Where God Broke Through: The Sacred Sites
Baker’s Bible Atlas, by Charles F. Pfeiffer (Baker, 1961, 333 pp., $7.95), is reviewed by Wilbur M. Smith, Professor of English Bible, Fuller Theological Seminary.
During the last five years, four important Bible atlases have appeared in English, and the appearance of a fifth can only be justified if it has merits which give it distinct value. The four preceding Bible atlases of outstanding merit are the Westminster Bible Atlas, by Wright and Filson; the Nelson Bible Atlas, edited by Grollenburg; the Rand McNally Bible Atlas, by Kraeling; and the Geography of the Bible, by Baly and published by Lutterworth Press. We will use the initials W, N, and R in reference to the first three respectively for purposes of comparison.
As to words in the text, the Baker Atlas has about the same as W and N, while R has more than three times the amount of text of any of the other three. The Baker Atlas uses the Hammond maps, as well as a number of black and white maps, totaling 43, which is considerably more than any of the others, although the maps of W and N are decidedly larger and therefore more easily read. The Baker Atlas has the least number of illustrations, 74, as compared to W with 110, N with 408, R with 265, and even Baly with 97. The Baker Adas may be purchased at a figure below the other three. W and N are $15 each, and R is $8.95.
The editor of this volume is professor of Old Testament at Gordon College. He is well equipped linguistically and otherwise to edit a volume like this, and every page bears testimony to the care with which the project has been carried out. The style is clear, even attractive, and the entire work is thoroughly conservative, more so than the Westminster or the Rand McNally.
Books of this type must always conform to a certain general sequence of subjects, and this one is no exception, except for its last three chapters on “The Centuries Between,” “The Bible Lands Today,” and a fine study of “Biblical Archaeology in the Twentieth Century.”
I thought when I studied Kraeling’s chapter on the “Table of Nations,” as recorded in Genesis 10, that it could hardly be improved upon, but Pfeiffer on this list of nations has definitely improved on Kraeling in his treatment of the descendants of Canaan. For some reason, however, towards the end he seems to have lost interest in the subject, and of the 17 descendants of Arphaxad nothing is said about 13 of them. Chapter XXIV, “The Geography of the Book of Revelation,” is not quite satisfactory, for a thorough discussion of such a subject should also include Jerusalem, the Euphrates River, and Megiddo. In the table of contents the title is more accurate, “The Seven Churches of Revelation.”
The proofreading and indexing have not been done as carefully as one could wish. I do not ever recall seeing the name of Caesar Tiberius spelled Tiberias, and the distinguished archaeologist and late professor Woolley is sometimes referred to here as Wooley. While Sellin is referred to in the text, he is not in the index, and likewise Cyrus H. Gordon and others. The index references are not complete: for example, Kraeling is given one reference in the index, but I have found at least three other occurrences in the text itself.
There are three matters concerning this work which one acquainted with this type of literature will recognize as serious weaknesses. In the first place, nowhere in the volume is there any reference to relevant literature. The Westminster Atlas has given us excellent helps along this line, and Baly presents us with a wonderful bibliography.
In the second place, and this seems to me a serious matter, one is surprised to find in page after page of discussions of biblical events a total absence of biblical references. On page 136 nearly a full column is devoted to discussing Saul’s death, including a number of geographical details, but the reader would not know from the text where to find an account in the Bible of the event. If he thinks of it, he must turn to the word “Beth-shan” in the Geographical Gazetteer at the end of the book where he will find 16 lines of material about this town, with adequate references. In the chapter on “The Life of Christ” in the paragraphs on Caesarea Philippi, Bethany, and Ephraim, there are no references to the places in the Gospels where the events in these places are recorded. On pages 30 and 31, where a number of rivers are discussed, hardly any of them contain references to the scriptural data. The most amazing illustration of serious lack of reference material is in the chapter titled “Exile and Restoration,” where in five successive pages one finds only two incidental references, both to the early chapters of Ezra.
