Defenders of the cultural and spiritual superiority of the American over the Communist way of life are sometimes hard put. Moscow, world capital of Communism, has as many corner bookstores as there are bars per block in New York City. And they’re crowded. One of the joys of the American booklover abroad is the countless bookstores, little and big. found in almost every European city. If cultural-spiritual superiority is gauged by what enters the mind rather than what enters the mouth, the defenders of American superiority had better look elsewhere for evidence.
The fault surely does not lie with the writers and publishers. Even in the restricted religious area, there is again promise of a lush, rich harvest of books. As do all harvests, the book harvest will bring both wheat and tares, and as always there is danger in attempting to separate them in advance. Despite the hazard, CHRISTIANITY TODAY again presents its selection of what it seems from here will be the best to come from the religious press this fall. We thank the publishers for their cooperation, without which no forecast could be made; and we hope our serious readers—ministers, librarians, college and seminary professors, and lay subscribers—will find this a helpful and selective prediction of new books to come.
The paperback revolution continues. Gone are the days when books were hard to come by, or too expensive. No longer need the poor city lad or the boy down on the farm read and reread the same books from the little family bookcase. The flood of classic texts, out-of-print standard religious and theological works, and even first printings in inexpensive paperbacks continues to come full tide. Readers may watch for them in the listings which appear in our Book Review section throughout the year.
NEW TESTAMENT: Westminster Press will publish Tradition and Interpretation in Matthew by G. Bornkamm, G. Barth, and H. J. Held; The All-Sufficient Christ, a study in Paul’s letter to the Colossians by W. Barclay; Teaching and Preaching the New Testament by A. M. Hunter; and The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus by N. Perrin. John Knox Press will also publish a book titled The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus, this one by G. Lundstrom. From Holt, Rinehart and Winston will come Palestinian Judaism in the Time of Jesus Christ by J. Bonsirven; Baptism: Conscience and Clue for the Church by W. Carr; and Acquittal by Resurrection by M. Barth and V. Fletcher. Judson Press promises Theology in the New Testament by R. E. Knudsen; Sheed & Ward, The Harmony of the Gospels by R. Knox; Harper & Row, The Humor of Christ by E. Trueblood; Warner Press, Jesus Christ, A Study in the Gospels by A. Eikamp; Fortress Press, The Day of His Coming: Our Time in the New Testament by G. Gloege; University Books. The Lost Years of Jesus by C. F. Potter; Abingdon Press, The Circle and the Cross by G. W. C. Thomas. Wm. B. Eerdmans promises An Introduction to New Testament Textual Criticism by J. H. Greenlee and An Introduction to the New Testament by E. Harrison.
OLD TESTAMENT AND ARCHAEOLOGY: From Eerdmans. Israel and the Nations by F. F. Bruce and The Book of Isaiah (Vol. I) by E. J. Young; from Harper & Row, Concise History of Israel by M. A. Beek and The Old Testament and Christian Faith edited by B. W. Anderson; from Doubleday, The Background of the Old Testament by E. Kellner and Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis by R. Graves and R. Patai; from McGraw-Hill. Collected Old Testament Studies by G. Von Rad; from Zondervan, The Marked Chain-Reference Bible by J. G. Lawson; from Cambridge University Press, Thirty-Six Psalms by the late F. Kendon and Olduvai Gorge 1951–1961 (Vol. 1) by L. S. B. Leakey; from Coward-McCann, Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs by B. Mertz; from G. P. Putnam’s. In the Beginnings: Ancient and Contemporary Primitive Religions and Civilizations Around the World by H. R. Hays; from Thomas Nelson & Sons, The Prophets (Vol. IV) by E. Kraeling; and from Abingdon. Secrets from the Caves by T. L. Coss.
BIBLICAL STUDIES: Prophets in Perspective by B. D. Napier, Abingdon; Cambridge History of the Bible: The West from the Reformation to the Present Day by S. L. Greenslade, Cambridge; Three Crucial Decades: Studies in the Book of Acts by F.V. Filson, Knox; The Voice of the Prophets by R. Norden, Concordia; Christmas As It Really Was by H. W. van der Vaart Smit and Gospel Truth by P. Benoit, Helicon Press; The Biblical Doctrine of Virginity by L. Legrand, Sliced & Ward; Christian Priesthood by H. Balmforth, Seabury Press; The New Bible Survey by L. L. Eason, Zondervan; Count It All Joy: Themes from the Book of James by W. Stringfellow, Them He Glorified: A Systematic Study of the Doctrine of Glorification by B. Ramm, Origins of the Synoptic Gospels by the late N. B. Stonehouse, and Interpreting the Bible by A. B. Mickelsen, all from Eerdmans; Mary, the Mother of Jesus by A. T. Robertson and Satan: His Personality, Power and Overthrow by E. M. Bounds, Baker Book House.
