How far should Christians go in their efforts to establish public morality?

It isn’t often that a political fracas raises keen theological issues. The Senator Claghorns of this world may quote the Bible, but most everyone listens with the attention appropriate to any material their speech writers derive from Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations.

The 1980 presidential campaign was different, for Moral Majority and other evangelical groups consciously endeavored to influence the campaign and to obtain votes for or against issues that allegedly related to biblical teaching. So threatening were these efforts that a great deal of money was expended by at least one anti-Reaganite to produce clever TV spot commercials in which “Bible believers” sincerely declared that “no one was going to tell them whom to vote for.”

Almost universal agreement exists, one would suppose, that Christians have as much a right as non-Christians to speak out and to influence legislation in our democratic society. The fundamental theological question raised by the November election campaign was: How far should believers go in exercising that right?

Two readily identifiable positions surfaced in November in answer to that question. On the one hand, religious liberals and quietists maintained that Christians should limit their influence to the spiritual realm and not meddle in politics. On the other hand, some evangelicals asserted that the time had come to bring the country, through concerted efforts of true believers everywhere, back to its original moral foundations.

Jerry Falwell was quite right in castigating the inconsistency of religious liberals who, back in the sixties, dove headfirst into activistic political waters and now suddenly condemned “religious involvement in politics” (when it opposed their own viewpoint). Moreover, an unbiblical withdrawal from the realm of government quite obviously turns the world over to the devil and his minions.

At the same time, one is left with a profound sense of disquiet as one observes the mobilization of believers to fight against the “unholy abandonment of the Panama Canal” and the “immoral rejection of Formosa.” The specter of Cromwell’s Holy Commonwealth rises up: a tyranny of Christians pressing their values on an unwilling society in the name of divine revelation.

Over against both quietistic inaction and the legislation of biblical morality we suggest a “third way” for evangelicals living in a pluralistic society. First, believers must learn not to pass off their sociological preferences as biblical truths. They do neither society nor the gospel any service when they endeavor to legislate their personal temporal values as if these were commanded by Scripture. Saint Augustine long ago emphasized that when the revelational is contaminated with the nonrevelational, the unbeliever loses respect for God’s Word. To be sure, Christians can fight for nonrevelational viewpoints, but they must make plain that these are their own personal opinions, not necessarily God’s opinions.

Second, believers should not endeavor to legislate even genuinely scriptural moral teachings where the value of the given teaching will only be recognized by those who have already accepted Christ as Lord and the Bible as the Word of God. Thus evangelicals will not strive to pass antiblasphemy ordinances meaningful only to those who have accepted the God of the Bible. To legislate such biblical teachings is to confuse law and gospel by forcing non-Christians to practice Christianity apart from personal acceptance of it.

Third, believers should strive to legislate all those socially valuable moral teachings of Scripture whose value can be meaningfully argued for in a pluralistic society. In such areas (e.g., right-to-life, equal pay for equal work, etc.) evangelicals must not engage in “Christian crusades,” implying that it’s “Christians vs. pagans,” but should offer arguments on scientific, social, and ethical grounds potentially meaningful to the non-Christian. Even if unbelievers are not convinced, they can see that Christians are making their case on grounds which they themselves must confess to be legitimate in a pluralistic society. Then even though believers vote en bloc and pass the legislation, the non-Christian has no right to claim that an alien religion is being imposed on him.

In a word, though we are indeed to try to bring our secular society into greater conformity with God’s moral ideals, that is not our primary task. Gospel preachment comes first, and if we must choose—as occasionally we must in a fallen world—between moral betterment and non-Christians willing to listen to the gospel from those who offer it freely, without compulsion, we will need to choose the latter. Our goal in a secular society is not to force the society, come what may, into the framework of God’s kingdom, but rather to bring it as close as we can to divine standards consistent with effective gospel preachment to those for whom Christ died.

JOHN WARWICK MONTGOMERY¹An attorney-theologian, Dr. Montgomery is dean of the Simon Greenleaf School of Law, Costa Mesa, California, and director of studies at the International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France.

The soft-spoken, scholarly clergyman Victory Maxime Rafransoa of Madagascar will replace the flamboyant and controversial Liberian Anglican priest Canon Burgess Carr this month as the general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC). Carr’s departure marks an end to the leadership crisis that has threatened the very life of an organization that claims to speak for more than 50 million African Christians. The crisis came to a head in November 1977, when Canon Carr—who for several years had been on a collision course with his largely evangelical, church-growth-oriented constituency—was forced to take a three-year leave of absence.

Carr claimed he had so fallen out with the Kenya government that it was no longer possible for him to operate effectively from Nairobi, where the AACC’S headquarters are located. Clearly Carr’s radical, wide-ranging, left-leaning, and well-publicized political pronouncements were out of tune with moderate, pro-Western policies of the Kenyatta administration.

But disagreements with the Kenya government were only a minor headache for Canon Carr. He also had disagreements with AACC senior staff members, who accused him of being intolerant of those holding different viewpoints, and with donor agencies, which cut off much-needed funds. Carr’s most serious problem was his failure to establish working relationships with grassroots leaders of the African church, most of whom felt Carr’s agenda was drawn up by militant political groups in New York, Paris, and London. They believed he had strained relations between African and overseas churches by taking radical positions on issues extraneous to the life, growth, and basic mission of the church in Africa.

For this reason the change of leadership at AACC may go beyond the usual difference in personal style and vocabulary and mark a significant new change of direction for the ecumenical movement in Africa.

As soon as he arrived at AACC headquarters in Nairobi in March 1971, Canon Carr, then only 37 years old, quickly became the unchallenged spokesman for Africa’s mainstream Protestant Christianity. In many ways he also became one of the most significant critics (certainly the most vocal and eloquent) of Africa’s many political failings and a disturbing voice of conscience for the continent. He took the Kenyan capital by storm with his charisma, oratory, and clear vision of a peaceful, prosperous, and powerful political kingdom of Africa just around the corner.

Carr’s personal faith in, and commitment to, this new kingdom seemed remarkable. During the Katanga war in the early sixties, he cut short his doctoral studies (in theology) at Harvard to join the Africa desk at the World Council of Churches in the hope that he might be of “some help in resolving the conflict.”

As soon as he arrived in Geneva, the civil war in Nigeria also broke out and Carr was assigned the task of organizing relief supplies for the victims of the conflict. But relief was not enough, Carr felt; he wanted peace. Working behind the scenes in conjunction with the late president of Liberia, William Tolbert, then president of the Baptist World Assembly; the former chairman of the Anglican Consultative Committee, Luis Mbanefo of Nigeria; and the current chairman of the AACC, John Gatu, of Kenya; Carr helped devise the peace formula and initiate the moves that eventually led to the peaceful settlement of the conflict. This effort brought Carr to the attention of African leaders and paved his way to the AACC’s top post.

Within a year of his arrival in Nairobi, Carr became cochairman (with the late Haile Selassie of Ethiopia) of the conference in Addis Ababa that led to the peaceful settlement of the Anyanya rebellion in the Sudan. This brought the country’s Arab Muslim north and black Christian south into one government under General Ga’afar Nimeiri. It was a master stroke, which brought to one conference table monarchists, guerrillas, generals, Marxists, conservative Muslims, Christian clergy, devout capitalists, and others to work out a constitution for this country of diverse interests and peoples. Also that year the AACC was accorded observer status in the Organization of African Unity and a top leadership role on its refugee subcommittee. The AACC had received extremely high visibility in Africa’s political circles.

A similar visibility on the worldwide ecumenical stage started in Bangkok, Thailand, at the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism’s Conference on Salvation Today in December 1972. Third World issues dominated that conference, with Latin Americans introducing their liberation theology and Asians their concern for dialogue with people of other faiths and ideologies. But the related and sensational issues of racism, identity, and selfhood of the church, and the moratorium on foreign missionaries and funds, were brought out dramatically and argued most forcefully by African delegates led by Carr.

Thirty-six months later, in 1975, the World Council of Churches’ Fifth Assembly, originally scheduled for Djakarta, Indonesia, took place in Nairobi, a block away from AACC headquarters. The change of venue from Djakarta was a matter of delicate international negotiation, but the choice of Nairobi was a foregone conclusion—Africa, the AACC, and Burgess Carr, had moved to center stage of the ecumenical movement. Carr mounted a spirited but unsuccessful campaign to have the assembly symbol “Africanized.”

Yet Carr’s performance at the WCC’S Nairobi Assembly was less than impressive. Fifteen months earlier he made a serious mistake. Against advice, and in his anxiety to promote one of the WCC’S most controversial programs—the Program to Combat Racism—Carr decided to stage the Third AACC Assembly in Lusaka. Zambia. He meant to call into dramatic relief the southern African issues. It was courageous, but perhaps an uncharacteristically undiplomatic move by Carr. Without realizing it, he overconfidently became the lonely crusader—admired but unsupported.

And so in Nairobi, instead of being regarded as the host and natural leader of the Fifth Assembly, Carr became the respected leader of a small minority faction. He was politely applauded, and quickly ignored, committed to long-term goals but unable to build a bridge between the present and the future, a leader without a following.

Before Lusaka, Carr had built an image of the assembly as the supreme ruling body for the AACC and the voice of the African church. Afterward, back at AACC headquarters. Carr began to scale down the significance of AACC assemblies. They do not legislate, but only have the “moral force of consensus,” he grudgingly admitted. The most startling discovery at Lusaka about African churches, Carr said, “was the awareness of their own need for liberation.”

Not everyone agreed. Many leaders began to question the trend of identifying the AACC’s purposes, activities, and life with purely secular ends.

On at least two issues. Carr came out in open conflict with the Lusaka assembly: the missionary moratorium and use of violence. Embarrassed by publicity given to isolated calls for “a moratorium on foreign funds and personnel,” African church leaders sought to have the issue explained. They wanted to clear the air and reestablish appropriate relations with partners overseas.

The assembly did reaffirm the call for a moratorium, but explained that it was not a general call for every church and every situation. It was intended to enable the churches to discover an authentic form of African Christianity, and to encourage African churches away from dependent attitudes. The call also was meant to help African churches establish their own priorities, to become themselves missionary churches, and to enable traditionally missionary-sending churches in other countries to reexamine their future partnership with other churches.

But for Carr the moratorium meant a lot more. Early in 1976, expanding on the moratorium theme, he called for “an African Jesus.” “We have had a British Jesus on our backs for so long that it is only within this context of the search for our [African] Jesus that personnel and finances from overseas churches come under scrutiny.”

The second contentious issue was the legitimacy of the church’s support for using violence to settle human conflicts. African church leaders who related the issue directly to the armed struggle in southern Africa against armed and violently oppressive racism found it agonizing. But the churches wanted to see beyond the conflict and suggested a conference the following year on “liberation and reconciliation” in Botswana. The Christian Council of Tanzania later that year declared that the churches’ role in human conflicts was to work for reconciliation and peace. For Carr, however, the southern African situation called for “passing on the aid to the fighting boys.” The Botswana meeting was postponed twice and then called off.

Carr’s ruthless eloquence and powerful arguments could not be contradicted with similar style and in similar forums. Foreign churches were cowed into worried silence, while the local churches were cornered into self-defense. But silence did not mean consent. Carr had ambitious and expensive programs and projects to finance, including a headquarters building in Nairobi. He needed the support of everyone. Without foreign support, money soon ran out for Carr, and without local support, he lost his base of authority. Carr was unable to manage the organization he so carefully built in his own image. He had lost his backing.

New general secretary “Max” Rafransoa. 46, is unlikely to fall into the same trap, if only because he knows it’s there. He is a more seasoned administrator who has held responsible posts at grassroots and international levels. He did not go to Geneva straight from school; he presided over his local synod for three years, then moved to the National Christian Council of Madagascar as director of lay training programs. From 1970–73 he taught sociology and social economics at the University of Madagascar. For another three years he was Africa regional consultant for the Food and Agricultural Organization. In that role and as Africa secretary of the WCC Commission on Inter-Church Aid, Refugee and World Service, he traveled widely throughout black Africa.

Rafransoa’s impressive educational background includes doctorates in the social sciences as well as in theology from the University of Geneva. In his native Madagascar Protestants constitute a small, struggling, but highly visible minority.

Rafransoa also has the time to shape the agenda for the next AACC assembly in Nairobi late this year at a time when the AACC headquarters building—whose construction has been stopped for lack of funds—should have been completed.

The Nairobi assembly may mark the rebirth of the AACC. The assembly preparatory committee, formed two years ago, is headed by Bolaji Idowu, patriarch of the Methodist Church of Nigeria.

South Africa

Buti Abandons The Council Of Churches Chair

Sam Buti has resigned as president of the South African Council of Churches (SACC). Buti, a well-known black community leader, said he has too many other commitments. Minister of a congregation with more than 600 members, Buti is also chairman of the Alexandra Liaison Committee, involved with renovating and modernizing the Johannesburg township of that name.

Buti remains a member of the SACC executive committee, and continues as scribe (secretary) of the black Dutch Reformed Church in Africa, which has approximtely one million members. During the past few years Buti played an important role in attempts to bring about greater unity between the white Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and its so-called daughter churches—black, colored (mixed race), and Indian. Being also an executive member of the Broederkring, a fraternity of mainly black and brown DRC ministers, Buti tried to bring about change in the DRC structures.