A double index, as it were, one technical as the Geographical Gazetteer, and a general index of names will no doubt cause some confusion, much turning of pages, and delay in ascertaining certain information which one will necessarily seek in a work like this. More serious, however, is the vast amount of material which is absolutely irrelevant to basic biblical investigation in the Geographical Gazetteer. There are innumerable paragraphs on many obscure towns in Gaul, others in Spain, Italy, Greece, strange names in Armenia, et cetera, and a good deal of discussion of the Saxons, Britain, Canterbury, London, Lincoln, and even the English Channel! Not only do these towns have no relation to biblical geography, but in many cases the amount of material assigned to them is not proportionately assigned as, for example, the five lines of small type given to Lutetia, an early name for Paris, and then 10 more lines to Paris itself, which together is more space than is assigned to the two more or less significant biblical towns of Jezreel and Derbe!
The amount of material assigned to these extra-biblical sites occupies 10 full columns, or nearly one-seventh of the entire Gazetteer. No doubt the reason for inserting all of this is that the editor has included a map of the spread of Christianity, and I suppose he felt compelled to say something about the scores of geographical terms on this map in the Gazetteer. It would have been better had he omitted the map, and omitted this comparatively irrelevant material, to allow him more space for biblical matters.
In spite of these criticisms, however, the atlas is eminently worthwhile. It illuminates many passages in the Word of God and will prove an excellent guide for anyone beginning the study of biblical history. The approach to the great events of redemptive history is not only one of open-mindedness, supported with accurate scholarship, but one of reverence as well. I am sure that many institutions will immediately adopt this work as a text for the basically-important subjects it discusses. The makeup of the volume is in every way of high quality.
WILBUR M. SMITH
John Calvin: No Fatalist
Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God, by John Calvin, newly translated and introduced by J. K. S. Reid (Jas. Clarke, 1961, 191 pp., 17s. 6d), is reviewed by Herbert M. Carson, Vicar of St. Pauls, Cambridge, England.
In popular image Calvin is a fatalistic thinker for whom God’s chief concern is to damn irretrievably and unjustly the bulk of the human race. Unhappily some who would not care to be considered as representing the popular mind, share the same misunderstanding. Professor Reid’s new translation may dispel such prejudices by showing what Calvin really did teach on this doctrine.
The work represents the Genevan’s mature reflections on the subject (he had already treated it in The Institutes), and the occasion of its production was the attack on his position by two critics, Pighius and Georgius. The form is therefore polemical, and the modern reader may find it repellent if he is unfamiliar with the abusive epithets of sixteenth-century theologians. The fact that it deals with critics of Calvin’s day does not limit the book’s significance to historians, for the objections of his opponents are those which still recur in the minds of those who study the doctrine. In fact, the very critcism of Pighius is voiced in the introduction by Professor Reid. It is interesting to compare the former’s objection (p. 55) with Reid’s remarks on page 44. The only difference is that the sixteenth-century theologian writes more lucidly than the twentieth-century commentator!
The characteristics of Calvin’s approach are his extensive quotations from Augustine, and his readiness to deal with biblical evidence. The former shows his doctrine was not a novel product coined in Geneva. The latter demonstrates that, whether one agrees with Calvin or not, it must be admitted that this is no philosopher engaged in metaphysical speculation, but a serious exegete grappling with the Scriptures.
There is a succinct summary of what Calvin believes to be the biblical position on page 58. “God by His eternal goodwill which has no cause outside itself, destined those whom He pleased to salvation, rejecting the rest; those whom He dignified by gratuitous adoption He illumined by His Spirit, so that they receive life offered in Christ, while others voluntarily disbelieve, so that they may remain in darkness destitute of the light of faith.” To establish this, he faces these objections. Does this doctrine make God unjust? Is God not represented thus as the author of evil? Is God’s foreknowledge not being ignored as the real key to the problem? (On this Calvin aptly comments: “The real question is whether what He foresees is what He will make of them, or what they will be in themselves.” p. 71.) What of the Christian’s assurance of salvation? How does the preaching of the Gospel fare at the hands of this doctrine? He faces these questions honestly, and answers from the Bible.
One last word. Is it really profitable to give such sustained study to this doctrine? Calvin replies (p. 56): “It is rather a solid argument excellently fitted to the use of the godly. For it builds up faith soundly, trains us to humility, elevates us to admiration of the immense goodness of God towards us, and excites us to praise this goodness.”
HERBERT M. CARSON
The Bible In English
No Greater Heritage, by Charles Gulston (Paternoster, 1960, 256 pp., 15s., and Eerdmans, 1961, 233 pp., $1.95, paperback), is reviewed by Joyce M. Horn, Research Historian, London University.
