Probably any teacher of college freshmen is familiar with the student who turns up on registration day with a strong emotional urge to be a professional man but with complete disdain for the step-by-step process for reaching his goal. He may be an aspiring scientist who wants to remake the world—but can’t stand math; or a would-be physician with a burden to serve humanity—as long as he can stay away from chemistry; or a ministerial student who yearns to preach—if only he can escape Greek.

The human urge to bypass the process by which things happen and believe that “wishing will make it so” is a comfortable rationalization which helps us avoid work. We all indulge it at times. But when a Christian minister asserts, in effect, “Our purposes are so important and lofty that we will not be distracted from them by examination of the means by which we reach them,” the evasion may become dangerous. I am talking about the minister’s knowledge of communication process.

The study of communication theory as an integrated body of information constituting an area of scholarship in its own right is a relatively modern development. Given recent impetus by the growth of huge nationalistic propaganda organizations and astronomical advertising budgets, study of the communication process has attracted increasing attention from a variety of disciplines. Modern communication theory gathers together from relevant traditional areas of scholarship (such as sociology, linguistics, psychology, semantics, literature, anthropology, logic, and rhetoric) all available information about the transmission of ideas, and applies scientific information-gathering techniques to the study of the process. The classic definition of communication study as “the study of who says what to whom with what effect” provides a good outline.

There are indications that some ministers and theologians have taken fright that study of the communication process may turn out to be an attack on preaching. We have recently read rather pointed ministerial criticism of those who apply the principles of communication theory to the spread of the Gospel. Though variously expressed, most of the misgivings can probably be grouped under three general headings.

Believing, as he does, that participation in the revelation of Jesus Christ is the most important work in which man can engage, the minister owes it to himself to find out whether organized study of the communication process represents a potential threat or a possible source of increased efficiency in his work of spreading the Gospel. Let us examine the charges one at a time.

Problem 1: Communication theorists are technicians concerned only with method, with no regard for the truth or permanent importance of the matter conveyed. There is some basis for this assertion. The electronics expert who installs and operates the public address system for the evangelist is a technician. The effectiveness of his amplifier does not depend upon the truth or error of the speaker’s words. It depends upon the skill with which he designs his circuitry.

The student of communication theory is concerned chiefly with process—laws which govern it and effects which it can produce. But, unlike the job of the electronic technician, his work, if it is to produce results, cannot be separated from the source of the ideas. The preacher cannot say to the theorist, as he does to his public address operator, “I have now finished producing this idea—you transmit it to the audience.” For the very framing of the idea, the symbols chosen to express it, the time and place of its presentation, constitute the “techniques” to be considered. The “technique” and the “message” cannot be separated, which means that the minister must be his own “technician”—and the better-informed technician he is the more effective will be his message.

Problem 2: Theories of persuasion imply manipulation of the audience in violation of the freedom of the human will. The notion that the Nazi and Communist propaganda machines and the productions of Madison Avenue represent a magical new art which threatens all our traditional values makes good scare material, but it does not square with the facts. The basic devices of modern propaganda and advertising were well described by Aristotle. They are not the product of the black wizardry of electronics and neo-Freudian psychology. To equate the study of communication with some particular set of non-rational appeals used by an advertising agency is inaccurate and unfair.

If there is one observation which more frequently than any other causes dismay among students of communication, it is the passive receptivity of the mass audience. There are parallel areas of apathy and suggestibility in the Christian church. The ruggedly individualistic Christian of apostolic or Reformation times would seem strangely out of place in many spoon-fed twentieth-century congregations. One of the most urgent messages of today’s Church is that the significance of the individual lies in his personal accountability to God. The minister who knows how propaganda techniques short-circuit the human rational processes will most stoutly assert the importance of this personal accountability. He knows the hazards against which to warn his congregation and the non-rational shortcuts against which to guard his own sermons.

Problem 3: Application of communication theory to the work of the minister minimizes the direct work of God’s Spirit upon the human mind and elevates the human instrument. It is not a new charge that scientific examination of a process takes God out of it. Christian physicists and biologists have lived with this objection for years and have successfully contended that orderly description of the forces operating upon a celestial body or of the minute structures of the human brain need not eliminate belief in the upholding power of God. The fact that the physical finger of Deity does not appear as a value in an equation or as a location in the cortex merely teaches us that God operates his universe more efficiently and less primitively than we might have supposed. We learn that the Spirit that moved on the waters of Chaos operates lawfully.

The student of communication gathers together what has been learned about the process by which ideas move from one mind to another. He probes the pressures causing them to be accepted, rejected, or modified. He observes whether they are applied or not applied to conduct.

At what points does the Spirit enter the communication process? Certainly the preacher’s mind must be open to the Spirit’s stimulation through the written Word. Certainly the minister is alert for pertinent lessons in the circumstances God brings to him. Certainly he plans the ritual of his service and the sonorities of his organ and choir to allow the worshiper the peace and leisure for introspection—for the still, small Voice to be heard through the din of the huckster’s shouts echoing in his mind.

As in the process of the germination of a seed or the birth of a child, there is no spot to which we may point and say, “Just there is the finger of God.” Yet as in the planting of the seed or the rearing of the child, the more we know of natural law—the divinely ordained order of the universe—the more effectively we can work within its structure.

It is precisely because he believes that language and the human mind are both products of God’s creation and because he believes that God has deliberately chosen to communicate with men through the medium of human language that the minister is rewarded by study of the communication process. God could employ angels, direct vision, or other media at which man cannot even guess. But, as is obvious from the Gospel commission, the channel of human language as spoken by human beings is his chosen medium for conveying his message to mankind. Scripture records that he chose, in each age, the most effective individual transmitter for his message. Moses, Samuel, and Jeremiah were set apart from childhood; Paul was selected as a “chosen vessel” while still a rebel.

Why were these men chosen? They could scarcely have been selected for an orotund delivery, an impressive vocabulary, or a sincere presence. There must have been divine recognition of their total potential as communicators of a message. It is this total impact that concerns the student of communication.

If there is a single lesson that the study of communication would stress above all others for the minister, it would probably be attention to this “complete impact.” This means recognizing that a worship situation includes many “messages.” There are many of the communication channels which supplement or negate the words of the preacher. Communication research also suggests answers to a wide range of questions such as: How does the listener’s concept of himself affect the way he receives the minister’s message? Should the minister present both sides of a disputed point, or only his own convictions? How does audience perception of the minister affect its willingness to receive his message? Can the minister capitalize on the group identifications of his church members? When is fear not an effective stimulus to action? What happens in the mind of the listener when a new idea conflicts with a previously accepted idea? How do shifts in word meaning warp the minister’s message?