After his resignation as SACC president, Buti denied press speculation that he had resigned because of his disillusionment with the dialogue between the SACC and the South African government. A few months ago Buti led an SACC delegation in a meeting with Prime Minister Pieter Botha. A second round of talks on the government’s internal policies was supposed to occur before the end of 1980.

EVERT VAN DIJK

The Soviet Union

Clerical Training Leash Is Loosened Ever So Slightly

Last fall’s opening of academic classes in Soviet theological schools merited attention from TASS, the official Soviet news agency. In an interview with a TASS correspondent. Metropolitan Aleksii of Tallinn and Estonia announced an increase in the number of students at the Russian Orthodox Church’s three seminaries in Zagorsk (a Moscow suburb). Leningrad, and Odessa. He said the first-year course was so full that two parallel classes were established.

TASS stated that the two Roman Catholic seminaries in the Baltic increased their student numbers, too. It also mentioned the Bible course of the Evangelical Christians and Baptists and the Imam al Buhari Higher Islamic Institute in Tashkent.

The TASS report indicated that all churches and religious organizations in the USSR have theological schools. That statement concealed wide differences in the nature of the courses and the adequacy of facilities to provide sufficient new clergy.

Not all religious bodies are able to provide full-time residential training; generally, this is not because they lack the desire to do so. In particular, the Evangelical Christians and Baptists have pressed for establishment of a Bible school in Moscow to replace or augment their existing Bible correspondence course. The Baptist World Alliance has offered financial assistance, and the project is spoken of by Soviet Baptist leaders as though it is about to begin, but there are no tangible signs of progress.

Meanwhile, the correspondence course is being changed from a two-year to a three-year program. Students now are inducted every year, instead of every other year. The maximum number of students is 200. These courses are the only ones available for all Protestant Christians, and some of the students accepted have come from churches not affiliated with the official All-Union Council: autonomous Pentecostal, Mennonite, and independent Baptist churches. Estonian Methodists also made inquiry.

The Russian Orthodox Church offers the largest number of courses. In addition to the three seminaries, there are also theological academies at Leningrad and Zagorsk. These institutions have more than 800 full-time students in three-year courses. There is also a four-year correspondence course with another 800 students enrolled. These students are largely priests and deacons who were ordained in the past, without any formal theological training, to compensate for the shortage of graduates from the seminaries.

The present output of the seminaries should suffice eventually to maintain the Russian Orthodox priesthood at its present level, but, since the age structure of the priesthood has been distorted by past limits on the seminaries, the number of active priests may continue to decline for some time.

The Georgian and Armenian churches both have small seminaries that seem adequate to fill vacancies in the limited number of parishes.

The Catholic Church’s situation is more critical. Seminaries in Kaunas, Lithuania, and Riga, Latvia, are limited to a few dozen students each. The church in Lithuania has about 700 priests, a very high proportion of them elderly; each year more priests die than are consecrated. Recently a number of priests who had not graduated from seminary were consecrated unofficially. The Riga seminary is better able to meet the needs of the Latvian Catholic parishes, but must also try to provide priests for the diaspora Catholic community in the rest of the Soviet Union.

MICHAEL ROWE

Sexuality Controversies

British Council Report Appears To ‘Update’ Bible

A report described as one of the most radical on the subject of sexuality has been welcomed by the British Council of Churches. Produced by a 15-member working group under chairman Basil Moss, provost of Birmingham Cathedral, God’s Yes to Sexuality is offered as a “document for discussion.” Aiming to be positive and relevant, the report also leads to reservations about the Bible because it contains negative features and reflects attitudes of a bygone age. In the expression of human sexuality, according to the report, heterosexual and homosexual relationships are dealt with on the same footing.

One section of the report says: “Today wives or husbands can feel themselves seriously threatened in their selfhood and their mutuality by their partner’s devotion to work and career, or to an all-consuming passion for sport or hobby; by their intense involvement with the rest of the family or in friendships in which the partner is excluded, even by their absorption in work for the Church. By comparison their partner’s involvement in brief sexual relationships with someone else may be felt to strike less deeply at their marriage commitment.”

There was evidently some disagreement within the group. When the matter was discussed at the BCC assembly, moreover, the archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, did not take part in the discussion. He had been expected to write the preface to the published report, but this did not appear.

Just as curious was the absence of any evangelicals on the task force. Provost Moss explained that none had been appointed by member churches. “When we came together we discovered there were no evangelicals included. But no one on the working group was concerned, or felt the need for a member of that group to be there. So we went ahead.”

J. D. DOUGLAS

Liberia

The Redemption Council Emits Bellicose Sounds

Liberia’s vice—head of state and cochairman of the ruling People’s Redemption Council, Major General Thomas Weh Syen, recently accused the churches of Liberia of not playing their full role in the Liberian revolution. He said clergymen were trying to keep the masses from crying for better living conditions.

Speaking at the annual commencement program of the Monrovia Bible Institute, Weh Syen admonished the churches to help build a society that will close the gap between the haves and the have nots; a society in which discipline and fair play will be the order of the day.

“Churches have done much over the years, but they should not befriend the oppressors and suppressors of our land,” Weh Syen declared. He said that acts contrary to the revolution will not be permitted from the church.

These remarks followed a national television report of a Weh Syen message to missionaries:

“Based on what he called reports of missionaries’ efforts to sabotage the Liberian Revolution through all sorts of maneuverings, the general warned those involved to halt the staging of secret meetings or face the full penalty of the law. Speaking in a news interview … the vice—`head of state stated that despite Liberia’s long history as a Christian country, its people had suffered because of the sins of those who should have served as Christian examples. He also said that although the PRC government had continued to uphold the rights of people to profess their beliefs, the government would not sit idle while its positive intentions are tarnished by those he called foreign missionaries who collaborated with the former administration. He then noted, however, that the PRC government will continue to ask God to guide this country and its people.”

The particular missionary group that had been holding “secret meetings” in order “to sabotage the Liberian revolution” was not named. However, the late William R. Tolbert was not only head of state, but also president of the Liberia Baptist Convention, and since it was Tolbert who earlier had invited Southern Baptist missionaries into Liberia, some observers conjectured they (Baptists) were the group suspected of maneuvering to tarnish Samuel Doe’s regime.

According to Southern Baptist Mission representatives in Monrovia, the mission executive committee had met the day prior to Weh Syen’s news release. A spokesman for the mission said that nothing subversive—only routine business—was discussed at the meeting.

World Scene

French scientists are beginning to question evolution. Two books just published in Paris by Robert Clarke and Pierre Grasse ask basic questions. Clarke’s Naissance de l’Homme (“The Birth of Man”) asks how a series of unpredictable mutations could by lucky chance produce the complex universe. In L’Homme an Accusation (“Man on Trial”), zoologist Grasse asserts that present theories of evolution lack substantiation. Previously a neo-Darwinian, Grasse concluded that there was no bridge between the “naked ape” and man, and branded mere theory what he said facts refuse to support. He bluntly stated that researchers really know nothing yet.

The Church of England has appointed an advocate of homosexual equality to a key post on its board of education. Board members first learned about the board chairman’s appointment of Kennedy Thom, 51, through a magazine report. Clergyman Thom is a member of the Gay Christian Movement, and was at one time its secretary. He becomes the church’s chaplaincies officer, and has said he will not publicly push his controversial views.

Scottish Episcopalians followed the precedent of the U.S. Episcopal church in voting to permit remarriage in church of divorced persons. Anglicans elsewhere in Great Britain prohibit remarriage in the church.

France is opening another drive on its entrenched alcoholism problem. Last month the government announced a 10-year plan to combat it. The wide-ranging program will use hefty increases in wine and liquor taxes to raise the price of drinking and to finance an education campaign on the dangers of excessive drinking. The powerful lobby behind France’s government-subsidized vineyard growers can be expected to exert enormous pressure against any contemplated legislation. French per capita consumption is twice as high as in the U.S., and authorities estimate that of France’s 53.6 million people, 2 million are alcoholics, and another 3 million are hard drinkers.

Soviet press denunciations of Gleb Yakunin, an imprisoned Orthodox priest and founder of the Christian Committee for the Defense of Believers in the USSR, produced an unintended effect. Patricia Blake reports in Time magazine that some 250 people from all over the Soviet Union applied for membership in the committee.

A Bible-translating group just finished a New Testament in the language of the Soviet Union’s 3.5 million Georgians. The Stockholm, Sweden—based Institute for Bible Translation published the first translation for the Soviet Republic of Georgia since the eleventh-century Georgian Orthodox translation. The IBS is focusing its efforts on an immense task: translating and printing Scriptures for non-Slavic peoples in the Soviet Union. No part of the Bible has been translated into 90 (all non-Slavic) of the 127 main languages in the Soviet Union. Slavic peoples (Russians, White Russians, and Ukrainians) comprise about three-fourths of the population, while the remaining 73 million Soviet citizens are divided among the many minority groups, whose members often are Muslim and don’t speak Russian.

Nepal’s largest-ever church crowd gathered last October to boost the Bible. More than 1,000—believers from six churches plus curious non-Christians—met for a joint worship service at the Kathmandu Rotary Club. Afterward, $475 was raised for the Bible society at a fair, through games and the sale of donated food and clothing. Literacy—especially for women—is still low in Nepal, and there are only two Christian bookstores in the country, whose estimated population is 14 million.

Hong Kong Anglicans will soon have their first Chinese bishop. The synod elected Canon Peter K. K. Kwong last month to succeed Bishop Gilbert Baker, who will retire this year at the age of 70.

The first new translation of the Bible into Chinese in 60 years was completed recently by the United Bible Societies. The “common language” Today’s Chinese Version was an eight-year translation project. Linguist Moses Hsu reported that “A dedication service for the new Bible in Taiwan resulted in a complete sell-out of the 700 Bibles on hand in 10 minutes. Some 40,000 Bibles printed in Singapore have been shipped to different areas of the world.”

The Jesus Korea Holiness Church has become officially related to the Christian and Missionary Alliance. The South Korean denomination has 78 congregations and its own seminary. Alliance Theological Seminary director Wendell Price reported after a visit to the churches that the leadership is spiritually mature, the membership is zealous and untiring. He viewed the new relationship with “nothing but positive expectation.”

Adherents of Soka Gokkai in Japan are dwindling. This offshoot of Buddhism grew from a tiny following after World War II to 6 million in the early 1970s. But now, in the aftermath of the airing of dirty linen of the group—which, ironically, had established its own political party under the name, Komei (“Clean Government”) Party—membership has plummeted to about 3.5 million. Charges being aired, and denied, by Soka Gokkai, or “Value-Creating Society,” include stealing voter registration forms to increase ballots cast for Komei candidates, misappropriation of funds, and sexual misconduct by leader Daisaku Ikeda, 52, president of the lay sect from 1960 until his ouster in 1979. The Soka Gakkai executive board has admitted paying one former official $1.4 million in extortion money.

Transition

Fundamentalist Preacher And Editor John R. Rice Dies

John R. Rice, one of the better-known, old-time fundamentalist evangelists, and editor of the weekly newspaper, Sword of the Lord, died December 29 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He had suffered a brain hemorrhage 12 days before and had been in a coma since.

Rice, 85, had slowed considerably after a heart attack in 1978, and he had been concentrating on two goals: finishing a study Bible and raising the circulation of his newspaper to a half-million. He accomplished the first goal; the Rice Study Bible was to be published this month by Thomas Nelson. The second goal he did not; the newspaper, which he started in 1934, has a circulation of 150,000.

Rice was known as an evangelist with a keen hunger for saving souls and preaching the gospel. He was never shy about branding apostasy wherever he thought he found it, and often he believed that was among many who were leaving the right-wing fundamentalism of his day. His well-known “Sword Conferences,” held around the country, emphasized revival and soul winning; some of them drew as many as 5,000 attenders. In 1959 he began the “Voice of Revival,” a radio program heard weekly on 69 stations in 29 states, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.

The tributes to him were many. “I think that Dr. Rice has been the titular head of fundamentalism, and with his passing we have the end of an era,” said evangelist Jerry Falwell in an interview. “I remember when very few churches were baptizing as many as 200 people annually. He set that goal before us some years ago and now the number of churches baptizing 200 a year are beyond computation.”

Falwell recalled that 20 years ago as a young pastor in Lynchburg, Virginia, he attended a Sunday afternoon service Rice was conducting in central Virginia on the subject of soul winning. “God spoke to my heart at this meeting,” he said. “Although we were already a fundamental, evangelistic church, my whole ministry was revolutionized during the service. He spoke on Luke 19:10, ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost,’ and he pointed out that this was the primary ministry of the local church. He spoke in such a way that my attention was committed to soul winning in a way that it had never been before.”

Falwell said that apart from the Bible, Rice’s numerous books and pamphlets have been the writings most influential on his life.