The one hundred and twentieth anniversary of a Bible being presented to the Boers, who embarked on the great South African trek of 1837, inspired this book on biblical translations. It ranges in content from Bede and King Alfred to Wycliffe and Tyndale, and from the King James Version to recent discoveries and the work of modern Bible societies.
The story is told with enthusiasm and a sense of the romantic. It is intended for popular reading and those with little historical knowledge. Church historians will find it at times fanciful and speculative, and not always entirely accurate. The Dark Ages, for instance, are seriously distorted by an over-dependence on Bede. More important is the disproportionate balance of the book. Together Wycliffe and Tyndale account for more than half of it, and Tyndale’s 70 pages compare with seven on subsequent translations. This latter chapter could have been expanded, and some assessment of twentieth-century versions would have completed the story. On the other hand it is readily confessed that the dramatic chapters on Tyndale are the most absorbing part of the book. In places the style is rambling, and the suspense, latent in some events, is in some measure dissipated by the author’s tendency to betray the conclusion of the story before it is reached. Despite the blemishes the book does impart something of the author’s confidence in the power and relevance of the Word of God.
J. M. HORN
Shadow Of Bultmann
The Study of Divinity, by D. E. Nineham (SPCK, 1960, 27 pp., 5s. 6d.), is reviewed by Gervase E. Duffield, London Manager,CHRISTIANITY TODAY.
Professor Nineham is the first occupant of the newly-created chair of divinity in London University. In this inaugural lecture he was unable to follow the common precedent of surveying the work of his predecessors, and so he set out to explore the nature of the subject he was to teach.
The first ingredient in the study of divinity is a knowledge of texts and linguistics, but we are warned that “etymology is a notoriously bad guide to the meaning words bear in practice” (p. 7). “The reader of ancient writings needs more than a good text and a good lexicon” (p. 17). And so the second ingredient is seen to be a knowledge of the life, culture, and thought of the ancient world, for words acquire meanings and overtones that do not always appear in dictionaries.
Thirdly, the student needs to examine the total content of the Bible viewed as a unity. By way of contrast with nineteenth-century liberalism, this is a great gain and a result of the modern biblical theology movement. But even when the total message of the biblical revelation is ascertained, it must still be communicated to the ordinary man. Dr. Nineham recognizes the parting of the ways here. Some assert that if the Bible uses a category, “then simply by virtue of its widespread use in the Bible, that category has indefeasible validity; if modern man can make nothing of it, that is a defect in him to be corrected by appropriate training” (p. 22). Others wish to demythologize the Bible, strip it of its primitive thought-forms, and refurnish it with modern equivalents. The author prefers the latter method, though he admits some of its dangers. But is he right in his choice? To judge from recent attempts at demythologizing by Bultmann, Gogarten, and others, the enterprise is perilous indeed. To distinguish the “real Gospel” from early thought is difficult and hazardous, if not impossible. What all too often happens is that the resultant message is so watered down to make it acceptable that it is scarcely recognizable as biblical at all. Persistent rumors that some of Bultmann’s pupils are abandoning their faith are not therefore surprising.
The lecture ends on a happier note. The student must understand the culture to which he is addressing his biblical message. As the old Puritan divine put it, the minister must know two books, the book of ordinary life, and the Book of God. Finally, the student of divinity must be a man of prayer and seek to wait on God.
G. E. DUFFIELD
Deluge And Debate
The Genesis Flood, by Henry M. Morris and John C. Whitcomb, Jr. (Presbyterian and Reformed, 1961, 518 pages, $8.95), is reviewed by Donald C. Boardman, Chairman, Department of Geology, Wheaton College (Illinois).
Evangelical Christians today are faced with problems of the proper interpretation of scientific data. More young people are being trained in our colleges and universities than ever before. Leaders in the evangelical world have a responsibility toward those students, who are children of God through trust in Jesus Christ as Lord, in strengthening their faith as they explore the mysteries of science. There is therefore great need for books which will help these and other Christians in an unbelieving world. Unfortunately, despite much obvious work on the part of the authors, this volume is not such a book.
