Viet Nam Martyrs
By Life or by Death, by James C. Hefley (Zondervan, 1969, 208 pp., $4.95) is reviewed by Wesley G. Pippert, overnight news editor, Washington Bureau, United Press International, Washington, D.C.
Religious free-lancer James Hefley’s By Life or by Death is a study of the evangelical missionary effort in Viet Nam, especially during the 1960s, when ten missionaries have been martyred and five others captured by the Viet Cong.
Two conclusions leap out of Hefley’s chronological narrative. The first is that the Christian and Missionary Alliance has done a singular work in Viet Nam. For almost half a century—going back to 1911, when R. A. Jaffray arrived there—the Alliance, a small, evangelical group with 68,000 U. S. members, most of them working people, was the only Protestant denomination to send missionaries to French Indo-China, out of which Viet Nam was carved in 1954. When war came once again to Viet Nam in the 1960s, the Alliance kept a full corps of missionaries there.
Since 1966 an ecumenical effort called the Viet Nam Christian Service (VNCS) has sent more than 100 American doctors, nurses, social workers, farm specialists, and child-care workers to Viet Nam. But at any one time there have been nearly as many Alliance missionaries there as all other evangelical and ecumenical personnel combined. The other denominations have been Johnnies-come-lately in Viet Nam; the Alliance has carried the burden of these war-weary people almost single-handedly.
The second conclusion in Hefley’s book is a political one. For the most part he avoids political issues of the war, but since he focuses on this decade, the villain who emerges is clearly the Communist. It is easy—but not very elucidating—for the conservative to heap all the blame for the war and the atrocities committed against the missionaries in Viet Nam upon the Communists. Yet they are merely the latest in a long series of obstacles to the gospel message in Viet Nam. And one must weigh the extent of the provocation against the Communists that resulted in the atrocities. Viewing the whole of the missionary effort in Southeast Asia, it was the so-called Christian nation of France that placed the most repressive restriction on the gospel message—not the forces of nationalism or Communism.
During the early years, the French showed “bitter antagonism” toward the Alliance and the native church the missionaries helped establish, the Evangelical Church. After World War II, the French as well as the Viet Minh (early name for the Viet Cong) harassed and killed Vietnamese evangelical pastors and laymen.
Surprisingly, for the most part the Communists left the Alliance missionaries alone. T. Grady Mangham, Alliance missionary in Viet Nam for 20 years and field chairman during most of the 1960s, says he had only one outright confrontation with the Viet Cong during the whole period. By the same token, the Alliance missionaries stayed neutral.
But the Vietnamese Christians, despite their protestations to the contrary, were vehemently anti-Communist. The head of their church, Doan Van Mieng, once said: “As far as the Christians are concerned, they can belong to any political party they want.” But then he added that he had not met one believer who was opposed to the Americans’ intervention in Viet Nam. On another occasion an Alliance official was gathered with leaders of a Vietnamese congregation. The official urged the Vietnamese to say what they thought about U. S. involvement. One replied: “The only way to take care of this situation is to fight to win. South Vietnam should invade North Vietnam and destroy communism here and there.”
Obviously these strident views were known to the Communists. And when the Tet offensive came in February a year ago, North Vietnamese Regulars killed American missionaries Leon and Carolyn Griswold, Edward and Ruth Thompson, Ruth Wilting, and Robert Ziemer, and captured Betty Olsen and Hank Blood. (Archie Mitchell, Dr. Ardel Vietti, and Daniel Gerber were captured in 1962.) The Communists also killed three native pastors and ninety-four church members and destroyed or damaged twenty-five parson ages, twenty-six churches, seven missionary homes, and a clinic.
(In a late report the State Department still carries the five captured missionaries on its list as missing without information. It cannot confirm whether they are alive or not.)
The moral, perhaps, is: Keep politics out of religion, whether it’s in the United States or in Viet Nam.
Vivid Picture Of Moody
Dwight L. Moody: American Evangelist, by James F. Findlay (University of Chicago, 1969, 440 pp., $10), is reviewed by Richard L. Troutman, professor of history, Houghton College, Houghton, New York.
In recent years historians of nineteenth-century America have given more attention to evangelical orthodoxy as a major clue to understanding our culture of a century ago. No longer is there a preoccupation with liberal Protestant groups in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This volume represents that widening of interest to include the entire Protestant movement.