Cliff Barrows, of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said, “We are grateful for the heritage and the legacy of John R. Rice. With his passion for souls, his emphasis on prayer, and his evangelism, he has been a great encouragement to us, and these areas are still our main emphases.” In past years, Graham has felt Rice’s wrath for association during his crusades with those of less than pure fundamentalist doctrine. Barrows remembered Rice warmly, however, for his cooperation during a Graham crusade in Scotland in 1955, when Rice came as an observer and lent the weight of his reputation to the fledgling Graham organization at a time when it was being criticized on several fronts. Barrows said, “He observed, he prayed with us, he spoke at our ministers’ meeting, and the very fact that he would come, representing the older school of evangelism, was a great encouragement to us. In his personal relationships with us he was always a man of gentle heart and nature, and through the years we have esteemed him highly.” Graham learned of Rice’s illness just before leaving for Europe, and he telephoned the family.

Church historian Earl Cairns said Rice was extremely earnest in his evangelism. “A lot of people thought he was a crusty old customer and was ’way out in left field, but he raised one of the finest families in this whole area,” he said. Cairns lives in Wheaton, where Rice lived from 1943 until he moved to Murfreesboro in 1960. Cairns said, “I had several of his children in class [at Wheaton College]. They were extremely bright and able, and yet they were completely true to what they thought was the right thing.” Cairns said Rice was an evangelist who felt free to blast whatever he felt wasn’t biblically sound, but he also said Rice’s criticisms didn’t have much impact outside his own fundamentalist constituency.

“He was a watchdog,” recalled Samuel J. Schultz, a retired professor at Wheaton College. “He came from the school of evangelism as it was practiced in the ’30s and ’40s, but he had too many legalisms, such as bobbed hair. To him, bobbed hair was a sign of worldliness.” Schultz also singled out Rice’s children as among the brightest of his students at Wheaton College. He recalled that none of the girls had bobbed hair.

Rice is survived by his wife, 6 daughters, 28 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren.

During his last few years Rice developed conferences for women, called Ladies’ Jubilees, during which most or all of his daughters would speak. He believed that ministries to women were lacking in many churches.

He graduated from Baylor University and taught and coached football at Wayland Baptist College in Texas, before doing graduate work at Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and the University of Chicago. His degrees include honorary doctorates from Los Angeles Baptist Theological Seminary and Bob Jones University. Rice pastored Baptist churches in Shamrock, Texas, and in Dallas before he entered full-time evangelism in 1940.

A funeral service was held December 31 at the Franklin Road Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, during which numerous fundamentalist leaders paid tribute, including Falwell and Jack Hyles, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana.

TOM MINNERY

North America Scene

Prominent Plymouth Brethren leaders called for renewal in their movement in a recent issue of the Brethren-related magazine, Interest. Fourteen lay and clergy leaders cited serious membership declines (now about 80,000 members nationwide), and complained of a lack of spiritual commitment and strong leadership in the lay movement (without clergy). Plymouth Brethren historically have played a leading role in missions and evangelical endeavors.

A book questioning the basis of evangelicals’ view of scriptural inerrancy placed first in Eternity magazine’s annual Book of the Year poll. Coauthors Jack Rogers and Donald McKim, in their book The Authority and Interpretation of the Bible (Harper & Row), argue that today’s proinerrancy position is not the historical one of the church. Interestingly, the poll’s fourth-place winner, J. I. Packer’s God Has Spoken (InterVarsity), supports inerrancy. The 200 or so reviewers vote on books they deem “most significant” for the magazine’s readers.

A highlight for 1980 was seeing a vision of a 900-foot Jesus, said evangelist Oral Roberts in his year-end radio broadcast. Roberts said Christ stood half again as tall as his 600-foot City of Faith and assured him the half-finished hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, would be completed. Roberts was criticized earlier last year when it was revealed he had described the vision to supporters in a May 25 fund-raising letter for the hospital. Fundamentalist preacher Carl McIntire said Jesus doesn’t make such appearances, and called Roberts a “fraud and a fake.”

A giant brokerage house invested in the Christmas spirit this year. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Smith opened the phone lines in its Manhattan offices to about 200 elderly persons, who made free Christmas Day telephone calls to family or friends in the U.S. and around the world. Many were bused to the phones from church and community centers. Another gift item: 52 King James Bibles, pledged as gifts from viewers during a telethon, were sent by Chicago Christian television station WCFC-TV to the American hostages in Iran.

United Methodist bishops are pushing Bible study in their local churches. The UMC council of bishops has developed two studies—a six-month and a six-year Bible overview—to be used with adult Sunday school classes. Bishop Joel McDavid of Atlanta, chairman of the bishop’s committee for the project, said it comes in answer to a growing awareness of “basic illiteracy regarding the content of the Bible” among many United Methodists.

A December 12 fire claimed the main building on the Asheville, North Carolina, campus of Ben Lippen School. Operated as a loose subsidiary of Columbia Bible College, the secondary boarding school is attended by ma[y children of missionaries. The school lost its freshman girls’ dormitory, dining facility, music department, and other facilities when the 47-year-old, three-story building burned. The school established a building fund to make up the estimated $2 million needed above insurance coverage to recoup the losses.

Personalia

Both Richard Schweiker, the new secretary of health and human services, and Andrew Lewis, Jr., the secretary of transportation, are members of the tiny, evangelical Schwenkfelder Church. It was 2,250 members in five congregations, all of them within 50 miles of Philadelphia. The church was founded by Silesian nobleman Caspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig (1498–1561), a leader in the Protestant Reformation, who fell into disagreement with Luther over the meaning of the Lord’s Supper.

Joni Eareckson, whose emotional adjustment to a crippling diving accident was portrayed in two books and two movies, will begin two new ministries designed to help the handicapped. “People Plus” will train church members to help with the routine chores so frustrating to those confined to beds or wheelchairs. This kind of attendant care is the most pressing need of handicapped people, Eareckson believes. The program will be introduced in March at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and then be made available nationwide. The “Joy of Caring” seminar is a two-day series addressing these subjects: the Sovereignty of God, the Goodness of God and the Problem of Pain, Healing and Miracles, and Overcoming Limitations. The seminars, featuring Eareckson and others, will be held in 1981 in Seattle, Portland, San Diego, and Phoenix.

Jameson Jones, president of the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, has been named dean of Duke University Divinity School in Durham. North Carolina. Both schools are United Methodist.

Too many Catholic priests find themselves coping with boredom, says Henri Nouwen, a Catholic theologian, psychologist, and popular author. Speaking during a retreat in Baltimore, he said, “By boredom I do not mean that they have nothing to do with their time. Boredom in this case means a sense of questioning whether what they are doing in their ministry is worth doing at all.” They become caught up in the system, “doing things without their hearts really being in them.” One solution, he said, is to get back in touch with God, “our first love,” by creating an inner space for him.

Correction

Noted surgeon C. Everett Koop coauthored with Francis Schaeffer the book Whatever Happened to the Human Race?, not the one mentioned in a January 2 news article. The book discusses many of the prolife issues espoused by Koop.

After being cleared of mail fraud allegations, organizers of the “Religious Inaugural Celebration …” in Washington, D.C., proceeds on course with plans for this month’s interfaith prayer service that coincides with the change in administration.

Charges of misleading the public were directed against James “Johnny” Johnson, who planned the gathering in his capacity as an independent, evangelical lay minister. (He serves as vice-president of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship, and was assistant secretary of the navy under Richard Nixon. Johnson also has close ties with the President-elect, who appointed him director of veteran’s affairs in California in 1967. He was the first black ever named to a state cabinet post.)

In October, Johnson’s independent inaugural committee issued more than 40,000 formal invitations, which bore a gold, embossed eagle emblem. The official-looking invitations requested attendance at a “nonsectarian, nonpartisan, nonpolitical” prayer meeting on January 19 and 20 at Washington’s Starplex Armory. After the election, Ronald Reagan’s official inaugural committee complained that the invitations would confuse and mislead recipients by suggesting that purchasers of the tickets would be treated to an appearance by either Reagan or Vice-president-elect George Bush. In fact, neither one had agreed to attend the festivities, though both were invited.

As a result, a grand jury investigation was threatened and then dropped when Johnson’s committee agreed to alter substantially their emblem and name (from “Presidential” to “Religious” Inaugural Celebration with Love), and to provide their guests with disclaimers edging away from the promise of a presidential appearance. Johnson expected several thousand participants.

A donation of $135 each or $260 per couple was indicated on the invitation, but anyone could register to attend both days’ events for $25. Those paying full price would receive “VIP treatment,” a spokesman said, including two catered dinners and four souvenir books. Coinciding with official inauguration day events, this interfaith celebration was scheduled to include speakers ranging from the mayor of Washington, D.C., to Bill Bright of Campus Crusade, to Paul Yonggi Cho of the world’s largest local church in Seoul, Korea, and such musical entertainers as Dino and Debbie, Danny Gaither, and the Evangel Temple Choir.

“What we are trying to establish is a public witness to the world that we who take our faith seriously and who love our country wish to be able to gather together in a spirit of prayer. We are vitally concerned about the health and welfare of our president and other leaders, and we are concerned for the peace of the world. We only want to unite in prayer in behalf of those ends,” Johnson said.

Unlike the well-known inaugural balls, which have been part of the inauguration festivities since the days of James Madison, the religious ceremony was nonpartisan. While most of the event’s organizers are Christians, people of other faiths were invited to participate in the common interest of prayer.

Science and Religion

New-Found Allies In The Sociobiology Debate?

All is not well on the sociobiology front (see “Sociobiology: Cloned from the Gene Cult,” p. 16). While evangelical scholars are debating how to meet the inroads of this new academic discipline, they may have found allies among some highly regarded anthropologists.

According to a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education (Dec. 15, 1980), sociobiology has not “made it” as an organized body of knowledge. At least that’s the view of Jerome Barkow, a Dalhousie University anthropologist. He organized a symposium as part of the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association to take a look at sociobiology “as the dust settles.”

“Dust” in this case refers to the fierce arguments in academia over whether or not sociobiology is indeed a legitimate field of scholarship. Although it had made its way into some introductory textbooks, sociobiology has been criticized as “an attempt to justify genetically the sexist, racist, and elitist status quo in human society.” Those words were put forward at the anthropologists’ 1976 meeting, but they failed to carry in a resolution of condemnation.

Since then the debate has simmered. Barkow admits sociobiology has not led to a resurgence of racism, but neither has it solved some of its fundamental theoretical problems. Among them, according to Barkow, are: the relationship between cultural and biological evolution; how to study such concepts as “inclusive fitness”; and the relationship between sociobiology and ecological and biosocial research.

Worldwide Church of God

Armstrong Is Unscathed By Legal Attacks, Exposés

Legal battles and controversy don’t seem to cramp the style of Herbert W. Armstrong and his Worldwide Church of God (WCG).

California Attorney General George Deukmejian in October dropped the state’s two-year-old investigation of the Worldwide Church—initiated after some former members complained that Armstrong and WCG general counsel Stanley Rader siphoned off up to $80 million in church funds for their personal use. Deukmejian complained that the recently adopted “Petris Bill” too severely stripped him of power to prosecute cases involving alleged financial abuses by religious groups. (He dropped investigations of 11 other religious groups as well.)

Through it all, the group retained roughly the same membership of about 68,000 worldwide (50,000 in the U.S.). The court battles apparently did not hurt income, which stayed close to the 1979 figure of $66 million. (The WCG has lost 35,000 nonmember contributors since 1976.)

Later in the same month Armstrong and Rader flew to Egypt for a meeting with President Anwar Sadat. There, they presented the first $100,000 of $1 million pledged for Sadat’s planned $70 million trifaith worship center at the base of Mount Sinai. Afterward, they flew to Jerusalem to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Menacham Begin.

Armstrong’s estranged son, Garner Ted, asserted in a telephone interview that his father’s global tours are represented to WCG members as evangelistic missions. But to foreign officials, Garner Ted charges, Herbert Armstrong is portrayed by advance man Rader as a wealthy philanthropist who is willing to give away large sums of money in exchange for invitations to address distinguished gatherings on such innocuous topics as “The Seven Laws of Success.” A year ago Armstrong got red-carpet treatment in China after donating $500,000 in books to Chinese libraries. (Garner Ted’s own Church of God International, formed after he was expelled from his father’s church in 1978, now claims 70 congregations and about 3,000 members.)

Both Garner Ted and his father owe most of their visibility today to the air waves. Herbert Armstrong’s “World Tomorrow” program is now aired on 58 radio and 52 television stations in the U.S. He has a sur-Garner Ted Armstrong prisingly wide electronic media influence in Canada, where his programs air on 53 radio and 81 television stations. Gamer Ted is carried on 50 U.S. radio stations: his fledgling church has experienced defections by several key leaders, who complain he is too autocratic.

Herbert Armstrong’s doctrines are rejected by evangelicals: he denies the existence of the Trinity, the soul, hell, and of the Holy Spirit as a person. A distinctive teaching is British Israelism—that Anglo-Saxons are the true Israel, with Britain being the tribe of Ephraim, and the U.S. the tribe Manasseh.

More recently, his lifestyle and reputation have been questioned in two controversial books written by former WCG members. WCG officials Sherwin McMichael and Henry Cornwall secured a court order to halt distribution of one of these: David Robinson’s Herbert Armstrong’s Tangled Web (John Hadden Publishers). It contains damaging charges, such as Armstrong’s alleged shocking sexual behavior.

Robinson, however, appealed and the ruling was overturned. A $2 million suit against Robinson by the two men was pending, but the recent firing of McMichael from his Washington, D.C., pastorate may have cooled his zeal to pursue the matter further.

