A book salesman recently told me that there are about 600 book publishers in the United States, and I have observed all by myself that they run from Vintage to Vantage—which, viewed from either end, is a long way. Even if his figure is a typical salesman’s estimate, I hope that many of these never get my address. The postman whose bent back brings books up to my tenth-floor office already more than earns his hire. As he enters and tries to stand up straight, he reminds me of a hard-to-open book, and his eye says more than I care to read. As it is, his weekly deposit on my big desk scarcely leaves room for my coffee cup.
My postman’s future is not promising if promises of my already innumerable publishers about their new spring books come true—and they always do. We’re in for another avalanche. While never admitted in print—though facilities for such confession are not far from any one of them—publishers, it seems, have taken a vow to leave no subject uncovered.
And—speaking of covers—be it known to the reader that I am working up to the reason for CHRISTIANITY TODAY’s annual Spring Forecast: there are covers and covers. Literally, there are even covers for covers. Why is a well-bound, beautifully covered book covered up with what the industry calls a dust jacket? Dust, you say? My wife veritably finds the jackets harder to dust than the books. I admit that the composite effect of two or three shelves of colorfully jacketed books often creates the prettiest spot in the room, making a contribution equal, and often similar, to that of some modern paintings. Yet I suspect that the publishers’ concerns are not really related to interior decorating, nor to what my wife thinks of dust. They are concerned about that free space which can so effectively carry a colorful advertisement for the books I have not purchased. But why “dust” jackets? Are they asking me not only to accept their advertisements, but also to keep them clean?
Really, the only dust jackets that annoy me are those which cover the book but not the subject. The dedication of book publishers to leave no subject uncovered combined with their practice of covering up every book with a dust jacket whose advertisements and claims somehow are always brightly legible makes for colorful libraries, but also makes the life of the book editor difficult. True, there is no cover charge. But it is also true that while clothes may make the man, it takes more than a jacket to make a book.
The book editor must flee the temptation to judge a book by its jacket, and often suffers because reviewers don’t. This not only troubles him, but leaves him quite alone in his misery; since more people read jackets than books, the reviewer automatically has a majority.
Now that the reader has some intimation that the life of a forecaster is not an easy one, from endless offerings I will present a selection of what appear to be the most significant books to come with spring. The selection is made, of course, on the basis of (clean) dust jackets and publishers’ claims, but the reader can now know that it is done with some knowledge of the hazards, and with some not unsympathetic awareness that every producer, author, publisher, or father is, understandably, favorably prejudiced toward his own issue.
Eschewing all boasting, the reader’s assurance in my selective ability should be bolstered by his learning that rarely has any item in these forecasts ended up on those office shelves whose books even the office help refuse to take home free of charge. It may further be said that if this is to be a normal spring, the great world of publishers will again produce many exciting and even some great books, books worth every loyal postman’s ache.
NEW TESTAMENT: Harper and Row will publish A Historical Introduction to the New Testament by R. M. Grant, The Historical Jesus by Heinz Zahrnt, Jesus As They Saw Him by William Barclay, and The Gospel of Philip by R. McL. Wilson. John Knox Press will offer J. W. Bowman’s Jesus’ Teaching in Its Environment, G. Lundström’s The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus, and R. N. Flew’s Jesus and His Way. From Westminster Press will come The Bible and the Church by S. Terrien, Parables to the Point by A. T. Childs, Many Witnesses, One Lord by William Barclay, Tradition in the Early Church by R. P. C. Hanson, and New Testament Apocrypha, Volume I, by E. Hennecke and W. Schneemelcher. Cambridge University Press will print W. D. Davies’ The Turin Fragments of Tyconius’ Commentary of Revelation (Tyconius’ thought influenced Augustine); and Oxford Press, C. K. Barrett’s The Pastoral Epistles.
Eerdmans will publish Origin of the Synoptic Gospels: Some Basic Questions by the late N. B. Stonehouse; and Sheed & Ward, Understanding the Lord’s Prayer by H. van den Bussche. From Association Press, T. S. Kepler’s The Meaning and Mystery of the Resurrection; from Fleming H. Revell, P. S. Rees’s studies in I Peter, Triumphant in Trouble; from Concordia Publishing House, Luther’s Works, Volume 26 (Galatians); from Philosophical Library, S. Umen’s Pharisaism and Jesus; and from Hawthorn, R. Zeller’s The Book of Joseph.
OLD TESTAMENT AND ARCHAEOLOGY: Harper announces publication of what it appears will be a significant work, Before the Bible by C. Gordon. Revell will print D. A. Redding’s Psalms of David; Eerdmans, Treaty of the Great King by M. G. Kline and The Book of Isaiah, Volume I, by E. J. Young; John Knox, Essays on Old Testament Hermeneutics edited by C. Westermann; and Sheed & Ward, Meditations on the Psalms by B. Mischke. Two archaeological productions are promised: Biblical Archaeology by G. E. Wright from Westminster, and The Splendor That Was Egypt by M. A. Murray from Hawthorn.