Far from attacking the study of the communication process as a threat to his calling, the minister should find in it a new opportunity to reexamine the worship techniques carried over from a previous generation. He should find incentive for rigorous self-examination. He should look to research findings as incentive to help him present the everlasting Gospel as fresh good news. He should be willing to compare his audience’s reaction to that of the audience of the Teacher of whom it is reported, “the common people heard him gladly.”

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The best evangelical contributions of 1962, in the judgment ofCHRISTIANITY TODAY’Seditorial staff, are listed below. The selections propound evangelical perspectives in a significant way, or apply biblical doctrines effectively to modern currents of thought and life. These are not the only meritorious volumes, nor do they in every case necessarily reflect the convictions of all evangelical groups.

BERKOUWER, G. C.: Man: The Image of God (Eerdmans, 376 pp., $6). Eighth volume of “Studies in Dogmatics,” which are studies in depth by a master theologian.

BOETTNER, LORAINE: Roman Catholicism (Presbyterian and Reformed, 466 pp., $5.95). Contrasting emphases in Roman Catholicism and evangelical Protestantism.

BRUCE, F. F.: The Epistle to the Ephesians (Revell, 140 pp., $3). Written particularly for the general reader, but also rewarding for the serious student.

BUSWELL, J. OLIVER: A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion (Zondervan, 430 pp., $6.95). The first of two volumes, it provides a useful treatment of theism and anthropology.

DOUGLAS, J. D., ed.: The New Bible Dictionary (Eerdmans, 1375 pp., $12.95). A significant contribution to its field; rich in scholarship, comprehensive in coverage.

GORDON, ERNEST: Through the Valley of the Kwai (Harper, 257 pp., $3.95). The sustaining light of faith in a Japanese horror camp for prisoners of war.

GUTHRIE, DONALD: New Testament Introduction: Hebrews to Revelation (Inter-Varsity, 320 pp., $4.95). A useful study, embracing latest literature on the subject.

HENRY, CARL F. H., ed.: Basic Christian Doctrines (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 302 pp., $6). Perceptive and literate expositions by an international complement of scholars.

HUGHES, PHILIP E.: Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Eerdmans, 508 pp., $6). Skillful exegesis, evincing acquaintance with ancient and modern authorities and spiritual insight.

KOLLER, CHARLES W.: Expository Preaching Without Notes (Baker, 132 pp., $2.50). Instruction in use of the preaching method indicated in the title.

MCKINNEY, GEORGE D.: The Theology of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Zondervan, 130 pp., $2.50). Analysis of the main tenets of one of the largest and fastest-growing sects in the world.

MURCH, JAMES DEFOREST: Teach or Perish! (Eerdmans, 117 pp., $3). A spirited plea for the revitalizing of Christian education at the local church level.

PAYNE, J. BARTON: The Theology of the Older Testament (Zondervan, 554 pp., $6.95). Scholarly study organized around the theme of “testament.”

PFEIFFER, CHARLES F. and HARRISON, EVERETT F.: The Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Moody, 1525 pp., $11.95). Compressed biblical exposition with balance of the practical and the scholarly.

PFEIFFER, CHARLES F.: Exile and Return (Baker, 137 pp., $3.50). Background material which enriches Bible reading of a significant period of Old Testament history.

POLLOCK, J. C.: Hudson Taylor and Maria (McGraw-Hill, 212 pp., $4.95). New source materials highlight the early missionary adventures and married life of China Inland Mission’s founder.

POLMAN, A. D. R.: The Word of God According to St. Augustine (Eerdmans, 242 pp., $5). A valuable study of Augustine’s theology of the Scriptures.

REDDING, DAVID A.: The Parables He Told (Revell, 177 pp., $3). Style has the polish of old silver, message has the ring of the present.

ROBINSON, WILLIAM CHILDS: The Reformation: A Rediscovery of Grace (Eerdmans, 189 pp., $5). The testimony of the Reformation to enduring theological and ecumenical concerns.

SAUER, ERICH: The King of the Earth (Eerdmans, 256 pp., $3.95). Science and the Scriptures undergird a reverent study of man created, fallen, redeemed, and restored to kingly honor.

SCHOOLLAND, MARIAN M.: Leading Little Ones to God (Eerdmans, 286 pp., $3.95). A guide to parents in teaching children about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

UNGER, MERRILL F.: Archaeology and the New Testament (Zondervan, 350 pp., $4.95). Archaeological light ably cast upon the New Testament world.

VAN TIL, CORNELIUS: Christianity and Barthianism (Presbyterian and Reformed, 450 pp., $6.95). A driving rejection of Barth’s theology as speculative, dialectical, and hostile to evangelical Christianity.

ZORN, RAYMOND O.: Church and Kingdom (Presbyterian and Reformed, 228 pp., $3.75). Reformed treatment of the relationship between the Church and the kingdom of God.

It is a sign of Christian vitality that religious books continue to come out in large numbers, and that more diversified publishing houses display a strong interest in theological literature. From another standpoint, however, the wealth of titles is an embarrassment, since it makes discernment difficult, threatens to reduce any general review to a mere catalog, and poses a particular problem for those anxious to pick out the main trends. The most that we can do in this appraisal is to select some of the more interesting works, take account of any trends that seem to be emerging, and estimate the thrust of evangelical writing.

A first point is that there is no abatement of interest in the great theology of the past. Among important additions in this area are the new volumes of Luther’s Works (Concordia and Muhlenberg), and the Luther volume, Early Theological Writings, in the “Library of Christian Classics” (Westminster). The Banner of Truth Trust continues its good work with Sermons of the Great Ejection, in commemoration of the expulsion of Puritans in 1662, and The Early Life of Howell Harris, the Welsh evangelist. The year 1662 was also the date of Pascal’s death, and it is thus fitting that there should be a new English edition of the Pensées (Harper). During the year there have also been new editions of some of Kierkegaard’s works, including his Works of Love (Harper) and Philosophical Fragments (Princeton). In the main, the influence of these reprints is wholesome from an evangelical standpoint.

In purely historical studies one of the most encouraging developments is the church historical series jointly produced by Paternoster and Eerdmans. During the year G. S. M. Walker has added The Growing Storm on the medieval period, and the basic volume, F. F. Bruce’s The Spreading Flame, has been reissued. Dr. Latourette’s great series on Christianity in a Revolutionary Age has now been concluded with The Twentieth Century Outside Europe (Harper), and it is hopeful that the author remains optimistic for Christianity in spite of present difficulties.