JOSEPH M. HOPKINS

Personalia

Clyde Kilby will retire in July from his job as curator of the Marion Wade Collection at Wheaton College. During his 15 years as curator, Kilby has built up the most comprehensive collections anywhere of C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield. Dorothy Sayers, and Charles Williams. Other works in the collection include those of G. K. Chesterton, George MacDonald, and J.R.R. Tolkien. All are British authors. Kilby has lectured at more than 50 colleges, edited or authored 10 books, originated Wheaton College’s annual Writers’ Conference 24 years ago, and has been a book reviewer for the (now defunct) New York Herald Tribune.

Kenneth L. Barker, professor of semitics and Old Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, has been named executive secretary of the committee on Bible translations for the New York International Bible Society, as well as its vice-president of Bible translations. Barker will be directing the preparation of a New International Version study Bible. He replaces Edwin Palmer, who died last September.

Although federal money may no longer be used to pay for abortions, state money may, and New York is one of the few states still financing abortions—about 50,000 of them a year. Governor Hugh Carey, a Roman Catholic, announced recently that he will reexamine this position. Carey strongly opposes capital punishment, which is illegal in the state.

Unitarians and Universalists

Evangelicals Are Bruised Bucking Maine’S Mainliners

Some pastors lose members because of their preaching. Daryl Witmer in tiny Sangerville, Maine, lost his church building, too.

Members of the United Church of Sangerville recently vacated the church building where they have met for 30 years, by order of the Northeast District Unitarian Universalist Association, which owns the building. The district office in Portland had notified the church in 1978 that it allegedly violated a trust deed requiring that Unitarian Universalist preaching be maintained there. Pastor Witmer’s self-described “sound Bible preaching ministry” apparently was in violation. As a solution, the church discussed with the district the option of buying the building at a mutually agreed upon price, a course that appeared likely.

In the meantime, however, a small group of United Church members became unhappy with Witmer’s conservative theology. They subsequently broke away to form the incorporated First Universalist Church of Sangerville. The Northeast District UUA accepted the Universalist church into full membership last October, and granted the church’s request for the building. The district notified the United Church that it must vacate within 30 days. Since then, the United Church has met in the town hall.

The building shuffle caused some hard feelings in this know-everybody town of about 900 (although the United Church chose not to contest the district’s action). Alice Moulton, newly elected president of the Universalist congregation and one who earlier left Witmer’s church, complained that Witmer overemphasized baptism and public profession of faith. (Witmer affirms believer’s baptism, but denies accusations that he ever made rebaptism a prerequisite for membership.) Moulton said she didn’t so much object to Witmer’s “born-again theology,” but that it was preached so narrowly that members not believing exactly like Witmer felt unwelcome.

Moulton noted that the new Universalist church has Baptists, Methodists, Universalists (she wasn’t sure if there are any Unitarians), and even some with views similar to Witmer’s. “This small town has only one Protestant church; we believe it’s essential that everyone be able to go to church,” she said. (There is a Roman Catholic church.)

Many evangelicals regard New England as a mission field. With that in mind, Witmer sought the Sangerville pastorate six years ago. To him, the recent building hassle showed again that “it’s a rugged thing to move into an area where theological liberalism is entrenched.” While he lacks formal seminary or Bible college training (he left Eastern Mennonite College after two years in favor of study on his own and at Francis Schaeffer’s L’Abri Fellowship), Witmer, 29, established a growing evangelical ministry.

Like a circuit rider, Witmer preaches three Sunday services—at Sangerville, and in the nearby communities of Monson (pop. 700) and Abbot (pop. 400). With Sangerville, these form the so-called Sangerville, Abbot, Monson Larger Parish (called “Sam”). Since Witmer’s arrival, all have grown in membership, although they are small by superchurch standards. The Sangerville church has grown from 35 to 100 and the other two churches are up to about 60 members each.

Members attribute the growth to an effective small groups and discipleship ministry. A local high school administrator, Charles House, provides leadership in this area, drawing from his experiences at Park Street Church in Boston while a Gordon College student.

The churches have a united youth program, and send a newsletter, “Sam-ogram,” to their communities. The Sangerville church has ideas about evangelistic outreach, but local funeral home owner and United Church member Peter Neal said the feeling has been that it is more important in the early going “to build a core group of solid Christians.”

Witmer said the recent events have been “a growing experience” for his congregation, which realizes the church is more than a building. However, he admits it’s tough having to leave a building, especially when it is recognized as the church in town.

JOHN MAUST

Publishing

‘Crying Wind’ Is Back, But Not As A Biography This Time

The book Crying Wind is back—this time as a “biographical novel.” Harvest House Publishers is distributing the book with the above cover flap description, which is intended to correct discrepancies that caused Moody Press in 1979 to declare the book out of print, along with its sequel. My Searching Heart (CT, Oct. 19, 1979, p. 40).

The books describe the Christian conversion and subsequent experiences of a young Indian girl, Crying Wind, which the author, Linda Davison Stafford, ascribed as happening to her. Problems resulted, however, when Moody Press editors learned that Stafford apparently didn’t do all those things. For instance, they were told she did not grow up on a Kickapoo Indian reservation with her grandmother and has little, if any, Indian blood or background.

The editors agreed the books carried a strong Christian message, and would have been fine if only they had been presented as fiction. But they weren’t. And the editors felt constrained to remove the books as outside “the editorial standards of Moody Press.” (Later editions had carried a disclaimer that some names, dates, and places had been changed to “protect the privacy of those involved.”)

In an interview, Stafford said the problems resulted from “an unfortunate misunderstanding” between herself and Moody Press and from the publisher’s “changes in staff and policies.” Saying she had changed certain names and events to prevent embarrassment to certain family members and friends, she added that Crying Wind “is still based on my life.”

Stafford maintained she does have an Indian heritage—that her mother was raised on a Kickapoo reservation, for instance. She remembers dressing U.S.-style during high school, but only as an attempt “to fit in with the crowd.” Married and the mother of four children, Stafford said today she wears Indian garb even at her Divide, Colorado, home. She believes Harvest House’s decision to publish the book is answered prayer, and that it again will be a boost to the cause of Indian missions.

Harvest House believes honesty is maintained by calling Crying Wind a biographical novel. Harvest House publisher Bob Hawkins said in a telephone interview, “Because of the moving story, because of what it [Crying Wind] has done for so many people, we felt we should bring it back.”

The Irvine, California, publishing company probably had some business motives, too. In a mailing to booksellers, Hawkins wrote, “When Crying Wind was previously published it was a very, very best seller and sold over 80,000 copies [italics his]. Now you can take advantage of the opportunity to help many hundreds, yes thousands, of people across the nation who have been asking for Crying Wind in bookstores.”

Moody Press had returned the book copyrights to Stafford, and Harvest House dealt directly with her. Showing her wide-ranging writing interests, she has finished a forthcoming Indian recipe book, Crying Wind’s Kitchen (Intercom), and mentions plans for a romantic novel. She also wants to write a book shedding light on her earlier credibility problems.

The Philippines

Ambitious Growth Goals Pledged By Evangelicals

The term “historic” in evangelical circles usually describes such major international gatherings as Berlin, Lausanne, or Pattaya. But 488 evangelical leaders representing 81 denominations and parachurch organizations who recently gathered in a two-city “Congress on Discipling a Nation” in the Philippines felt a sense of history in the making that in some respects transcends the significance of those more widely publicized gatherings.

These men and women gathered not just to talk about discipling their nation but to commit themselves to “proclaim the evangel of salvation and to persuade men and women so that there will be at least one church in every barangay [ward] or no less than 50,000 congregations in the Philippines by the year 2000 should the Lord tarry.”

As the 284 delegates from Cebu City in the Visayan Islands and the 204 from Baguio City in northern Luzon stood to read in unison the “Church-in-Every-Barangay Covenant,” which includes the above quote, they seemed to sense the immensity of the moment. Never before had the body of Christ of one nation committed itself to the systematic planting of a church within easy access of every citizen of the entire country. For the Philippine church, this means adding about 40,000 congregations to their present 10,000 in just 20 years, providing one church for about every 1,500 residents of the island nation.

Such a far-reaching commitment by this major slice of the nation’s evangelical leadership follows a decade of solid achievement. Stirrings of this unified assault began with a handful of delegates to Berlin in 1966 and a group of about 60 to the Asia/South Pacific Congress on Evangelism in 1968. These paved the way for the All Philippines Congress on Evangelism in 1970, at which 350 delegates committed themselves to a goal of 10,000 evangelistic Bible study groups throughout the nation. While still rejoicing at having exceeded this goal in March 1973, leaders began praying and talking about a new target. “In order for every citizen in the nation to have a genuine opportunity to make an intelligent decision about Christ,” they reasoned, “we need to have at least one vibrant evangelical congregation in every barrio.”

To accomplish such a monumental task would mean growing from about 5,000 congregations to 42,000 just to have a church in every existing barrio. It was assumed that the number of barrios would increase even while they were multiplying their churches.

Undaunted, the 60 Filipino delegates to Lausanne in 1974 wrote into their platform for action their commitment to “Establish a local congregation in every barrio in the country.” Another 75 leading pastors, denominational leaders, and missionaries gathered near Manila later that year for an Evangelism/Church Growth Workshop with Vergil Gerber and Donald McGavran. After making faith projections for their denominations and churches, they affirmed the goal of Lausanne, set the actual number at 50,000, and agreed on the year 2000 as the deadline.

Could the diverse members of the body of Christ of an entire nation forget their differences and work together toward such an almost unthinkable goal? Researchers Bob Waymire and James Montgomery of O.C. Ministries (OCM, formerly Overseas Crusades) determined to find out early in 1978. Spot checks with 12 denominations revealed an almost six-fold increase in annual rate of church formation in the four years since the workshop. These denominations had planted exactly 1,300 more new churches in that four-year period than they would have had they continued growing at the rate of the previous decade. Furthermore, they had added over 67,000 more converts to their rolls than they would have.

Denominations that threw their weight behind specific programs of action seemed to fare best. The “Target 400” program of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) was ahead of schedule, increasing from 500 churches to 900. Conservative Baptists and Southern Baptists already had growth programs under way before the 1974 workshop; both were experiencing dramatic growth. Nazarenes and Free Methodists were spurting ahead after setting major growth goals at the workshop. New, indigeneous denominations were, if anything, growing fastest of all.

Seeing that excellent—sometimes brilliant—progress was being made, Keith Davis, OCM field director for the Philippines, decided it was time to gather the church together again to share victories, plan new strategies, and get an even broader commitment to the task of saturating the nation with evangelical congregations. The two-part Congress on Discipling a Nation during November was the result.

Doubling Every Four Years

It was to be no haphazard event. With the research complete. Montgomery teamed with McGavran to write a 175-page book, The Discipling of a Nation, which all delegates read before the congress. Montgomery and McGavran also spoke at the congress and were joined by such experienced Philippine hands as Leonard Tuggy of the Conservative Baptists, Leslie Hill of the Southern Baptists, and Met Castillo of the CMA. They demonstrated together that discipling an entire nation by planting a congregation in every small community was not only God’s will, but reasonable and possible. That they were convincing was evidenced by some sentiments in the Baguio segment of the congress that perhaps the goal had been set too low!

They had a point. The 12 denominations studied (out of more than 75) alone are already growing at a rate that would take them beyond the 50,000 goal by 2000. Furthermore, CMA leaders at the congress set their sights on 40 percent of the goal as they agreed on a “2, 2, 2” program: they want to grow from a current membership of 60,000 in about 900 churches to a membership of 2 million in 20,000 churches by the year 2000. (The program will not become official until all CMA districts in the Philippines agree to it.) The CMA growth is projected, like that of many of the others, on a continuing annual growth of 15 percent. At this rate, membership and churches double every four years. The rate is not difficult to achieve in the very responsive Philippines, but it gets increasingly difficult to maintain as a denomination gets bulkier each succeeding year.

Nonetheless, the nearly 500 leaders at the congress seemed incredibly committed to the task. Hardly any grumbled that the goal was unreachable. Furthermore, the unity displayed by participants from an unprecedented 81 different denominations and organizations was something leaders of the previous generation only dreamed about. That three of the four main Filipino speakers were from Pentecostal backgrounds was barely noted, for example.

Such unity is possible partly because no group was asked to drop its own program to cooperate in a joint effort. Unity has come by working toward a common goal rather than by linking organizationally.

Possibility Thinking

Even if the goal is reached, of course, the whole nation will not have been discipled. Forty thousand new churches would probably add no more than four or five million to the existing one million evangelicals in the Philippines. This would total only 6 to 8 percent of the anticipated population of 80 million by the end of the century.

But Philippine leaders argue that with a church in every barrio, the whole nation, with its many different ethnic groups and homogeneous units, could be discipled, for there would be an evangelical congregation for every 1,200 to 1,500 people. A congregation of 100 committed believers could systematically reach out to the remainder of its community, and this would be possible in every community—however the Matthew 28:19 challenge to make disciples “of all nations” might be defined.

When Met Castillo of the CMA first read the full text of The Discipling of a Nation, the accuracy of its thesis suddenly burst upon him. “This is it,” he cried out. “All along we have been seeing the task as merely enlarging our borders. Now that we see the end result is discipling the whole nation, we can throw all our denominational energies into it.”