CHURCH HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY: Here is a field that will be well ploughed this spring. Abingdon will give us a delightful book by G. Kennedy, While I’m on My Feet (an autobiographical writing), G. A. Buttrick’s Christ and History, and M. Schmidt’s John Wesley: A Theological Biography. Thomas Nelson will publish G. Mollat’s The Popes at Avignon, 1305–1378 and The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, Volume 13, edited by C. S. Dessain; Harvard Press, The Harvest of Medieval Theology by H. A. Oberman and The Religious Renaissance of the German Humanists by L. W. Spitz; Association Press, N. Ehrenstrom and W. G. Muelder’s Institutionalism and Church Unity; Yale Press, Luther’s View of Church History by J. M. Headley and Hoosier Zion by L. C. Rudolph; McGraw-Hill, The Meetinghouse and Church in Early New England by E. Sinnott; Macmillan, Moody by J. C. Pollock; World Publishing Company, The Idea of Prehistory by G. Daniel; Charles Scribner’s Sons, American Christianity, Volume II, 1820–1960, by H. S. Smith, R. T. Handy, and L. A. Loetscher; Broadman Press, The Anabaptist Story by W. R. Estep; Bethany Press, Reformation of Tradition, Volume I of “The Renewal of Church,” edited by R. E. Osborn; E. P. Dutton & Company, The Tides of History, Volume II, by J. Pirenne; University of Copenhagen (order from Wartburg Seminary), A Study in Immigrant History: The Americanization of the Danish Lutheran Churches in America by P. C. Nyholm; Oxford, What Jesus Did by T. P. Ferris and Jesus and the Gospel by E. C. Colwell; Holt, Rinehart and Winston, The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy by A. Schmemann; and Southern Methodist University Press, George Washington and Religion by P. F. Boller, Jr.
Westminster will publish five in this area: The Church and Faith in Mid-America by V. Obenhaus, Presbyterianism in New York State by R. H. Nichols, Did the Church Baptize Infants? by K. Aland, Creeds and Confessions by E. Routley, and Luther by F. Lau; Harper, two: Second Chance for American Protestants by M. E. Marty and The Lively Experiment by S. E. Mead; and Cambridge, two: St. Anselm and His Biographer by R. W. Southern and Historian and Character by M. D. Knowles.
THEOLOGY: Kierkegaard As Theologian by L. Dupre, Christ the Redeemer by F. X. Durrwell, and Theology For Today by C. Davis, all from Sheed & Ward. Scribner’s will publish The Vindication of Liberal Theology by H. P. Van Dusen and The Rationality of Faith by C. Michalson; Bethany Press, Reconstruction of Theology edited by R. G. Wilburn; Revell, The Divine Comforter by J. D. Pentecost and Things Most Surely Believed by C. S. Roddy; and John Knox, Identification: Human and Divine by K. J. Foreman and Salvation History: A Biblical Interpretation by E. C. Rust.
From Association The Recovery of Life’s Meaning: Understanding Creation and the Incarnation by W. P. Jones; Holt, Rinehart and Winston, The Dogma of Christ, And Other Essays by E. Fromm; Macmillan, The New Creation as Metropolis by G. Winter; and Oxford, Truth and the Person in Christian Theology by H. V. White.
Westminster will publish W. Lillie’s Studies in New Testament Ethics, J. A. Baird’s The Justice of God in the Teaching of Jesus, and J. K. S. Reid’s Our Life In Christ; and Harper, Finality in Faith by N. F. S. Ferré and The Later Heidegger and Theology, Volume I of “New Frontiers in Theology,” by J. M. Robinson and J. B. Cobb. Fortress Press will issue Predestination by H. G. Hageman and Faith Victorious (an introduction to Luther’s theology) by L. Pinomaa; and Baker, Salvation by E. F. Kevan and The Holy Spirit by W. Broomall.
ECUMENICS: The offerings are few. Westminster will present One Church: Catholic and Reformed by L. Mudge; McGraw-Hill, The Challenge to Reunion by R. McA. Brown and D. H. Scott; and Macmillan, Unity in Mid-Career by Bridston and Wagoner.
MISSIONS: Broadman will publish Christ For the World by G. A. West and Fire on the Earth by S. Powell; Westminster, Christianity in Africa by C. Northcott; Eerdmans, Evangelism in the Early Church by S. C. Brown; Sheed & Ward, That the World May Believe by Hans Küng; Harper, Barriers to Christian Belief by A. L. Griffith; Moody Press, R. Evans’ Let Europe Hear and A. Rodli’s North of Heaven; Fortress, The Challenge of World Religions by G. F. Vicedom and Theology in the Life of the Church by R. W. Bertram; and Friendship Press, Christian Issues in Southern Asia by P. D. Devanandan, These Cities Glorious by L. H. Janssen, and Mud Walls and Steel Mills by R. W. Taylor and M. M. Thomas.