The area of historical theology has produced some good works, with Reformation theology well to the fore. Those interested in biblical authority in Calvin might do well to consult H. J. Forstmann’s Word and Spirit (Stanford University Press), and much the same question is discussed in respect of the Anglican Jewel, though not without a certain bias, in W. M. Southgate’s John Jewel and the Problem of Doctrinal Authority (Harvard). Indeed, we are in much the same area in the Luther study, Grace and Reason, by B. A. Gerrish (Oxford). A more general work on grace in the Reformation period is by W. Childs Robinson’s The Reformation: A Rediscovery of Grace (Eerdmans). Ranging rather farther afield, Matthew Spinka has given us a fine survey of thinking from the Reformation to our own day in his new volume, Christian Thought from Erasmus to Berdyaev (Prentice-Hall). Another valuable survey is K. Cauthen’s The Impact of American Religious Liberalism (Harper), though we are not to follow the author in his more appreciative sections. From the evangelical standpoint we welcome the first of a four-volume assessment of Augustine by A. D. R. Polman of the Netherlands. The first volume on The Word of God in the Theology of St. Augustine (Eerdmans) is an acute and learned study.

Augustine is also the subject of a more biographical work which also comes from Europe. This is Augustine the Bishop by F. van der Meer (Sheed and Ward), and it deals with the more pastoral and practical aspects of Augustine’s ministry. Another stimulating biography from a very different period is Zinzendorf, the Ecumenical Pioneer (Westminster), by A. J. Lewis. Among other things this book reminds us that whatever we think of the ecumenical movement as it now is, it has in evangelicalism its deepest and its healthiest roots.

In the ecumenical world the Vatican Council tends to dominate the scene. Two works are particularly important here. The first is The Council, Reform and Reunion (Sheed and Ward), by Hans Küng, which represents more progressive opinion in the modern Roman Catholic Church. The second is the symposium, The Papal Council and the Gospel (Augsburg), in which we have a sympathetic but cautious appraisal by some leading Protestant scholars. Regrettably, nothing outstanding comes from evangelical theologians, though Roman Catholicism is a theological and ecclesiastical force we cannot afford to ignore. Preoccupation with the Vatican, however, should not cause us to lose sight of other works, which include Bishop Newbigin’s A Faith for This One World? (Harper). Even more important are two books which take us deep into the theological issues, namely, Gustav Aulén’s Reformation and Catholicity and W. Niesel’s The Gospel and the Churches (Westminster). Here again it is unfortunate that there are no comparable evangelical works, for it is at this dogmatic level that evangelicals might well be making a critical and constructive contribution.

By contrast, we welcome two significant volumes in dogmatic theology. The first is the composite Basic Christian Doctrines (Holt, Rinehart and Winston), which gives more permanent and coherent form to the recent series in CHRISTIANITY TODAY. For all the unevenness of multiple authorship, this is an effective presentation of essential Christian truths. The second is G. C. Berkouwer’s latest addition to his dogmatic monographs, Man, The Image of God (Eerdmans). Those who are not already familiar with this series are advised to consult it without delay. Among other works, the first part of a two-volume Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion (Zondervan), by J. O. Buswell. will be much appreciated. From England comes a group of essays by the faculty of the London Bible College under the title Vox Evangelica (Epworth), and Anglican evangelicals have contributed to another series in Eucharistic Sacrifice (Church Book Room Press). The latter series’ title is simply a title for discussion and does not indicate its positive thrust.

Looking out to the wider world, we may note five other doctrinal works of distinction. Just before his death the late John Baillie completed the manuscript of his Gifford Lectures, and as these are now published under the title The Sense of the Presence of God (Oxford) they represent his final dogmatic testimony. The theology of James Denney finds fresh presentation in J. R. Taylor’s God Loves Like That (SCM). For an authoritative survey of Roman Catholic dogmatics we may now turn to the English translation of L. Ott’s Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma (Mercier Press, Cork). J. McIntyre gives us a new and acute discussion of the divine love in his book On the Love of God (Harper). And, finally, Emil Brunner has at last published the third and concluding volume of his Dogmatics (Westminster), and those who, while they disagree with him, nevertheless admire the richness and conciseness of Brunner’s thinking, will turn with profit to what may well be his last major work.

Mention of Brunner reminds us of Barth, whose British and American visits have naturally stimulated fresh interest. Among evangelical books on Barth we may refer to the detailed study, Karl Barth’s Doctrine of Holy Scripture (Eerdmans), by K. Runia, and C. Van Til’s more general Christianity and Barthianism (Presbyterian and Reformed), which works out more comprehensively the author’s earlier thesis that Barth succeeds in reaching the very opposite of his avowed intentions. For an excellent survey of Barth’s development between 1910 and 1930 readers are advised to study Karl Barth (Harper), by T. F. Torrance, a sympathetic admirer but by no means slavish disciple. Many of Barth’s own works have appeared during the year, including a reprint of Credo, the American edition of Gollwitzer’s selection from the Church Dogmatics (Harper), and the early essays, Theology and Church (Harper). Volume IV, 3 of the Church Dogmatics was also published in two halves in 1962 (T. and T. Clark). With this massive account of the ongoing prophetic work of Christ, the English translation catches up with the German, though IV, 4 on the ethics of reconciliation is now almost ready in German.

The lectures given by Barth in America are printed in the larger work Evangelical Theology (Holt, Rinehart and Winston), which comes out early in 1963. This book falls into a valuable category of reflection on the pursuit of theology, and in this category we may well include H. Thielicke’s A Little Exercise for Young Theologians (Eerdmans) and H. Vogel’s Consider Your Calling (Oliver and Boyd). Perhaps our own theologians might be well advised to do some of this fundamental reflection on their task.

Little space remains for the great field of practical theology. In devotion, we may commend John Baillie’s Christian Devotion (Scribner’s), and also the account of Anglican piety between the Reformation and the Oxford Movement in J. C. Stranks’s Anglican Devotion (SCM). In worship, Horton Davies has added another volume to his Worship and Theology in England (Princeton). For a real theological assessment of the pastoral ministry, in which the minister is not reduced to the rank of somewhat inferior psychoanalyst but is assessed in terms of his own task, we recommend the basic substance of The Theology of Pastoral Care (John Knox), by E. Thurneysen. In sermons, the series by W. Fitch on The Beatitudes (Eerdmans) and the powerful messages of H. Thielicke in The Silence of God call for notice. But here we may fitly end, as we began, with the voice of the past, for not only has W. R. Mueller drawn our attention to a great seventeenth-century figure in his John Donne, Preacher (Princeton), but after years of patient work by G. R. Potter and E. M. Simpson a ten-volume edition of The Sermons of John Donne has now been completed (University of California Press, 1953–1962).