Much about this scholarly work by James F. Findlay is commendable. The De Pauw University history professor attempts to place Moody within the broader historical developments of the nineteenth century, both secular and religious, and to show how these affected his life and career. As a result, the reader gains some valuable insights into the problems faced by evangelicals in an increasingly urbanized and industrial society. Considerable attention is given to the early years of the YMCA, the Student Volunteer Movement, the Mt. Hermon School for Boys, and Moody Bible Institute, all of which were greatly influenced by Moody.
Findlay draws a wonderfully vivid picture of Moody the man—his impetuous nature, his sensitivity to criticism, his carefulness in matters of money, his reluctance to be in the spotlight, his tender affection for his family, his fondness for playing practical jokes, and his openmindedness. Yet one becomes increasingly aware that the author interprets virtually every aspect of Moody’s life in naturalistic terms. For example, in assessing Moody’s success in the English revival of 1873–75, Findlay mentions such factors as Ira Sankey’s music, the appeal of Moody’s Yankee background, his ability as a story-teller, and his appeal to the traditional and familiar in the religious realm during a time of “turmoil and stress” within English evangelicalism.
Admittedly, the historian cannot document such a phenomenon as the outpouring of God’s Spirit in revival; but in speculation about the causes of a spiritual awakening, does not this possibility suggest itself? Only late in the book does the author suggest that Moody was “unusual in that his earthiness and commonness were lifted up and transformed in some way by a power or powers beyond himself.… The source of Moody’s power [was] the apparent reality of his personal faith in Christ.” As far as this reviewer can determine, there is no other reference in the book to a supernatural power at work in Moody’s life.
It is unfortunate that on occasion Findlay judges the motives of Moody. He finds it difficult to understand why the evangelist with his optimistic temperament and deep love of the things of this world could be attracted to such a “pessimistic, world-denying” doctrine as premillennialism. He suggests that Moody used premillennialism “as another weapon of evangelism,” as a means of getting sinners to “contemplate more important matters of the spirit.” Moody is accused of using this doctrine “for his own purposes.”
Evangelicals will find it difficult to agree with many of Findlay’s interpretations of his subject’s life and work. Still, his work remains the best Moody biography to appear.
From A Catholic Perspective
The Oxford Conspirators, by Marvin R. O’Connell (Macmillan, 1969, 468 pp., $9.95), is reviewed by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, professor of church history and historical theology, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.
The title of this book will perhaps raise expectations that are not quite realized. As the subtitle tells us, it is in fact an account of the Oxford Movement from 1833 to 1845. Marvin O’Connell is a Roman Catholic historian who has already dipped into English church history in the age of the Counter-Reformation.
The present study makes particularly good use of first-hand materials. Once launched on the main story, which tends to become that of Newman, the author presents a narrative that is both detailed and entertaining. Even if nothing of great significance is newly brought to light, a fresh and authoritative account of so important a movement is welcome.
One may ask, however, whether O’Connell gives a right impression by concentrating attention so strongly on Newman, or indeed by confining the study to the period 1833–45. The distinction of Newman is undeniable. Nevertheless the movement was bigger than a single representative. The defections to Rome, especially that of Newman, caused much disarray; but it might well be argued, not merely that the movement survived, but that its main influence was still to come when Newman left it.
Nor is this just a matter of historical perspective. A distinct impression is left that because the “middle way” proved a dead end for Newman it is a dead end in itself. Thus, perhaps unconsciously, the author allows the centrality of Newman to give a polemical slant to the whole presentation. Had the history of the Oxford Movement been related more specifically to Keble or Pusey, the Newman part might well have seemed to be just an episode in an ongoing movement and the defection to Rome the real dead end. This is not to say the “middle way” is right. It is to say that the way needs to be judged on other grounds. It is also to say that historical presentation can very easily become subtle propaganda that is all the more subtle if inadvertent.
The introduction on background conditions is fairly adequate considering the space available and the complexity of the material. Yet detailed analysis discloses not a few errors and many dubious judgments. A more modest and better documented account would have been more solid, if less lively. As to the sorry state of things just before and in 1833, of course, there is no question.
The book is well and clearly written, and the notes and index are full and useful. In fact, as a Roman Catholic assessment, on a scholarly level, it is a contribution that certainly deserves consideration, not least for the contrast it offers to an Anglo-Catholic or evangelical understanding.