Revell will issue S. Perkins’ Red China Prisoner, My Years Behind Bamboo Bars; Herald Press, R. L. Mast’s Lost and Found; and Augsburg, Back of Beyond by J. Kjome.
PASTORAL THEOLOGY: In this area the following listings are promised: The Pastor and His People by E. N. Jackson, Channel Press; Encounter With Spurgeon by H. Thielicke, Fortress; The Seasons of Life by P. Tournier, John Knox; Principles for Interpreting the Bible by A. B. Mickelsen, Eerdmans; The Miracle of Dialogue by R. L. Howe, Seabury; Make Your Preaching Relevant by J. D. Sanford, Broadman; The Urgency of Preaching by K. Haselden, Harper; Preaching on Old Testament Themes edited by C. E. Lemmon, Bethany Press; The New Bible Survey by J. L. Eason, Zondervan; Power in Expository Preaching by F. D. Whitesell, The Pastor’s Counseling Handbook by J. L. Christensen, Preaching Week by Week by D. A. MacLennan, and Neurotics in the Church by R. J. St. Clair, all by Revell; and Epistle to the Romans by J. R. Richardson and K. Chamblin, Baker.
Abingdon will give us L. D. Weather-head’s Wounded Spirits and J. G. McKenzie’s Guilt: Its Meaning and Significance; Sheed & Ward, Preaching edited by R. Drury and To Preach the Gospel by P. Hitz; Westminster, The Preacher: His Purpose and Practice by R. Pearson, The Strong and the Weak by P. Tournier, The Gospel in a Strange New World by T. O. Wedel; Zondervan, ThePsychology of Christian Experience by W. C. Mavis; Baker, You and Your Mental Health by R. Heynen and The Christian and the Couch by D. Tweddlie; and Prentice-Hall, Principles And Practices of Pastoral Care by R. L. Dicks. Some of these are plainly very interesting titles.
ETHICS AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS: P. L. Lehmann’s Ethics in a Christian Context will be issued by Harper; J. Leclercq’s Christ and the Modern Conscience by Sheed & Ward; H. E. Kolbe’s One World Under God by Abingdon; J. C. McLelland’s Living For Christ by John Knox; D. L. Munby’s The Idea of a Secular Society by Oxford; B. Morgan’s Christians, the Church and Property by Westminster; S. F. Olford and F. A. Lawes’s Sanctity of Sex by Revell. Holt, Rinehart and Winston will publish The Religious Press in America by Deedy, Marty, Silverman, and Lekachman—which should be an interesting book, as should McGraw-Hill’s The Church, the Court, and American Democracy by R. F. Drinan.
BIBLE STUDIES, COMMENTARIES, DICTIONARIES: Harper will print W. Neil’s one-volume Harper’s Bible Commentary; McGraw-Hill, The Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible (translated from the Dutch by L. F. Hartman); and Cambridge Press, the Cambridge History of the Bible by S. L. Greenslade. From Fortress will come H. Ringgren’s Faith of the Psalmists; from United Church Press, L. S. Mudge’s God Now with Us; from Seabury, C. R. Simcox’ The First Gospel: Its Meaning and Message; and from Zondervan, The Pictorial Bible Dictionary edited by M. C. Tenney.
APOLOGETICS, PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE: In this wide field Eerdmans will issue The Vocabulary of Communism by L. DeKoster and The Four Major Cults by A. Hoekema; Harper, Twentieth Century Religious Thought by J. Macquarrie, Christianity and World Revolution edited by E. Rian, The Dilemma of Modern Belief by S. Miller, and Passion by K. Olsson. From Westminster will come The Inspiration of Scripture by D. M. Beegle and An Introduction to Barth’s Dogmatics For Preachers by A. B. Come; from Macmillan, Good News by J. B. Phillips; from World, Natutral Law and Modern Society by R. M. Hutchins, J. C. Murray, and others; and from Sheed & Ward, B. Ulanov’s Contemporary Christian Thought. Moody will present The Spiritual Dilemma of the Jewish People by A. W. Kac; Holt, Rinehart and Winston, The Jewish-Christian Argument: A History of Theologies in Conflict by H. J. Schoeps; Prentice-Hall, Positive Protestantism: A Return to First Principles by H. T. Kerr; and Presbyterian and Reformed, Karl Barth’s Theological Method by G. H. Clark.