END

We may begin with a few works which cover both Old and New Testaments, and first and foremost mention must be made of The New Bible Dictionary (IVF and Eerdmans), edited by J. D. Douglas. The praises of this monument of contemporary evangelical scholarship have already been sung in CHRISTIANITY TODAY. It might be invidious to single out special contributions, but a work which includes articles of the quality of those by Herman Ridderbos on the Kingdom of God, J. N. Birdsall on the New Testament Canon and Text, Howard Marshall on John’s Epistles and Gospel, and Earle Ellis on Paul can hold its head high and unashamed. From the United States come two important volumes—the Holman Study Bible (A. J. Holman) and the Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Moody Press)—which also promote the evangelical cause; the former is an edition of the RSV with special introductions, general essays, a concordance, and maps, while the latter, edited by C. F. Pfeiffer (Old Testament) and E. F. Harrison (New Testament), includes contributions from 48 scholars representing a wide cross section of North American Protestantism. It would be a good thing if the writers entrusted with the Synoptic Gospels in a work of this kind engaged in a measure of joint consultation; this not only would prevent unnecessary overlapping, but also might forestall the rather odd position found in this commentary, where Mark is dated several years later than Luke!

The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Abingdon) has appeared in four volumes; it bids fair to take the place for many years to come that Hastings’ five-volume work took in the earlier part of this century. Peake’s Commentary on the Bible (Nelson), edited by M. Black and H. H. Rowley, bears a familiar title but is an entirely new work, whose 62 contributors are said to represent “every branch of the Protestant Church in Europe and America”. William Neil has produced single-handedly a One Volume Bible Commentary (Hodder & Stoughton); in 200,000 words he succeeds in providing a remarkable amount of digestible information and comment for the general Bible reader.

D. Guthrie has produced the second volume of his trilogy on New Testament Introduction (Tyndale); it deals with all the books from Hebrews to Revelation, and gives us everything that we expect in an introduction. His conclusions are regularly conservative, but they are based on careful and well-informed examination of all the factors involved; we never get the impression that he has formed his conclusions in advance. T. W. Manson’s posthumous Studies in the Gospels and Epistles (Manchester University Press) has already been noted by the present writer in CHRISTIANITY TODAY. C. F. D. Moule has contributed a fascinating volume on The Birth of the New Testament to the “Harper’s New Testament Commentaries” series; it might be called an essay in form criticism, but that would be a misleading description for those who think of form criticism exclusively in Bultmannian terms. J. McLeman’s The Birth of the Christian Faith (Oliver & Boyd) deploys in defense of an ultra-skeptical interpretation arguments of a kind which would receive short shrift if adduced in defense of conservative opinions. G. Delling’s Worship in the New Testament (Darton, Longman and Todd) deserves a welcome in this English translation by Percy Scott; it is a most important work on its subject. J. A. T. Robinson has brought together Twelve New Testament Studies which have appeared in other places (SCM); those dealing with the Johannine writings of the New Testament deserve special attention. James Barr’s Biblical Words for Time (SCM) applies to one lexical area the principles of his earlier Semantics of Biblical Language; writers and preachers who are about to make sweeping generalizations about terms like aion, chronos, and kairos would be well advised to read Professor Barr’s observations before committing themselves too far.

Current Issues in New Testament Interpretation (Harper), edited by W. Klassen and G. F. Snyder, is a Festschrift for Otto Piper to which 15 scholars have contributed. Two items of special interest are Rudolf Bultmann’s critique of Karl Barth on Romans 5:12–21 in Christ and Adam, and Krister Stendahl’s interpretation of the Muratorian canon, which (he suggests) allows canonical status to Paul’s epistles on the strength of their analogy with John’s epistles to the seven churches in the Apocalypse; the canonicity of the latter was established without argument because John was a prophet addressing the whole Church.

Background Studies

F. C. Grant has completed his study of the cultural background of the New Testament with Roman Hellenism and the New Testament (Oliver & Boyd), a companion to his Ancient Judaism and the New Testament, which was noticed in our survey two years ago. Lucetta Mowry writes on The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Early Church (University of Chicago Press). More important studies of this and related subjects are collected in W. D. Davies’ Christian Origins and Judaism (Darton, Longman and Todd). M. F. Unger has given us in Archaeology and the New Testament (Zondervan) a companion to an earlier volume on Old Testament archaeology; he begins the present study with Alexander the Great and carries it on to the end of the apostolic age. E. M. Blaiklock has once again put his classical learning to good use in a characteristically readable paperback, The Century of the New Testament (IVF), an admirable introduction to New Testament background for the non-specialist Bible student.

F. W. Beare’s The Earliest Records of Jesus (Blackwell) is designed as a companion to the Huck-Lietzmann Synopsis of the First Three Gospels, providing a commentary on the more than 250 pericopae into which that work divides the Synoptic material. Jesus As They Saw Him, by William Barclay (SCM), surveys 42 names and titles given to our Lord in the New Testament. Suzanne de Diétrich contributes a helpful and original volume on Matthew to the “Layman’s Bible Commentaries” (SCM). R. H. Lightfoot’s The Gospel Message of St. Mark, first published in 1950, has appeared as an Oxford Paperback. In The Parables of Conflict in Luke (Westminster), J. S. Glen shows how Jesus exposed the superficiality and complacency of religious attitudes of his day, and draws certain practical conclusions about religious attitudes of our own day. Roland A. Ward’s The Gospel of John is one of the best volumes in the Baker series, “Proclaiming the New Testament”; the series is intended for preachers, but anyone who makes serious use of Dr. Ward’s book will be helped to preach sound expository messages—and if the Christian ministry is truly the ministry of the Word of God, preaching which is not expository is not true preaching.

