Magazines are made up of people, people who marry and have children, people who grow older and one day retire. Earlier this year our faithful production coordinator retired after long years of service. Now our publisher, Wilbur Benedict, has come to the time of retirement. His service to the magazine will end December 31.

Mr. Benedict came to CHRISTIANITY TODAY seven years ago having retired from the Curtis Publishing Company, where he spent many fruitful years of service. He brought with him extensive knowledge of the publishing field, managerial skill, and a splendid disposition that endeared him to the editors and the staff. His going will leave a gaping hole in our ranks, and he will be missed by us all.

In his place the Board of Directors has selected David Rehmeyer, a former naval commander who has had a wealth of experience in the publishing field and will continue uninterruptedly the pattern of leadership established by his predecessor. Mr. Rehmeyer, a Lutheran, has been serving as our advertising manager. His selection is an indication of the high regard in which he is held. Since an editor must work closely with the one to whom the business affairs of the magazine are committed, it is a personal pleasure to honor Mr. Benedict and to welcome Mr. Rehmeyer, both of whom are dedicated Christian gentlemen.

In a remarkable book published some years ago, Canon Roger Lloyd makes an archdemon instruct subordinates on an ancient and effective piece of satanic strategy. “Insert yourself into the simple situations which call for plain and obvious duties,” urges this devil, “and complicate them, and complicate them again, until at last no one involved in them can make sense of the confusion.” Even the title of the volume is peculiarly relevant to Northern Ireland at present, for The Troubling of the City is surely the true theme of daily press reports on the continuing tragedy of Belfast and Londonderry.

What, I wonder, did my American friends make of the conflicting views on the Ulster situation presented to them in recent months by Bernadette Devlin and Ian Paisley? The fact that neither of the two is exactly inarticulate would ensure that at least the political complexity of the situation came across. The ensuing bewilderment may remind some of the woman who asked Dean Acheson to explain a diplomatic problem. He did. Thanking him warmly, she said, “I am still confused, but at a much higher level.”

Both the Catholic girl politician and the Protestant pastor claim to be acting in the name of their religion, but in their interpretation of that religion the one owes as little to Francis of Assisi as the other does to Kagawa of Japan. Both Irish protagonists revive a fallacious concept of the Holy War. “I want you to fill your pockets with stones and carry a petrol bomb in each hand,” was the song of Bernadette to Londonderry Catholics. At the same time Pastor Paisley was reportedly telling Protestants in Belfast: “We are at a state of war and I believe there should be no comfort or succour or help given to the enemy.” The enemy referred to is not, of course, the occupying British troops or the police, but those the speaker has referred to delicately as “blaspheming, cursing, spitting, Roman scum.”

Yet Mr. Paisley, unlike Miss Devlin, has not recently tottered into vogue. He is no Ian-come-lately but was stirring things up when there was comparative peace in Ulster. With admirable impartiality he has attacked Roman Catholicism, the outlawed Irish Republican Army, the legal government of Eire (Southern Ireland), Communism, waverers in the Belfast Unionist government, and the ecumenical movement and its local subsidiaries. At times he gives the impression that the whole lot is in league against what he calls the Protestant constitution of Ulster Let no one imagine he is parochially minded, however. Besides his setting America to rights on the subject, he and his men have been engaged in such activities as: reading Revelation 17 (in English) in St. Peter’s Square, Rome; disrupting a session of the Church of Scotland General Assembly; making an outcry in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, by verbally consigning a visiting popish cardinal to the bad fire; taking over an ancient Irish city in order to thwart a civil-rights demonstration; and consistently with violence opposing pressmen in the execution of their duty. Thus suppressing free speech in others, he was outraged when others employed the same tactics against him and he was summarily bundled out of Italy and Switzerland, which governments all loyal Protestants know to be the pliable tools of the Pope and the WCC.

It was, indeed, “an ecclesiastical plot stemming from the World Council of Churches” that he alleges was responsible for his conviction and imprisonment for unlawful assembly in 1966.

A letter in a British religious weekly takes up the cudgels (an apt word under the circumstances) on behalf of Pastor Paisley. The writer is concerned to show that some have been converted in his services, and that “others can testify to deliverance from alcoholism, brutality, gambling, smoking, and occasionally loose living.” No one, to my knowledge, has ever sought to deny this side of the pastor’s activities, but the minister who engages in politics cannot rightfully carp if such secular involvement is assessed and reported in the press in the same way as that of any other aspirant to public office. Mr. Paisley, it should be noted, has vowed to “root out that nest of traitors” when he gets into the Northern Ireland parliament (he was narrowly defeated earlier this year).

