Dear Religious Fun-Lovers:
Since it’s time for spring cleaning, I have been rummaging through my “church life” file with its various items on bats in the belfry, skeletons in the closet, and off-key behavior in the choir loft. I’ve again been reminded that man’s pursuit of religion leads not only to his highest accomplishments and lowest degradations but also to some of his most elegant moments of tomfoolery. For distinguished ecclesiastical service in the following unusual but true incidents, four men of the cloth merit special tribute:
• The Rev. Jerry Demetri, for ministerial perseverance. At a funeral service he conducted for a miniskirted seventeen-year-old, a liquor-quaffing crowd of teenagers jostled him, picked his pocket of $112, and wrecked several doors and windows. At graveside, Demetri no sooner had intoned “Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, bury the dead” than the mourners pushed him into the open grave.
• An Anglican priest of Lincoln Cathedral in England, for creative churchmanship. For years his choirboys had enlivened Sunday services by setting off stink bombs—glass phials of sulphurated hydrogen. The parson therefore went to the nearby joke shop that knowingly sold the stink bombs to the choirboys. Ordering a packet, he said to the store owner, “I suppose the inconvenience they cause is no concern of yours.” He then dropped a stink bomb, ground it under his heel, and exited to the smell of rotten eggs.
• The Rev. Christopher Candler, for steadfastness in the face of public pressure. Petitioned by citizens to remove a plaque on a new public restroom that says, “To the glory of God for the needs of man,” he courageously refused. Said he: “We should let everyone know that the Church provides for the needs of man at all levels—even in a practical way like this.”
• The Rev. Thomas Glynn, for bold commitment to church reform. In line with the Ukrainian Catholic Church’s change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian, he recently conducted a Mass without the traditional Epiphany rituals on the old Feast day. This angered some of his parishioners. After the Mass, they stormed the rectory, beat up their religious leader, and doused the assistant pastor with a pitcher of unholy water. When the fracas ended, Glynn’s nose was broken but his honor was intact.
Who says religion isn’t fun?
EUTYCHUS III
Snickeringly,
SCIENCE AND THE HISTORICAL JESUS
As a student in physics, I appreciated very much the article, “The Appeal of Christianity to a Scientist,” by Dr. John A. McIntyre (March 15). In this science-and technology-oriented society of ours, too often the claims of biblical Christianity are dismissed by people without any serious thought and investigation. Even those who have no particular inclination toward or training in science sometimes have the wrong idea that biblical Christianity is shunted and scoffed at by all scientists. Thus an article like this can be very helpful to a Christian witnessing to his friends.
SAMUEL LING
Columbus, Ohio
Congratulations to John A. McIntyre for his positive and enlightening article.… Would to God its forthright message might be heralded across our nation, especially among the students of our many colleges and universities!
IDA GRAHAM
Hutchinson, Kan.
It occurred to me that John A. McIntyre’s article was in some way a most satisfactory answer to the central question raised in the first article, “New Vistas in Historical Jesus Research,” by James Montgomery Boice. McIntyre’s testimony: “… I sat down and read through the Gospel of John one night. I was compelled to believe that this man Jesus war what he said he was [italics mine],” is significant, indeed.
J. RAY SHADOWENS
Fairlawn Church of the Nazarene
Topeka, Kan.
The recent issue of CHRISTIANITY TODAY is one of the very best. I especially appreciated Dr. Boice’s article on the historical Jesus, which very much expresses my own position.
DONALD G. BLOESCH
Professor of Theology
Dubuque Theological Seminary
Dubuque, Iowa
OF VICTORY AND PEACE
I was impressed by Dr. Ockenga’s forthright article, “Report from Viet Nam” (March 15). I also share his feeling that we should go for a victory, and that the Kennedy brothers weaken our cause by their calls for negotiation. I have often thought Bobby ought to be awarded a medal of honor by the Viet Cong, for he certainly is their best friend.
C. MARVIN ANDERSEN
Associate Pastor
First Baptist Church
Hollywood, Calif.
I wonder what a non-Christian view of the Viet Nam problem would be, if Dr. Ockenga has the redemptive, Christian approach.
