Is it possible to be biblical, yet realistic and relevant? This is a crucial and haunting question which demands honest confrontation by those engaged in Christian education. We cannot escape it, either by ignoring it, or by quickly and glibly answering in the affirmative, as if the question presents no real problem worthy of careful consideration.

The fact is that there are many who have answered the question negatively. As a consequence they are essentially “post-biblical” in their approach to Christian education. To be sure, they make use of certain broad biblical ideas which are deemed valuable, such as the fact that God is Creator, or that Jesus’ life represents the ideal for humanity. But they do not make a vital mastery of the Bible their ideal. For they are convinced that placing the Bible at the center of Christian education means turning back the clock to the prescientific world of the first century or of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It means, as they see it, betraying historic developments not only in the physical sciences but also in the human sciences, that is, in anthropology, psychology, sociology, and philosophy. To their minds such an idea also means turning our backs on the burning personal and social problems of our day. They hold that the hydrogen-space age is vastly different from that of the Bible, and that we cannot hope to deal with its challenges and threats within a biblical focus.

Fortunately, even in such an approach more biblical ideas are utilized than is consciously realized either by the educators or the educated. Essentially, however, this approach resorts to moralizing, psychologizing, culturing, analyzing, socializing, legalizing, and philosophizing. The result is a natural, common sense theology which is often sound as far as human wisdom goes and is frequently not unbiblical. For who can say that discourses on the appreciation of nature and of art, or on the requisites for mental health, or on the conditions for happy family life are opposed to the Scriptures? But such discourses may well be nonbiblical, in so far as they are based primarily on the word of man. They frequently do not reflect what is essential and distinctive to the biblical faith, and are serviceable equally to non-Christian and Christian. What is lacking is the Pauline concept that whatever is done must be done unto the Lord, with all that such an injunction means and implies.

The Bible And Relevance

Those of us who are biblically concerned are all too quick to point out these deficiencies without at the same time appreciating the values of such an approach. For it embodies a highly commendable desire that Christianity speak decisively to our times. It also bespeaks a judgment, namely, that those who are committed to the primacy of the Bible in Christian education have either failed to relate it to contemporary life, or have done so in such a way as to emerge with vague panaceas which do not really speak to its problems, or with religious, ethical, political, social views which are not distinctively different from the views of those to whom the Bible is unknown. If the study of the Bible leads us to turn our backs on this world, because this world is hopeless and our concern is for the next, or if it results in naïve prescriptions such as the view that prayer solves all problems, or if it issues in basically the same positions and practices with respect to race, nationalism, business and labor ethics, education, politics, marriage, peace and nuclear war, and life under God as those have who do not focus on the Bible, then the question is whether we are right in insisting on the indispensability of the Scriptures in Christian education and in devoting our time and energies to giving the Bible a central place in it. Wisdom is justified by her children. The wisdom of a bibliocentric approach to Christian education will be justified if it makes a vital difference in life, both in its Godward and its manward aspects. The biblical focus will be vindicated if it is shown to be distinctive and indispensable in wrestling with the most pressing problems of the twentieth century.

Such is our task. It is demanding but not impossible, with God’s help. To perform it we must avoid two pitfalls: that of being relevant but nonbiblical, and that of being seemingly biblical but nonrelevant. To steer such a course requires in turn two concerns as regards the use of the Bible: our attitude toward the Bible, and our techniques in its use.

A Proper Attitude

A proper biblical attitude will combine in delicate balance the spirit of conservation and of adaptation. It is our difficult obligation to discover what is essentially and uniquely biblical, and especially what is essentially and uniquely Christian as revealed in the New Testament, and we must conserve its values at all costs, while at the same time adapting ourselves to the changing knowledge and needs of men. In brief, we must find the present, living Word in the past, written Word. For history has amply shown that the failure either to conserve or to adapt has the same result: the Bible no longer has a radical and controlling influence on life. And if the Bible does not speak to life, then whether one’s orientation is biblical or nonbiblical is of no real consequence. The issue is whether the Bible makes a difference! And if it is to make a difference, we must remain in the presence of two worlds: the biblical world and ours. We cannot use the Bible in the twentieth century in the same way as we would use it if we were living in the first century. We do live in a different world. We must adapt to our world while still conserving what is distinctively biblical, else we defeat our purpose.

In order to implement this basic attitude, we need to develop sound and profound study techniques. Two key words come to mind in this connection: penetrate and relate. It is necessary to penetrate beneath the surface of biblical language, statements, and propositions to the experience of God in Christ which is revealed there and which may be realized here and now. It is also necessary to relate such experience to the issues and opportunities of our own times so as to relive it in the twentieth century.

The ability to penetrate beneath the surface of Scripture hinges on the ability to note carefully the crucial words, facts, and relationships of scriptural passages, to ask probing questions about our findings, and to provide at least some profound answers to our questions.

The crux of the matter lies in developing the Socratic art of questioning. The Platonic dialogue Laches, which, incidentally, is worth reading in this connection, tells us how Socrates, when confronted by those who claimed to be courageous, insisted on asking, “What is courage?” And he refused to be satisfied with the superficial concepts of courage extant in his time. He insisted on careful and profound definitions. Like him, we too need to insist on such definitions of biblical language and experiences. The great danger is that a so-called biblical, Christian education will result in the mere parroting of biblical expressions as if they have some inherent magical value, even though they cannot be expressed in contemporary, living language. Too many people who have supposedly received a biblical education are like the woman who thought she had arrived and took it upon herself to criticize a teacher for not having discussed the new birth in a certain connection; but when she was asked, “What is the new birth?,” she replied, “You know, the new birth!” She did not recognize the essence of the experience simply because certain phrases were not used. Such an example could be multiplied many times. We should learn from it to be careful not to equate biblical symbols with biblical realities. When we study the new birth, we must teach our people to ask: What is the new birth? How does it occur? When? Who is born again? Why is it necessary for eternal life? What does it assume and imply? And we must help them not be satisfied with superficial answers. We must teach people to be unrelenting and scrupulous in their pursuit of answers to such questions.

Having penetrated the surface of biblical language, it is then our task to learn how to relate our findings to our day. This process involves several aspects.

Timeless Truths

The first is the decision as to whether the truths we find are timeless in their value and therefore capable of being related to our times. For the Bible contains certain elements which are culturally conditioned and which therefore should not be transferred to a different culture. Most of us would hold that Paul’s exhortation that women wear veils in church (1 Cor. 11) is of this sort. To discover which truths are time-bound we need to gain an intimate acquaintance with the historical background of the Bible and to learn to compare it with our own day to find what cultural differences exist if any. In order to find supracultural truths we must become adept at finding those basic biblical principles which are concretized in Scripture. This takes us back to the need to probe Scripture in depth as a means of discovering truths which are most fundamental and relevant.

Beyond this it is necessary to become well acquainted with the contemporary problems and actually to bring to bear our Christian convictions upon them. It is at this point that the instrumentalism of John Dewey proves helpful by suggesting the problem and project approaches to the learning process. It would be salutary to begin a substantial number of our Bible lessons with the discussion in depth of a present-day issue to which a Scriptural passage is related, and then to find how the passage speaks to that issue. Such an approach provides excellent preparation for projects which are designed to provide an opportunity for putting into effect what is learned. One suspects that it is at this point where the use of the Bible meets its acid test. Maybe what we really need is less biblical sermonizing and discussion, and more biblical practice. And this practice needs to extend beyond the usual “city mission” application of the Christian gospel, as good as that may be. It needs to cover the whole of life.

To accomplish these goals biblical education must involve a constant, long-range approach. A sporadic, hit-and-miss approach may do more harm than good. Further, an effective approach will actively engage members of the group in thoughtful study and in conscientious implementation. There are no shortcuts to the kind of Bible study which makes a difference.

