Full Text for CTM Book Review 19-11 (Text)

(t!nurnr~iu UJl1rnlngirul flnut4ly Continning LEHRE UND VVEHRE MAGAZIN FUER EV.-LuTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLy-THEOLOGICAL MONTIiLY Vol. XIX November, 1948 No. 11 CONTENTS Page Roma Semper Eadem. L. W. Spitz_. __ . __ ._ .............. _ _ . __ .__ _ ...... __ 801 Union Theses, adopted by Breslau Synod and Saxon Free Church 824 Sermon Studies for the New Church Year ................. _. ____ ......... _._ .. 841 Theological Observer ._ ................ _ ... _ ......... _._ .... _ ... _ ..... _ _ _ ...... _ ... _ .......... _ .. 856 Book Review .. __ . __ ... _._ .. _ ... __ .... _ .... _ ........ _ ..... _ .... __ _____ ._._ ......... _ ... _ 875 Eln Predlger muss nicht alleln wei- den, also dass er die Schafe unter- weise. wie sie rechte Christen sollen seln. sondem auch dane ben den Woel- fen wehren, dass sle die Schafe nlcht angreifen und mlt f alscher Lehre ver- fueh ren und Irrtum elnfuehren. Luthe1' Es 1st keln Ding. das die Leute mehr bel der K1rche behaelt denn die gute Predlgt. - Apologie. An. Z4 If the trumpet give an uncertain sound. who Rhall prepare h imself to the battle1 -1 COf'. 14:8 Published by The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE, St. Louis 18, Mo. PR.IN'DD I:l "0'. S. A. Book Review All books reviewed in this periodical may be procured from or through Con- cordia Publishing House, 3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis 18, Mo. The Authority of the Biblical Revelation. By Hubert Cunliffe- Jones. The Pilgrim Press, Boston. 1948. 154 pages, 8% X 6. $2.50. Dr. Cunliffe-Jones' fine academic training and years of prac- tical experience as a pastor and teacher have combined in producing this readable little volume. The author graduated from the Uni- versity of Sydney and from Melbourne College of Divinity and received his B. Litt. degree from Oxford University. He spent six years in the ministry and has now been a theological teacher for eleven years. At present he is Principal and Tutor in Systematic Theology and Modern Church History at Yorkshire United Inde- pendent College, Bradford, England. In this volume the author attempts a refutation of pre-war Liberalism, which became confused in the absence of any belief in authority. He endeavors to show in what sense the Bible is finally authoritative for the Christian theologian so that he has no right to dissent from it. He does not disclaim the conclusions of the historical study of the Bible (Higher Criticism), but insists that "the constant interaction of the historical and the theological study of the Bible is necessary if the Bible is to be fully authoritative in declaring the gospel of the Blessed God" (p. 45). From this viewpoint he does not accept the doctrine of the verbal inspiration of the Bible, though he does not find it incongruous to insist on the witness of the Holy Spirit in the gospel. He explains that the gospel to which the Bible bears witness has been communicated to men by the Holy Spirit and that the understanding of this gospel is a human response also inspired by the Holy Spirit (p. 111). Dr. Cunliffe-Jones admits that this book is not the exposition of a fully worked-out theological standpoint, but a program for hard work. He is correct. If the conflicting claims of the higher critics are to be fused with the teachings of the Bible so as to constitute a harmonious theological entity, it will take more than the dialectical skill and the untiring diligence of a modern Aquinas or a whole school of schoolmen to bring this about. There is much in this small volume that should prove stimu- lating to the advanced Bible student, even where he may feel compelled to take issue with the author. It is interesting to see how the author regards the Old Testament in the light of the New and vice versa. It is gratifying to note that he finds Christ the Lord in both Testaments. His testimony to the witness of the Holy Spirit in the Bible is commendable. One can only pray that this witness may eventually lead him all the way to accept the whole Bible as the inerrant Word of God. L. W. SPITZ Revision or New Translation? "The Revised Standard Version of 1946." A Comparative Study by Oswald T. Allis. The Pres- byterian and Reformed Publishing Company, Philadelphia. 1948. 