Perhaps a whole new way of thinking and doing mission has begun. If so, the church of the Philippines really is making history.

NENE RAMIENTOS

They left stereotypes at the door and got right to the issues.

Jews recoiled when in August the president of the Southern Baptists made his now infamous statement about God’s unwillingness to hear prayers of Jews; their tension grew when evangelicals did so well in the November 4 election and prompted some of them to speak of returning to a more “Christian” America.

It was in that atmosphere that leaders on both sides sat down together last month in the second National Conference of Evangelical Christians and Jews. Together, they probed the barriers that have made evangelicalism the one wing of Christendom that Jews eye most warily.

By all accounts, the three days of meetings at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, just north of Chicago, were a success. No theological differences were erased; in fact, those obstacles were even more clearly underscored than they were during the first conference in New York five years ago. But what happened this time was that people felt comfortable with each other and so they lost no time in getting to the issues.

“For too long everybody’s been an abstraction,” said Rabbi James Rudin, assistant director of the American Jewish Committee in New York. “We’ve always been cardboard people to one another. At this meeting we had good chemistry and we intend to build on it.” Marvin Wilson, a professor at Gordon College, concurred: “We spoke our minds from the word go. We were not on eggshells like we were last time.”

Indeed, the theological gloves didn’t stay on long: “Christianity, as the flower and fulfillment of its Old Testament root, is the one and only truth, the solely salvific religion,” Vernon Grounds, president emeritus of Conservative Baptist Seminary in Denver, said in a speech. “Evangelical Christians believe that Christianity is a good thing and everybody would be better off if he or she were a Christian,” declared another participant.

The belief of evangelicals that it is their duty to convert others was of most concern to the Jews during the meeting, especially with the rise of Jewish Christian mission societies focusing exclusively on Jews. Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, national director of the American Jewish Committee, said in an interview that, “These Jewish leaders here, who are so deeply rooted in their faith, don’t see why Christians should try to undermine their conviction, especially when there are 60 million Americans who believe in no God at all.… Before Christians make a judgment about whether Judaism is really inadequate as a form of salvation for the Jews, they’d better know something about Judaism.” The evangelicals learned that Jews do not look lightly on Jewish Christian communities. “Their nonexistence is our desire.” said one of the Jewish participants. “Their existence is a threat to our existence.”

The Jewish leaders applauded several evangelical speakers who condemned all evangelistic efforts that are indirect or deceitful. The evangelicals drew distinctions between proper witnessing, done in love and humility, and proselytism, which they objected to, and which they said includes coercion and propaganda techniques unworthy of the gospel.

Two evangelical speakers reminded the Jews that their own faith was once strongly evangelistic. As recently as 1978, Rabbi Alexander Schindler, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, called for a new outreach to win unchurched people to Judaism.

On other matters, Jewish participants said some things evangelicals do not often hear. Ellis Rivkin, a professor at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, said he has come to look upon Christianity as another manifestation of Judaism. It was unrecognized by Jews at the time because they did not look upon Judaism as a developmental religion. Rivkin called the New Testament a “mutation-revelation,” and by linking the gospel with divine revelation, even in a qualified way, Rivkin came far closer to the Christian view than do most Jews.

Something else not usually acknowledged by Jews is the existence of original sin, yet Rabbi Norman Frimer, executive director of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, said that idea may be starting to change in light of the Holocaust. “In the early thirties we thought that man was innately good. Now we face the problem of original sin as a possibility.”

Several speakers, Jewish and Christian, addressed the subject of who killed Christ, and all agreed that in no sense can Jews as a people be held accountable. They said the act was accomplished by Roman soldiers at the insistence of a handful of Jewish leaders who were corrupt and cut off from the people at large. The evangelicals went even further; said Grounds: “We evangelicals must attest … that since Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, every human being bears the responsibility of the cross …”

Evangelical support for the existence of Israel was strong, not so much for its prophetic significance to Christians, but out of a sense of justice to the Jewish people. Sentiment against anti-Semitism was equally forceful, particularly in the light of the biblical roots common to both faiths. “When anyone attacks Jews or displays any form of anti-Semitism, he must know that he is also attacking evangelicals,” said Kenneth Kantzer, editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY. The magazine cosponsored the conference with the American Jewish Committee. There were 45 participants, representing most of the branches within Judaism and evangelicalism.

During the three days of meetings, dinners, and informal discussions, there was no organized debate over whether God does, in fact, hear the prayers of a Jew. That question was settled symbolically when, at the request of one of the evangelical participants, Rabbi Tanenbaum closed the conference with a prayer.

Marxism Unmasked

Barbarism with a Human Face, by Bernard-Henri Levy (Harper Colophon Books, 1980, 197 pp., $3.95 pb), is reviewed by Lloyd Billingsley, a writer living in Ponway, California.

“I believed in revolution, a faith that came from books, no doubt, but all the same I believed in it as a good, the only one that counted and was worth hoping for. Now, feeling the ground give way and the future disintegrate, I wonder not if it is possible but even if it is desirable.”

Bernard-Henri Levy, French leftist and participant in the 1968 student riots in Paris, thus charts his personal odyssey. Writing at a furious pace he challenges the reader with a rare, incisive attack on socialism. Levy feels that while capitalism and the West often censure themselves, socialism never does so. Barbarism with a Human Face attempts to even this imbalance.

Transcending mere political polemics, Levy detours into history, philosophy, and even theology. Indeed, one of the main thrusts of the book is that Marxism is “the religion of our time” and “the opium of the people”—charges that will surely burn all bridges to the European Left. Other quotable broadsides are: “Apply Marxism in any country you want and you will always find Gulag in the end,” and “Socialism is, in many respects, a sham and a deception. When it promises, it lies; when it interprets, it is wrong.” These conclusions were reached with help from Solzhenitsyn, from whom he has learned more “than from many erudite commentaries on totalitarian languages.”

Those who read this work looking for a simplistic defender of capitalism will be disappointed; Levy sees no salvation there at all. In fact, he sees capitalism as part of a soon-coming “strange political Siren with Capital for a body and a Marxist head; a new kind of Pax Romana.” Faced with this, he declares himself “without compass or charts.” The question of East versus West or socialism versus capitalism are meaningless when “the worst is possible, even on the horizon.” It is evident that Levy sees the situation clearly, all the way to its ultimate, logical conclusion. Eschewing false optimism, he predicts a neobarbaric age rather than a neoutopian one of Marxist creation

Faced with this stridently pessimistic situation, Levy’s most valuable advice is something Christians can share: “No matter where it comes from, resist the Barbarian threat.” In addition to that, Christians have their “compass and charts.”

Barbarism with a Human Face deserves the careful study and attention of all thinking people. It has the power and vitality to change the mind of a generation.

The Unique Character Of Preaching

The Ministry of the Word, by D. W. Cleverlev Ford (Eerdmans, 1980, 256 pp., $12.95), is reviewed by Elmer G. Homrig-hausen, dean and Charles R. Erdman professor of pastoral theology emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey.

The author of this significant volume is a well-known English preacher and educator, the senior chaplain to the archbishop of Canterbury, a chaplain to Queen Elizabeth, and a former director of the College of Preachers. In this book he shares his lifetime of accumulated wisdom and experience on the ministry of the Word.

This kind of book has been awaited for a long time, and will provide us with a “classic” in the field. Cleverley Ford believes in preaching on the basis of study and experience, maintaining that the unique character of preaching is not its method but its content: the Word of God. To be sure, there are similarities between preaching and other forms of discourse, “nevertheless, preaching in the context of a congregation of people of faith worshipping God as known in Christ as Lord in the presence of Divine Spirit stands in a class by itself.”

Ford is quite aware of the obstacles to preaching in our time: it is a monologue; it is contrary to educational processes; it is authoritarian; it runs counter to the inductive and egalitarian climate of our times; it is indoctrination by an authority. He looks at these accusations against preaching in all honesty, but concludes that no substitute exists for the sermon as part of the regular program of worship in the church.

The heart of this volume is its study of the preaching of the Word in the Old and New Testaments, including the ministry of Jesus; the theological discussions on the Word and Spirit, the Word of God, the Word and the sacraments, the incarnate Word, the Word and words; and in its illuminating insights on the word of the Cross, the word of the Resurrection, the word of judgment, the word of hope, the word of justice, the word of wisdom, and the word in worship.

Ford covers a vast waterfront. While his attempt to cover the history of preaching in one chapter is rather ambitious and somewhat unsatisfactory, he does it very well. But he misses a few preachers and book titles that might have strengthened and sharpened the chapter.

The reader will be delighted, challenged, and edified by what Ford writes concerning the power of words when communicated through the authority of a committed man of God infilled with the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about a sense of the presence of God through Jesus Christ in the context of the church and the world.

While the author is an Anglican, his treatment of preaching of the Word is indeed ecumenical. It speaks to the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and various Protestant traditions, and combines the strengths of each in the hope of giving preaching its crucial and proper place in the total life and ministry of the church.

Five Who Came To Know Jesus

LuLu, by Lulu Roman (Fleming H. Revell Co., 1978, 173 pp., $6.95); Home Where I Belong, by B. J. Thomas (Word Books, 1979, 144 pp., $6.95); The Comeback, by Jay Robinson, as told to Jim Hardiman (Chosen Books, 1979, 245 pp., $9.95); In the Morning of My Life, by Tom Netherton, with Marie Chapman (Tvndale House, 1979, 262 pp. $7.95); This I Believe, by Lawrence Welk, with Bernice McGeehan (Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1979, 197 pp. $8.95), are reviewed by Bettye Quinn, assistant professor of education, Belhaven College, Jackson, Mississippi.

These autobiographies by entertainment personalities are testimonies to the Christian way of life. Four of them build to a concluding description of the teller’s conversion experience. The exception is Welk’s book, which is essentially his idea of how to achieve success. For B. J. Thomas, Lulu Roman, and Jay Robinson, becoming a Christian ended a fight with the drug habit and a life of rebellion. Netherton, always the boy next door, found in his “good” way of life a need for something more to fill his “empty, lonely” heart. All of the books are written in a conversational style and are easy reading. Their appeal will be mainly to fans of these performers.

Lulu, the stout star of “Hee Haw,” tells in elementary fashion of her life as an orphan. Her mother and grandmother, although professing love for her, committed her to “the great white house” at the age of four. Starved for love, she found comfort in eating and being the clown of the group. In the manner of a child’s diary she recounts unappetizing meals, deplorable living conditions, and cruel punishments. Her release to the real world was the gateway to a self-indulgent, undisciplined life. The climb to television fame, which began as a joke in a local nightspot, did not satisfy her heart. The fortune that came from her appearances on national television was quickly spent in lavish apartments, fancy cars, and parties for the friends who introduced her to drugs. The emptiness of it all was finally impressed upon her and she found what she was looking for in Christ.

In many ways, B. J. Thomas’s self-description is a lot like Lulu’s; he could not handle pressures of fame and fortune either. In vivid detail he recounts the agonies of his drug addiction, revealing how this led ultimately to his loss of family, friends, and even his own self-esteem. When all was gone, he found Christ and life took on meaning again. Home Where I Belong contains suspense, surprises, and a happy ending.

Perhaps the best written of these books is The Comeback. A child of a broken home and anxious for love and attention, Jay Robinson set his heart on becoming a famous actor. Early in life he achieved this goal. He had several parts in Broadway productions and by age 19 had captured a leading role in the movie, The Robe, as Caligula. When he finally reached the top, and money, fame, and popularity, he built a Roman-style mansion and attempted to live in the style of Caligula. His tragic decline culminated in drug problems that led him to poverty, disgrace, and prison. The events of his life are skillfully recounted and his careful descriptions graphically illustrate the depths of his sinful despair. Interestingly, it was not an evangelistic message but a role in another movie, Born Again, that led to his conversion. This is a gripping story, well told.

In The Morning of My Life is a boring account of the life of a typical, successful American teen-ager of the sixties in the midwest. Tom Netherton includes not only the unusual events of his early life, but also such mundane matters as which television programs he watched. Though there is little excitement in the story, one does get a twinge of feeling as the small-town boy becomes nationally acclaimed. It shows splendor in the ordinary; teen-agers could profit by adopting Netherton’s philosophy of life.

Welk’s newest book. This I Believe, is written in the same staccato style that characterizes his speech on television. The sentences are short and simple, and his ideas are repeated several times over. The book is not a story; it is rather an essay on Welk’s activities, and he even surprises himself by his work schedule at the television studio. Space is reserved for a glowing account of the newest members of his cast (complete with unique discovery story), but highest honor is given to hard work—his answer for most problems. Welk fans will enjoy the inside stories, but others will probably wonder what all that has to do with what he believes.

The grace of God is a marvelous thing and these autobiographies show that God is at work in all walks of life.

Galilee Of The Nations

Galilee from Alexander the Great to Hadrian, 323 B.C.E. to 135 C.E., by Sean Freyne (University of Notre Dame Press, 1980, 512 pp., $27.50), is reviewed by J. Julius Scott, Jr., Department of Theological Studies, Wheaton College Graduate School, Wheaton, Illinois.

