Unitarian, Church of Christ, United Brethren, and Moravian. Church-State relations in the United States cannot be resolved by strict logic, according to Arthur C. Sutherland, Jr., professor of law at Cornell University, who advocated the application of com- mon sense to this "emotional" area. Writing in the Harvard Law Review under the title "Due Process and Disestablishment," Pro- fessor Sutherland declared that logic could not resolve Church- State relations because some governmental recognition and backing for religion has been customary over a long period and continues because of the approval of a large part of the population. He continued, "There is a great deal of lip-service paid to the prin- ciple of complete severance of religion from education; there is a surprisingly persistent and widespread practice to the contrary. Bible reading in public schools continues to be required by statute in many States. School sessions are opened with prayers in a num- ber of places. The invocation of a local minister is an important part of most graduation exercises, and despite an occasional flurry of protest, songs with religious motifs are sung in the public schools at such festivals as Thanksgiving and Christmas." Father John LaFarge, S. J., associate editor of Ame?·ica, Roman Catholic weekly, was one of five Americans cited by the Conference on Science, Philosophy, and Religion in New York for their "advancement of civilization through a higher education, improve- ment of inter-group relations, and the wide interpretation and dissemination of scholarly and scientific ideas." In addition to Father LaFarge, the following also received awards from the con- ference: Arthur Hays Sulzberger, president and publisher or the New York Times; Robert Maynard Hutchins, chancellor of the University of Chicago; James Bryant Conant, president of Harvard University; and Frank P. Graham, United States Senator and presi- dent of the University of North Carolina. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria has warned that it will be "forced to take severe steps" against members of the Orthodox faith in Egypt who continue to attend services in Roman Catholic churches or make offerings toward non-Orthodox 052; THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER churches. In an official declaration, the Patriarchate deplored the fact that "many Orthodox Greeks attended services in the Roman Catholic Church of Alexandria on the feast of St. Anthony of Padua." It said that some offered gifts to the church, and thus provided the means for "propaganda among the Orthodox." Motions in favor of civil marriage ceremonies in provinces which do not have them were voted down by a large majority in Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the General Synod of the Church of England in Canada. Speaking in support of the motions, Judge G. W. Morley, of Owen Sound, declared that judges were not anxious for the marrying job, "but the system of common law wives is disgusting and revolting, so let's prevent people from living to- gether like beasts." Dr. W. W. Judd told the Synod, however, it should not forget the great group of divorcees who would make use of a civil form of marriage if they could not be married by the clergy. Publication of the first authoritative and unabridged English version of the Babylonian Talmud is expected in London shortly. Officials of the Soncino Press announced they would soon bring out the last six books of the thirty-four volume set. Translation of the Talmud has required eighteen years and was made by Rabbi I. Epstein, principal of Jewish College, London, and twenty-eight other scholars. An ancient, priceless manuscript - so beautiful that for long it was thought to have been written and illustrated not by men but by angels - is now being photographed by a team of Swiss experts. Photographic copies of the Book of Kells, as the rare manuscript is known, will be distributed to leading universities and libraries. The Book of Kells contains the four Gospels, a fragment of Hebrew names, and the Eusebian canons. So valued is the book that it is kept under glass in the library of Dublin Trinity College, where it has reposed since the seventeenth century. No visitor may handle the book, but a custodian turns a page of the manuscript each day. Some students of ancient parchment, captivated by the wondrous workmanship of the book, have been known to return to the college day after day until they had viewed the entire work, which runs to more than 600 pages. The Book of Kells contains every variety of design that is typical of Irish art at its best, and the versatility and inventive genius of the unknown illustrator or illustrators, according to those who have seen it, surpasses all belief. The Book of Kells was probably first executed in the Monastery of Kells in County Meath, in the eighth century. Subsequently it was reported in the Cathedral of Kells, where it remained until about 1541. In the seventeenth century it came into the possession of Archbishop Ussher, who later presented it to Trinity College. Dom Becquet, Belgian Benedictine monk, has brought the Cross of Jerusalem to Quebec City, Canada. The wooden cross, THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER 953 ten feet high, weighing 176 lbs., on which is imbedded what is believed to be a relic of the cross on which Christ was crucified, is being carried around the world to bring attention to the plight of Arab refugees in Israel and to plead for the restoration of holy places in Jerusalem. Dom Becquet has accompanied the cross since it began its journey from Mount Calvary in Jerusalem last Good Friday and hopes to bring it back to Mount Calvary by next Good Friday. Memorial Colosseum in Los Angeles was transformed into a vast outdoor cathedral as 35,000 persons witnessed a religious pageant commemorating the arrival of the first Franciscan mission- aries, led by Fra Junipero Serra. The pageant included the repro- duction of the fourteen Stations of the Cross with living characters. Members of Hollywood's Blessed Sacrament parish enacted the Stations. The Baptist Joint Conference Committee on Public Relations in Washington, D. C., received a report which said that "a recog- nized major aim of the Roman Catholic Church today is to capture the United States and make it the base for the catholization of the world." Dr. J. M. Dawson, director of the committee, further asserted that the Catholic Church was seeking to use the Federal Government in its alleged attempt to "win America." The Roman Catholic Church in Scandinavia has 40,400 mem- bers, according to a report by the Danish Information Office in New York. Of this total, 20,000 are in Denmark, 16,000 in Sweden, and 4,400 in Norway. There are 104 priests in Denmark, 42 in Sweden, and 48 in Norway.