Studies Ethical Questions
All to the Good: A Guide to Christian Ethics, by Robert B. McLaren and Homer D. McLaren (World, 1969, 203 pp., $5.95), is reviewed by John M. Bald, associate professor of Christian ethics, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
In view of the generation gap, a perennial condition that is unusually acute in its contemporary forms, collaboration between a father and son on a literary project is unusual. Here the family team is even more notable in that the authors follow different professions: the father is an attorney-at-law with some forty-five years of experience in teaching and practicing, and the son is an ordained minister currently teaching philosophy in one college and serving as director of the chapel in another.
As the subtitle indicates, the book is offered as a study guide. Dr. D. Elton Trueblood, who writes the foreword, observes that it is written from the stance of commitment to the Christian faith and is addressed to persons who desire guidance in their struggle with contemporary ethical questions.
The McLarens keep their limited purpose in view and resist the temptation to provide exhaustive discussions along the way; at the same time they are able to draw attention to much of the literature in the field of Christian ethics. Beginning with a discussion of the inseparable relation between ethics and religion, they go on to present that relationship as seen in the Christian religion in particular.
A second chapter lists with brief comment various historical and contemporary approaches to ethics within the Christian tradition. The authors adopt no one school of thought as their own, though the following description of the contemporary situation may suggest where their sympathies lie:
Nineteenth- and twentieth-century biblical studies revealed new insights into the thinking of first-century Christianity, and these discoveries in the light of the social, political, economic, and scientific upheavals of our own generation have forced Christian ethicists to rethink many of the “assured truths” of earlier traditions. No longer drawing solely upon biblical doctrines, but utilizing as well the knowledge derived from cultural sources, contemporary theologians and religious philosophers are struggling with such new concepts as situational and contextual ethics, to discover how best to make effective Christ’s mandate to live creatively in love with all men [p. 51].
In the next chapter, “The Christian Man,” the authors are more specific in defining Christian ethics in terms of a relationship between persons and Jesus Christ: “Christianity is essentially a matter of becoming one with Christ. As his ethics cannot be understood apart from his Person, so the ethics of any individual cannot be described as Christian ethics except as they are the expression of a life which is atone with Christ.” The discussion moves logically and helpfully from the Christian man to the Christian family and to the Christian fellowship (distinguished from institutionalism), and then to various areas in which the Christian as citizen is concerned—the state, the law, and culture. In all these areas the authors bring up perplexing moral problems of our time for discussion.
The topical arrangement, the chapter summaries, the very readable style, the avoidance of overly technical discussions—these help to make the McLarens’ book a helpful guide. One wishes some bibliographies had been appended to the summaries to help readers make use of the wide range of sources referred to in the text. Also, a more specific dialogue between father and son as lawyer and theologian would have been welcome. But perhaps that would have required another kind of book. We can hope that this team will undertake such a work in the future.
A Cry In The Dark
The Religious Experience of Mankind, by Ninian Smart (Scribner, 1969, 576 pp., $10), is reviewed by Francis Steele, home secretary, North Africa Mission, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
“Throughout history … religion has been a vital and pervasive feature of human life,” the author states in his opening sentence. “The history of religions must be more than a chronicling of events: it must be an attempt to enter into the meaning of those events,” he adds a little later on. He qualifies this by saying that he intends “to describe, rather than to pass judgment on, the phenomena of religion.” But that in itself is no small task. Professor Smart has made a valiant effort, and within the framework of his generally evolutionary presuppositions he has done a commendable job.
However, the question with which he closes the book sounds like a pitiful cry in the dark. Speaking of the experiences man has had of religion and his attempts through religion to “see beyond his senses,” Smart asks concerning the “attitudes to the universe about him” that man has worked out by religion, “Is it just imagination, or is it a holy power that has enabled him to do so?” So much for a self-revealing God.
On the whole the book is a carefully worked survey, in brief, of the major religions of world history. In this eminently readable account the author attempts to portray the unique characteristics of the various religions by succinct summaries, often supplemented by quotations from their literature. Frequent paragraph headings in each chapter help the reader to follow the author’s plan of development and also to refer back to previous sections. In short, the organization of the book makes it particularly useful as a textbook.
There is a fivefold division of the subject: primitive religions, religions of India, religions of the Far East, religions of the Near East, and contemporary religious experience. Although it was perhaps necessary to make a choice of the religious systems to be discussed, it is hard to understand why the author decided to omit the entire Western hemisphere in a book on the “religious experience of mankind.” Indeed, there is virtually no mention of the pre-Christian religions of Europe or Africa either, except for a few inconsequential references in the short chapter on primitive religions. Perhaps the criterion for inclusion was that the religion have some connection with the development of the “three great Semitic faiths” or else be a dominant force in the world today. But the question still remains.
