Publication of the Hunt Report on police reorganization in Northern Ireland sparked disorders in the Shankill Road area of Belfast, resulting in the death of a policeman and two civilians. The vigorous counter-measures taken by the military authorities have drawn protest even from moderate Protestant representatives.

Typical is this remark by the Reverend David McKee, of First Lurgan Presbyterian Church, to the army commander: “If the Royal Ulster Constabulary had used a fraction of the force in Bogside which your men have used in Shankill, the world press, and especially the English press, would have branded them as murderers and oppressors.”

One measure adopted by authorities to reduce tension is the early weekend closing of Belfast liquor stores; since its adoption, there scarcely has been any disturbance in the city. Another restriction prompted by the disturbed conditions is a ban on discharging fireworks; this is to last till the end of the year.

S. W. MURRAY

“Do not fold, spindle, or mutilate” may become a requirement for students of Christian apologetics if Walter R. Martin has his way. The general director of Christian Research Institute would like to see an international computer network established to aid scholars. Last September the New Jersey institute sponsored a European conference to consider how churches use computers.

Martin anticipates that smaller computers (within ten years they will be about the size of a briefcase) can be linked to a central memory bank from which students can draw theological information. Already the CRI has conducted seminars demonstrating information retrieval from text of the New English Bible stored in computers.

Last month a United Methodist Church committee approved “in principle” a plan to computerize personnel information for the denomination. In addition, American Baptists, United Presbyterians, Episcopalians, the Lutheran Church in America, and the United Church of Christ are considering whether computerized methods could help them screen ministers for pulpits and special ministries, and find laymen to fill church posts.

The Word of God (New English Bible translation) will be under wraps until next March 16, the day the complete NEB will be ready for public consumption.

Publication and sale of this translation from the original tongues will mark the completion of work begun twenty-four years ago when the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland proposed that a new version of the Bible be made “in the language of the present day.”

The NEB New Testament came off the press March 14, 1961, jointly published by the Oxford and Cambridge University Presses, publishers also of the upcoming volumes. Some seven million copies had been sold by this month, 2,750,000 of them in the United States.

The Joint Committee—representatives of the Protestant churches of the British Isles that first proposed the translation and have directed its work—will sponsor a dedication service March 16 in Westminster Abbey, London. Only a few selected scholars have seen advance copies of the new texts, which are expected to cause some controversy in conservative circles.

The complete NEB will be published in two editions: the standard edition, the Bible in one volume, available with and without the Apocrypha (1,818 pages with, 1,534 without); and the library edition of three volumes, Old Testament (1,390 pages), Apocrypha (376), and New Testament (447). Standard editions (with Apocrypha) will cost $9.95; the three volumes of the library edition will cost a total of $19.85. A New Testament second edition in paperback will be $1.75.

A spokesman said New Testament revisions (about 100) are “minor,” with the possible exception of the Luke “Christmas story,” which in revised form is “more traditional.” Textual comparisons are closely guarded secrets until publication date.

The NEB will continue a single-column page.Footnotes in the Old Testament NEB will give cross-references to parallel passages, indicate where verses or parts of verses have been transposed, and indicate variant readings and what translators consider “probable correction of the text where the Hebrew and ancient versions cannot be convincingly translated as they stand.”

The Holiness Methodist Church now has been absorbed by the Evangelical Church of North America. The Holiness Church, with 1,000 members in twenty-seven congregations, had its greatest strength in Minnesota, with churches also in Oregon, Washington, and Montana.

The Evangelical Church was formed a little over a year ago when a group of churches—mainly in Oregon, Washington, and Montana—opted out of the Methodist—Evangelical United Brethren merger. Forty-six congregations then broke away and paid the United Methodist Church about $700,000 for church property.

The Evangelical Church now has three conferences—Portland, Montana, and Central—with plans for a fourth in Pennsylvania. A spokesman says there are 106 churches and a nationwide membership of about 10,000. The Evangelical Church received the Holiness Methodist Church at a meeting of the former’s conference superintendents.

How should Americans deal with the problems of American society: resignation? revolution? or reconciliation? This question engaged some 250 student leaders from the nation’s campuses at a recent three-day gathering in Washington, D. C.

The meeting, sponsored by the Washington-based National Student Leadership Seminar, a loosely organized student group, was the culmination of several smaller regional gatherings. The students met with other students and several government leaders to discuss problems of American society and how to confront them: resignation from reality, or revolution through destruction of the existing order. But program planners presented a third alternative: reconciliation through “the redeeming love of Christ operating through a new humanity which his love creates.”

Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer, director of L’Abri Fellowship in Huemoz, Switzerland, set the tone in an address dealing with the international student revolt. Tracing the historical and philosophical background leading to current student frustration, he pointed to the need for reconciliation based on a different kind of revolution: a Christian revolution that avoids mere pious words or “contentless” religion. This revolution must be based on biblical Christianity, which alone is able to provide an adequate basis for reality, morals, law, and social action, he said.

The noted Christian author and theologian pointed out three paths for Christians: (1) They can be “co-belligerent” with those who oppose social wrongs, but they cannot ally themselves with those who operate from presuppositions opposing the Christian faith. (2) The Church must show that it takes seriously the content of the Christian faith by refusing to compromise with non-truth. (3) The Church must demonstrate the kind of community the rest of humanity works for but cannot achieve.RICHARD L. LOVE

A group of evangelicals who are building a twin-engine airplane especially designed for missionary use are encouraged with the performance of their prototype. The plane was taken to South America this past summer and successfully tested under rugged conditions.

“The plane performed excellently,” a spokesman said. “There were no serious problems.”

The craft, known as the “Evangel,” flew between a number of mission stations in Colombia and Peru. Its first “missionary flight” was made to carry Candoshi Scriptures over 275 miles of Peruvian jungle. Passengers included missionaries, translators, government officials, tribesmen, and a gunshot victim. The plane carried cargo ranging from fifty-five-gallon drums of fuel to baskets of eggs. The only reported mishap occurred when the plane slid into a ditch at the edge of a slick, sloping runway. A damaged flap was quickly repaired.

The plane flew across the Peruvian Andes at 20,000 feet and seemed to adapt equally well to snow showers and tropical rainstorms. Takeoff ability from jungle airstrips was described as even better than expected.“Evangel” producers still are working to receive certification from the Federal Aviation Agency. Complicated structural testing is one prerequisite.