PAUL A. MILLER
Ohio Mennonite Youth Cabinet
Canton, Ohio
I was in Saigon visiting our staff at the same time Dr. Ockenga was. It is simply not true to report that “the whole Communist apparatus in the cities came out in the open and was destroyed.” Similar statements in the report make [one] suspect that Dr. Ockenga, like the governor of Michigan, is a victim of “brainwashing.”
WALDRON SCOTT
Pacific Areas Director
The Navigators
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Dr. Ockenga challenges us to “ask the ultimate questions and give courageous answers”.… I hope the following questions will be among those faced courageously and honestly:
1. Who should make the decision to “go for victory,” knowing that such a course “means chancing a bigger war and an encounter with Russia and China” and knowing that the annihilation of human life and culture are possible consequences?…
2. What kind of scale of values would lead us to conclude that admitting that we had “made a mistake” or a “Communist takeover” are of such weight that they would balance, in the scale, risking the annihilation of human life and culture as alternatives to them?
3. What kind of logic would lead us to conclude that “if we have any right to be here at all” (say, in terms of ten or twenty-five thousand military advisers), we need no further justification to escalate the war so as perhaps to destroy Viet Nam totally.…
4. If we as a nation were to decide “better dead than red” (so far as I know we have never faced that issue honestly for ourselves), are we so lacking in humility and compassion that we are willing to follow a course which could be making that decision for the rest of the world regardless of their desires?
5. How far must we go down the way of escalation to be convinced that it is a blind alley? When will we be willing to try the alternative, not mentioned by Dr. Ockenga, of de-escalation?
R. FENTON DUVALL
Professor of History
Whitworth College
Spokane, Wash.
As a responsible Christian journal, would it not be fair for you to print more of both sides on issues such as Viet Nam? Thus conservative Christians would not feel driven to go to more liberal journals to get the whole story.
EVERETT G. METZLER
Viet Nam Mennonite Mission
Saigon, Viet Nam
Most missionaries are courageous and sacrificial, but the writers of “Viet Nam: The Vulnerable Ones” and “Six Missionaries Martyred in Viet Nam” (March 1) assume too readily that if some are murdered they are automatically martyrs to the Christian cause.…
It should be well known to yourself that many … of the missionaries in Viet Nam have been closely identified and cooperative with military policy.
It is quite possible that many Vietnamese and Asians see such missionaries not so much as representatives of the cross-bearing Christ as of the gun-wielding American.…
Your recent issue gives the impression that you too have gotten your Americanism and Christianity mixed up in such a way that the former, and not the latter, reigns supreme.
FRANK H. EPP
Ottawa, Ont.
I regret that when CHRISTIANITY TODAY chose to carry the names of those organizations working in South Viet Nam it inadvertently omitted Bible Literature International. Working through the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Bible Literature International invests many thousands of dollars each year in the publication of Rang Dong magazine and other Christian literature. It is possible you were not aware of this.
Thank you for an excellent article.
J. M. FALKENBERG
President
Bible Literature International
Columbus, Ohio
LETTERS OF TONIC
It was good to see Christ in the Communist Prisons by Richard Wurmbrand commended and reviewed (March 15). But I hope your readers will not be deterred from reading The Wurmbrand Letters by the disparaging comments of the reviewer. Far from being a “publisher’s attempt to get more mileage out of the same story,” the Letters are noteworthy for keen logical power, moral passion, and tender affection. The compassion extends not only to suffering believers behind the Iron Curtain but to the Communist torturers, brutalized by a wicked ideology, and also to the weak, unprincipled church leaders to whom he writes.…
The book is a mental and spiritual tonic.
ISABEL M. DOUTY
East Lansing, Mich.
MOTIVES IN HARMONY
“The Political Priests,” by Anthony Le-jeune (March 1), though containing much that I agree with, includes one sentence that crops up all too often among evangelicals: “For the Church to identify itself with secular [i.e., social] causes … can have no compensating advantage unless, sooner or later, it actually brings irreligious people into the religious fold, persuading them to believe in God and to pursue the salvation of their own souls.”