Paul continues to exert his influence on men’s thinking. If many question whether it is possible to write a life of Jesus, or even to give an outline of his teaching, there is no lack of scholars (and others) prepared to come to grips with Paul. T. W. Manson used to say, “By their ‘Lives of Jesus’ ye shall know them,” but it is surprising how much can be learned about a writer when he sets down his reactions to Paul. A 30-year-old work by M. S. Enslin, The Ethics of Paul, has been reprinted as a paperback (Abingdon). C. K. Barrett’s Hewett Lectures have been published under the title From First Adam to Last (Black). This work, subtitled “A Study in Pauline Theology,” is a first-class contribution to Paulinism; we can only hope that Dr. Barrett will one day develop at greater length a number of the themes touched upon here. He takes up three “typical” Old Testament characters who figure prominently in Paul’s writings—Adam, Abraham, and Moses—and considers the part that they play in the unfolding Heilsgeschichte that finds its culmination in Christ. The final chapter, “The Man to Come,” affords an opportunity for Dr. Barrett to express his mind (in the light of Paul’s teaching) on a number of subjects of urgent interest and importance, and to conclude that “the whole of Church History stands as a witness to the Church’s permanent need of the Jewish Doctor of the Gentiles.” It makes a great difference when a writer on Paul knows—in his bones as well as in his intellect—what the Apostle is really getting at. Another aid to Pauline studies is the latest addition to the series of “Bible Key Words” (Black)—Law, by H. Kleinknecht and W. Gutbrod. The same subject is treated on a more popular level by G. A. F. Knight in Law and Grace (SCM). St. Paul and His Letters (Abingdon), by F. W. Beare, presents an expanded version of radio talks given in 1961 over CBC networks at “University of the Air” level, together with a paper on “St. Paul as Spiritual Director” read at the Oxford Congress on the New Testament the same year. The Dutch scholar W. C. van Unnik in Tarsus or Jerusalem? (Epworth) argues that Jerusalem, not Tarsus, was the city which exercised a formative influence on Paul’s early youth.

Studies In The Epistles

The publication of Wilhelm Pauck’s edition of Luther’s Lectures on Romans in the “Library of Christian Classics” (SCM) is an important event, not least because of what happened to Luther himself while he was engaged in the preparation and delivery of these lectures. But the student of Paul will read them with profit because they come from a man who in a signal degree thought Paul’s thoughts after him. The new translation of Calvin’s New Testament commentaries has been augmented by Ross Mackenzie’s fine translation in one volume of Romans and Thessalonians. A new book by E. K. Lee, A Study in Romans (SPCK), is not a commentary but a study of the principal themes of the epistle, viewed against a broad background. In the “Layman’s Bible Commentaries” (SCM), K. J. Foreman has written the volume on Romans, Corinthians. To write on three such important epistles in less than 150 pages means that many important matters must be dealt with but sketchily; nevertheless, Professor Foreman provides an attractive introduction to them for more elementary readers. A full-scale commentary on I Corinthians is J. Héring’s The First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (Epworth), translated from the French. Like everything else by this veteran New Testament scholar, this commentary takes its place in the front rank. The only volume in the “New International Commentary on the New Testament” to appear this year is Philip E. Hughes’s magisterial volume on II Corinthians (Eerdmans). Whereas Professor Héring argues for the dichotomy of an epistle which is usually acknowledged to be a unity, Dr. Hughes argues ably for the unity of an epistle in which many exegetes, even if they are generally conservative in their approach, recognize portions of at least two Pauline letters. In the future Dr. Hughes’s arguments will have to be seriously considered, not only on this point but on many others which affect the interpretation of II Corinthians. At this point it will not be out of place to record our indebtedness to the late General Editor of the “New International Commentary,” Dr. N. B. Stonehouse, and our sense of the loss which New Testament scholarship has suffered by his death.

One short passage in Galatians—the catalog of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit in 5:19–23—is the subject of William Barclay’s Flesh and Spirit (SCM), a word-study of all the terms used in these verses. Karl Barth’s Philippians, first published in German in 1927, has appeared in an English dress (SCM); it tells us at least as much about the development of Barth’s thought as it does about the teaching of Paul. William Hendriksen’s volume on Philippians has appeared in his New Testament Commentary (Baker); in it, as we expect, we have ample evidence of the painstaking exegete and the Christian Reformed theologian. L. J. Baggott’s New Approach to Colossians (Mowbrays) takes the cosmic significance of Christ seriously and endeavors to show how Christ today provides the only clue to a satisfying interpretation of this mysterious universe. A simpler work on Colossians is H. K. Moulton’s volume on it in the Epworth “Preacher’s Commentaries.” C. K. Barrett has written on the Pastoral Epistles for “The New Clarendon Bible” (Oxford) what is claimed to be the first commentary based on the New English Bible.

The “Torch” commentary on The Epistles of John (SCM) has been written by Neil Alexander. He expresses his indebtedness to C. H. Dodd’s work on these epistles, but dissents from his ascription of them to a different author from the Fourth Gospel’s. Lehmann Strauss has produced a devotional exposition of the same epistles (Loizeaux). D. T. Niles of Ceylon has written a work on the Book of Revelation entitled As Seeing the Invisible (SCM). He makes no independent contribution to the critical questions raised by the book, but helps the reader to read it so as with John to see Him who is invisible. William Hendriksen’s exposition of the same book, More than Conquerors, now over 20 years old, has appeared in a British edition (Tyndale Press).

H. W. Montefiore has published a most interesting series of studies in Josephus and the New Testament (Mowbrays), in which he considers how far certain supernatural events associated with the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ can be correlated with prodigies related by Josephus. The same author collaborates with H. E. W. Turner in the writing of Thomas and the Evangelists (SCM), which studies the relationship between the Gnostic “Gospel according to Thomas” and the canonical Gospels. The two authors reach somewhat different conclusions, so that the reader is faced by the healthy task of exercising his private judgment. Another important work on the recently discovered Gnostic texts is an edition of The Gospel of Philip (Mowbrays), by R. McL. Wilson.

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Pilate Before Christ

The bench is raised

Where Pilate judging sat,

And Christ in seamless robe

Wrist-bound with sneers

In quiet dignity and strange repose

With unbefitting majesty yet speaks

Where common clay would agitate,

“Against me Thou

Couldst have no power

Save it were given from above.”

O Pilate, in those words

Deliverance lies

From trial more your own

Than Christ’s!

For many choose with you

The empty motions

Of hand-washing indecision,

And many vainly cry

Irresolute:

“What shall I do with Christ?”