A challenge faces those of us who steadfastly claim that the Bible is an indispensable means of grace. The Scriptures themselves outline the challenge: shall we be true prophets or pseudo-prophets? The pseudo-prophets described in Scripture claimed to speak in behalf of God, but they spoke the false words of man which could not meet the test of their times. On the other hand, the true prophets heard the living God speak, and they spoke genuinely in his behalf to the problems of their day. They were true to God and they were true to their times. We can do no less as we use the Bible in Christian education.

Even a capsule sentence can reveal one’s view of God and the world. “The God I pray to,” said an American astronaut, “is not so small that I expected to see him in space.” (John Glenn, Jr., was retorting to the gibe of Gherman S. Titov, Soviet cosmonaut, “In my travels around the earth … I saw no God or angels.”—Newsweek, May 21, 1962). Each man is thus stating the ABC’s of his particular Weltanschauung that nations variously aligned in global cold war express in fuller combinations of meaning. Each man also reveals something of the orbit that defines his daily life. Amid the enthusiastic acclaim of thousands who lined the great avenues of the nation’s capital, Astronaut Glenn could well afford to be humble; he knew his God was present. Later in addressing Congress he evinced the freedom of spirit to show himself as one among peers. The glowing 50,000-degree shock wave of re-entry friction had been less than a foot ahead of his carrier, making the possible loss of the Mercury’s heat shield an earlier test of his faith and character. The calmness of this man so humanly alone in space was remarkable.

But was he really alone? Carefully executed plans had prepared a complex tracking system of 16 centers, manned by skilled scientist-technicians who actively stand by through each moment of every space flight. And at Cape Canaveral the Mercury Control Center coordinates all phases, keeping in touch with the network of auxiliary centers and with the man in space.

At each center all personnel unite to achieve those common goals that relate to the total space project. Short-range objectives and responsibilities for individual centers and workers are clearly defined. Progress, as it appears from above and below, is communicated back and forth between spacemen and tracking engineers. Said Astronaut Scott Carpenter, for example: “I felt staging (the dropping away of the booster stage). Do you confirm?” Gus Grissom: “We confirm staging.” Or, in the earlier trip it was Astronaut Glenn: “I can see the whole State of Florida just laid out like a map. It’s beautiful.” Personal contact is reinforced by constantly projecting the spaceman’s face on a screen in the centers.

The Church which Jesus Christ came to establish is, in some ways, like a system of tracking centers. God as Holy Spirit would control all. Focus is upon Christ Jesus, and his purposes scripturally revealed determine the tasks to be achieved. The worldwide community of local churches tries to help twentieth century man to enter and maintain his true orbit, that is, knowledge and fulfillment of his true reason for being. For this purpose the Church relies on the revealed Word of God for its presentation of an authoritative and valid Christian world-life view.

The Church’s function involves (1) teaching the truth of this Bible directly and through demonstration; (2) leading individuals into relationship with the living Lord; and (3) guiding them effectively through growth, training and outreach to participate in sharing this life in Christ with others around the world.

The Church As A Tracking System

The purpose of the Church’s ministry is to aid every man in gaining his proper life orbit. For the Christian is convinced that God is adequate for all the demands of his life, caught as it is in the cultural dynamics of the twentieth-century space age. Man finds his life orbit first of all by reestablishing his relationship with God. Only this triune God is all-wise and all-powerful. He alone is sufficient to control man’s life and to meet man’s needs as he lives out all human relationships. God is transcendent yet immanent, the Creator who has called the worlds into being and maintains them in space and time. As sustainer of all life this God can safely bear and uphold man’s space encapsulated life through its twentieth-century flight to His own deserved glory and to man’s present and future blessing. He who fashions the snowflakes’ diversity and beauty is no less skilled in forming and guiding the course of life for the world’s endless range of complex personalities. He who controls the history of nations is no less competent to overrule individual environment and to direct the total process of development for his glory.

God, manifesting himself in the incarnate Son, has overcome the power of sin and Satan, death and hell through his vicarious atonement, thereby dealing conclusively with man’s gravest problems. He who was “… in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15), as risen, glorified, and interceding Lord gives new power along life’s way. He invites man to come boldly for help in time of need.

Only as God the Holy Spirit floods man’s being can he meet the corroding influences of this sin-cursed world. As a responsible creature who has forfeited his ability and willingness properly to serve God and neighbor, he requires the Spirit’s supernatural restoration and empowerment. Ever-present sins—pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, sloth—show their ugly faces in multiplied forms and in various ways as the individual attains progressive maturation levels. Contributing to maladjustments, spawning in undesirable environments, sin darkens, distorts and perverts man’s mind, his emotions and his will. But historic Christianity offers as a protagonist the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It offers a remedy for sin in Christ’s accomplished atonement and present intercessory ministry. It offers the hope of life eternal with God.

The Need For Leaders Today

Today every area of life cries for leadership. Knowledge and its mastery have soared to an unprecedented degree. But leaders through the morass of uncertain goals and values are few. We need men and women not only of knowledge, but of perspective and commitment, men and women who know and who do the will of God.

The world frequently turns aside from Christian leadership, for the revealed standards of sacred scripture cut across the relative and changing values of secular society. A Christian knows the established relationships, principles and norms that should determine man’s thinking and action. Unfortunately it is usually only the crisis times that encourage the world to seek out truly Christian leaders and their guidance. So Joseph was summoned in the time of Pharaoh’s need. Daniel came to assist Nebuchadnezzar. A little Syrian maid directed leprous Naaman to the prophet and his ministry.

Individual Christians with proper qualifications have similar opportunities for leadership today. Even more frequently groups of believers may work together for a Christian impact. The responsibility is unchanging: under God’s direction to apply the basic principles of Christian truth to the problems of daily life. The effectiveness of such leadership depends in large measure upon the quality of a church’s ministry in teaching and training individuals and groups for their responsibilities. In short, leadership depends upon Christian education. The educational procedures followed in the home, the church and in school determine to what extent the Christian world-life view will be understood, believed and lived.

The Task Of Christian Education

What, then, is the specific task of Christian education? Basically, it consists in communicating an understanding of the Word of God. As Dr. Jan Waterink, the internationally-known psychologist, has stated: The aim is “the forming of man into an independent personality serving God according to His Word, able and willing to employ all his God-given talents to the honor of God and for the well-being of his fellow-creatures, in every area of life in which man is placed by God” (Basic Concepts in Christian Pedagogy, Eerdmans, 1954, p. 41).

Of the 60,000,000 enrolled in Sunday school throughout the world in 1961, how many actually entered the orbit of personal relationship with the living God? How many came into an understanding of the Scriptures in terms of this relationship? How many matured into persons whom God could entrust with Christian leadership? How many were thwarted in their Christian growth because of inadequate and unrealistic training? How many God-given talents were left dormant or unused because of prejudice or selfishness? Each local church must answer these questions and search its corporate conscience.

According to the 1962 Yearbook of American Churches, 283,885 Sunday schools in the United States enroll 3,637,982 teachers and officers to instruct a total of 43,231,018 pupils. How many of these pupils are learning the truth of the Bible directly and through application in life situations? How many know a living Lord? How many are being trained to participate effectively in the life of the local church and to share Christ with others around the world?

The Church includes all races, all nations, all peoples, all ages. It enfolds the senior citizen, the exceptional child, the employed and unemployed, the married and unmarried, the child, the adolescent, the adult. Each has a life to be lived, each has problems to be faced. In the Church the love of God must be experienced through the love of men and women, boys and girls, through shared responsibilities and social cooperation to the glory of Christ. Here individuals must be trained. Here their needs must be met through worship, instruction, and service. The Church must be a preview of heaven.