Judea, Perea, and Galilee were the only areas of Palestine populated primarily by Jews during Jesus’ lifetime. So pronounced were the regional differences among these three that one historian (Emil Schürer) suggested that in certain respects they were virtually “different countries.”

Galilee was the most distant from Jerusalem and the most open to non-Jewish influences. As the scene of Jesus’ youth, much of his ministry, and the homeland of the majority of the first Christians, it is natural to assume that Galilean distinctives left their mark on early Christianity.

Sean Freyne, professor of New Testament studies at Loyola University in New Orleans, has accomplished a major breakthrough in making readily available what can be known of the historical and cultural distinctives of Galilee. The difficulties he faced in doing so were large. The data are incomplete, scattered, and subject to diverse interpretation, but Freyne has collected, analyzed, and interpreted this masterfully, carefully distinguishing between hard facts, conjectures, and interpretations.

The volume surveys the geography of Galilee and then delves into an examination of the history of the region during the “intertestamental” and New Testament periods. A second section focuses attention on the economic and social structure and examines the effects of the introduction of Hellenistic culture in Galilee. Freyne suggests that the area was neither as “Gentile” nor as revolutionary as is often thought.

The author’s third major concern is the religion of Galilee. He believes evidence shows that the population of the region remained loyal to the temple as long as it stood. This explains the relatively slight influence of the Pharisees in Galilee prior to A.D. 70 (a fact reflected in the New Testament by the infrequent reference to Pharisees outside of Judea). The concluding chapter, “Christianity in Galilee,” confirms that solid information about Galilean Christianity is scant, yet Freyne provides information that could lead to further investigations in this area.

Serious students are becoming increasingly aware of the need for solid knowledge about the history, culture, institutions, and thought of the first century world as foundation from which to interpret the New Testament. Freyne’s book on Galilee provides a scholarly, accurate, carefully documented, yet readable study of the northern section of Jewish Palestine. Scholars, ministers, and laymen who are serious about studies of this area will profitably read this work for general information and then consult it frequently for reference.

The Ministry Of Healing

Basic books on the ministry of healing are reviewed by Nancy S. Duvall, Rosemead Counseling Service, Rosemead, California.

With numerous books on healing, on medical as well as on psychological and spiritual aspects, it is difficult to keep current, and to take the time to reflect on its meaning.

From two chaplains, a medical doctor, and a cancer patient, we have four books about specific medical problems. Let the Patient Decide, by Louis Shattuck Baer, M.D. (Westminster), is a thought-provoking book that challenges the reader to assess the pros and cons of being medically maintained and kept alive by machines. It has enough illustrations to make the point that we need to decide beforehand where we want doctors to draw the line in medical help—prior to reaching the point of incapacity when faced with making a decision. Baer acknowledges that each person must make an individual decision, and he gives examples of how a patient can use specific directives. David Belgum’s book, When It’s Your Turn to Decide (Augsburg) also deals with making medical decisions, although it covers a wider range of decisions, such as organ transplants, human experimentation, and abortion. It considers the ethical decision-making process and indicates that a decision is often made by default. In The Cardiac Patient, by George W. Paterson (Augsburg), a hospital chaplain writes about persons with heart disorders. It is an informative book, which discusses prevention as well as recovery and surgery. There is also a chapter on children as patients and a chapter on living with heart problems. Orville E. Kelly’s Until Tomorrow Comes (Everest House) has a similar approach for cancer patients. The author is himself a cancer patient and founder of “Make Today Count,” a self-help group for cancer patients, and he writes a feeling account. While informative, its strong point is the feeling element it conveys about the struggles of a cancer patient. While the book is not completely up to date (it does not have the 1980 American Cancer Association guidelines for checkups, and there is no mention of Interferon), it provides realistic support and encouragement for cancer patients and their families.

In books dealing with emotions and healing there is often a strongly stated or an implied understanding of the interrelatedness between bodily functions and psychological and spiritual well-being. Burton Seavey’s book Why Doesn’t God Heal Me? (Creation House) addresses this issue, reckoning that our relationship to God, both in attitude and behavior, influences healing. He indicates that God has rules of healing concerned with forgiveness and confession of sin, and implies that if God does not heal us it is due to motivation and lack of faith. He believes it is God’s will to heal every born-again believer, “when the conditions are met.” He seems to stand on shaky theological ground: God has to heal when the right buttons are punched. He would seem to be going against such well-known faith healers as Katherine Kuhlman, who, when asked why God heals some and not others, replied, “The only honest answer I can give you is: I do not know; and I am afraid of those who claim they do know. Only God knows; and who can fathom the mind of God?”

In Feeling and Healing Your Emotions, by Conrad Baars, M.D. (Logos), there is much food for thought. He deals in a question-and-answer format with information that would appear in a psychiatry textbook or an abnormal psychology book, yet descriptions are for the lay person. He uses little traditional terminology, rather describing in simple terms what he feels is the heart of the difficulty. For example, he talks of the obsessive-compulsive as a “fear neurotic,” and coins the term “deprivation neurosis” for those who haven’t been affirmed. While many professionals will recognize truth in his descriptions, I suspect he will have little or no impact in the professional realm. He provokes thought at many levels, talking about “premature forgiveness” and “emotional junk food” (such as conditional love or smothering love).

Inner Healing: God’s Great Assurance, by Theodore Elliot Babson (Paulist Press), is a solid book on the dynamics of inner healing. The author has both experienced inner healing and been involved with well-known persons in this field. It is thorough and contains solid principles; for example, healing is a process that may take time, and we often need security and love before we can reach out to give to others.

Vernon J. Bittner’s You Can Help with Your Healing (Augsburg) is more simplistic. It takes the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous as an outline for spiritual recovery.

The Spirit of Synergy, by L. Robert Keck (Abingdon), looks at some of the newer concepts of healing. Its theme is that aligning our power with God’s power is a forceful thrust for healing. The author, troubled with severe physical pain, discovered the power of imagery and meditative prayer to eliminate pain.

The Sacrament of Suffering, by James Aylward Mohler (Fides-Claretian), is an attempt to deal with the meaning of pain and suffering. It is essentially a book of readings by such persons as Bonhoeffer, Ghandi. Simone Weil, and C. S. Lewis. There is no attempt to unify the writings, so the strength is in the merits of individual writers. The strongest and most succinct probably is C. S. Lewis.

From Edith Schaeffer comes Affliction, (Revell), her attempt to look at the meaning of suffering and to ask the question, “Why?” Mixing personal experience and examples from people she has known with scriptural illustrations, she makes a strong point: we are in the refining process, and while God is the ultimate victor over affliction, we may not directly experience that in this life. However, God’s purposes are larger than our immediate comfort and we are to learn in our affliction.

At the end of Divine Healing of the Body (Zondervan), J. Sidlow Baxter also addresses the meaning of illness and suffering. He deals first with physical healing in his usual scholarly and thorough manner, and looks at healing historically, then investigates our understanding of Scripture. He concludes generally that while preaching that advocates divine healing is often based on a wrong interpretation of Scripture, healing is operative in our age. He gives several powerful examples of divine healing, including those of himself and his wife. Baxter makers a sharp distinction between present-day public healings and the ministry of healing in the local church. Concerning suffering, he also concludes that there is often a larger meaning to our pain than immediate relief, which involves spiritual education. This is a thorough, scholarly approach to the subject of healing.

BRIEFLY NOTED

Christian Education. Four new books deal with the theory of education from a Christian perspective. Educating for Eternity (Tyndale), by Claude Schindler and Pacheco Pyle, argue the case for Christian schools. You’ve Got to Start Somewhere … When You Think About Education (InterVarsity, 38 De Montfort St., Leicester, LEI 7GP, UK), by Charles Martin, admirably analyzes higher education. Introduction to Christian Education (Standard Publishing), by Eleanor Daniel, John Wade, and Charles Gresham, is a full-blown discussion and could be the best available on the subject. Christian Religious Education (Harper and Row), by Thomas Groome, is more theoretical, but it is unquestionably a work of first importance.

An interesting look at the teaching of the Bible in a secular setting (here the United Kingdom) is The Bible in Religious Education (Handsel/Columbia University Press), by Robert Davidson.

Two perceptive works on Christian colleges are: How Church-Related Are Church-Related Colleges? (Board of Publication, Lutheran Church of America), by Richard Solberg and Merton Strommen, and Church Related Higher Education (Judson), edited by Robert Parsonage. The latter is especially helpful.

Teaching Today (Westminster), by Locke Bowman, examines the teaching ministry of the church and rightly argues that all Christians are in some degree teachers. A masterful series of essays by D. Elton Trueblood is The Teacher (Broadman).

John Dobbert explains How to Improve Your Child’s Education (Harvest House) in simple, forceful language. Raymond S. and Dorothy More, et al., provide massive buttressing for Dobbert’s stress on the parent model in School Can Wait (Brigham Young Univ. Press). Warren Wilbert takes a penetrating and helpful look at grown-ups in Teaching Christian Adults (Baker).

Two well-argued books, although not specifically Christian, need mention. The Great American Writing Block (Viking) examines “the causes and cures of the new illiteracy.” and Neil Postman, in Teaching As a Conserving Activity (Delacorte), takes a fresh, and often witty, look at the abuses of “permissive” education.

Ethics. Two important new resource works have appeared. The Concise Dictionary of Christian Ethics (Seabury), edited by Bernard Stoeckly, and the indispensible Bibliography of Bioethics, Vol. 6 (Gale Research), edited by LeRoy Walters, covering some 1,800 documents published between 1973 and 1979.

A sizeable number of books deal with basic Christian ethics from various points of view. Decide to Live (Westminster), by William Charland, is a look at why people make choices, and at value clarification. The Moral Choice (Winston Press), by Daniel Maguire, is now in paperback to reach a wider audience with his penetrating analysis of what morality is. F. Philip Rice writes a guide for Christian parents in Morality and Youth (Westminster). Doing the Truth (Univ. of Notre Dame), by Enda McDonagh, is a splendid series of essays attempting to work out a moral theology. Paul Ramsay’s basic, if controversial, textbook, Basic Christian Ethics (Univ. of Chicago), is now available in paperback. Very different is R.E.O. White’s Biblical Ethics (John Knox). This could be the best single volume available on the moral teaching of the Bible. Milton Rudnick writes an excellent introduction to ethics from an evangelical point of view in Christian Ethics for Today (Baker). A studied attempt at comparison and dialogue is Protestant and Roman Catholic Ethics: Prospects for Rapprochement (Univ. of Chicago), by James Gustafson. A challenging look at the inner dynamics of Religion and Morality is Struggle and Fulfillment (Collins), by Donald Evans.

Two excellent academic studies are: Moral Development, Moral Education, and Kohlberg (Religious Education Press), edited by Brenda Munsey, and Kant’s Theory of Morals (Princeton Univ.), by Bruce Aune.

Several works have appeared under the broad heading of social ethics. A very helpful survey of human rights worldwide is The Moral Imperatives of Human Rights: A World Survey (Univ. Press of America), edited by Kenneth W. Thompson. A vaguely disappointing book is Corporation Ethics (Fortress), edited by George Forell and William Lazareth. Of great value is Justice in the International Order (Calvin College), which contains the papers and proceedings of the Second International Conference of Institutions for Christian Higher Education. A very positive statement is Evangelicals and Social Ethics (InterVarsity) by Klaus Bockmühl. Finally, a very good survey of the whole topic is Christian Social Ethics (Baker), edited by Perry C. Cotham.

He was to fantasy what Hitchcock was to suspense.

The passing of Alfred Hitchcock last April occasioned world-wide tributes to his cinematographic artistry, but the loss of Terence Fisher at about the same time went virtually ignored, which is a pity, because Fisher was to fantasy—particularly fantasy of the classic, Gothic style—what Hitchcock was to suspense. And ignorance of Fisher’s work is also unfortunate because an examination of the major theme of his films shows him to have been a strong ally of orthodox theology.

Fisher was a British creative artist in much the same tradition as C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Dorothy L. Sayers, but his name is not as familiar as those of his literary counterparts. This is principly because Fisher was an artist of the cinema, not the written word. For many who are interested in the cinematic genre of fantasy and the supernatural, however, Fisher’s name stands supreme.

Fisher’s great contribution was his reinterpretation of such classic British romantic fantasy as Frankenstein, Dracula, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Evangelicals, even in Britain, generally have not given him his due and this is unfortunate since Fisher is on the side of Christian truth. Consider some of the main themes of his films, produced mostly in the ten-year period from 1957 to 1967. He was an uncompromising believer in the supernatural, an ardent skeptic regarding secular science and modernity, a believer in the inherent evil of human beings, and confident in the ultimate triumph of love and God over the forces of the demonic.

The basic scenario of a Fisher film runs as follows. A young person, usually in the late nineteenth century, is drawn unwittingly into a trap of sordid evil. But evil usually takes the form of another equally attractive young person whose concerns sound eminently reasonable. The two young people form an alliance, either of love or friendship. It soon becomes obvious that the innocent party is being taken over by the evil companion. His or her behavior changes drastically, often accompanied by some physical change. Concerned family and friends call in a figure of science, often a doctor, to remedy the situation. Invariably someone suggests that a supernatural agency is at work, and this provokes the intolerance of the man of science who usually retorts with a line such as, “Good heavens! This is the nineteenth century. Such things belong to the Middle Ages.” Not surprisingly, the best intentions of everyone are of no avail as the character becomes more and more absorbed into the world of a beautiful but deadly evil companion (or lover).

