I have just returned from Amsterdam, where I was an observer at the European Congress on Evangelism. Reports on this impressive gathering can be found in the editorial and news sections of this issue.
It was instructive to be in Europe right after Mr. Nixon decided to let the dollar float, which meant essentially that its purchasing power was reduced. One thing is clear: traveling in Europe is no longer a bargain for Americans. Prices are generally as high as ours and even higher. Moreover, environmental abuse is as much a European as an American problem. It is no less prevalent in the socialist countries, where capitalism is the whipping boy for the multiplied ills of mankind. Maybe the time has come for Americans to rediscover their own country and enjoy the extraordinary beauty it has to offer.
This issue of Christianity Today includes the annual index and marks the end of fifteen years of publication. This period of great change has brought among other things a presidential assassination, the rise and fall of the “death of God” school of theology, a great loosening of traditional moral and ethical standards (as seen in, for example, the prevalence of overt pornography, or the drive for public approval of homosexual practices), a sharp increase in crime, the “urge to merge” in the Protestant churches, and a revolution in the Roman Catholic Church. Particularly gratifying have been the continued influential outreach of Billy Graham, the emergence of the Jesus people, the world and regional congresses on evangelism, and the increasing impact of movements like Campus Crusade for Christ. Opportunities abound, and there is a greater need than ever for a journal like Christianity Today. We begin our sixteenth year wholly convinced that Christ alone is the answer to the cry of a lost world for help and hope, and that he has a part for us to play in making that answer known.