If Christians are to live for the glory of God, individuals and groups must spread out from these training centers to share the Gospel in word and life. Similarly, the practice of intercessory prayer must embrace fellow believers around the globe to the strengthening of the entire body of Christ.

The Church’s physical resources, its organization, program and leadership, all aspects of its life and ministry are essential to its tremendous assignment. All exist for but one purpose; they must present the content of the Christian world-life view, demonstrate its validity for this twentieth-century space age, and encourage its acceptance for individual and social realization of man’s blessing and God’s glory. The Christian who assumes his responsibilities toward God and man is the essential, basic entity.

One of the most disturbing facets of our theological age arises from our encounter with relativism. Is the Church with its theology affected by the relativity that characterizes almost everything else? Do we have a stable point from which we can resist the corroding influence of a relativism which threatens the very heart of the Gospel and the Christian faith? Are we faced with the threat of relativity in such areas as the relationship between Christianity and the religions of the world (a relativism that takes the name of syncretism), the authority of Holy Scripture, and the confessions of the Church?

Sometimes one could suspect we are confusing the simple truth by making horribly complicated what is revealed to and known by children. Have the many questions that intrigue the theologians slowly created a doubting generation of churchmen? When Calvin was writing on the resurrection, he remarked that he felt ashamed at having to use so many words to discuss so clear a matter. Could we be making matters which have always been hard and fast in our convictions now suddenly problematic? Do we still know what orthodoxy means? Is not the struggle against all the new forms of disbelief not exactly the same as that against the old modernism? Such questions could imply a sharp criticism of today’s theologians.

When Roman Catholicism was engaged in its own fight against modernism, there was a rash of cries against relativism and modernism as these were discovered in almost every corner. A Roman Catholic brand of “heresy hunting” took place out of a deep fear of relativism within the bulwark of Roman orthodoxy. The hunt was over ere long, and it was then admitted that many problems remained for the orthodox, from which even they could not retreat. In short, a reduction of fear against the threat of relativism did not for long hide the fact that real problems did exist for which there was no quick and simple solution.

When we become aware of the many problematic issues that are being discussed today, we ought not to be too quick to run from them under the cover of the threat of relativism. Engagement with problems does not mean that a theologian is throwing over the certainties of faith. We could, by declining to enter into the problematics of our day, only confuse the issue for a future generation.

When we think about relativism and its dangers, we must keep alert on two fronts. First, we must be keenly aware of the dangers that are implicit in the problems. We must not overestimate ourselves: “Let him who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” In many of the theological problems that engage our study, there is a power to set us on a series of consequences for our own thought. First, we may study them objectively, without their even touching our faith. We know, supposedly, that children alone truly understand the things that are hidden from the wise. But gradually, one problem leads to another. They multiply and draw ever closer to the center of things. Then there arises a kind of uncertainty, even doubt, and one finally feels inward restlessness and tension. Finally, one can be led to a personal divorce from the traditional faith. All of life can then become surrounded by question marks. By this time, relativism has infected the whole man.

It is, then, necessary to remember that we ought not to play with problems in theology. What begins with intellectual sport can end in a most serious encounter with unbelief. Sometimes we do not have hold of problems, but problems have hold of us. I feel that in our day with its flood of complex problems, theologians and simple Christians must be warned. In the face of our encounter with the problematic issues, the perseverance of the saints takes on a new and important reality.

But there is another side to the matter of problems. We are not only to be alert to their danger. It is just as important that we be not afraid of problems. The Christian perspective has never been at home with the ostrich’s posture. In the cultural situation of our time, we must—in faith and in answer to our calling—accept in full the challenge of all the new problems that face the Church and its theology. Moreover, we must take care that we do not level the charge of relativism too quickly at those who are honestly and responsibly facing the problems that exist. One must not begin talking about apostasy the moment he observes someone truly involved with problems. The danger of apostasy is always real. But let us remember that the apostles themselves were accused of apostasy (Acts 21:21). When we point a finger at apostasy, let us be sure that the Gospel is really endangered. For as surely as apostasy has been a reality in the Church, so have men used traditionalism and confessionalism to resist the power of the Gospel as it led the Church into new times and new ways.

With care for both of these fronts, the Church can walk its way into new situations with courage and faith. In its continual study of the Bible, it will discover new truths and new slants to old truths, aware that all the light of the Gospel has not once and for all been captured in the past. I have in mind the profound reflection given these days to the doctrine of election, to the doctrine of the last things, to the doctrine of Holy Scripture, and to the problem of hermeneutics. Theology has a special calling here. And believers ought not to be afraid of having theologians occupied with new questions. Faith is indeed child-like. But this must not mean that we need be afraid of renewed Bible study. Now more than ever, we must break with the anxieties and angst of our modern world and act, as believers, in faith. Ours must be a faith that does not fear and therefore is able to face problems in complete honesty and realism. Here too, perhaps especially here, we must remember the prayer of our Lord: “I do not pray that Thou wilt take them out of the world, but that Thou wilt protect them from the Evil One.” This world of ours with all its problems!

Fear not: for am I in the place of God? As for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, … as it is this day, to save much people alive (Gen. 50:12, 20; read vv. 15–21).

This passage lends itself admirably to a sermon about “particular providence,” or about forgiveness of wrongs. Preach one or the other. Never two sermons at the same time! God’s providence here means his way of watching out for each of his children as well as though he had only one. A case study. A fascinating truth!

I. The Meaning of Individual Providence (pro-video). A. God has a plan for every man’s life. This plan he unfolds a part at a time. B. In carrying out his plan, God may employ strange agents and methods, as he did with Joseph. C. Sooner or later God will complete his plan. (See part of Browning’s “Rabbi Ben Ezra.”)

II. The Value of This Bible Teaching. What practical difference does it make to a believer now? A. This teaching gives the Christian a sense of stability and assurance. “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord!” Such a man’s faith rests in God. B. The teaching should lead to magnanimity. Why did this man treat his older brothers in a way pleasing to God? C. The teaching also imparts a feeling of hope. Here see Bryant’s poem, “To a Waterfowl.” As in all these passages, keep to the singular. God has a plan for every man’s life.

In order that he may qualify for living on this basis, lead the hearer now to become a Christian. Later from the pulpit guide him in knowing how to learn and follow the will of God. “He that willeth to do his will shall know.”

Probing Outer Space

ROAMING THE PLANETS—The problem of mankind’s spiritual mandate to leave the earth and roam through outer space, exploring and perhaps ultimately populating other planets, is a difficult question. It involves the relationship of the natural to the spiritual world, the meaning of creation, and perhaps the purpose of life itself. Here history will be of little use to us as we have no record of man having previously ventured beyond the earth.

I have the conviction that, taken as a whole, the Bible presents no general principle opposed to an exploration of the universe. I feel that the instruction in Genesis 1 and Psalm 8 bears out this view, although I may be wrong.

I see no spiritual conflict resulting from interplanetary space travel. We would still be within the material realm even for the deepest space penetration.

This is not to say that man is not in for some surprises. It is hard to believe that God’s material revelation to man is complete. This really is part of the excitement, and I would suggest, also man’s moral obligation: namely, to know God and his universe more fully. For centuries man has observed the universe with optical telescopes and in more recent times has probed even deeper into space using radio telescopes. It would be hard to justify a position opposing manned space flight but upholding a right to eavesdrop and peek. While I visualize no philosophical conflict in space exploration, man may feel some within himself. This can result if he adheres too firmly to fixed ideas concerning God’s universe, such as there being no life except on the earth, the impossibility of the existence of relativistic time and anti-matter, as well as other fixations concerning his interpretation of the physical environment. In the final analysis I have always felt that this kind of intellectual rigidity is really an attempt to limit God to man’s image. It always seems to me to be closer to sin than to enlightenment.