The Genesis Flood presents five theses:
1. The Noahic flood was universal rather than local (chaps. I, II, III).
2. Uniformitarianism cannot be compatible with a Christian interpretation of Scripture (chap. IV).
3. The rock strata and fossils everywhere were deposited by the Noahic flood (chaps. V, VI).
4. The earth is much younger than geologists have proposed (chap. VII).
5. The flood occurred three to five thousand years before Abraham (App. II).
One of the major difficulties of this book is that the authors overlook a basic premise of scientists, namely, that the scientist looks critically at his methods and conclusions, because he realizes that as soon as he is positive that he is completely right in his conclusions, he ceases to be a true scientist. This does not mean that the scientist cannot have confidence in conclusions he has reached, but he does recognize that all conclusions are the result of the present state of his knowledge. It is customary, therefore, in scientific papers to mention the problems engendered by the conclusions. Thus almost every scientific paper will have some statements discussing the difficulties of the method employed and problems with the conclusion reached. The authors of this book have based many of their arguments against accepted scientific theories upon quotations of this nature. An example is shown by their statement on the subject of varves.
Varves are the seasonal deposits of sediments in lakes. During the summer the sediments tend to be thicker and more oxidized than those deposited during the winter time. By counting the seasonal layers in a lake deposit, it is possible to determine how many years elapsed in the laying down of the total thickness of sediment. The dating of sediments by varves is a complex matter. It requires detailed study of the layers. Workers in this field recognize that it is difficult to make very exact interpretations as to the length of time taken to make the deposits. The authors of The Genesis Flood quote R. F. Flint of Yale who has listed some of these difficulties. One would get the impression that Flint does not accept varve dating. On the contrary, geologists including Flint have confidence that general age dating can be done with varves and that they indicate sedimentation has been going on for a much longer period of time than Morris and Whitcomb propose.
A second difficulty seems to be that many quotations in the book are from secondary sources. An example is seen on pages 418–419 where the authors are attempting to prove that the many layers of petrified trees in Yellowstone Park are the result of the Noahic flood. The quotations are from (1) an article by J. L. Kulp in the American Scientific Affiliation Journal, (2) Arnold’s Introduction to Paleobotany, and (3) Miller’s Introduction to Historical Geology. None of these reports describes direct observations of the area. Each, however, is consistent with the original report. Morris and Whitcomb give a description which they evidently made from an illustration which Miller copied from a United States Geological Survey report of about 1890, and reach a conclusion which is different from that of any author quoted. The authors might have taken the desciption which the original author had made, or better yet, consulted some worker who has recently studied the area. Dr. Erling Dorf, a paleobotanist at Princeton University, has spent a number of years investigating this succession of petrified forests. He has described his work quite fully in the 1960 Billings Geological Society Guidebook. He shows that there are over 30 successive forests which grew to maturity and were covered with volcanic ash. The top of the ash bed in each case weathered to form soil in which the next forest grew. The authors of The Genesis Flood cannot believe the evidence thus shown as it indicates much more time than their hypothesis can accept.
It is doubtful if any of the five theses proposed in this volume is proved. In fact, most of them would probably be rejected by any reader who took the time to look up some of the references given as evidence. Dr. McCampbell who wrote the foreword has quite accurately evaluated the viewpoint of the authors when he says (p. XVII): “The various methods of geological time-measurement are analyzed and their basic assumptions adjudged inadequate by them, whenever these assumptions lead to results in contradiction to biblical inferences.” After reviewing the arguments of the book, the author of the foreword concludes: “From the writer’s viewpoint as a professional geologist, these explanations and contentions are difficult to accept.” This will probably be the conclusion of most scientists and Bible scholars.
DONALD C. BOARDMAN
Humor, A Gift Of God
Serve Him With Mirth, by Leslie B. Flynn (Zondervan, 1961, 191 pp., $2.95), is reviewed by Harold Lindsell, Vice President, Fuller Theological Seminary.
Flynn shows convincingly that God made man to laugh and that humor is an integral element of real life. He argues that they are a saving salt without which man would be poorer. To bulwark his thesis he cites many biblical instances in which humor is the controlling factor. These illustrations are timely and provocative. The book concludes with the final laughter of God, and in an appendix there are a number of excellent anecdotes which are mirth-provoking and usable for any minister or lay person who is in the public eye.