164 pages, 5% X 8%. $2.00. It is very proper that the translation of the New Testament known as the Revised Standard Version is studied, examined, 876 BOOK REVIEW and evaluated by the best and most consecrated scholarship which the English-speaking world possesses. Noone who has followed the career of Prof. Oswald T. Allis will deny that he in many respects is peculiarly qualified for making a study like the one in question. He received his education at the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton Univer- sity, and the University of Berlin, at which latter institution he earned his Ph. D. From 1910 to 1929 he taught in the department of Semitic Philology at Princeton Seminary, first as instructor and then as assistant professor. After that he served for seven years as professor in the Old Testament department of Westminster Theological Seminary. For twelve years he was faculty editor of the well-known Princeton TheoLogical Review. Of late his name has been before the theological public as author of The Five Books of Moses (1943), Bible Numerics (1944), and Prophecy and the Church (1945). While his specialty is the Old Testament, he certainly is well qualified to judge of work in general that has to do with the Bible and its translation. What makes us approach the work of Dr. Allis with much sympathy is that he accepts the Scriptures as the infallible Word of God and as the sole source of our doctrines. The task of examination is done in a scholarly way. The verdict arrived at is quite negative. Before entering upon it, the chapter headings should be submitted, so that the reader may get an idea of the line of thought which the author follows. I. The Version of 1611 and Its Revisions. II. Accuracy of Rendering - the Use of Italics. ITI. "Idiomatic" Translation. IV. Words and Their Meanings. V. The Word Order in Translation. VI. The Form of the Trans- lation. VII. Dogmatism and Inconsistency. VITI. The "Enduring Diction" of the Authorized Version. IX. Is the Revised Standard Version a Liberal Version? These chapters are followed by a con- clusion and an appendix. The latter gives information on the revisers with respect to their theological attitude. An index of Scripture passages closes the volume. Of all the evaluations of the Revised Standard Version which we have seen this study is not only the most extensIve, but likewise the most penetrating. One regret which Dr. Allis expresses we altogether share. It is this, that the commission which gave us the Revised Standard Version consisted almost altogether of men that represented a liberal course in theological thinking. It is a pity that conservative scholarship was not more widely represented among the members of that committee. Is conservative scholarship in America incapable of furnishing an up-to-date translation of the New Testament or of the whole Bible? Weare loath to believe anything of the kind. The men that did the revising are eminent scholars, but there are good scholars on the other side of the fence, too. Will a translator's personal religious attitude become manifest when he renders the Bible into his own tongue? We believe to a certain extent this is unavoidable. Dr. Moffatt in the introduction to his own translation of the New Testament said that a translator cannot help becoming an interpreter. This is very true, and it lends emphasis to the point made by Dr. Allis that it is unfortunate that the committee responsible for the Revised Standard Version was so largely composed of Liberals. Another general viewpoint of the author we do not share. BOOK REVIEW 877 He complains that the Revised Standard Version is called a revision. If it were called a new translation, he would not object to it so strongly as he does now. To our way of thinking the principles followed by the revisers had to lead to the kind of translation which lies before us. They strove for accuracy, as every honest trans- lator will. Besides, however, they desired to let the New Testament speak to us in the modern idiom. To do this, it was necessary to change the diction in innumerable places. The results, generally speaking, are satisfactory. If the revisers had been free to furnish a new translation of their own, we have no doubt an altogether different work would have been produced, as is evident from the modern-language translations of Moffatt and Goodspeed, two mem- bers of the revising committee. Hence we think that on this point Dr. Allis has not such a firm foundation to stand on as in some other matters. After all, what the religious world desired was a translation which would not only be accurate, but readable and couched in our modern language. Whether all the changes which the revisers introduced were really necessary will always remain a matter of opinion; here taste and sentiment play an important role. One must not forget that in this sphere we are dealing with the intangibles of speech and thought, where an absolute