Probably the most urgent present reason for pushing ahead in the space program is that of national survival. There are at least three facets to this: (1) national security, (2) national prestige, and (3) the future economic and spiritual development of our nation. It would be my opinion that any one of these would justify the present space effort.—Professor JOHN A. CLARK, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in a lecture on “Outer Space: A New Frontier of Challenge and Promise,” to the Christian Reformed Minister’s Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

COMMENT ON TELSTAR—The achievement of the communications satellite, while only a prelude, already throws open to us the vision of an era of international communications.… There is no more important field at the present time than communications and we must grasp the advantages presented to us by the communications satellite to use this medium wisely and effectively to insure greater understanding among the peoples of the world.—President John F. Kennedy.

LEARNING FOR THE FUTURE—What we are learning today may lead to the development of a world-wide communications network.—Newton Minow, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

ONLY A BEGINNING—Global television is on the way. The spectacular success scored by the Telstar experiment is proof of this. But it won’t arrive tomorrow. As President Kennedy has noted, this is “only a prelude.”—William McGaffin, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

UNDERSTANDING FOR THE ILLITERATE—It is a major step toward perfection of a global network of television satellites which, in a world where almost half the people are either illiterate or semi-literate, could breed greater peace and understanding among the diverse nations of the earth.—The Washington Daily News.

PORTENT FOR THE FUTURE-The unexpectedly complete success of the Telstar satellite, on its first day of operation, is more than an occasion for a celebration. It is a portent. We are confronted with one of the most important improvements in communications in a generation.—The Washington Post and Times-Herald.

A STARRY SYMBOL—Telstar is important not only in itself but as a starry symbol of the decisions that may do much to shape the future—in space and on earth.—The Wall Street Journal.

SYMBOL OF GOOD WORKS—The Telstar is a symbol of U.S. good works at their best. It is up to Congress, the Administration and the representatives of private industry involved to see to it that the project lives up fully—both for the present and the long run—to that proud standard.—The Philadelphia Inquirer.

SQUABBLE FROM EUROPE—What seemed more certain was that satellite television—now coming in loud and clear in both Britain and France—was producing more static on the ground than in the air.—The Baltimore Sun.

BRITAIN VERSUS FRANCE—“Pirates in Space,” London Daily Express; “France steals the TV space show,” London Herald; “Stealing a march on Britain,” London Daily Telegraph; “Gallic One-upmanship,” London Daily Mail. “Far from excellent. The reason was that their antenna was not guided with the same precision as ours, with two radars,” Paris’ Aurore. Comments on the British and French transmissions.

A DOUBTFUL ACCOMPLISHMENT—We are learning to communicate less and less better and better.—Howard K. Smith, news analyst, quoted by The Washington Daily News.

ARE WE REALLY COMMUNICATING?—I have an uneasy feeling that, in these times, our major problem is to be liked, rather than heard. Maybe we are using this new magic to tackle the wrong end of the problem. Shouldn’t our first goal be communicating; not communications? What’s so great about making it possible for the whole world to view “The Untouchables”?—George Dixon, The Washington Post and Times-Herald.

Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not (Gen. 28:16).

Many a man while young thinks of God in terms of his parents. What happens when he himself discovers God? A case of the sort appears in Genesis.

I. A Strong Man Meets with God at Bethel, a place he may have considered God-forsaken. His vision at night had four stages. A. Behold the ladder, or rather, “steps unto heaven.” Some way of contact between earth and heaven. B. Behold the angels—messengers of God to a man. C. Behold the Lord—the One to whom the steps lead up, to whom the angels report, and from whom they come down with the blessings of God. D. A promise of personal blessings from God. Some such experience every man ought to have whenever he comes to church.

II. A Strong Man Begins to Bargain. A. Because of an awakened conscience, he feels afraid of God. B. He goes through forms of worship. C. He makes with God a “half-way covenant.” Jacob begins to bargain with the word “if.” He seems to mean that if God will bless Jacob through the years, then some time Jacob will stand up for God. A shabby way to deal with the Most High!

Note the refusal to make a complete surrender. What should Jacob have done? Surely what he did 20 years later. Why did he tarry so long, with only enough religion of his own to make him feel wretched for years?

Perhaps because Jacob knew that in order to get right with God he would have to get right with the brother whom Jacob had defrauded, with the aged father whom he had wronged, and with the partner whom he had later out-cheated.

My young friend, how is it with you? Here in this Beth-El you have seen the steps into heaven, the angels going up to heaven, and best of all, the Lord. You have heard his words of assurance and hope. What is your answer? Surely this: “The Lord, he is my God. Him only shall I serve all the days of my life, through the Christ of the Cross.” Abridged from The Upper Room Pulpit, Nashville, Tennessee.

I do set my how in the cloud (Gen. 9:13a).

The stress here falls, not on the creation of the rainbow, but on the message it has for us today. Sometimes it takes a flood to open our eyes to see God. Now he wishes you to carry home the poetry and prophecy of the rainbow. The Gospel!

I. What We Most Dread, God Can Illuminate. To Noah the one thing full of terror was the cloud. Then he saw the flood. Yet it was there that the Almighty set his bow. Our God is always doing that. We thought that a cloud would be unbearable. Then came the rainbow with its hope.

Was there ever anything more dreaded than the Cross, the last indignity cast upon a slave? And yet Christ has illuminated that thing of terror, the hope for sinful men, the model of the holy life.

II. In the Most Changeful Times There is the Unchanging Purpose of God. In all nature scarcely anything is so changeful as a cloud. What a strange tablet for the pen of God! What a queer parchment to serve as the symbol of his unchanging Covenant! “Write it on marble,” we might say. But God says, “My unchanging Covenant with men is to be written on ever-changing cloud.”

Through all of earth’s change and recasting runs the eternal purpose of God. Through the endless resettings of this life, with its shifting lights and shadows, runs the unchanging purpose of God, which far away in eternity he willed for you. Happy is the man who cherishes such a faith!

III. In the Mystery of Life There is Meaning. Both the youngest child and the oldest poet sense the mystery in the cloud. Would that everyone could also see the rainbow! I am like a traveler among the hills. There is a chasm, where many another has perished, but I cannot see my peril. Then God lights up his rainbow. The ends are here on earth, and the crown is lifted up to heaven. So I feel that God is with me in the gloom. For me there is meaning in life’s mystery.

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain

That morn shall tearless he.

IV. At the Background of Joy Lies Sorrow. Underneath earth’s gladness there is unrest. If the deepest secret of life were merriment, how could the Cross interpret life? If laughter were the undertone of life, how could the Man of Sorrows be the Ideal of men? I see the rainbow on the cloud, and the Saviour on his Cross. Then I know that back of gladness there is agony, and that the richest joy is born of grief.

V. Over the Portals of God’s Dwelling There is Mercy. In Scripture the clouds are God’s pavilion. “Clouds and darkness are about his throne.” There God set his bow, a token of mercy to the world. In this early dawn the poet-prophet had the mind of Christ and saw great mercy written on God’s dwelling-place.

Have you seen that, my brother? Have you heard that, my sister? It is the sweetest syllable that ever fell from heaven into the bosom of a guilty world. The heart of God is full of mercy. Who will go out into the crowded streets under the stars tonight, crying out for the first time in years, “God be merciful to me, a sinner”? Will You?

The Bible doctrine of God in nature throws much light on our duty.

I. Our Study of the World Around Us. Nature’s face is like a page in a book, all written by the finger of God and meant of God for us to read. Those who believe that God has written this book should he most eager to read it. But this is not the case. Often those who are absorbed in religion are indifferent to science, and those devoted to science are indifferent to religion.