For the conservative Christian, the sections on Christianity are, understandably, the least satisfactory. Although Smart begins his study of Christianity with the assertion, “The experience of the Resurrection was the focal point in Christianity for the followers of Jesus,” he soon says that “scholars are by no means sure that an accurate account of the historical Jesus can be built up,” and that “the question of whether this was a physical resurrection of Jesus … is a matter of faith and judgment. For our purposes … it is enough to note that the disciples … were convinced by these events of the continued power of Jesus and his triumph over a tragic death.” This hardly squares with orthodox theology. Obviously, such a viewpoint will produce many conclusions that are glaringly opposed to historic orthodoxy and thus limit the usefulness of the book for conservative Christians.
As Professor Smart looks into his crystal ball for portents of the future he comes up with some startling speculations. Regarding atheistic humanism he says, “Marxism itself might be led to accept the worth of religious experience.” As for Christianity, “the strength of the faith partly lies (in its ability to be) sharply critical of its presuppositions.” That is to say, cut loose from the control of divine revelation, Christianity has a promising future. And together with Buddhism, according to the author, it may well become one of the two great religions of the world.
This book, when read critically, can be a useful tool in the teaching of the history of religions. But as a picture of the pure stream of God’s self-revelation flowing through the turgid sea of human theological speculation, it is hopelessly out of focus.
But Who Is Listening?
The Bible Speaks Again, A Guide from Holland, commissioned by the Netherlands Reformed Church (Augsburg, 1969, 224 pp. $3.95), is reviewed by Norman Shepherd, associate professor of systematic theology, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
There is no radical break between the naive religious faith of the simple believer and the pursuit of scientific theology. A break occurs when the believer is uninterested in deepening his understanding of revealed truth, and when the theologian fails to relate the fruit of his study to the wider needs of the congregation.
In an attempt to bridge the artificial gap, the Netherlands Reformed (Hervormd) Church commissioned the publication of a volume dealing with the history, “secret,” and authority of the Bible. American readers will find it easier to understand the book if they realize that within the Netherlands Reformed Church, with its mainstream neo-orthodox and liberal orientation, there is a sizable orthodox wing maintaining a classic Reformed position and an experiential emphasis. The book may then be broadly understood as an appeal to the orthodox wing (and implicitly to the traditionally more conservative Reformed [Gereformeerd] Churches) to appropriate the fruit of contemporary critical and theological scholarship so that a united approach can be made to modern man, whether he be humanist, Roman Catholic, or Jew. Despite the fatherly and sometimes condescending tone, there is shown here a deeper appreciation of classic Reformed theology than we find in E. A. Dowey’s propaganda piece, A Commentary on the Confession of 1967.
The purpose of the opening survey of historical perspectives on the Bible is to show that the modern approach to biblical scholarship is in continuity with the past and has no intention of sacrificing what is of value. On this basis a plea is made for openness and humility in the theological conversation regarding the place of the Bible. The discussion partners should listen to, rather than shoot at, one another.
The trouble is that the conclusion of the conversation is decided before it gets under way, namely, the total capitulation of the orthodox wing. The results of modern critical research in the Bible are adopted as the necessary presupposition of further conversation, and the doctrinal formulas are then allowed to have relevance only in the “I-Thou” dimension of personal encounter. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the treatment of the return of our Lord and the final judgment when these events are interpreted as the continually receding goals toward which human history is eternally striving.
With all due respect to sincerity of intention, we must ask whether the Netherlands Reformed Church is listening to the Bible speak again, or practicing ventriloquism.
Book Briefs
Will the Real Phony Please Stand Up, by Ethel Barrett (Regal, 1969, 214 pp., paperback, $.95). An intensely practical (and penetrating) study of the Book of James written in typical Ethel Barrett style.
Exposition of Isaiah, Volume I, by H. C. Leupold (Baker, 1969, 598 pp., $7.95). A practical commentary that rejects the Deutero-Isaiah theory and emphasizes the abiding values of this prophetic work.
An Exposition of the Gospel of John, by Herschel H. Hobbs (Baker, 1969, 297 pp., $6.95). Written to help those faced with the responsibility of sermon preparation.