HAROLD LINDSELL
Vs. Nonbiblical Dualism
Sex and the Church, edited by Oscar E. Feucht, Harry G. Coiner, Alfred von Rohr Sauer, and Paul G. Hansen (Concordia, 1961, 277 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by Robert Paul Roth, Professor of New Testament and Dean of the Graduate School, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.
This book is the fifth volume in a series on marriage and family research by a team of professors and pastors in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. A most thorough investigation is made of sex attitudes in the Old and New Testaments, the ancient Church Fathers, the Middle Ages, the period of the Reformation, the subsequent Age of Orthodoxy, the influence of Puritanism, Pietism and Rationalism, and the pronouncements of various Lutheran bodies in America to the present day. A comparative study of Protestant and Roman Catholic views is placed alongside an examination of current sociological research of such authors as van de Velde, Kinsey, Duvall, and Landis. The thoroughness and objectivity of this church-sponsored publication demonstrates the integrity of purpose in the team of authors. No point of view is slighted. All facts are reported with utmost candor.
The historical survey revealed a marked change in sex attitudes beginning after New Testament times and carrying through the Middle Ages but not completely absent even today. The biblical view held sex to be basically a good element in the original creation with the purpose of marriage to be primarily for the fulfillment of our being in the image of God, the sacramental union of person with person. A blessed result of this was procreation, endearing love, and companionship. A nonbiblical dualism crept into Christendom, however, which has taught that sex is basically evil but tolerated only for the procreation of the race. This has colored both Roman Catholic and Protestant views in that for Romanists the married state was considered less holy than the celibate and for Protestants sex became excused only through strained theological rationalizations. The inevitable reaction of modernism with its “radar objectivity” exposed the deceit in the general practice of sex, but, although no salutary direction has been agreed upon by the social scientists, most agree that the old restrictions of chastity before and fidelity within marriage make for a happier and more stable community. Within the secular point of view, no reason can be found why this should be so. The final chapter of the book provides a compendium of answers to basic questions answered according to the Christian understanding of sinful man living in the redemption of Christ. Here sex is seen to be not a concession to the flesh but the God-pleasing fulfillment of man’s blessed creaturehood as the image of God. From the Christian point of view our knowledge in sex can only be compared with the knowledge of Christ for his Church. Procreation in sex can only be compared with the creation of God himself. And edifying companionship in sex can only be compared with the communion of Christ with his friends.
ROBERT PAUL ROTH
Exemplar For Piety
A Faith of Our Own, by Austin Farrer (World Publishing Co., 1961, 224 pp., $3.75), is reviewed by Lewis B. Smedes, Professor of Bible, Calvin College.
Anyone planning to write a book on practical Christianity would do well to read Dr. Farrer’s book first. One ought to read it, not for its theology but for a fine example of how to write a book. Farrer’s theology, from this Calvinist’s perspective, ranges from excellent to rather doubtful. But his form is first-rate. Dr. Farrer is a poet of feeling, a priest of perception, and a scholar of sense. Moreover, he is a disciplined writer. He makes his point without preaching it, he is practical without being superficial, and he finds the final answer to Christian living in grace rather than gimmicks. He made at least one reader reconsider some of his sub-Christian attitudes and habits. And he made at least one teacher think of many better ways of saying some things than he had done before. Dr. Farrer writes the kind of book that I would like one day to write.
Resisting the temptation to quote an example of theology that I could poke holes in, I offer instead a taste of Farrer’s devotion: “O God, save me from myself, save me from myself; this frivolous self which plays with your creation, this vain self which is clever about your creation, this greedy self which exploits your creation, this lazy self which soothes itself with your creation; this self which throws the thick shadow of its own purposes and desires in every direction in which I try to look, so that I cannot see what it is that you, my Lord and God, are showing to me! Teach me to stand out of my own light and let your daylight shine.” Though I object to some of his Anglo-Catholic theology, I devoutly admire Farrer’s Christian piety.
LEWIS B. SMEDES
Letters From Dr. Fosdick
Dear Mr. Brown, by Harry Emerson Fosdick (Harper, 1961, 191 pp., $3), is reviewed by William D. Livingstone, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, San Diego, California.
One always looks forward eagerly to a book by Dr. Fosdick. He has been for several decades one of the outstanding preachers and religious writers in America. Though he is now in his eighties, he still displays the same brilliance of mind, warmth of spirit, and facility of tongue and pen. His books are immensely readable, and this volume is no exception. He writes not with a glassy polish but with a ruggedness that commands one’s interest and attention, and his work is full and rich with references to persons outstanding in many different fields. To read one of Dr. Fosdick’s books is a rewarding experience.