Why have religious people suspected science? Why has science sometimes proclaimed war on religion? In the main, because they have misunderstood each other and God. If religious people had always done their part in reverent study of God’s works, and if scientific folk had always remembered that every separate truth becomes incomplete when cut off from relation to truth as a whole—that is, to the mind of God—we might have been spared much misunderstanding and strife. This reconciliation has yet to be accomplished. The key to it lies in the very first sentence of Genesis.

II. Our Active Relation to the World. Without professing to solve the problem of evil, we must acknowledge that nature is what we have made it. In us nature casts a deforming shadow over what in itself was perfect, and thus puts the world out of joint. So every inch of morality has to be won by incessant and resolute fight. Until our last breath we must fight the good fight against evil.

But we must not excommunicate the good nature that is the work of God. The world as God made it—the world in which we were born, in which we strike our roots—is the world in which we have to live a spiritual life. When we feel the strain of the conflict, it is natural to think that the sure way to victory is to renounce the world and cultivate goodness that owes nothing to the world God made.

All experience proves that course to be disastrous. The virtue that does not articulate itself in the life of the world, and rejoice in God’s presence there, is destitute of redemptive power. Our morality rests upon this basis, not on that which abstains from marriage and from meats. The kingdom of God is to be established in the world God has made.

When we have passed all these things in review we cannot keep from our minds the comparative insignificance of nature. Without God nature is nothing. To learn this is one of the greatest truths of religion. In the world God is ever with us. All creation attests his presence. No worship is complete that has not in in it an “Amen” to the voice of the seraphim: “Holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Abridged from The Way Everlasting, pp. 74–87.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Gen. 1:1).

The Bible begins with God. It never attempts to prove that he exists, or that we ought to rise through nature up to God. The Bible doctrine of creation implies spiritual law in the natural world. Here let us deal with two religious aspects of creation.

I. An Inspiration to Worship. The contemplation of heaven and earth fills the mind with adoring thoughts of God. Such inspiration to worship is needful now, when many live in cities and seldom see the sky.

Also, our religion is one of redemption, and we often concentrate it on ourselves. A man with a bad conscience may imagine that God exists to minister to him, and that he, not God, is the center of spiritual concern in the universe.

“What must I do to be saved?” is a question apart from which there can be no Christianity. (Quote Isa. 40:12). These also are religious questions. It is a poor religion that does not ask them, and thus find new incentives to worship.

The New Testament is not to be cut off from the Old. Many churches would enrich their worship if they abridged their hymnals, in which “personal religion” has run wild, and praised God in Psalms such as the 19th and 29th.

II. An Incentive to Trust God. This is what the Bible stresses most. The doctrine of creation reassures those whose faith is being most severely tried. In our minds heaven and earth should become pictures of God’s omnipotence. Because creation is an index of God’s resources, it teaches us not to despair if we come to an end of our own resources.

Nature is also a revelation of God’s faithfulness. True to his Word, we can count on seedtime and harvest. In times of despondency stay your faith by lifting up your eyes to the hills, to find God.

If God is faithful there, he will be faithful here. He will prove true to every hope he inspires, to every promise he implants, to every trust he invokes. Trust in the “faithful Creator.”

SERMONS ABRIDGED BY DR. ANDREW W. BLACKWOOD

JAMES DENNY’SThe Bible Teaching About Creation (Parts I and II)

GEORGE H. MORRISON’SThe Gospel Message of the Rainbow

Outlines of Dr. Blackwood’s Own Sermons:

When a Strong Man Discovers God and

God’s Providence in a Good Man’s Life

In autumn make a new beginning. Be-forehand make ready to guide laymen in reading Genesis. Commentary, H. C. Leupold. Opening message (1:1). Topic as above. Seeing God—in the Home—with its Sin—and the Covenant. In Genesis, as now, the home, not state or church, the most important place on earth. Interpret parts of Genesis in light of the New Covenant (New Testament).

“The Creation in God’s Likeness” (1:27). For headings often use sentences: In the beginning God made his children like himself in goodness. By sin they lost perfect likeness. By grace he now waits to restore such likeness.

“The Meaning of a Man’s Religion” (5:24). In a passage not for public reading, a word picture! Here and now, a Deepening Friendship with God. Hereafter, an Endless Fellowship with God. Ideally, God teaches us to think of goodness in terms of home and its friendship.

“The Gospel in the Rainbow” (9:13). After the direst disaster, due to sin, a symbol: “The Goodness of Our God”; “The Nearness of Our Neighbors”; “The Worthwhileness of Our Work”; “The Heavenliness of Our Hopes.” “The Gospel, the Gift of God to the Imagination!” Learn to see!

“The Meaning of a Man’s Faith” (Heb. 11:8). In a practical sense, faith means courage to Start Doing the Will of God; Perseverance to Keep On at Any Cost; Willingness to Make a Supreme Sacrifice for God. Before this, one needs saving faith.

“The Ideals of a Godly Father” (18:19). This means to be like God in the Home; show Godlikeness in Training Children; receive God’s Blessing as Their Father. Ideally, such a home, earth’s nearest approach to heaven. Actually so by faith.

“With God on His Proving Ground” (22:1, RSV). On a proving ground men test a new auto, hoping it will come through with triumph. For the best of men God has his proving ground. There he subjects a man to grueling tests. To a good man he gives power to meet every test. Then he makes a good man a blessing to others.

“A Marriage Made in Heaven” (24:67). God sets up lofty ideals about marriage, the normal state of a man and a woman. He intends them for each other, brings them together, waits to bless the union. But every marriage has to be carried out on earth by two persons far from angelic. A message about putting God first.

“The God of an Average Man” (Ex. 3:6). Preach at times about a man like the one in the pew. Isaac was always second to somebody else: father, mother, wife, son. But God Loves this Average Man—Selects Him—Blesses Him—Makes Him an Agent of Blessing. A “good and faithful servant,” not great and famous. What a message for a man who feels inferior!

“The Meaning of a Man’s Worship” (Gen. 28:12, 13). In a place that seems God-forsaken, a worldling learns about worship. Behold the Steps unto Heaven—some way of access to God. The Angels Ascending and Descending—bearing human aspirations and bringing God’s blessing. The Lord, to whom all worship goes; from whom all blessings flow. Or else, “When a Strong Man Discovers God.” Imagination!

“The Conversion in Middle Age” (Gen. 32:28). In present tenses, a man of middle age Comes Face to Face with God’s Angel; Resists All Night; Submits with the Rising Sun; Becomes a New Man, with a new name. “Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race!”

“The God of a Worldly Man” (Ex. 3:6). As with Jacob, God often Chooses a Young Worldling; Blesses Him for Twenty Years; Transforms Him when No Longer Young; then Uses Him as an Agent of Mercy. What a God!

“The Way to Deal with Temptation” (Gen. 39:9c). To a young man far from home temptation comes in a bewitching guise. He meets it by Loyalty to God—the Other Person—and Self. Also by Prudence: keeping away from a certain Place—Person—Peril. What a message to one obsessed with sex!

“The Forgiveness of Deadly Wrongs” (45:5). A case from life. The Meaning of Deadly Wrongs: serious offenses between man and man. Forgiveness, like God’s dealing with sin confessed. Secret—love for God, for parent, for brothers. Preach often hard duty and high privilege!

“The Tokens of God’s Loving Care” (45:27). A thanksgiving message, with reference to your church this year. Visible signs of his invisible grace. Single out a few, and bid God’s people rejoice.

“The Wonders of God’s Providence” (50:20). Stress here either doctrine or duty. Doctrine: as with Joseph, God has a plan for each of his children; in the end God overrules evil deeds of men, like “the sins that crucified Jesus.” Surely “the wrath of man shall praise thee” (Ps. 76:10a).