Happy Hang Up!, by Bill McKee (Tyndale, 1969, 63 pp., paperback, $1). Young people will like this one. It speaks to their problems in their language.
Studies in the Prophecy of Jeremiah, by G. Campbell Morgan (Revell, 1969, 288 pp., $4.95). Those acquainted with the work of G. Campbell Morgan will be delighted to know that this reprint is available.
The Greatness of Christ, by John H. Paterson (Inter-Varsity, 1969, 121 pp., paperback, $1.50). First American edition of an English work in which a layman sees the heart of the whole Christian message in the greatness of Jesus Christ, demonstrated by his unique achievement in dealing with the awful problem of man’s sin.
John Calvin, by Williston Walker (Schocken, 1969, 456 pp., paperback, $2.95). Reprint of a standard work on the great reformer.
Living Wisely, by J. Allen Blair (Loizeaux, 1969, 381 pp., $4.50). A devotional study of First Corinthians.
A Guide to the Prophets, by Stephen Winward (Knox, 1969, 255 pp., $5). In matters of introduction many higher-critical views are accepted, but the main concern of this volume is to study the teaching of the prophets with special emphasis on the application of their message to our contemporary situation.
The Quiet Rebels, by Margaret H. Bacon (Basic Books, 1969, 229 pp., $5.95). A Quaker tells the story of the Society of Friends and its contribution to American history from 1656 until the present.
Controversy in the Twenties, edited by Willard B. Gatewood, Jr. (Vanderbilt, 1969, 459 pp., $10). An anthology of sixty-eight selections from a variety of sources dealing with the modernist-fundamentalist conflict within American Protestantism during the 1920s.
The Protestant Reformation, by Hans J. Hillerbrand (Walker, 1968, 290 pp., $8.50). A representative sampling of the literature of the Protestant Reformation, with an introduction to each document and comments by the editor.
The Systematic Thought of Washington Gladden, by Richard Knudten (Humanities Press, 1969, 301 pp., $6.50). A study of the life and thought of the father of the social-gospel movement in late nineteenth-and early twentieth-century Protestantism.
A History of Anglican Liturgy, by G. J. Cuming (St. Martin’s, 1969, 450 pp., $12.50). A comprehensive history of the Book of Common Prayer that discusses the various revisions in chronological order.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Heaven, by Gary Freeman (Harper & Row, 1969, 126 pp., $3.95). A satirical account of the life of a preacher in the “True Church” from his enrollment in a Sunday school for tots through seminary days, church problems, and a stay in an asylum.
Man, Have I Got Problems, by David Wilkerson (Revell, 1969, 128 pp., $2.95). The widely known director of Teen Challenge in New York offers practical counsel for the many kinds of problems people face today.
Sons of Tiv, by Eugene Rubingh (Baker, 1969, 263 pp., $5.95). An analysis of the birth and development of the rapidly growing Christian Church among the Tiv tribe in central Nigeria.
Cromwell, edited by Maurice Ashley (Prentice-Hall, 1969, 177 pp., $4.95). A survey of the life of one of England’s most controversial leaders, based on Cromwell’s own writings and the views of his contemporaries.
The East Burlap Parables, by Richard N. Rinker (University of Nebraska, 1969, 169 pp., $3.95). This collection of satirical episodes describing life in an imaginary church offers a penetrating commentary on life in the institutional church.
What Is Religion?, by Paul Tillich (Harper & Row, 1969, 191 pp., $5.95). Three early essays that serve as an introduction to Tillich’s later thought.
God Is No Island, by Oswald Hoffman (Concordia, 1969, 111 pp., $2.75). The popular “Lutheran Hour” speaker applies the Gospel to complex problems of contemporary society.
Media for Christian Formation, edited by William A. Dalglish (Pflaum, 1969, 393 pp., $7.50). A resource book that lists and evaluates a variety of audiovisual materials available in the field of religion. Helpful if used with discernment.
God’s Everlasting ‘Yes,’ by Ilion T. Jones (Word, 1969, 138 pp., $3.95). Sermons by a former homiletics professor show how to structure a sermon that develops a truth taught in specific portions of Scripture in a way that will speak to the needs of ordinary people.
Jewish Christianity, by Hans-Joachim Schoeps (Fortress, 1969, 163 pp., $3.50). A thorough study of the Ebionites that sees them as direct successors of the original disciples and as resolute opponents of Gnosticism.