SERMONS: Here is proof that some ministers still follow the good practice of writing sermons: The Mysterious Presence by E. C. Munson, Fortress; Christ’s Eternal Invitation by R. T. Haynes, Jr., John Knox; Sermons to Intellectuals by F. H. Littell, Macmillan; Sermons for Special Sundays by J. D. Holt, Broadman; and A Reasoned Faith by J. Baillie, Scribner’s. Harper will publish Freedom of the Christian Man by H. Thielicke, He Spoke to Them in Parables by H. Bosley, Christian Priorities by F. D. Coggan, and Strength to Love by M. L. King, Jr. Revell will present G. Powell’s Difficult Sayings of Jesus; Abingdon, J. A. Redhead’s Sermons on Bible Characters; Concordia, Sermonic Studies, Volume II, by various authors; and Westminster, K. Barth’s The Preaching of the Gospel.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: Christian Education as Engagement by D. R. Hunter, Seabury; The Church College in Today’s Culture by W. O. Doescher, Augsburg; The Teaching Church by K. B. Cully and Called to Teach by C. D. Spotts, United Press; and three from Westminster: How to Teach Senior Highs by L. E. Bowman, Jr., The Case Method in Pastoral and Lay Education by W. Fallaw, and Servants and Stewards by A. R. McKay.
LITURGY, MUSIC, WORSHIP: Concordia will publish R. Seboldt’s God and Our Parish; Broadman, Church Music in Transition by W. L. Hooper; and Abingdon, The Training Of Church Choirs by J. R. Sydnor.
ART AND ARCHITECTURE: Cambridge will issue Anglo-Saxon Churches by H. M. and J. Taylor; Eerdmans, Christ and Architecture for Reformation Churches by D. J. Bruggink and C. H. Droppers; and Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Sacred and Profane Beauty: The Holy in Art by G. van der Leeuw.
RELIGIOUS LITERATURE AND CULTURE: J. B. Lippincott will publish G. MacGregor’s The Hemlock and the Cross; United Church, J. M. Benton’s Gift of a Golden String; and Augsburg, J. H. Burtness and J. P. Kildahl’s The New Community in Christ. Macmillan will offer Hertzberg, Marty, and Moody’s The Outbursts that Await Us.
DEVOTIONAL: From Abingdon will come The Word Became Flesh by E. S. Jones, Life Is Forever by G. A. Crafts, Power of Paul by W. McF. Stowe, Whom Christ Commended by R. W. Sockman, and No Saints Suddenly by H. G. Werner. Broadman will publish Did I Say Thanks? by L. B. Flynn, and from Bethany Press will come Gift of Hope by W. P. Ford, On Holy Ground by D. E. Stevenson, and Pursuit of Happiness by W. K. Pendleton. Eerdmans will publish Seed Thoughts for Christian Living by R. E. O. White and Reflections by H. E. Kohn; Channel, The Stranger Within by C. H. Powell; and Holt, Rinehart and Winston, I Believe In God: A Meditation On the Apostles’ Creed by P. Claudel.
MISCELLANEOUS: Abingdon will publish Halford Luccock Treasury, selected by Robert E. Luccock from various writings of his late father, onetime Yale Professor and “Simeon Stylites.” Scribner’s will issue A Nation So Conceived by R. Niebuhr and A. Heimert; Macmillan, P. Ferris’ The Church of England and W. C. Smith’s The Meaning and End of Religion. From William Morrow will come The Shoes of the Fisherman by M. L. (The Devil’s Advocate) West and The Birthday King by G. Fielding.
PAPERBACKS: Here I can select but a few from a vast literature: Zechariah Speaks Today by A. A. Van Ruler, Chrysostom and His Message by S. Neil, Association; Zwingli: A Reformed Theologian by J. Courvoisier, Concerning the Ministry by J. Oman, This We Know by S. de Diétrich, John Knox; The Struggle of the Soul by L. Sherrill, Memoirs of Childhood and Youth by A. Schweitzer, Religious Language by I. Ramsay, The School of Prayer by O. Wyon, The Cost of Discipleship by D. Bonhoeffer, The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis, Macmillan; Many Things in Parables and The Gospel Miracles by R. S. Wallace, The Old Testament in the New Testament by R. V. G. Tasker, Eerdmans; Our Faith by E. Brunner, Christianity Among the Religions of the World by A. Toynbee, Scribner’s; The Call To Preach by C. Beyler, Herald Press; Kierkegaard’s Way to the Truth by G. Malantschuk, Augsburg; Concordia Bible Dictionary by E. Lueker, Proclaiming the Parables by M. Schmieding, Key to the Full Life by R. Norden, Concordia; The Miracle of America by G. L. Ford, Zondervan; Lectures on Ethics by I. Kant (which suggests the very opposite of his position), Harper; William Carey—Father of Modern Missions by W. B. Davis, Moody Press; Jesus Christ and History by G. E. Ladd, The Century of the New Testament by E. M. Blaiklock, Inter-Varsity.