and uni- versally recognized standard simply cannot be established. A distressing thought which Dr. Allis brings before us has to do with the use of the New Testament by our children and our youth. In past generations the memorizing of the chief pas- sages of the Scripture was stressed, a course which was greatly facilitated through the universal acceptance of the Authorized Version among English-speaking Protestants. It was one of the joys of religious persons and teachers to see how firmly imbedded many of the most important proof texts of the Scriptures were in the minds of people, largely owing to the supremacy of one particular version of the Scriptures. It is indeed to be feared that with the passing of the Authorized Version and the chaos resulting from the multitude of modern versions about us, the memorizing of important Bible texts will be greatly hindered- till the Revised Standard Version will be firmly intrenched, if that condition will ever come about. It is the price which this genera- tion has to pay for obtaining a Bible translation in its own peculiar idiom. In the chapter entitled "Dogmatism and Inconsistency," Dr. Allis properly points out that the translation "married only once" in 1 Tim. 3: 2 for "husband of one wife" is definitely due to a strange bias; no reader of the original Greek, if uninfluenced by ulterior considerations, would find in the phrase the significance given it by the revisers. The same criticism must be directed against the rendering of 1 Cor. 7: 37 "to keep her as his betrothed." The bridegroom is conceived of as the subject of the sentence, while according to the Authorized Version's view, which is the usual one, it is the father of whom the Apostle is speaking. Into the same category Dr. Allis rightly places the rendering of Gal. 4: 3 "elementary spirits of the universe." We furthermore agree with him when he castigates the translation of Rom. 9: 5 "God who is over all be blessed forever," where the revisers assume the insertion of a doxology, while the words, read without bias, ascribe deity 878 BOOK REVmW to our blessed Savior. We do not agree with him, however, when he disapproves of the rendering of Rom. 11: 25 "a hardening has come upon a part of Israel" - a rendering which is in keeping with the larger context. A number of other points touched on in the book could profitably be discussed, but it will be better to direct all who are interested to the treatise itself. Having heard of a number of people who through this new version have come to read the Scrip- tures with greater delight and benefit than ever before, we hesitate to join in the negative verdict at which Dr. Allis arrives. Every conservative Bible scholar, and perhaps most liberal ones, too, will admit that the new translation is not perfect. But what must be decided is the question whether the advantages connected with the use of the new version do not outweigh the disadvantages to such an extent that the wide use of the new translation should be advocated. We are inclined to vote affirmatively. W. AruwT Luther and Music. By Paul Nettl. The Muhlenberg Press, Phila- delphia,1948. $2.25. 174 pages, 5¥4X7%. We most heartily recommend this fine little volume to our pastors. Its author, Dr. Paul Nettl, was at one time head of the Department of Musicology at the University of Prague and is at present a member of the Music Department of the University of Indiana. Much that is contained in Dr. Nettl's book may be found also in Hans Preuss' Martin Luther der Kuenstler. However, since the war has likely made the Preuss book unavailable, the book prepared by Dr. Nettl is all the more valuable. The liturgical re- vival of our day is accompanied by a revival of interest in church music and Christian hymnody. Since Luther plays such an im- portant part in all of these fields, and since Dr. Nettl has included also much information of post-Luther days and developments, not only our pastors, but also our church musicians and lay people will benefit by reading it. The book was written simply and lucidly and makes for enjoyable reading. There are points where one might differ with the author, but they involve no major issue. The volume was dedicated to Dr. O. P. Kretzmann and Prof. Theo. Hoelty Nickel of Valparaiso University. WALTER E. BUSZIN The Greatest Questions of the Bible and of Life. By Clarence E. Macartney. Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, New York-Nash- ville, 1948. $2.00. 