It is usually at this stage that a priest or philosopher with definite Christian convictions is called in. The problem is diagnosed as spiritual rather than psychological or medical, and in due course, the true nature of the companion is diagnosed and he/she is revealed to have been in traffic with the demonic in some form. The forces of Satan are overcome and true happiness restored.

Fisher’s cinematic world was molded on a precise moral standard. The one chief exception to the above model—which in no way contradicted it—was his series of Frankenstein movies. This series comprised some five pictures made between 1957 and 1973 and was a landmark effort. Fisher’s films dealt with Dr. Frankenstein, not the Monster, who perished unequivocably in the first installment. The Frankenstein series was a study in the use of science for the pursuit of power. Frankenstein was a modern Prometheus whose arrogant brilliance seeks to shape the world to his conceptions of good and evil. Viewed from the hindsight of the 1980s, Fisher’s Frankenstein series is a decidedly prophetic view of scientific technology and the inhuman world created through its engineering.

Outside of his work in the Frankenstein and Dracula myths, Fisher distinguished himself in a variety of significant films: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), with its image of aristocratic decadence in which the members of the cursed family inherit not only the curse but the corruption which spawns it; The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960), in which Mr. Hyde is younger, handsomer, and more charming than his alter ego; Curse of the Werewolf (1961), with a classic redemption-through-love theme; and The Devil Rides Out (1967), the first major film of the sixties to deal with contemporary Satanism. These films were criticized for being overly violent and for portraying evil as seductively attractive. Time has changed the force of this. (Fisher’s first Gothic fantasy, Curse of Frankenstein, was considered repugnant in 1957 but is like the average TV show today.)

Critics of the time also missed the prophetic impact of Fisher’s films and the fact that his films were the truest in spirit (if not always in letter) to their literary and mythic sources, more so than other films of this genre. Fisher’s work and his particularly graphic narrative style made possible—and even commercially viable—such later works as Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist. Yet these films and the myriads of others they inspired have little to do with the moral universe Fisher inhabited. One can see this immediately by comparing Fisher with other British “horror film” directors of his period. Films such as Arthur Crabtree’s Horrors of the Black Museum (1959), or even Freddie Francis’s one essay into the Frankenstein series, The Evil of Frankenstein (1964), do far more to exploit and even celebrate evil than to portray the metaphysical confrontation between good and evil that underlined Fisher’s work.

Indeed, these films and later counterparts by such directors as Roman Polanski (Rose-mary’s Baby. The Tenant) and Brian De-Palma (The Sisters, Carrie, The Fury), for all their technical ingenuity, reflect a world view in which evil is the dominant force in life and violence is as ubiquitous as it is purposeless. It is not surprising that Fisher found The Exorcist repugnant.

Fisher is quite evidently the author of the films he directed. He worked with a variety of script writers, each of whom left his mark on this neo-Gothic revival. Nonetheless, the continuity of vision in Fisher transcends the different screenwriters with whom he collaborated.

In the opening scene of Dracula, a tall shadowy figure descends the stair to meet an unaware visitor. We are primed for fright. Instead, Dracula emerges as a charming, gracious figure, not in the least ominous. For Fisher the problem with the demonic is that it is not scary. Rather it is charming and beautiful, and therefore more deadly. In another sequence from the same film, the heroes stay up all night outside a home where Dracula has been attacking one of the women inhabitants. Daybreak comes and Dracula has not appeared. Relieved, the men come indoors in the grey dawn. To their horror, they realize the woman has once again been attacked, yet they are sure Dracula never entered from the outside. They soon learn that the victim herself has been harboring Dracula in the basement of the house. Rather than being terrified of him, she enjoys his attacks. Dracula then, as an outside threat, is only part of the problem. It is the personal embracing of evil, the fiend within, that is the real issue for Fisher. In stating the matter this way, Fisher not only forces us to think. He also comes very close to the biblical insight about the problem of evil.

PAUL LEGGETT¹Mr. Leggett is engaged in doctoral study at Union Theological Seminary in New York.

Filmstrips are still widely used and are an effective Christian education tool. A number of producers have recent offerings we can recommend.

Contemporary Drama Service (Box 457, Downers Grove, Ill. 60515) has two delightful programs for elementary children, We Know About You, Jesus, and Let’s Make Up. The art work and narration for the former were done by children themselves. Their quality is good and they show what local churches can do in producing filmstrips and cassettes.

Four productions by Ikonographics (Box 4454, Louisville, Ky. 40204) are best suited for older children. One is an addition to the “Folksville Series.” It covers the subjects of death, Sunday worship, fairness, and determination. It closes with relevant Scripture. Ikonographics also produce the fine series, “Good News of Jesus Christ.” These ten filmstrips tell the major incidents in the life of Christ. Moving exhortations and music are attractive features.

Traditional art is used in the Old Testament filmstrip series produced by the Daughters of Saint Paul (50 St. Paul’s Avenue, Boston, Mass. 02130), a religious order that serves the church through communications media. Each filmstrip is approximately 15 minutes long. Three of them are on the Apocrypha.

For children in seventh grade and up, the two parts of Looking for the Kingdom (Thomas S. Klise Company, Box 3418, Peoria, Ill. 61614) explain the ministry of Jesus, particularly the meaning of his parables of the kingdom. These filmstrips include an invitation to respond to the gospel.

Seventh-graders and older also are the best audience for three new filmstrips by Alba House Communications (Canfield, Ohio 44406). The Man Who Brought Happiness is the parable of the talents in a modern setting. Bread is the motif of this imaginative parable that requires more preparation to derive its full impact.

Alba House has been releasing additions to its delightful biblical “read along” series. The Fiery Furnace is fun for all ages and is best used with the audience reading the script that appears on the screen. The award-winning art is superior. Good program ideas are included. The same can be said for The Book of Job.

Thomas Klise’s five-part Scripture series covers Abraham through the prophets, and is a high quality blend of beauty in photography and art, narration, and music. It is specified for sixth through ninth graders, but is better suited for older youth. Attention is captured through a nonbiblical parallel, and the viewer is led into the Old Testament world. There are references to the Apocrypha in the study guides and there is a hint of sacramental theology.

The following are appropriate for senior high youth and adults. Cathedral Films (2282 Townsgate Road, Box 4029, West-lake Village, Calif. 91359). The Bible: Book of Faith has a printed guide that is a model for other producers. This six-part survey covers the history of the text, Bible translation (to 1946), the importance of the Bible, and its message.

The New Testament World: Geography of the New Testament Lands (Griggs Educational Service, 1731 Barcelona Street, Livermore, Calif. 94550) includes an excellent filmstrip, a slightly colorless narration, and 14 lectures. The program constitutes serious inductive Bible study. There are 70 excellent pictures and maps. For a group that is biblically aware of differences, the discussion would have considerable value.

Prof. Francis Filas of Loyola University (Chicago, Ill. 60626) has produced a series of filmstrips on the Holy Land marked by beautiful photography. However, the lectures are too long. The series includes The Seacoast of the Bible—Today, Biblical Locations in Jerusalem—Today, and The Resurrection of Jesus.

David’s City is the old city of Jerusalem set within the contemporary struggle for it. Emotive photography, powerful sound effects and narration, make this a strong presentation from the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York (426 West 58th St., New York, N.Y. 10019).

Culture through art, music, and quotation from major writers infuse Edward Bauman’s The Crucifixion, The Resurrection, and The Holy Spirit, by Bauman Media Associates (3436 Lee Highway, Arlington. Va. 22207). An excellent guide comes with each program.

An outstanding biblical filmstrip is A Time To Be Born—A Time To Die, related to the book by Robert Short. It is masterfully narrated by actor Raymond Massey and covers all of Ecclesiastes. Six filmstrips full of photographs and an excellent guide are included, from Cathedral Films (above).

There are two filmstrips from C.S.S. Publishing Company (628 South Main St., Lima, Ohio 45804) with scripts to be read aloud. This enables the narrator to extemporize. The Word in Sign Language stresses advertising and The World Declares His Glory features human beings and nature in thought-provoking scenes.

Cartoon characters illustrate God’s love in The Polka Dot People and the Light (Ronn Kerr Associates, 1205 8th Ave. S., Nashville, Tenn. 37203). They illuminate God’s love in the face of human fickleness and rejection. Suitable for all ages, this filmstrip will be used often.

You see them every day: those full-page, sometimes garish ads beckoning you to join the crowd that has moved beyond mere television to video. Everything from giant screens to 14-day programmable machines to portable camera/recorder/playback units to laser disc players—all seem to be shouting for your attention, begging to become a part of your life. Even pay-as-you-watch cable TV prides itself on being a part of the current video explosion.

Last April CHRISTIANITY TODAY suggested in a brief overview that as a part of this burgeoning industry, video—specifically, prerecorded videocassette programming—could become the church’s “now and future” audio-visual tool (CT, April 18, 1980). And indeed, in the months since that quick peek at the potential of this medium for the church, much has been happening, and many new options have come to our attention. Thus, a small update would seem to be in order.

A number of churches and denommations, and some parachurch ministries, are now committing themselves to harnessing this medium of communication, which has clamped such a stranglehold on our culture. Harnessing is, after all, better than wringing one’s hands over video’s excesses and abuses. And there is inherent in this medium a versatility that most other AV media lack.

Equipped with just a videocassette recorder/playback unit and a common, ordinary TV set, churches and individuals have a whole new world of teaching and inspirational materials available (those pioneering resources that have come to our attention are described separately).

While newer, lighter, portable VCR units are becoming increasingly available (remember those ads?), even carting an older machine to the home of a shut-in, plugging it into the TV, and turning on, say, John Stott, would add a new dimension to home visitation. If you start thinking about the possibilities that exist when you possess your own VCR camera, the sky is suddenly the limit. Now you can take last Sunday morning’s service or the Sunday school Christmas program to that shut-in. Or, add a five-foot projection screen to the TV set at church: John Stott or Chuck Colson or John Mac Arthur or Oswald C. J. Hoffmann or a host of others can teach your congregation—almost in person—for a relatively small tape rental fee.

Consider some of the many other creative ideas that are emerging, as numerous companies and organizations develop video materials that can be useful to the church:

• Build new enthusiasm for youth programs. For example, viewing A Man for All Seasons, the film story of Thomas More’s life and the hard decisions he had to make, could spark an interesting and profitable discussion. Or, with your own camera, try producing a TV program (props and all) to show to the congregation or others. Remember, videotape isn’t like film—it’s erasable and reusable. And then there’s the problem of what to do when Sound of Music or Jaws is running again on network TV on Sunday night and you know almost all the kids will stay home to watch. Consider showing the tape instead at a youth night or social later in the week—and then talk about it together.

• Develop a new dimension in home Bible studies. With your own camera you could create a course geared to the peculiar needs of your people and let all of the groups discuss around this planned curriculum. Or use “outside” speakers or courses.

• Capture the dynamic of guest musicians or guest speakers for later and extended use (with their permission, of course).

• Consider offering courses for credit. Home study videotape programs are available.

• Find out how you might use public access or even cable channels. Trinity Church (Episcopal) in New York City broadcasts a weekly liturgy for shut-ins over cable TV.

• Use controversial television offerings as discussion starters. Rent a film, or when necessary, tape from network or local telecasts, and make these work for you and your congregation as you explore the rights and wrongs of given issues.

• Allow the video camera to show the strengths and weaknesses of individual ministries. Preachers, choir directors, and others can see and hear themselves as others see and hear them—and then improve techniques.

These are but a few of the almost limitless uses of this new thing called video. Community rental libraries, programs to teach hygiene or skills to members of the community are among other possibilities. And teaching children, with the teacher using (turning off) the medium to reinforce instruction and learning is a whole new field begging to be invaded.

Remember, of course, that video should not take the place of live programming and ministries. It should never be regarded as a crutch or a baby sitter or discourage live dialogue. But used rightly, as a new and extremely versatile tool, it can add a new plus to many areas of local church programming and outreach.

Video Materials Available For Churches

Several organizations and companies are already immersed in the production of video materials for the church. Most prerecorded programming is available in all three formats: ½-inch Beta and VHS (the two standard ones used in those machines you see advertised), and the older, ¾-inch U-Matic, standard in industry, education, and cable TV. These tapes are available for rental; some may be purchased. None may be duplicated, and permission is always necessary to use any of them for transmission over cable.

Some groups offer advice about equipment purchase, and a few are even able to sell equipment at less-than-discount prices. For example, the Seventh-day Adventist Church magazine, Ministry, offers its pastors package deals of both equipment and prerecorded cassettes at considerably less than the discounted price an individual might find since the church is able to obtain mass-purchase price breaks on cassettes and equipment.

Following are descriptions of several groups now producing video materials specifically for church use. For further information or catalogues, write these organizations directly.