A few weeks ago Ian Paisley told a congregation in Belfast that “what we need is another Cromwell.” Modestly he proposed no candidate, but this may be just as well, for Cromwell showed a degree of toleration, having had some harsh things to say against religious bigotry. It was, indeed, to more authentic Presbyterians than Mr. Paisley that Cromwell addressed the exasperated plea: “I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken.”

Wherein lies Paisley’s appeal? The nail was hit on the head by the Dean of Belfast’s Protestant cathedral three years ago, when he addressed some forthright words to members of the Orange Order. Said the Very Rev. John Nolan: “The great menace to the Protestant religion today is the ‘nominal’ Protestant,” one who thinks that Protestantism simply means “waving a flag, beating a drum, hurling abuse and chanting vulgar slogans,” whose lack of knowledge makes him “a prey to every peddler of religion who comes along with his distorted views, half-truths, and catch phrases.”

Paisley gets his headlines by leading in Ulster a popular political cause when what Ulster needs is someone to lead an unpopular religious cause. He himself could do the latter if he would remember that the divine Word he carries about with him calls to a higher allegiance than the Ulster constitution.

The other day I read a little magazine published by the Baptist Association of Southern Ireland. Referring to the Christian’s contribution to the restoration and maintenance of civil order, the editorial in the Southern Record quotes some wise words: “Never with the Bible in our hands can we deny rights to another, which under the same circumstances we would claim for ourselves.” It calls on Christians to avoid people and principles that advocate violence and not to try to defend the indefensible, and then continues: “It is foolish for His followers to camouflage the inconsistencies and injustices of any body of people in order to save face.… God’s standards are absolute, not relative.” Pointing out the danger that prejudices will blind Christians to the vision of the lost in Ireland, it concludes: “Our abiding duty is not to shun them but to win them, not to hate them, but to love them, not to destroy them, but to save them.”

In contrast, Miss Devlin’s Christianity fills pockets with stones, hands with petrol bombs. Mr. Paisley’s condemns “comfort or succour or help given to the enemy.” Both are blazingly sincere, both command powerful support, but that modest little magazine has seen through the diabolical and confusing element in both, and got Christian priorities right.

J. D. DOUGLAS

Church Income: Depressing Pinch

Falling income has produced among American church bodies the most serious financial pinch since the depression.

Most major denominations and a number of interdenominational groups, including the National Council of Churches (see October 10 issue, page 44), have been affected. The situation has not yet reached a crisis stage, but many boards and agencies are beginning to make modest cutbacks in expenditures.

The basic source of the churches’ current financial woes is the offering plate. There simply is not as much money in it these days. Rising costs are adding to the problem.

The downward trend in church finance goes back a number of months—in some cases years. Declines have on the whole been slight but steady. A special ad hoc committee was set up in the United Church of Christ to analyze the problem.

The Nixon administration’s battle to curb inflation may be contributing to the woes.

The American Baptist mission budget shows that for the first eight months of 1969 receipts totaled $7,078,718, down from $7,208,490 for the same period last year. Income for August was $677,119, or $68,443 less than was received for the same month a year ago.

“Since February we have had a monthly decrease,” said the Rev. Ralph R. Rott, executive director of the Division of World Mission Support. “At the beginning of the year the decrease was slight, but in August it was 1.1 per cent.”

The Presbyterian Church in the U. S. is also reporting continuing financial problems. The PCUS General Council voted to undertake an “independent” review of a major cutback in the denomination’s Board of Christian Education. In July, the board announced that its program would be reduced by almost one-third, including a 40 per cent cutback in personnel.

Last month, the PCUS Board of World Missions reported a 1968 deficit of more than $600,000, and an anticipated deficit surpassing $500,000 this year. A PCUS spokesman said that in 1970 instead of sending out a projected total of forty-five or fifty new missionaries, the board will send out only about fifteen.

Methodists have not made public any serious financial problems, but one action taken last month suggests they may be anticipating some. The United Methodist Church Program Coordinating Council recommended that the denomination call a halt to its increasing number of national consultations and conventions. “The costs in time, travel, and arrangements are very high for these meetings with results that are sometimes questionable,” said Dr. Paul V. Church, general secretary of the program council.

It is somewhat ironic that the revenue losses are occurring in a year when blacks are demanding “reparations” from the churches. In September, the major target was the new National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D. C. (see story below). Dr. Carl McIntire also won attention with a reparations demand of his own at Riverside Church, New York.