RUTHE T. SPINNANGER

During the course of 1962 two significant study Bibles, representing two divergent approaches to Scripture, made their appearance. One of these, The Oxford Annotated Bible, contains the text of the Revised Standard Version together with brief introductory articles and numerous footnotes, which, as far as the Old Testament is concerned, are written from the standpoint of the modern “critical” view of Scripture. At the conclusion of the volume there are useful articles on geography and archaeology as well as chronological tables and excellent maps. The other work, the Holman Study Bible, also RSV, has introductory notes to the biblical books written by evangelical scholars, some valuable articles which serve as helps to Bible study, and a concise concordance. From the fact that evangelical scholars have contributed these notes it of course does not follow that they would all give unqualified approval to the Revised Standard Version. Indeed, both of these study Bibles would be greatly improved by notes calling attention to the major weaknesses in the Revised Standard Version, for at least in the Old Testament it is in many respects an inferior version (e.g. Ps. 2:12; Isa. 7:14). Attention should also be directed to The Amplified Old Testament, Part Two—Job to Malachi (Zondervan). The format of the book and its clear type make it easy to use, and it should prove to be a genuine aid to readers of the Old Testament.

As a companion to The Oxford Annotated Bible there has appeared the Oxford Bible Atlas, which is compact, reliable, and beautifully printed. The maps are clear and quite useful, and there is a wealth of archaeological and historical material, accompanied by excellent photographs. The standpoint from which the articles are written is the same as that which characterizes the Annotated Bible.

The Bible and its Background. Perhaps it is not out of place to mention a work that should be in the library of all who love Palestine. We refer to the little volume by Bertha Spafford Vester: Flowers Of The Holy Land (Hallmark Cards, Inc.). Here are 17 reproductions of Mrs. Vester’s original watercolors, beautifully done. He who has heard Mrs. Vester’s “story” and has been to Palestine will derive much enjoyment from this book.

John Gray’s Archaeology and the Old Testament World (Nelson) is a serious, scholarly discussion. The volume is well illustrated, and the author is abreast of the latest discoveries. He writes from the standpoint of the dominant “critical” view of the Old Testament.

Equally scholarly, but representing the views of a Bible believer, is the valuable work The Bible and Archaeology (Eerdmans), by J. A. Thompson. The book contains material which had earlier appeared in three smaller volumes, but which is here brought together, rearranged, and enlarged. The many splendid illustrations greatly increase the book’s value, and help to make it a most helpful compendium of reference for the average reader of the Bible.

One of the needs of our day is for a volume dealing with the philosophy of archaeology and its position in a genuine Christian apologetic. To the best of the present writer’s knowledge, this question has not yet been adequately treated.

Aids to Bible Reading. That portions of the Old Testament are difficult for the average reader cannot be denied. Genuine helps, therefore, are truly to be welcomed. One method of studying the Old Testament is to devote attention to its great personalities. In Women Who Made Bible History (Zondervan), Harold J. Ockenga has done just this. He has given us several penetrating yet popular studies of different women of the Bible, the reading of which should bring profit and a deeper understanding of the Scriptures.

As a help in the study of one of the more difficult periods of Old Testament history, Exile and Return (Baker), by Charles F. Pfeiffer, can be heartily recommended. It is written in language for the layman, is well supplied with helps such as illustrations and maps, and is faithful to the Scriptures.

Two further Bible Guides (Abingdon), Historians of Israel (1), by Gordon Robinson, and Historians ofIsrael (2), by Hugh Anderson, dealing with Samuel–Kings and Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah respectively, present a popular approach to these biblical books. The works are scholarly, well written, and easily readable, but they present an approach to Scripture which is not that of the Bible itself.

A popular approach to Exodus is found in Holy Ground (Baker), by Douglas M. White. One who is not familiar with the Bible should be helped by reading this book. The expositions are practical and devotional. The Making of a Man of God (Zondervan), by Alan Redpath, consists of popular studies in the life of David. The studies are devotional and should be a help in opening up the portions of Scripture with which they deal.

Dr. Herbert Lockyer has followed his many other volumes with another, All the Promises of the Bible (Zondervan). This is a big book (610 pages), and it keeps the Scripture constantly before the reader’s eyes. Its reading can bring much profit.

A Hebrew Grammar. One aspect of Old Testament study seems to bring forth more groans from theological students than any other, namely, the Hebrew language in which the Old Testament is written. Those who wish to do serious work in the Old Testament, however, must study Hebrew. Modern helps, guides, outlines, and so on, are no substitute for a knowledge of Hebrew. But to obtain a competent knowledge of this language is no easy task. Any help in the study of Hebrew is to be welcomed, and the appearance of a twenty-fifth edition of Davidson’s Hebrew Grammar (T. & T. Clark) shows that many have found the book useful. This edition has been subjected to a thorough revision by John Mauchline, who has performed an extremely difficult task in a most capable manner. This reviewer is unable to accept in its totality the approach to Hebrew found in Davidson, but this is by far the best edition of this work to appear.

It is a sign of encouragement that 1962 should see the appearance of a reprint of The Semantics of Biblical Language (Oxford), by James Barr, a book that exposes the fallacious use of Hebrew and Greek linguistic evidence by some modern scholars. It is time that someone should write a book of this kind. Had the author done nothing more than expose the misuse of the Hebrew word dabar (word-matter) by some modern theologians, he would deserve the gratitude of all biblical scholars. At times, it may be, the argument is carried too far, but this is a valuable book, to be carefully read, pondered, and heeded.

Old Testament Prophecy. At the heart of Old Testament studies are the prophets; in interest and significance, at least, they occupy a predominant place. Abraham J. Heschel has written a large volume, The Prophets (Harper), which, although scholarly, can yet easily be followed by the educated layman; it is written in beautiful English, interspersed with frequent quotations from the prophets. Attention is devoted to each of the prophets and also to the great questions which are involved in the study of prophecy. But one could at times wish for more penetration in the treatment of some of these problems. Thus in a note it is declared that four theories of the Servant of the Lord have been presented (p. 149), but among these the Messianic interpretation is not mentioned. Despite the learning which characterizes this work, its thesis will not be acceptable to the Christian who believes that the prophets spoke of Christ.

Perhaps the most significant and profound work on the prophets to appear in our generation is J. Lindblom’s Prophecy in Ancient Israel (Basil Blackwell). Through the kindness of Professor G. W. Anderson the author’s English has been improved, so that the reading of the work is a pleasure. It is no exaggeration to say that this volume will take its place along with Hölscher’s work as a standard reference book. It is nothing if not thorough. The prophets are not discussed individually, as was the case with Heschel’s book, but due attention is paid to their teaching. Despite its profundity and thoroughness, however, the book does not really come to grips with the basic problem in prophetic study. That basic problem is not whether the prophets believed that God had spoken to them—on that point there seems to be little room for doubt—but whether God actually did speak to them. Were they really the recipients of special, direct, propositional revelation from the one living and true God? That is the question to be faced. If God did not give special revelation to the prophets, then they were fundamentally mistaken about themselves. It is no light issue, for the very truthfulness of Christianity is involved, but it is one which neither of the two books under discussion faces squarely.