Dedicated, to assisting the clergy in the preparation of sermons, the feature titled The Minister’s Workshop will appear in the first issue of each month. The section’s introductory essay will be contributed alternately by Dr. Andrew W. Blackwood and by Dr. Paul S. Rees. In addition, the feature will include Dr. Blackwood’s abridgments of expository-topical sermons, outlines of significant messages by great preachers of the past, or of messages by expository preachers of our own time.—ED.

Function Of Literature

Perspective on Man: Literature and the Christian Tradition, by Ronald Mushat Frye (Westminster, 1961, 207 pp., $4.50), is reviewed by D. Bruce Lockerbie, Chairman, English Department, Stony Brook School, Stony Brook, New York.

The premise upon which Roland M. Frye, Professor of English at Emory University, bases his book is a quotation from a letter written by Luther in 1523: “I am persuaded that without knowledge of literature pure theology cannot at all endure.… Therefore … urge your young people to be diligent in the study of poetry and rhetoric.” Proceeding from this exhortation, Professor Frye suggests, is “the perspective of Christian humanism.” This he defines to be “a consciously Christian approach to literature, philosophy, and other humanistic disciplines.”

Perspective on Man comprises the Stone Lectures delivered at Princeton Seminary in 1959 and is divided into three parts. First, consideration is given to the effect of myth and symbol as literary forms on Scripture and its interpretation. Frye observes that fundamentalism and mythologizing are linked together by their common failure to recognize and distinguish between fact and symbol in the Bible. “Neither seems able to accept literary symbols as such, and they insist upon reducing the literary either to the literal or to the ideational.” As alternatives to these two sides of the same coin, the author proposes a resurgent acceptance of “the doctrine of accommodation” and “a willing suspension of disbelief,” from which will evolve “a distinctive kind of validity.”

The second section is devoted to showing literature’s concern with man’s desperate struggles for identity and against misery, failure, guilt, and death. Extensive citations from King Lear and Oedipus Rex lend support to Professor Frye’s contention that “great literature may not be Jacob’s ladder by which we can climb to heaven, but it provides an invaluable staff with which to walk the earth.” Parenthetically, it is interesting to note the conflict between Presbyterians over this point—Robert McAfee Brown’s article, “Salinger, Steinbeck & Company,” in Presbyterian Life being attacked by the editor of the Southern Presbyterian Journal.

The final portion of the book presents the wide scope of popular Christianity in a modern literary setting—a faith that is superficial in what is essentially a superficial age. Explications of plays by T. S. Eliot, Christopher Fry, and Bernard Shaw lead to the author’s assessment of Christianity’s deeper significance: “Only God could provide a denouement to man’s complexity, and in Christ, God did provide it.” From Piers Plowman, The Pilgrim’s Progress, and Samson Agonistes Frye gleans examples of faith in action and pursues his examination of the individual and of the community in quest of the City of God.

Perspective on Man is readable and scholarly without being either abstruse or pedantic, qualities that seem to fix themselves to studies of this kind. Professor Frye has made a substantial contribution to an area often under scrutiny but more frequently speculated upon than clarified.

D. BRUCE LOCKERBIE

Worth An Evening

Christ and Crisis, by Charles Malik (Eerdmans, 1962, 101 pp., $3), is reviewed by Carl F. H. Henry, Editor, CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

Publication of seven of Dr. Malik’s addresses in revised (and sometimes enlarged) form supplies a leisurely exposure to some profound convictions of one of the keenest lay thinkers of our day. The former president of the U. N. General Assembly ranges the wasteland of a world under the judgment of Christ. A Greek Orthodox layman, Dr. Malik seeks the ecumenical restoration of Christian unity which he thinks prevailed until the Great Schism of 1054. Many of Dr. Malik’s comments Protestant readers will heartily endorse; some they will question (“There is no better guide in matters theological than Saint Thomas,” p. xiv); but they will find all worthy of respectful hearing. Among many valuable insights are those into the Christian approach to war and peace, and into the battle for truth in our times. Put aside an evening for reading and contemplation with these revised addresses in hand.

CARL F. H. HENRY

Surmount The Temptation

Grace and the Searching of Our Heart, by Charles R. Stinnette, Jr. (Association, 1962, 192 pp., $4), is reviewed by John Warwick Montgomery, Chairman, Department of History, Waterloo Lutheran University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Reading for Perspective

CHRISTIANITY TODAY’S REVIEW EDITORS CALL ATTENTION TO THESE NEW TITLES:

* The New Bible Dictionary, edited by J. D. Douglas (Eerdmans, $12.95). First entirely new Bible dictionary since Hastings’. Its 2,300 new articles show loyalty to the Scriptures and carry the gains of recent advances in biblical studies. Illustrated.

* World Christian Handbook 1962, edited by H. Wakelin Coxill and Sir Kenneth Grubb (World Dominion Press, $7.50; 27s. 6d.). Statistical picture of all churches throughout the world. Invaluable reference work.

* Christian Thought from Erasmus to Berdyaev, by Matthew Spinka (Prentice-Hall, $6.60). Spinka unravels the Renaissance experiment in humanism to show how it turned into its opposite: an anti-human secularism.

The most popular religious literature in our present “age of analysis” most certainly consists of subjectivistic, navelorientated peace-of-mind books. Dr. Stinnette, professor of pastoral theology in the psychiatry and religious program of Union Theological Seminary (New York), has recognized the genuine concern that motivates laymen to read such publications, and has provided, from a thoroughgoing Christian viewpoint, the best literary witness to the contemporary educated layman who realizes “that the meaning of life is constantly getting lost in the routine of the ‘8:15’.” Notwithstanding his psychological specialty, the author avoids the twin pitfalls of existentially de-historicizing and subjectively de-theologizing the Christian message; the solidity of his approach is evident from such a moving assertion as, “The same Lord who knew no sin and yet became sin for us, enters into our gracelessness and becomes grace in us,” and from the remarkable fact that he devotes a full one-fourth of his book to “The Trinity and the Roots of Our Identity.” Pastors should purchase the volume in quantity for their questing laymen of college background—if, that is, they can surmount the temptation to use the book as a major source of sermonic material! With a multitude of penetrating quotations from Chesterton, Robert Frost, Donne, Browning, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Camus, Tennessee Williams, F. D. Maurice, Charles Williams—to name only a few—the book is perfect for the preacher who suffers from Spurgeon’s disease (“I am the biggest thief in England but I defy any man to catch me at it!”).

JOHN WARWICK MONTGOMERY

Black, White, Dutch

Let My People Go, by Albert Luthuli (McGraw-Hill, 1962, 256 pp., $5.50), is reviewed by Tunis Romein, Professor of Philosophy, Erskine College, Due West, South Carolina.

Recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Luthuli is the grandson of a Zulu chief, leader of the African National Congress, and presently a semi-prisoner of the South African Government. Simply and impassionately he tells his story—an account of the tragic and complicated struggle of his people against injustices and discriminations in South Africa.

One must keep in mind that this book is a thoroughgoing nonwhite version of the troubled South African situation. In the light of so many reports of social imbalances in South Africa, however, Mr. Luthuli’s account deserves a careful hearing. This report affords the white man an opportunity to see himself as the colored man sees him in matters of race. Mr. Luthuli seems always the man of reason in spite of the emotional overtones which almost unavoidably appear in a review describing the predicament of one’s own people. He speaks favorably now and then of one white group or another, and is even somewhat broadminded in his critique of Communists. His dispassionate mien shows some telltale strains, however, when he occasionally refers to the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa.