223 pages, 5¥4 X 7%. The author of this collection of sermons is pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. All sermons of the volume are based on pregnant questions found in the Bible. The author's style is simple, his sermons are carefully thought out and uplifting, and all are interesting, some extremely so. Though there are occasional and even forceful references to salvation through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, the weakness of the sermons, by and large, is that they are not Christ-centered Gospel sermons. This is, of course, a failing of much modern preaching and, despite all the attractive moralizing done, the results are according in our enlightened twentieth century. As soon as ser- mons are not saturated with the proclamation of sin and grace, they fall short of their real purpose. In defense of Mr. Macartney we BOOK REVIEW 879 might add, however, that his sermons show, at least at times, that he personally believes and proclaims salvation through Christ. We of the Lutheran Church believe this should be done clearly and forcefully in every sermon. WALTER E. BUSZIN BOOKS RECEIVED From Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo.: Portals of Prayer. No. 85. Sing Unto the Lord. Daily Devotions from August 21 to October 7, 1948. By Dr. J. C. Schuelke of Peoria, m. Single copies, 10 cents; subscription for 7 numbers, 50 cents; 14 numbers, $1.00; bulk price, 60 cents per dozen; $4.50 per hundred; all postpaid. Psalter und Harie. Andachten fuer die Zeit vom 21. August bis zum 7. Oktober 1948. By Rev. A. H. Lange, em., Summit, m. Price same as above. Portals of Prayer. No. 86. For Our Learning. Daily Devotions from October 8 to November 25, 1948. By Rev. Martin Walker of Buffalo, N. Y. Single copies, 10 cents; subscription for 7 numbers, 50 cents; 14 numbers, $1.00; bulk price, 60 cents per dozen; $4.50 per hundred; all postpaid. Joseph - Der Erretter seines Volks - Andachten fuer die Zeit vom 8. Oktober bis zum 24. November 1948. Price same as above. Concordia Bible Teacher - Jonah and Micah - Vol. X, No.1, October-December, 1948. Concordia Bible Student - Jonah and Micah - Vol. XXXVIII, No.1, October-December, 1948. Both edited by Rev. J. M. Weidenschilling, S. T. D., under the auspices of the Board for Parish Education, The Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod. Steps to the Marriage Altar. Tract No. 156. By Rudolph Prange, 10 cents. With This Ring. Tract No. 158. By E. H. Heintzen. 20 cents. We Baptize Children. Tract No. 157. By Dr. J. T. Mueller. 10 cents. Be Baptized. Tract No. 155. By Dr. J. T. Mueller. 10 cents. On Using Profanity. Tract No. 161. By Edwin Kurth. 10 cents. Friendship. Tract No. 162. By Ri.chard Jesse. 10 cents. The Hope of Tomorrow. Rally Day Program. By Allan H. Jahsmann. 16 pages. Single copy, 8 cents. Luther, Man of God. Reformation Day Program. By Edgar J. Mundinger. 11 pages. 5 cents. From American Book-Stratford Press, Inc., New York: World Empire. Communism's Great Challenge. By Jerry Walker; 72 pages, 51/2 X 8%. 50 cents. From the Beacon Press, Boston, Mass.: Consider the Children - How They Grow. By Elizabeth M. Manwell and Sophia L. Fahs. 261 pages, 5% X 8. $1.75. 880 BOOK REVIEW From Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, Nashville, Tenn.: Making a Go of Life. Daily Guidance in Purposeful Living. By Roy L. Smith. 346 pages, 4%X6lf4. $1.00. How to Build Up Your Church School. By Weldon Crossland. 144 pages, 5%x7lh. $1.50. From Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.: Marian's Favorite Bible Stories. By Marian Schoolland. illus- trated by Dirk Gringhuis. 128 pages, 6%x9lf4. $1.50. White Queen of the Cannibals. By A. J. Bueltmann. 106 pages, 5lf4X7%. 60 cents. From The Lutheran Colportage Service, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.: Altar Steps. By Rev. R. P. Haakonson. 375 pages, 5lhx7%. $2.00. From The Muhlenberg Press, Philadelphia, Pa.: What About Scandinavia? By Carl C. Rassmussen. 194 pages, 5%X7%. $2.25. You Shall Be My Witnesses. By William S. Avery and Royal E. Lesher. 144 pages, 5 X 7lf4. 90 cents. From Northwestern Publishing House, Milwaukee, Wis.: Why "Missourian," by Wm. Dallmann, D. D. 24 pages, 4xS. Single copy, 15 cents. From the Pilgrim Press, Chicago, Ill.: Bible Homes and Homes Today. By Elizabeth L. Reed. VIn and 151 pages, 5% X 8lj2. $1.00. From the Warner Press, Anderson, Ind.: Topics for the Young People's Society, No. 12. Prepared by Vivian Ahrendt. 97 pages, 4%X7%. 60 cents. From Wetzel Publishing Co., Inc., Los Angeles, Calif.: Fascinating Bible Plays. By Betty L. Gabrielson. 195 pages, 5lf4 X 7%. $2.00. From The Pilgrim Press, Boston, Mass.: Minister's Monday. By Robert L. Eddy. 175 pages, 5%x7%. $2.25. 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