In saying this, however, I as an evangelical cannot help but feel disappointment especially when Dr. Fosdick deals with theological matters as he does in this present volume. The format of the book is a supposed series of letters written to a young man who is inquiring about religion, and specifically about the Christian faith. Dr. Fosdick deals intelligently with various aspects of the young man’s inquiry, and yet what he sets forth as Christianity is quite different from the historic Christian faith. Fosdick is apparently still an unreconstructed modernist, and in his discussion he continues, as he has done in the past, to downgrade the supernatural, downgrade God, downgrade the Bible, Christ, miracles, the atonement, and the Church. The influence of this man over the years has been incalculable though, from the reviewer’s viewpoint, tragically on the wrong side. Who knows what might have happened in Protestantism if his great mind and influential voice had been on the side of evangelical Christianity? As it is, Fosdick presents God as a personal and immanent Being, but the doctrine of the Trinity is discounted; he interprets the term “supernatural” as an “upper compartment” rather than that God is not bound by the laws which he himself has established but is free to work with and through them; and he denies miracles along with much of the supernatural element in the Bible. Having thus blurred the uniqueness of Christianity, he puts the Christian faith on a level with non-Christian religions and tries to see the best in all of them. Repudiating the biblical doctrine of substitutionary atonement, Fosdick writes: “Can you imagine a modern courtroom in a civilized country where an innocent man would be deliberately punished for another man’s crime?” He comments, “Only in certain belated theologies it is retained as an explanation of our Lord’s death.” Along with other modernists, he believes that redemption is not the unique work of Christ. He says, “Christ’s life of saviorhood is to be continued in the vicarious sacrifice of His disciples’ lives.”
It is always of interest to me to note the use that modernists make of the Bible. They are quick to deny the validity of any passage of Scripture with which they disagree, but will naively resort to “proof-texts” to support their own opinions. Fosdick’s attitude toward war is a case in point. He uses a quotation of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew to prove his point regarding the futility of war: “All who take the sword will perish by the sword.” Now this is the only place in the Gospels where Jesus says this, and yet Dr. Fosdick has denied the Virgin Birth for the reason that it is referred to in only two Gospels. If the story of the Virgin Birth is not true, how then can we know that this account of Jesus’ words is true? This seems to me to be the strange dilemma in which a modernist finds himself. In conclusion I would say that Dear Mr. Brown is a very readable volume, but from the point of view of the Christian faith not a very edifying one.
WILLIAM D. LIVINGSTONE
Paulinism
Paul and His Recent Interpreters, by E. Earle Ellis (Eerdmans, 1961, 63 pp., $1.75, paperback), is reviewed by Ralph Gwinn, Associate Professor of Religion, Knoxville College.
Here is an important, well-written, thoroughly-documented work. A casual perusal of the authors in the index will reveal the careful scholarship of the author. The book begins with a brief review of Paul’s life, reviews some of the chronological and introductory questions, and gives the background of Paul’s thought. Then follow two chapters dealing with two specific areas, namely, Pauline eschatology and the authorship of the Pastorals.
The author approaches the former question by a thorough study of 2 Corinthians 5:1–10, and shows that this passage is neither Platonic nor Gnostic in its background but is Hebraic and in accord with the teaching of Christ in the Gospels.
In the chapter on the authorship of the Pastorals, Dr. Ellis forces a reappraisal of the whole question. An easy acceptance of non-Pauline authorship is hardly possible in the light of this study.
The book is worthy of careful consideration.
RALPH GWINN
South Of The Border
Land of Eldorado, by Sante Uberto Barbieri (Friendship Press, 1961, 162 pp., $2.95), is reviewed by C. Stanley Lowell, Editor of Church and State.
This is the best general book on the religious situation in Latin America that I have read since the somewhat more copious treatment by Dr. Stanley Rycroft, Religion and Faith in Latin America. The Land of Eldorado is written by the right man—Sante Uberto Barbieri of Buenos Aires. Soundly evangelical, ruggedly outspoken, a man of rare wisdom and patience, this Methodist bishop has become one of the best-known Protestant leaders in Latin America. He writes from long experience and from all the deep Protestant conviction of a convert from Rome.