Another financial problem for churches, this one mostly at the level of local congregations, has to do with mortgage money for new construction. High interest rates are discouraging. Moreover, banks are reportedly becoming more reluctant to lend money to churches. A specialist in church finance recently wrote in a banking magazine that churches have become bad risks because “a sophisticated generation” is disenchanted with church institutions. The question is thus raised whether the next generation will be willing to pick up the tab for current expenditures. As bank loan possibilities decline, more churches are beginning to issue bonds on their own or with professional help.

Tax reform, currently under consideration in Congress, may curtail income in some churches. Deduction exemptions, however, will probably not be significantly affected.

Of some concern is the Walz case now being argued before the U. S. Supreme Court (see July 18 issue, page 38). Theoretically, the court’s ruling in this case could end tax exemption for churches. Few observers anticipate such a decision, but there is cause for concern in that the court agreed to hear the case, and four justices had to agree to that.

Brother, Can You Spare $2 Million?

The doors of the National Presbyterian Church swung open to worshipers for the first time, and Dr. Edward L. R. Elson, pastor, declared that the new $8.5 million complex was for “all God’s people” (see September 26 issue, page 44). Exactly three weeks later, the Washington, D. C., chairman of the Black United Front (a Methodist minister) exhorted the congregation to pay $2 million in “reparations” to help “rebuild the burned-out places” of the city.

The money, said the Rev. Douglas Moore, ultimately would go to the Black Economic Development Conference, the organization spearheading a national drive for billions from the nation’s churches. Elson—who said Moore had asked to speak at the service and subsequently was invited—demurred on the $2 million request, noting that the congregation couldn’t vote on such an action. He promised to forward the demand to United Presbyterian governing bodies “where the decisions are made.”

Other Washington, D.C., area churches were targets for Black United Front reparations demands last month, and the week before the National Presbyterian confrontation, Washington synagogues were asked for $10 million.

On Worldwide Communion Sunday, BUF representatives hit Washington Cathedral (the national Episcopal church) and Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church for $2 million each. Cathedral dean Francis B. Sayre said the cathedral was “not a collection agency” and could not liquidate its assets.

Lumps For COCU

The letter to participants in the National Conference on Program made up of leaders from the nine Protestant denominations in the Consultation on Church Union (COCU) outlined the goals:

“We are in Cincinnati (Sept. 30–Oct. 2) to explore how we might correlate some of our engagement in mission and to seek ways to draw our resources together in a way that could even now, prior to church union, make it possible for us to work in total mission through new relationships.”

Dr. Kenneth G. Neigh, general secretary of the United Presbyterian Board of National Mission, had a simple suggestion: Bypass COCU.

Neigh, a blunt-spoken bureaucrat who seems to be able to set long-fused bombshells and then get out of the building before the explosion, told the 150 delegates listening to a panel discussion: “The age of Blake and Pike doesn’t necessarily coincide with the Age of Aquarius.” (It was a sermon preached by the Rev. Eugene Carson Blake, Presbyterian, in the church of then Episcopal Bishop James Pike that launched COCU nine years ago.)

Neigh said COCU is “faith and order oriented” and could not be an effective ecumenical vehicle for countering the crisis in society because it is “missing two of the most vigorous, creative and far-sighted groups of all Protestant communions,” the Baptists and the Lutherans—not to mention the Roman Catholics.

“We are past the ‘my how we love each other’ stage and down to the nitty-gritty. And there probably is going to be union de facto long before ecclesiastical statutes can be tidied up enough to admit union de jure.”

He credited James Forman and the Black Manifesto with revitalizing the National Council of Churches. “The NCC has brought the conciliar movement back into a kind of currency and importance it was losing. The NCC in its restructure and re-examination probably will emerge, and probably ought to emerge, as [the] arena” for social action by like-minded groups—both religious and secular.

“Somewhere, somehow, some group has to develop a valid doctrine of the Holy Spirit or we are dead, and someone must develop a valid doctrine of the Church,” he said, indicating that as the role of COCU. He added that it took three years to set up the COCU-sponsored program conference—and action groups can’t wait that long.

COCU also got its lumps from youth and the blacks. Leila Fenhagen, 18, the youngest, and by far the prettiest delegate, expressed doubt about the future of COCU in an interview.

“How can you have denominational union when we don’t even have individual church union?” asked the mini-skirted teen-ager from Spartanburg, South Carolina. “Every church has to deal with the problems of the blacks and the youth today if it is to be relevant. Great Scott! There’s so much to be done. COCU would be worthwhile if it happens soon. The Church needs a traumatic experience, and maybe COCU is it,” she said, somewhat ambiguously.