LITURGY: Again the offerings are few: Worship in Scripture and Tradition edited by M. H. Shepherd, Jr., Oxford University Press; Liturgy Is Mission edited by F. Cellier and English Spirituality by M. Thornton, both from Seabury; and The Eucharist and You by A. Pardue, Morehouse-Barlow.
MISSIONS: Two books from Abingdon: Criterion for the Church by J. R. Nelson and The Renewal of the Ministry by T. J. Mullen; two from Zondervan: Soul-Winning Evangelism by J. E. Conant and Evangelism of the Early Church by C. E. Autrey; two from Harper & Row: Reshaping the Christian Life by R. Raines and Young Life by E. Cailliet; The Four Major Cults by A. Hoekema, from Eerdmans; Missionary Opportunity Today edited by L. T. Lyall, from Inter-Varsity Press; and That Hearing They Shall Perceive by C. D. Kean, from Seabury.
THEOLOGY: Nelson will publish Hans Kung’s Justification: The Doctrine of Karl Barth with a Catholic Reflection; Eerdmans will print G. C. Berkouwer’s The Work of Jesus Christ; the University of Chicago Press, P. Tillich’s Systematic Theology (Vol. Ill); Zondervan. J. O. Buswell’s Systematic Theology (Vol. II, Soteriology and Eschatology); and Sheed & Ward, A Theology of History by Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Christian Commitment by K. Rahner, and Christ: Sacrament of the Encounter with God by E. Schillebeeckx. Fortress will press Word and Faith by G. Ebeling; Macmillan, A. C. Pegis’ At the Origins of the Thomistic Notion of Man; Henry Regnery Company, An Opportunity for Faith by W. Busenbender; and the Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Company, The Five Points of Calvinism, Defined, Defended, Documented by D. N. Steele and C. C. Thomas. From McGraw-Hill will come Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae (Vols. I, II, XIII); and from Channel Press, K. Barth’s God In Action.
ECUMENICS: Swiss Roman Catholic and active ecumenist H. Kung has sent two books to the press, The Council in Action: Theological Reflection on the Second Vatican Council, Sheed & Ward, and Structures of the Church, Nelson. Eerdmans will publish M. E. Marty’s Church Unity and Church Mission; Zondervan, The Dynamics of Christian Unity edited and compiled by W. S. Mooneyham; Seabury, Ministers of Christ by W. Lowrie; Macmillan, Twelve Council Fathers by W. M. Abbott. Helicon Press will publish The Rise of Protestant Monasticism by F. Biot (this should be interesting), Unity: A History and Some Reflections by M. Villain, and The Unity of the Churches of God by P. Sherwood. From Oxford will come Councils and Synods (Part 2, Vols. I and II) by F. M. Powicke and C. R. Cheney.
PASTORAL THEOLOGY: That One Good Sermon by A. N. Sayres, United Church Press; The Pastor and His Work by H. C. Kent, Sr., Moody Press; Servant of God’s Servants: The Work of the Christian Minister by P. Miller, Herald Press; Constructive Aspects of Anxiety by S. Hiltner and K. Menninger and Filing Your Sermon Ideas by P. L. Clem, Abingdon; The Pastoral Care of the Mentally Ill by N. Autton, Apostle and Bishop by A. G. Hebert, and John Wesley and the Christian Ministry by A. B. Lawson, all from Seabury; Preaching Values from the Papyri by H. H. Hobbs, Baker; The Layman’s Role Today by F. K. Wentz, Doubleday; The Anarchy of Feeling: Man’s Struggle for Freedom and Maturity by A. Schneiders, Sheed & Ward; and a reprint of that old classic The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature by W. James, University Books. From Knox will come a study of the biblical view of the ministry, The Minister in the Reformed Tradition by H. G. Goodykoontz.
BIBLE COMMENTARIES AND DICTIONARIES: Eight productions from Eerdmans: The Wesleyan Bible Commentary (6 vols.), The Epistle of Paul to the Romans by F. F. Bruce, The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians by F. Foulkes, God’s Covenants by D. G. Barnhouse, Calvin’s Hebrews and I and II Peter translated by W. B. Johnston, Christ and the Church: An Exposition of Ephesians by Dale Moody, Commentary on the Gospel of John by J. R. Mantey and G. A. Turner, and the first volume of a very significant publishmg venture, Gerhard Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament translated from the German by G. W. Bromiley. Cambridge will publish The Gospel According to Matthew (Vol. I of the “Cambridge Bible Commentary”) by A. W. Argyle, The Setting of the Sermon on the Mount by W. D. Davies, and The Historical Tradition of the Fourth Gospel by C. H. Dodd. From Presbyterian & Reformed will come An Interpretive Outline of Romans by D. N. Steele and C. C. Thomas; from Nelson, Nelson’s Bible Commentary (based on RSV); and from Knox, Exodus by A. D. Napier, Leviticus, Numbers by J. L. Mays, John by F. V. Filson, I Thessalonians Through Philemon by H. Rolston (all part of the “Layman’s Bible Commentary”). Harper & Row will publish The Pastoral Epistles by J. N. D. Kelly (part of Harper’s “New Testament Commentary”).