Bishop Barbieri has a way of illuminating complex matters with felicitous bursts of words. His quick description of the priest-police alliance (p. 14) which has meant so much misery to Protestants could not have been more succintly done.
This Methodist bishop has sympathetic regard for groups like the Pentecostals who have been so active and fruitful in Latin America. He notes that “75 per cent of the 6000 missionaries working in Latin America and the West Indies have been sent by the so-called ‘non-historical’ groups.”
There are quotations from the bulletins of the Reverend James Goff, Presbyterian missionary of Barranquilla, who is secretary of the Evangelical Confederation of Colombia. I wish the writer had devoted some space to one of Mr. Golf’s busy sidelines, namely, that of publicizing via his bulletins every act of violence perpetrated against Protestants in Colombia. His relentless publicity has caused consternation among the Roman hierarchy, and a steady diminution of anti-Protestant outbreaks has resulted. Mr. Golf’s life has frequently been threatened.
Bishop Barbieri discusses sympathetically the problems created by Protestant proliferation and also the prospects of the ecumenical movement in these countries. He bewails lack of communication among the groups and hopes that ecumenicity will find more favor than it has to this point. He feels there is particular value in a co-operative effort for the training of Protestant clergy. Yet the bishop wisely and realistically sees that the virile Protestant leadership in Latin America today is not to be found in the old line Protestant denominations but is evidenced in new groups whose very names may be unknown to many Protestants north of the border.
C. STANLEY LOWELL
Adequacy Of The Faith
Christ and Human Values, by Albert Clayton Reid (Broadman, 1961, 109 pp., $2.50), is reviewed by Stuart Cornelius Hackett, Professor of Philosophy, Louisiana College.
These eight popular and inspirational lectures, originally delivered at Mercer University in connection with a religious emphasis week, express a familiar theme. Dr. Reid, professor and chairman of the department of philosophy at Wake Forest College, emphasizes the thesis that humanity confronts a multiple crisis from which it can be extricated only through a revitalized Christian faith which surges forth into every area of personal and social life with transforming ethical power.
This brief book is neither philosophy nor theology, although it contains smatterings of both. Instead, it is a graphic account of moral conditions and a personal confession of the adequacy of faith in Christ to solve the problems posed by these conditions. In the course of pursuing this main line of thought, the author discusses such varied topics as the demand for excellence in the Christian ministry, the importance of the humanities as a foundation for adequate education, and the necessity for controlling environmental influences which play a decisive role in character formation. In short, the book calls not for searching critical analysis but for a passing word of appreciation for its motivation of deeper moral concern and strengthened Christian commitment.
STUART CORNELIUS HACKETT
Religion And Psychology
Disorders of the Emotional and Spiritual Life, by W. L. Northridge (Channel Press, 1961, 125 pp., $3) and Victory Over Suffering, by A. Graham Ikin (Channel Press, 1961, 144 pp., $2.50), are reviewed by Theodore J. Jansma, Chaplain-Counselor of the Christian Sanitorium, Wyckoff, New Jersey.
These books deal with the same subject but in a different way. They are the products of firsthand and wide experience, as reflected in the many case illustrations presented, but the experience of the two authors differs as widely as the personality and orientation of each. Northridge combines a pastoral concern with a considerable knowledge of psychiatry and psychology. The doctor and the pastor find a happy meeting in him. He offers much helpful insight on some of the common emotional problems, such as depression, doubt, grief, the sin against the Holy Spirit, and others. Ikin is more of a mystic, a sort of faith healer, though more sophisticated and sober than the usual sort. At times she seems to drift off into spiritism and parapsychology, but she is by no means an obscurantist with respect to dynamic psychology.
Both authors belong to a liberal school of theology, Ikin being the more outspoken. She views the Old Testament as primitive religion with a vengeful god, in contrast with a New Testament picture of a warm and accepting god. Both writers have much to say about forgiveness, but they define it more in humanistic than Christian terms. Ikin sees sin as a failure to be our best selves rather than as an affront to a holy God. Both of them link forgiveness with the death of Christ, but they omit the substitution of Christ and his satisfaction of divine justice.
The books are compact and readable and, if read with discrimination, they provide many stimulating ideas.