Historical Study. Because of its importance there is one monograph deserving particular attention. Professor H. H. Rowley has written on the difficult subject of Hezekiah’s Reform and Rebellion (The John Rylands Library), presenting a strong defense of the view that there was only one campaign of Sennacherib. The significance of this will immediately be apparent to every biblical student. Possibly it is time to suggest that biblical students, whatever be their viewpoint, abandon 715 as the date of Hezekiah’s accession and the whole unfounded view of two campaigns of Sennacherib. No serious student should neglect what Rowley has written.

Special Studies. Many will welcome a reissue of H. Wheeler Robinson’s Inspiration and Revelation in the Old Testament (Oxford Paperbacks). The book will not be satisfactory to a conservative Christian, but it is an excellent presentation of a certain viewpoint. Jack Finegan has written a popular exposition of Genesis with practical application, In the Beginning (Harper). The book is abreast of archaeological studies but represents an approach which this reviewer cannot share.

Under the title Israel’s Prophetic Heritage (Harper), 16 scholars have presented essays in honor of James Muilenburg. None of the articles is written from a conservative standpoint, but all are scholarly, and some are particularly thought-provoking, a worthy tribute to the great scholar whom they honor.

Old Testament Theology. Many of the works which treat of the content and teaching of the Old Testament are based on a particular evaluation of the Old Testament represented by scholars such as Alt, Noth, von Rad, and Mowinckel. The following books more or less agree with this point of view, although each is an independent work. But the underlying position is one which, in this reviewer’s opinion, does not do justice to the supernaturalism of the Old Testament.

George A. F. Knight gives an informing discussion of Law and Grace (Westminster) with many challenging ideas to consider. The Old Testament Roots of Our Faith (Abingdon), by Paul J. and Elizabeth Achtemeier, endeavors to show the importance of the Old Testament for Christianity. Even though one may disagree with much in the book, he will yet profit from its reading. John William Wevers has given an interesting and informative study of the Psalms and Wisdom Books in The Way of the Righteous (Westminster). His work is a useful introduction to a certain modern approach to the Psalms. Whatever Gabriel Hebert writes is thought-provoking. His The Old Testament From Within (Oxford) attempts to show the real issues of faith in the various stages of Old Testament history, but the Bible believer will not find it satisfactory. Of particular importance is Murray Newman’s The People of the Covenant (Abingdon). This work shows thorough acquaintance with the writings of some of the scholars mentioned above, but also exhibits considerable originality. It stands out as a book of unusual moment, and may be studied as one of the best available guides to a particular interpretation of Israel’s history.

Three Translated Works from Germany. At last there has appeared an English translation of von Rad’s monumental theology. Old Testament Theology, Volume I (Harper), is a beautifully printed work, and will make the thought of this great scholar available to English-speaking people. Von Rad’s approach is radical, at least as radical as that of Wellhausen, and the basic standpoint adopted is one that cannot be called biblical. Certainly a theology should face up to the question of special revelation from the triune God, but this work does not do so.

A second commentary in Westminster’s “Old Testament Library,” Exodus, by Martin Noth, will be of interest to students of Old Testament history. It builds upon the untenable documentary hypothesis with the result that the supernatural in Exodus is not adequately dealt with. The treatment of the burning bush, for example, is quite unsatisfactory.

Another commentary in this Westminster series is The Psalms, by Artur Weiser. The work presents the same general approach to Scripture as does that of Noth, but the deficiencies of that approach do not seem to make themselves apparent in a commentary on the Psalms to the extent that they do in the treatment of a book like Exodus, where the shadow of the documentary hypothesis is in the foreground. Weiser’s work is profound and filled with useful material. But how much richer are Calvin and Hengstenberg!

Two Evangelical Works. Dealing with the difficult subject of Christ’s second coming, Dr. J. Barton Payne, The Imminent Appearing of Christ (Eerdmans), has defended a premillennial interpretation which is worthy of serious consideration. A second work, Theology of the Older Testament (Zondervan), is of major proportions, and constitutes a serious, scholarly study of Old Testament biblical theology. The book represents a tremendous amount of reading and researching, and is characterized throughout by faithfulness to the infallible Word of God. In a work of this size there are sure to be some areas of disagreement, but even where one cannot follow the author he can learn from him. And Dr. Payne’s gracious method of dealing with those with whom he disagrees might well be emulated by us all. Above all, the presuppositions which undergird this book are true, for they are scripturally grounded. This is the path in which all scholarship must walk, if it will truly come to an understanding of God’s inscripturated Word.

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Damned

He that believeth not is condemned already.

Who? Who will pluck the blazing brand away

From this the quivering tablet of my soul?

And who will stop this turning wheel

On which my spirit, stretched with eternal straining, cries?

Or who will cool my burning tongue

With but a drop of mercy’s dew,

And speak a word—one little word

Of comfort in my pain perpetual?

Dark is the day—the never-dying day,

Whose dawn I curse; whose close I now despair.

PAUL T. HOLLIDAY

Sunday morning, December 9, 1962, was a typical Sunday morning in Greenville, Texas, and Bill Betts, pastor of Wesley Methodist Church, seemed a bit brighter and happier than usual. His morning congregation sensed the Holy Spirit’s power upon the message, “The Touch of the Master’s Hand.” In the afternoon the minister disappeared, seeking rest and prayer at the family’s lakeside cabin a few miles away.

As he led the way into the sanctuary for the evening song service, he confided to a church member: “I’ve got to change my sermon for tonight.” To the congregation he said: “This is going to be an unusual service.” He read Galatians 2:20, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, in three different translations. “Now,” he remarked, “I would like to give you a free translation that I heard a long time ago.…”

There was a thud and stunned silence. Bill Betts had slumped over, dead. The morning message, unbeknown to him, had been his last message to his people. Somebody had made a tape recording. Here is the third and final point:

“I meet fellows; I ask them to give testimonies of what Jesus means to them.… ‘Well,’ they say, ‘… 35 years ago I met the Lord in a brush arbor meeting.’ I did not say anything about meeting the Lord 35 years ago. I said, what does Jesus mean to you today? What have you given to him over the last 35 years?… What about this week? Is your commitment to Jesus Christ current? Is your experience with Jesus Christ current? I meet people who hang on to prejudices, and hates, and old mistakes, sins and strife, and problems, and a tongue that spreads like fire; I see people hang on to these things as if they were life itself.… Surely, we must meet the Lord. But we must keep our experiences up to date, every day, every minute of every day.”