ETHICS AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS: The offerings in this field clearly reflect the concerns and problems of our times: The Wall Between Church and State edited by D. H. Oaks, University of Chicago; Religion and the Schools: The Great Controversy by P. Blanshard, Beacon Press; Justice and the Supreme Court by R. J. Tresolini, J. B. Lippincott; Church and State by J. M. Kik, Thomas Nelson; Christian Social Ethics by C. F. H. Henry, The Vocabulary of Communism by L. DeKoster, and Slavery, Segregation, and Scripture by J. O. Buswell, all from Eerdmans; New Estimates of Fertility and Population in the United States by A. Coale and M. Zelnik, Princeton University Press; The Christian and Capital Punishment by J. H. Yoder, Faith and Life Press; The Popes and World Government by E. Guerry, Helicon; The Church Reclaims the City by P. Moore, Jr., Seabury; and Ethics in a Christian Context by P. L. Lehmann, Harper & Row.
ART AND ARCHITECTURE: Putnam’s will publish Larousse Encyclopedia of Byzantine and Medieval Art edited by R. Huyghe and Great Drawings of the Masters by J. E. Schuler and R. Hansler. From Doubleday will come The Coming of Christ by the editors of Look magazine; from Harper & Row, Landscapes of the Bible by G. Eichholz and 6,000 Years of the Bible by G. S. Wegener. Christ and Architecture for Reformation Churches by D. J. Bruggink and C. H. Droppers will be issued by Eerdmans; Meetinghouse and Church in Early New England by E. W. Sinnott, McGraw-Hill; Drama and Imagery in British Churches by M. D. Anderson and Monastic Architecture in France by J. Evans, Cambridge.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: Churches and the Campus by J. G. Chamberlin and Christian Education and Evangelism by D. G. Stewart, Westminster; Lutheran Elementary Schools in Action by V. Krause, Concordia; American Education—A National Failure: The Problem of Our Schools and What We Can Learn from England by H. F. Rickover, E. P. Dutton & Company; and Christian Education in the Home by A. M. Erb, Herald Press.
CHURCH HISTORY: Westminster will publish The Layman in Christian History (the first history of its kind) by S. C. Neill. From Knox will come Presbyterians in the South, Vol. I: 1607–1861 by E. T. Thompson; and from the Johns Hopkins Press, Amish Society by J. A. Hostetler.
SERMONS: Great Sermons on the Birth of Christ compiled by W. M. Smith, W. A. Wilde Company; The Miracles of Golgotha by H. Boese, Preaching from Hosea by E. F. Vallowe, Preaching and Teaching from Ephesians by F. Howard, Sermons on Christian Commitments by M. W. Downey, all from Baker. Zondervan will issue The Voice of the Cross by M. L. Loane and Expository Sermons on Revelation (Vol. II) by W. A. Criswell; and Eerdmans, A Relevant Salvation by R. E. O. White and Mastering Life With the Master by W. H. Hager. Life Can Begin Again: Sermons on the Sermon on the Mount by H. Thielicke will come from Fortress, and Concordia Pulpit 1964 (various authors), from Concordia.
DEVOTIONAL: At Wit’s End by J. Finegan and The Meaning of Gifts by P. Tournier, Knox; John Doe, Disciple edited by C. Marshall, McGraw-Hill; Wings of the Spirit by W. Fridy, Abingdon; When Jesus Came by H. H. Brown, Eerdmans; Daily Gospel by P. B. Smith, Zondervan; The Night and Nothing by G. Webbe, Seabury; and Dimensions of Prayer by D. V. Steere, Harper & Row.
APOLOGETICS, PHILOSOPHY, AND SCIENCE: Towards a Theological Understanding of History by E. C. Rust, Oxford; The Failure of Theology in Modern Literature by J. Killinger, Abingdon; Faith and Philosophy: Philosophical Studies in Religion and Ethics edited by A. Plantinga, Eerdmans; The New Evangelicalism by R. H. Nash, Zondervan; The Middle Ages and Philosophy by A. Pegis, Regnery; Reason in Religion by N. F. S. Ferre, Nelson; The System and the Gospel by K. Hamilton, Macmillan; Science, God and You by E. Wolthuis, Baker; The Case For Calvinism by C. Van Til and What is Religion? By D. H. Freeman, Presbyterian & Reformed; Christendom Revisited: A Kierkegaardian View of the Church Today by J. A. Gates and Language and Faith: Studies in Sign, Symbol, and Meaning by J. Hutchison, Westminster; The Meaning of History by H. Marrou, Helicon; Faust Revisited by M. Fishwick, Seabury; and Jacques Maritain: The Man and His Achievement edited by J. W. Evans, Sheed & Ward. JAMES DAANE