THEODORE J. JANSMA
Counsel For Counselors
The Minister as Marriage Counselor, by Charles William Stewart (Abingdon, 1961, 223 pp., $4), is reviewed by Hugh David Burcham, Pastor of First United Presbyterian Church, Oakland, California.
The author of this book writes out of his deep concern that for all the need there is for marriage counseling, and for all the opportunities for the parish minister to make a contribution to society in this field from a Christian perspective, no more than ten per cent of the ministers in America really measure up by training and experience as qualified counselors.
Dr. Stewart, currently professor of psychology of religion and counseling at Iliff School of Theology, has served pastorates in Connecticut and New Jersey. He has written widely in the field of counseling, and has served as President of the Marriage Council of Denver, Colorado. His present book, while intended primarily for ministers and divinity students, is largely nontechnical in language, and should be helpful to any interested layman. The text is supplemented by an appendix that lists training organizations available to ministers in the field of marriage counseling, and a bibliography of good recent books in the field.
The author divides the total area of marriage counseling into three subareas: (1) pre-marital counseling, (2) marriage counseling (with husband and/or wife but not primarily involving children), and (3) family counseling. The bulk of the volume is given to a consideration of the minister’s opportunities in each of these three areas. Of particular interest in developing his idea of counseling procedure is his “role-playing” technique in which the minister as counselor seeks to draw from those he counsels their own solutions to the problems they face. In nondirective relationship to them, the minister serves as a stimulus, catalyst, and guide; not as one who holds all the answers.
The degree of “permissive” atmosphere which the author champions throughout the counseling experience may seem to some an excessive bending over backwards: “The counselor does not advise separation, just as he does not advise ‘staying married.’ Such advice takes the reins of responsibility out of the couple’s hands. Rather he is for the individuals, for their right to choose their own destiny under God” (p. 81). While there may be little to argue against such a role for the counselor in dealing with couples who are committed to Christian standards, the question may well be raised about couples who are neither committed nor even aware of historic Christian standards. Does the author’s kind of counseling procedure, if persistently followed, really provide them with what they may well urgently need at the time they come to the minister—that is, real guidance to and understanding of Christian standards, and support in motivating such persons toward those standards?
The closing chapters on “Group Marriage Counseling,” “A Pastoral Counseling Center,” and “Family Life Education in the Church,” contained for me some new ideas that challenged the sufficiency of my own pastoral ministry in these areas. They made me feel—as I think the author designed—that more than a few of us pastors have a considerable way to go before we can begin to regard ourselves adequate in the service we are rendering as marriage counselors, either to members of our church or to the larger community.
HUGH DAVID BURCHAM
Boy, School, And Parent
Letters From a Headmaster’s Study, by Charles Martin (Oxford, 1961, 126 pp., $3), is reviewed by Frank E. Gaebelein, Headmaster of The Stony Brook School.
This small volume is made up of 15 letters written by Canon Charles Martin of St. Albans School in Washington, D. C., to parents of the boys attending the school. The letters, which are actually informal essays, deal with questions of interest and concern to fathers and mothers. Among the subjects treated are “Hard Work,” “Understanding Your Boy,” “Discipline Is Necessary,” “Holidays, Parents, and Parties,” and “Sex: An Attitude Toward It.”
These chapters are full of good sense, firm conviction tolerantly expressed, kindly understanding, and earnest religious application. Insights that a psychologist might phrase in technical language are set forth by Dr. Martin in readable and companionable style. Although the letters were written by an Episcopal clergyman about a particular school and for a particular group of parents, the advice they contain and their Christian orientation are of more than denominational significance. Some readers may find the discussion of adolescent drinking under parental supervision a little too concessive, although Dr. Martin makes it plain that he desires abstinence for his boys.
It is possible for a man to spend many years teaching boys and dealing with parents and yet know comparatively little about them. The writer of these letters is not such a man. That his 30 years in education have taught him much is evidenced by the wisdom that shines through these pages. As one of his colleagues in the headmastership, I am indebted to him for communicating so unpretentiously and effectively some very important truths about youth and education and the God-given obligations of parenthood.
Whether their sons attend an independent school like St. Albans or whether they attend a public high school, fathers and mothers will find a good deal in this book to help them understand their boys. And teachers, school heads, and ministers will also find it of much value.
FRANK E. GAEBELEIN