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A chaplain in San Quentin Prison wrote a book, an A excerpt of which appeared recently in the Reader’s Digest. In this selection the chaplain tells of visiting a man who had been confined to Death Row for nearly 11 months. This man—a neurotic and alcoholic—had strangled two women during a drunken orgy.

The chaplain talked with the prisoner for at least 40 minutes before the condemned man went into the gas chamber to die. The two conversed about education, about art, about sports. But the prisoner went to his death with no invitation to God. Nonetheless, the chaplain found himself praying that God would receive the condemned man, found himself wondering if he had witnessed not only a case of retribution, but also a crucifixion.

One disturbing sentence in the chaplain’s account gleams with neon sharpness: “I haven’t mentioned religion.” Then he adds: “Perhaps it is not necessary to speak God’s words in order to serve His purpose. Just being there with Richard Cooper in his last moments may be enough to show him that no man is ever completely cast out, or completely alone.”

With but 40 minutes left of a man’s earthly existence, the chaplain discussed education, art, and sports—but no religion! Of what use are education, art, and sports to a doomed man? Only a few more heartbeats and the man will be finished with all earthly things. Only 2,400 seconds more of time—and they talk about baseball!

Perhaps hundreds of clergymen read this article and silently cried, “Why couldn’t I have been there to speak at least one ‘thus saith the Lord’ to this man poised on the brink of eternity?”

Granted, the Word may have come too late, or the man may have been past the point of acceptance, or he may have rejected the message. But who can tell—he might have found salvation! The thief on the cross had but little time, too! What’s more, whether the condemned man would have accepted it or not, was it not the responsibility of this minister of the Gospel to offer redemption in Christ? While we have no guarantee that men will accept salvation, we are commanded to declare it nonetheless.

Perhaps we have misunderstood the chaplain’s position in this case; he may have omitted certain facts that would alter the record presented. But as the article stands, it symbolizes something that happens quite often. Are we withholding the Word? Do we expect to accomplish God’s work without “speaking God’s words”? “Just being there with” people is not enough. If we bear witness only to ourselves, they may think we have little to offer them. Talking about education, art, sports, or about any of a thousand other things will never confront men with their need of eternal life. These things have their place and their value, but they are powerless to redeem the soul.

Let’s face it. Not only was that San Quentin prisoner going to die—all men are going to die! Unlike Richard Cooper, we in our cosmic death row may not know the appointed time of our demise. But our end is no less sure and inevitable. We march just as inexorably toward the last exit as he did. What assurance have we that the young robust man we speak with today has any more time left than Cooper’s 40 minutes? Shall we discuss with him college, books, drama, athletics, but skip religion?

What we are emphasizing applies especially, perhaps, to the minister of the Gospel. If he knew he were to preach the last sermon of his life, what would a man preach. Suppose he knew that 50 of his parishioners—50 unsaved persons—would die before he stood in the pulpit again: what would he preach? What sin bears greater consequences in the long run than that of withholding God’s truth from man?

Every Christian has a divine mission, that of taking the Gospel to every man in all the world. Because acquaintances may not wish him to fulfill this mission is no excuse for exemption from duty. How often the primitive church was disliked for doing its God-given task!

Even if we perform our mission rather poorly we are to fulfill it nevertheless. Not everyone is qualified to present the truth in expert fashion. Think of those suffering but singing people in the Acts of the Apostles. While they often lacked propriety, they did not lack spiritual power. They were often misunderstood. They were cursed and beaten. But they were people of the Word such as history has seldom seen. And that Word so worked abroad in the world that Rome herself could no longer halt the march of the Cross.

“Perhaps it is not necessary to speak God’s words,” the San Quentin chaplain said. But it is necessary. Our own words are never good enough. Only Spirit-charged truth can penetrate the defenses with which lost men surround their souls. “… The words that I speak unto you,” said Jesus, “they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

The Word of God is a quick, sharp sword piercing the thoughts and intents of the human heart (Heb. 4:12). It is a gentle rain; falling on barren desert, it makes the dust to burst into bloom (Isa. 55:10, 11). It is a seed; dropping on barren ground it brings forth a golden harvest (Luke 8:11). It is a fire that burns into the soul, a hammer that breaks the resistant stone (Jer. 23:29).

Millions throughout the ages have acknowledged this Word to be the power of God unto salvation. This Word has laid hold of men at the brink of hell and snatched them back. It has changed multitudes of derelicts to messengers of hope. Like the disciples we must say of Jesus’ power: “What a Word is this!” (Luke 4:36).

Are we to replace this wonderful, this terrifying Word with words about secular things and fancies? In a 40-minute period of grace before death Jesus is far better than Hemingway, Paul far better than William James, Isaiah than Rembrandt, Luke than Mickey Mantle!

Especially those called to the ministry are responsible for offering the “word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:19). Said Paul, “… Ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life …” (Phil. 2:15, 16). Faith comes by hearing, says the Apostle, but by hearing what? “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17).

Suppose the Apostle Paul were sitting in a death cell with someone who in half an hour would go to a Roman gibbet. Would he speak about his studies under Gamaliel? about the philosophy of Seneca? Or would he discuss the chariot races in Rome and the wrestling matches in Athens? The answer to these questions is obvious. If the Apostle did use such themes, they served only as launching pads for his Gospel rockets!

A famous missionary once said, “When you put forth God’s Word in your witness the Holy Spirit backs you up.” True! When we give the Word of God to men, it speaks with an authority we ourselves do not possess. While some will reject it and others will be angry at it, still some will be saved by it. Is the rescue of these few by the Word not far better than losing all by conversation about literature, art, basketball, or the atomic bomb?

We may not always wield the sword of the Spirit successfully; it alone, however, is the weapon of victory. In this business of redemption other weapons are of no avail. Our assignment, however ridiculous it may seem to the sophisticated, comes from the Bible: “… He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord” (Jer. 23:28). Chaff may have its purpose and its place, but it is nothing compared to wheat.

When a man has but 40 minutes to live, give him the Word of God! Even if he has 40 years, still give him the Word.

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