TUNIS ROMEIN

Blurred Image

They Called Him Mr. Moody, by Richard K. Curtis (Doubleday, 1962, 378 pp., $4.95), is reviewed by William G. Reitzer, editorial department, CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

Some called the great evangelist “Mr. Moody,” and others “crazy Moody” or “brother Moody.” The author of this biography calls him at one place “a despot, albeit a benevolent one,” at another place “the man who walked with God and came to know Him as few preachers since Paul.”

Dr. Curtis, who recently resigned from the faculty of Bethel College in St. Paul to pastor the Immanuel Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kansas, has laboriously researched together a giant-sized volume chock-full of anecdotes. It portrays (in three near-equal parts) Moody as apprentice, preacher-evangelist, and educator, with a well-documented view of life in nineteenth century America for a backdrop. At the end of the book appears an excellent bibliography—albeit several biographies catalogued by the Library of Congress are not included. The reader would have been rendered a valuable service if sources had been appraised. Is it not helpful intelligence to know that biographer Gamaliel Bradford was an agnostic, that biographer Paul D. Moody (a son) was an out-and-out liberal, and that biographer William R. Moody (another son) was somewhat less fervent and evangelical than his father?

One finds throughout these pages a strange commingling of that which leaves a favorable and of that which leaves an unfavorable impression of Moody and the Gospel. Whereas the back cover illustration highlights the New Birth, the front cover illustration too readily lends itself to an interpretation of Moody as a grimacing, arm-flailing haranguelist. Whereas an apposite verse of Scripture heads the chapters, lurking in their interstices are such staggering remarks as: “There was … little logic … in most of Moody’s preaching” (p. 193); “Moody’s sermons today [are] usually dull fare” (p. 200); “Moody was about to popularize and commercialize religion as it had not been done in this nation” (p. 234).

A light mood is the book’s leitmotiv. At times there is even a flirting with flippancy. Moody’s taking of a collection is described in these words: “he lifted more than $7,000” (p. 263), and Moody’s anticipation of great spiritual results in these: “For Moody there was no question that God was going to uncork a revival” (p. 275).

Curtis manifests an objectivity unusual in biographers. Curiously, on almost every occasion, he disassociates himself from Moody’s message and ministry. He prefers to say not that people are converted to Christ or to the Saviour, but to “Moody’s” Christ or to “his” Saviour (pp. 85, 93, 115, 147, 169, 215, 275, 278, 331).

An adequate understanding of Moody would necessitate a perusal of his many sermons, a source this volume has grossly slighted. These, concentrating as they do on salvation from, sanctification through, and service to Christ Jesus, reveal much about the heart, mind, strength and soul of their originator. In spite of the foregoing criticisms, this book will move many readers to be more urgent in holding forth the Word of Life and more zealous in performing good works.

WILLIAM G. REITZER

Function Versus Origin

Biblical Words For Time, by James Barr (SCM, 1962, 174 pp., 13s. 6d.), is reviewed by Martin H. Cressey, Minister of St. Columba’s Presbyterian Church, Coventry, England.

The French word “temps” is sometimes translated “time” and sometimes “weather.” What would you think of someone who talked about a French “temps concept” which includes both time and weather and is an essential element in the Frenchman’s world outlook? Yet this, says Professor Barr, is akin to what has been done by several recent writers on the biblical understanding of time.

Anxious to compare and contrast biblical “concepts” with those of Greek philosophy over the whole range of the latter, theologians have filled the lack of explicit biblical statements about time and eternity by basing a theological structure on the vocabulary which the Bible uses to refer to time, in particular on the Greek words kairos and chronos. Barr examines in some detail books by Cullmann, Marsh, and J. A. T. Robinson and exposes the errors into which such a method has led them. It is not his purpose to criticize or deny their major theological ideas; he simply wishes to show that at some points they have based their arguments on false linguistic premises; … “biblical interpretation in theology must work from the things said in the Bible, and not from the lexical resources used in saying them” (p. 161). This view implies, incidentally, that “the fundamental points of biblical assertion will normally be visible to those who do not know the original languages—an important conclusion for “lay” use of the Bible.

Barr shows how recent theology has stressed etymology and neglected usage whereas in linguistic study it is recognized that “only within their syntactical environment do words function” (p. 154). The particular discussion of time has been further hampered by an overemphasis on comparison between Hebrew and Greek to the neglect of comparison between Hebrew and other languages and by an undue attention to classical and philosophical sources for Greek usage rather than to well-known facts about Hellenistic developments.

This lucid, stimulating and very searching book, together with Barr’s more general work on The Semantics of Biblical Language is now required reading for all who wish to use the many recent biblical “word-studies” and “word-books” with proper discrimination.

MARTIN H. CRESSEY

On Christian Service

What Shall This Man Do?, by Watchman Nee (Victory Press, 1961, 198 pp., 12s. 6d.; Christian Literature Crusade, $3), is reviewed by Gordon F. Bridger, Minister, Holy Sepulchre Church, Cambridge, England.

Mr. Nee To-Sheng (commonly called Watchman Nee) was the founder of the “Little Flock” Movement, which is the name given to possibly the largest single group of Christians in China. During 1952 he was imprisoned on charges of being a counterrevolutionary, and is still serving a 15-year prison sentence in Shanghai.

In “What Shall This Man Do?” Mr. Nee illustrates from the lives of the apostles Peter, Paul and John the essential functions of Christian service—evangelism, edification and restoration. His treatment of the doctrine of the Church includes some helpful and practical teaching. But it fails to satisfy, when he criticizes the Reformed view with its distinction between the visible and invisible Church, and substitutes in its place an “ideal” view which, it seems to the reviewer, would almost certainly lead to a narrow exclusiveness in practice. However, as Mr. A. I. Kinniar in the preface to his book writes: “To some this book may appear to attempt too much, and to raise more questions than it answers.”

GORDON F. BRIDGER

Not That Dark!

The Growing Storm, by G. S. M. Walker, (Paternoster Press, 1961, 252 pp., 16s.; Eerdmans, $3.75) is reviewed by A. Skevington Wood, Minister, Southlands Methodist Church, York, England.

Evangelical historians commonly dismiss the Middle Ages as an unprofitable period in which little or no spiritual advance was made. The partisan is always tempted to exaggerate the darkness preceding his cherished dawn, and such bias has marred too many previous accounts of this era.

Dr. Walker, who lectures at Leeds University, avoids the pitfalls in a balanced, comprehensive, informative and withal fascinating survey of the Christian scene between 600 and 1350. His immense erudition is apparent on every page but it does not obscure his lucid style or halt the flow of his narrative. He elects to treat this complex period mainly by fixing on the prominent figures—Gregory the Great, Boniface, Alcuin, Anselm, Abelard, and others.

Various convictions—Catholic, evangelical and liberal—are shown to be represented throughout and often intermingling. As the storm gathered, the disengagement took place which led to the Protestant Reformation. We cannot rightly understand the significance of that outbreak apart from its antecedents. Dr. Walker is an admirable guide through the labyrinthine ways of medievalism in this addition to the seven-volume series of Paternoster Church History.

A. SKEVINGTON WOOD

Papal Pattern

The Spirit of Eastern Orthodoxy (Volume 135, Section XIV, of The Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism), by M. J. Le Guillou, O.P., translated by Donald Attwater (Hawthorn, 1962, 144 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by C. Gregg Singer, Professor of History, Catawba College, Salisbury, North Carolina.