As I understand our Lord, he could act upon two motivations operative simultaneously, and without conflict. Out of love, he could accept an individual for what he was, love him without condition, and help him socially—regardless whether the person accepted, rejected, or even heard the Gospel. And out of love, and side by side with this motivation, he would present his Gospel.
JOHN D. MASON
East Lansing, Mich.
THAT QUESTION OF CHANGE
A recent editorial (March 1), “Change in the Church,” talks about … a survey of three thousand Protestant ministers. I am one of those ministers (although not surveyed) in their twenties and thirties and I have seriously considered leaving the ministry—I do not feel that way now. I too voice a complaint of “irrelevant” in regard to the Church generally.…
I believe Jesus is divine but prefer to stress his humanity first because divinity can’t be understood without acceptance of humanity. I believe that salvation is the major task of the Church and the reason the Church is generally irrelevant is because it assumes that salvation is a private love affair with God—as I understand Jesus’ teachings this is impossible.… Never, since I can remember, has the Church needed to repent more—we are full of arrogance and pride and our sin is finding us out. We are trying to live in a new kind of world with antiquated program machinery.
WILLIAM HAUB
First Methodist Church
Washington, Mo.
I do not belong to the 40 per cent of the younger group who feel that the Church has a problem of “relevance.” I am firmly committed not to social objectives but to … preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.… It is true a change is needed in the Church—not the socially motivated change, but the change that will cause Mr. Average Churchgoer to be vitally concerned over the salvation of … his neighbor, [the man] with whom he works, even … the drunk on the corner.… It seems that men are crying for a change in the Church when men need to change themselves.
CARLTON D. HANSEN
Northside Church of the Nazarene
Terre Haute, Ind.
PATENT CONCERN
In … Dr. Gaebelein’s review of Who Shall Ascend (March 1) is … a reference to Evangelism-in-Depth. This term is a trademark of the Latin America Mission.…
I note that the title of CHRISTIANITY TODAY is registered as indicated by the designation ®.… You should accord to Evangelism-in-Depth the same treatment you accord your own magazine.
KEITH MISEGADES
Washington, D. C.
Our successful application for registration of the name “Evangelism-in-Depth” with the U. S. Patent Office was undertaken for the purpose of restricting its use by unauthorized groups and agencies … It is not our intention to seek that every mention of Evangelism-in-Depth in print bear indication of its legal registry. Our major concern is simply to protect the concept from unauthorized use which would dilute its significance.
W. DAYTON ROBERTS
Assoc. Gen. Dir.
Latin America Mission
Bogota, N. J.
HITTING THE WRONG NOTES
Since both data and inference in “Skeptics in Concert” (News, Feb. 16) are so flagrantly inaccurate, we desire to call them to your attention.
The Rev. Dr. Gerald Slusser is a clergyman of the United Church of Christ. It does not seem to us unreasonable to ask that the religious allegiance of persons whom you quote be accurately identified.
The joint exploration of the opportunities for religious instruction in the next fifteen years has nothing whatever to do with Professor Gerald Slusser himself, with Professor Slusser’s views of what “the majority of Christians” think, or with Professor Slusser’s own doctrinal position.
The quote from Dr. Slusser is far from an exact report of his address at Cleveland.
The Cleveland conference was not dealing with the three denominations’ long-range educational planning. In fact, the United Church of Christ and the United Presbyterians alone called the conference at which Dr. Slusser spoke.
You apparently have some information we don’t have. The exploration team has no preconceived notions of its outcomes. A “joint curriculum” may or may not be the outcome.
EDWARD A. POWERS
General Secretary
Division of Christian Education
United Church Board
for Homeland Mission
Philadelphia, Pa.
ROBERT C. MARTIN, JR.
Associate Director
Christian Education Dept.
Executive Council
of the Episcopal Church
New York, N. Y.
• Dr. Slusser, a member indeed of the United Church of Christ, is advising the United Presbyterian Church on lay education materials and was chosen to address the key UCC-UPC meeting. Thus his ideas—reported nationally by Religious News Service—seem relevant. Certainly curriculum is implied in the UPC’s official announcement at the same meeting of plans for “common Christian education programs” by “the national education agencies” of the UCC, UPC, and Episcopal Church.—ED.