Covenant Video, 3200 W. Foster Ave., Chicago. Illinois 60625, (312) 478-4676. This subsidiary of the Department of Publications of the Evangelical Covenant Church of America has been involved in church video since 1975. Some 90 Covenant churches own their own equipment, and Covenant Video’s catalog has grown to 24 pages listing some 125 programs grouped by subject (Bible study; evangelism and church growth; Christian heritage; believing and belonging; leadership training—Christian education, music, pastor and staff; the spoken Word; health care). Rentals range from $12.50 to $120 for some several-part series. Covenant’s tapes include such speakers as John R. W. Stott on expository preaching; Win Arn, Donald McGavran, and Peter Wagner on church growth; Paul Rees on stewardship; Charles Colson giving his personal testimony in a 1978 Covenant convention address. Church musicians would be interested in tapes on choral technique, conducting, and an organ workshop on service playing.

While Covenant has produced several individual tapes for children, its most ambitious project in production is a planned 13-week series for use at fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade levels. Ted Ericson, manager, expresses optimism about the project, noting that it will be in a form that “from the beginning assumes the teacher is in control of the visual media. We are not comfortable with the idea of a series that expects people—or children—to simply sit and absorb and go home edified.”

Ericson has met with leaders of other denominations and the United Methodists’ Cokesbury is asking about distributing Covenant tapes. He says, “It is about time the church turns the miracle of television to something more than selling soap.”

Greater Chicago Sunday School Association, 202 Chicago Ave., Oak Park. Illinois 60302, (312) 383–7550. GCSSA makes its television series, “Adventures in Learning,” available in four 13-program segments at a rental price of $175 for a one-week rental (additional weeks add $25 per week). Subjects are “Teaching Techniques” taught by Charles Sell; “Knowing Your Student,” by Mark and Ruth Senter; “Panorama of the Bible” and “Creative Teaching” by Terry Hall.

The Episcopal Church Center, 815 Second Ave., New York, New York 10017. The Episcopal church has just produced its Video Resource Guide, free to Episcopal communicators, and for $35 to others; contact Sonia Francis. Divided into two sections, one contains program listings in 13 categories, and one deals with equipment, production, distribution, and new technologies. Besides Episcopal-related and produced programs, there is a wide range of programming from universities, other denominations, and secular sources.

Ted Baehr, executive director since January 1 of the Episcopal Radio-TV Foundation in Atlanta, is an early developer of video for the church; he prepared material for the equipment/production section of the Guide. Believing strongly in the ability of the new telecommunications technologies to “teach the gospel and evangelize,” he has been involved in the Episcopal church’s Communicate Workshops, where participants learn how to use video/television. He notes that “television is not to be worshiped but to be used in coordination with an active personal witness in presenting the whole gospel in a Christ-centered program of Christian education.”

Argus Communications, 7440 Natchez Ave., Niles, Illinois 60648, (312) 647–7800. Materials prepared by Jesuit John Powell are available for purchase in video format, including “Free to Be Me” and “Families.” Argus also offers a novel mime production by the Mummenschanz consisting of 14 brief scenarios that explore actions that either unite or divide people. All of these come with accompanying study guides.

National Institute of Biblical Studies, 4001 N. Dixie Hwy., #204, Pompano Beach, Florida 33064, (305) 781–4650. NIBS is in reality a video Bible school and has prepared and distributed video materials to churches for over two years. Two plans are available; one is “designed for serious students,” and requires at least 30 students for its recommended four-year Bible school curriculum; cost is $1.10 per student per lecture hour. A second plan is outright rental at $42 (one-time use) per 50-minute lecture, with student outlines and quizzes available for a few cents more. This plan is designed for church-wide training in Sunday school classes, Sunday or Wednesday evenings.

A sampling of offerings includes “Romans” by Ray Stedman (24 lectures); “The Spirit-Controlled Life” by Earl Radmacher (5 lectures); “Keys to Spiritual Growth” by John MacArthur (6 lectures). T. M. Moore, president of NIBS, believes strongly in the “viability of video for developing church leadership.” He describes his program as “bringing together the finest in Christian teaching on high-quality video tape … helping to meet the need for education and equipping the church sorely needs.”

Grace Graduate School, 3625 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, California 90807, (213) 595–5679. Grace is an educational institution first of all, but has developed a videotape course in conjunction with its “Short Summer Residency” degree program. A typical first course costs $280, which includes registration, tape deposit, mailing costs, and tuition of $10 per tape hour; additional courses cost $198. Last summer’s featured “Short Summers” guest was Jay Adams; the videotape course produced was “Introduction to Biblical Counseling.”

Grace makes available a list of courses it offers; its primary concern is to help individuals continue their education toward a graduate degree.

Video Communications, 6555 E. Skelly Dr., Tulsa, Oklahoma 74145; phone toll free (1-800) 331-4077. Calling itself “the world’s largest independent distributor of prerecorded home video cassettes,” Video Communications introduced its new 11-part series, “Greatest Heroes of the Bible,” last fall. Its catalogue includes several additional religious titles and four, including a two-part “Old Testament Series,” are classified separately as Christian education.

The National Video Clearinghouse, 100 Lafayette Dr., Syosset, New York 11791 (516) 364-3686. Cataloguers, not producers, the Clearinghouse’s Video Source Book is probably the most comprehensive listing anywhere of video materials, mostly secular and commercial ($59.95 soft cover). A second edition containing 30,000 program titles is just out. Clearinghouse marketing director Richard Lorber likens his source book to the record industry’s Schwann Catalog and publishers’ Books in Print. Well, almost: not all of the religious entries mentioned above are included. But you can find almost every other category, and a recent adaptation of the basic book—three Video Tape/Disc Guides—provides information in three separate categories: children’s programs, sports and recreation, and movies and entertainment.

For years films and filmstrips have been viewed by the church as novelty items—attractions to enliven a sagging evening service or substitute for an absent teacher. Learning from experience (if nowhere else), the church is beginning to respond to communications media tools as resources that can be used rather than merely shown.

Some of the more creative resources to assist in the teaching and preaching ministry are short films or other audio-visual media presentations. These can be placed within the service or teaching hour in order to provide a valuable backdrop against which the rest of the service can be played.

Of course, the more familiar uses of these resources—such as films as discussion starters and training tools—are increasing in sophistication as well. The following might provide ideas on some of the better software currently available.

In Remembrance (distributed by Evangelical Films, 2848 W. Kingsley, Garland. Texas 75041, 214-278-3531) presents a moving interpretation of the Last Supper and the Jewish customs behind it. Using a comfortable blend of narration, vignettes, and monologues, E.C.R.F. Productions captured much of the emotion the disciples may have experienced as they faced the demands of discipleship.

Though the sound is somewhat uneven at times and twentieth-century customs may have been imposed upon biblical culture as Philip talks with his girlfriend, “Beca,” the film provides a beautiful and sensitive interpretation of Communion and its depth of meaning for those who would follow the Savior. In Remembrance could effectively facilitate a worship experience prior to a Communion service, provide the basis for discussion of discipleship in a class or on a retreat, or serve as a vital part of the Lenten season as the church discovers a depth of meaning in the Last Supper. The film runs 47 minutes and is available exclusively through Evangelical Films.

“Exploring the Churches of the Revelation” claims to be a “major teaching and preaching accessory” and the description is justified. Produced by Win Arn, president of the Institute for American Church Grouth, the package contains eight colorful and well-researched films on the seven churches of Asia Minor addressed by the apostle John in the Book of the Revelation.

The eight films include a general overview and seven capsule features on the churches of the Apocalypse. Lasting but five minutes each, the films focus on the historical, geographical, and cultural settings of the Asian churches as they were confronted with difficulties described by the aged apostle John. The music and visual impressions strengthen the informative narration. This is an extremely practical innovation for the pastor or Sunday school teacher. The modest cost ($8.50 per film) places the films within the budget limitations of most churches while assisting the teacher in describing sometimes boring background information in an attractive manner without becoming preachments in and of themselves.

The films can be obtained by writing to Church Growth, 150 South Los Robles #600, Pasadena, California 91101, or by calling toll-free 1-800-423-4844.

C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as seen on the CBS Television Network is now available through Gospel Films, of Muskegon, Michigan. The delightfully animated Emmy Award winner contains a wealth of Christian imagery as it portrays the death, resurrection, and ultimate triumph of the lion Aslan, the Christ figure, in the delightfully mysterious land of Narnia.

The film is available in two 55-minutc segments ($100) or in four 25-minute installments ($125). A study guide designed to assist families and study groups in exploring the symbolism and imagery of the film can be obtained from local distributors.

Strike the Original Match (New Liberty Enterprises) is a well-edited series of interviews with six couples who candidly discuss the very real dynamics of their marriages. Ranging from the safety of the parsonage and the monotony of a dock worker’s life to the glory of a professional football player and the seeming glamor of a wealthy industrialist’s family, the couples come across as real people with human problems to which most married couples can relate.

Discussion flows over the gamut of frustrations and joys faced by the couples, who talk of their work drives, desire for intimacy, sexual disappointments, process of communication, and spiritual commitments. While evangelical in perspective, Strike the Original Match does not burn out with pat answers and religious jargon.

The length (40 minutes) and cost ($50) of the film would make it a valuable resource for a couples retreat or as part of the family life emphasis of a local church. The effectiveness of the film would be enhanced by a well-guided discussion immediately following viewing. Questions about men’s work drives, sexual compatability, and the role that frustrations play in their homes would allow participants to shed new light on their feelings about marriage.

One of the most interesting innovations in the field of religious media software (tapes, films, slides) is what might be called “multi-media shorts.” “Shorts” are usually two-to-six-minute presentations creating visual images (cartoon, clay figures, real life, clip art) on a specific theme such as forgiveness, love, fear, man’s search for God, communications, or justice. Blending audio and visual stimuli by means of slide projectors, tape decks synchronized through dissolve units (but which are sometimes incompatible with units locally available), “shorts” present a crisp, delicious appetizer for the message of the evening.

The philosophy behind multimedia shorts is that all of the “message” need not be presented when the youth leader or pastor stands up to speak. “Shorts,” like properly selected music, should be used to create an appetite in the heart and mind of the hearer.

Two of the leading producers of multi-media shorts are the Chicago Multi-Media Company, 6648 North Odell, Chicago, Illinois 60631, 312-775-4265, and Trans Light Media Associates, 1 N 045 Morse Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, 312-690-7962. Both producers have catalogues available upon request.

Teacher training materials from independent publishers have come a long way since the first materials were published by Clarence Benson in the thirties. International Center for Learning, the training arm of Gospel Light, has produced an excellent set of training kits that combine cassettes, overhead transparencies, tapes, posters, and complete lesson plans for four basic age groups: early childhood, children, youth, and adults. Each kit provides filmstrips on characteristics of the learner, how he learns, and specialized aspects of the learning process. Though fairly expensive ($59.95) the materials perhaps are the most complete training resources available apart from denominational sources.

In addition, at the conclusion of each year ICL is making available films from their well-received training seminars. Thirteen films are presently available, most of which are demonstrations of what can be done with the teaching hour. Though these films are not high-budget productions, the research behind them and the concepts portrayed are valuable to the local church or denominational training program.

Scripture Press Ministries similarly has produced training materials in their Teacher Development series. Each module in the series (nursery, preprimary, primary, and junior) provides an 80-frame filmstrip, cassette, leader’s guide, and resource booklet on the particular age group. The narrow age group focus and relatively low price ($14.95) may make the Teacher Development Modules attractive to Sunday schools that are seeking to provide basic training for new Sunday school teachers.

Appreciating the World God Made represents perhaps the first time the Genesis Project (5201 Leesburg Pk., Suite #800, Falls Church, Va. 22041) has put together a package the average church can afford. Built around Creation as filmed for the New Media Bible, the package appears to be a creative method for marketing a super-8mm version of the film on Genesis 1 and 2; accompanying guide books are extremely thin from an educational standpoint.

The Genesis Project has taken as its objective “to translate the written language of the entire Holy Scriptures to the language of motion pictures, image by image, Book by Book, without elaboration or distortion.” Appreciating the World God Made is merely a small, but attractively packaged part of this enormous project.

With some creative revisions, the package could be used for adult education, worship services, or any one of a variety of educational functions for children (VBS, camp, released time, classes, confirmation classes). When viewed as a permanent curriculum purchase, the $295.00 price tag begins to sound quite feasible.

White Lion Pictograph has emerged in the likeness of an alley cat in its musical allegory, A Music Box in Chicago (28 minutes, $38 U.S., $42 Canada). Despite press release claims that the “film is the first of its kind to incorporate gospel music and jazz dance into a simple story about the joy of the Christian life,” the production hardly does justice to the noble idea.

Set in the snow-covered streets and alleys of the inner city of Chicago, producers J. Robinson, and Wendell and Marge Moody have used expressive gospel music, written by Charles Johnson and performed by the Sensational Nightingales, along with creative jazz dance techniques choreographed by Emmy Award-winner Gus Giordano, to contrast with the bleak existence of an assembly line worker. Unfortunately, the story line is so thin, the acting is so wooden, parable so obvious that the movie leaves the viewer with little to think about after the music fades into the cacophony of city life.

Music Box will appeal to audiences where cultural trappings have not inhibited spontaneous responses of joy as long as the quality of the parable is not compared with the works of Calvin Miller or C. S. Lewis. While White Lion Pictograph (146 Melrose Place, San Antonio, Texas 78212) is to be saluted for the innovation it attempts in Christian cinematography, the company will need to invest more heavily in the basics in order to produce a greater pride in its Lion.