This book by one of the leading figures in the Roman Catholic “ecumenical” movement is of more than passing interest to both Protestant ecumenists and evangelicals. It sheds a great deal of light on both the methods which Rome is willing to use in order to bring about a reunion of Christendom, and the terms by which such a goal would be realized. Under the skillful touch of Father Le Guillou the many conflicts which have occurred between the Eastern and Roman Catholic churches are minimized to a degree which imperils historical accuracy. He then appeals to Eastern Orthodoxy to come back home to Rome because both Rome and the East “are brothers sharing the same mystery.” However, the reunion of the Eastern and Western churches means that Eastern Orthodoxy must accept the whole doctrine of papal supremacy. Thus Rome states its terms to the ecumenists; unity must be achieved according to the pattern laid down by the Papacy.

It is not unworthy of notice that in stating the case for unity Le Guillou, perhaps unwittingly, revealed the weakness of the arguments of those who insisted that the Greek and other Eastern churches should be admitted to the World Council of Churches, for Le Guillou, in unmistakable terms, sets forth the unevangelical character of Eastern theology.

C. GREGG SINGER

Buchman Appraised

Frank Buchman’s Secret, by Peter Howard (Doubleday, 1962, 142 pp., $2.75), is reviewed by Harold Lindsell, Vice-president, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.

This small book is fascinating reading, embracing as it does the work and ministry of Frank Buchman, founder of the Oxford Movement and Moral Re-Armament (MRA). The later dynamic of Buchman sprang basically from four crises in his life: his English Keswick experience after humiliating defeat in Philadelphia social-service work; his experience at State College in Pennsylvania shortly after the Keswick encounter; his 1912 Canadian illumination when he became convinced that Christians are powerless because they professed Christ with their lips but compromised him in their lives; his 1921 attendance at the Disarmament Conference when he was constrained to leave his teaching situation in Connecticut and go forth to change and transform the world.

Despite the title, which gives a promise it does not fulfill, the book deals mainly with the successful exploits of Buchman and the influence he exerted around the world. It is laudatory in the extreme, uncritical in its evaluation, and largely propaganda. Yet one cannot remain unimpressed by the scope of Buchman’s labors and influence, nor can his ministry be dismissed as that of a charlatan. When the wheat is sifted from the chaff, the Church can learn valuable lessons and find penetrating insights as it seeks to discharge its obligation to the world. The author writes well and maintains the interest of the reader to the finish.

HAROLD LINDSELL

Clerical Opinion

The Acts of The Convocations of Canterbury and York 1921–60 (SPCK, 1961, 194 pp., 17s. 6d.), is reviewed by Gervase E. Duffield, member of The National Assembly of the Church of England.

This book contains the resolutions of the two clerical synods of the Church of England since their reform in 1921. Subject matter ranges from sacramental doctrine to inter-church relations, from education to social issues. Pronouncements are recorded on such controversial items as Sunday observance, gambling, the use of contraceptives and atom bombs.

These Acts are not official Anglican teaching, since they have no statutory authority. They simply represent the views of the bishops, senior clergy and some elected clergy. The Church of England is governed by the Sovereign who is its head and by Parliament since it is the national church of the land. The present work is a handy reference book to Anglican clerical opinion in the last 40 years.

GERVASE E. DUFFIELD

An Excellent Study

Pulpit and Table, by Howard G. Hageman (John Knox, 1962, 139 pp., $3), is reviewed by Floyd Doud Shafer, Pastor, Salem Presbyterian Church, Salem, Indiana.

Our much-discussed problem of the relationship between preaching and worship originated with the Reformation. The pastor of the North Reformed Dutch Church, Newark, New Jersey, shows how the Zwinglian over-emphasis on the intellectual, the verbal, and the individual crowded out Calvin’s desire to unify the intellectual and liturgical, the individual and the corporate, the sermon and worship into a single heart, sustaining and propelling the body of Christ. The Zwinglian influence ran to excess in Puritanism and Pietism.

Worship began to rediscover its theological underpinnings in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and today we have an exciting liturgical renaissance which, far from depreciating preaching, is providing it with its most natural and favorable setting, seal, and implementation. Dr. Hageman illustrates how the revival of theology, the ecumenical movement, and brilliant biblical studies are helping us realize that salvation reaches us through the Word, preached from the pulpit and dramatically sealed at the table. Although we do not need uniformity in details, nevertheless it is the union of pulpit and table, sermon and liturgy, that involves worshipers in joyous experience of Christ’s lordship over all life. And this same union of pulpit and table impels and enables worshipers to bear the Gospel’s redemptive thrust in joy and gratitude to every facet of life.

This excellent historical and liturgical study is amply documented and liberally sprinkled with little-known incidents, wise deductions, and practical suggestions. Anyone interested in liturgics, especially those of the Reformed churches, will be enlightened and pleased by this study.

FLOYD DOUD SHAFER

Inner Wasteland

Beyond Our Selves, by Catherine Marshall (McGraw-Hill, 1961, 266 pp., $4.95), is reviewed by Mrs. Lucy D. Sullivan, Assistant Professor of English, Beirut College for Women, Beirut, Lebanon.

Beyond Our Selves is a combination of autobiography, penetrating insights into the plague of our age, and a suggested cure for it.

Asserting that both humanism and materialism have failed us, Catherine Marshall perceives the malady of our day to be that of inner, spiritual poverty. As the cure for this spiritual wasteland, she offers the revivifying rain of a personal encounter with Christ. She is careful to differentiate this fruitful encounter from an “inherited faith” which she found to be “not enough” when she finally recognized that “God has no grandsons.” Perhaps that which most distinguishes this book from others of its kind is the boldness with which the author treads on territory usually labeled “keep off” by many Christians. Out of profound experience and with genuine sincerity, the writer probes some of the prejudices and sins of Christians. She points up the necessity of that act of will by which we lay our insoluable problem of bitterness toward others in the hands of Christ. She offers for defeating self-originating effort, the thrilling experience of linking human helplessness to God’s power to effect real achievement. She affirms that physical healing is God’s response to out-reaching faith. And most significant of all, she underlines the imperative of recognizing the Holy Spirit as a Person rather than as a mere colorless influence. Indeed, it is in this recognition alone, she asserts, that we as Christians can pass “beyond our selves” into true freedom of personality and fullness of joy.

LUCY D. SULLIVAN

Some Help For Some

The Future Life, by René Pache, translated by Helen I. Needham (Moody, 1962, 376 pp., $4.95), is reviewed by J. Kenneth Grider, Associate Professor of Theology, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Missouri.

In this sequel to The Return of Jesus Christ, René Pache gives us a quite sustained treatment of questions that relate to death, spirits (angels, demons, Satan), the resurrection of the dead, the marriage feast of the Lamb, perdition, and heaven.

The author opposes Roman Catholicism (e.g., p. 86), is interested simply in what the Bible teaches, and anxious to communicate in plain language. He covers considerable territory, but does not slow up long enough to mention that other evangelicals at times see things differently than he does. An instance of this is his view that Isaiah 14 refers to Satan (pp. 121–122).

Although it is creative at points, as when it shows that immortality is “applied by Scripture only to the raised body, not to the soul” (p. 30), well-trained ministers may not find enough challenge in the book to keep them pursuing its pages. Ministers of moderate training will find it useful, as will laymen.

J. KENNETH GRIDER

Book Briefs

The Church at Worship, by Bernard Schalm (Baker, 1962, 108 pp., $1.95). Brief studies to aid the minister, church organist, and worshipper enrich the worship service by a greater understanding of its various elements.

Tomorrow’s Miracle, by Frank G. Slaughter (Doubleday, 1962, 306 pp., $3.95). A disgusting novel about a morally weak missionary whose love for another man’s wife becomes the vehicle for portraying him as a hero.

The Congregation at Work, by R. C. Rein (Concordia, 1962, 247 pp., $4). Appalled by the dissipation of undirected energies in the average congregation, the author shows how to marshall, organize, and channel this prodigious amount of energy into purpose and achievement.