Paul Melrose, a student at New York’s Union Theological Seminary who sat on the youth panels, filled the role of flagellant at the conference. He lashed out at society for permitting the Viet Nam war, the Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinations, and the Green Beret murder. “COCU might be some place if they decided to take some action before leaving Cincinnati,” Melrose said. “Do something in support of the Viet Nam moratorium. If you do, you might restore some of our faith in the Church.” They didn’t.

The Rev. E. Franklin Jackson, secretary of the connectional budget board of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, said the question is, “What will COCU share with the black church and how much is it ready to accept? There has been so little recognition of what the black church has to offer.” He said the COCU book of worship failed to include even one spiritual. “It didn’t have soul,” he said.

Lucius Pitts, a student from Miles College in Birmingham, was more kind to COCU. “I hope COCU can be formed because in our present society it is needed.” (One delegate later remarked, “Did you ever notice how much more compassionate the blacks are than the white youths?”)

In its concluding session, the conference asked the participating denominations to name a nine-member steering committee to “stimulate, observe, and evaluate existing and innovative united planning and action.” The delegates noted that “in some communities collaboration of parishes and congregations in mission enterprises has far outstripped concerted national church efforts.” United planning and action were urged in the areas of youth ministry, economic development, theological education, collaboration between whites and blacks and other minority groups, education, and peace.

JAMES ADAMS

Unexpected Kudos

Christian missionary efforts in Africa received plaudits from an unexpected source when an African head of state visited Canada in September. The visitor, President Diori Hamani of the Republic of Niger, is a Muslim.

President Diori especially requested the Canadian government to include a visit to the Toronto headquarters of the Sudan Interior Mission on his itinerary. During his visit to the aging red brick building in downtown Toronto, he invested SIM general director Dr. Raymond J. Davis as an officer of the National Order of the Republic of Niger, one of the country’s highest honors.

The award was made to Davis, declared the Niger president, in appreciation of the SIM missionaries’ contributions to his country. Niger, with a population of four million, has one of the world’s highest illiteracy rates (99.1 per cent) and an average life expectancy of thirty-seven years.

The SIM operates the only leprosarium in the country, one of Niger’s three hospitals, an agricultural school, a Bible school, and four other schools. Fifty-three SIM missionaries work in the country.

The Niger president did not confine his praise to the headquarters’ visit: at a government dinner in his honor, he devoted most of his address to lauding the missionaries’ work. “The seeds of kindness sown by these missionaries long before we became independent have been a factor in the friendly relations we now enjoy with your government,” he told the legislators.

Christian missionary work has been assailed as an expression of Western colonialism; this Muslim head of state pointed to the other side of the coin.

LESLIE K. TARR

Publications: What’s New

A new magazine called Letterman will be launched in February with sports news for 2.5 million high-school athletes. Paul D. Nyberg, for ten years editor of Venture, became publisher of the new publication last month after leaving the staff of the Christian Service Brigade.

The bimonthly will be mailed to boys after they qualify for its free distribution through high-school coaches. An initial circulation of one million is contemplated. Wheaton College veteran coach and athletic director Harvey C. Chrouser is president of Letterman Publications, Inc., formed to own and publish Letterman.

Starting with the December issue, Faith at Work magazine will be published jointly by the Faith at Work organization and Word, Inc. A new editorial board will add Keith Miller. Kenneth Chafin. Ben C. Johnson, and Jarrel McCracken to the Faith at Work staff. Rodeheaver, publisher of sacred music, is now a division of Word.

In another cooperative venture, next January John Knox Press of the Southern Presbyterian Church and the United Presbyterian Westminster Press will join sales forces. And a new magazine called Church and Society—continuing the sixty-year history of the United Presbyterian Social Progress—will be issued six times a year beginning in January by agencies of both denominations.

Christian Times readers this month received the first renovated issue of the Tyndale House publication. The four-page center section, which adds 50 per cent more space, is designed as an evangelism piece for the readers to pass along. Expansion involves an arrangement between Tyndale House and Harvest Publications in which Christian Times acquired the editorial service of Today editor David Olson and his editorial staff at Harvest’s Chicago offices. Olson has become editor of both Christian Times and Today; Don Crawford, who edited the Christian Times since its inception in 1967, is now specializing in book writing.

Charter subscribers to Context, “a continuing survey of Protestant trends and opinions” edited by theologian-editor-historian Martin E. Marty, were to receive the first issue of the twice-monthly newsletter this month.

Meanwhile in London, a new, interdenominational, evangelical weekly began publication October 3. The Christian Record is produced by the Church of England Newspaper. Managing Editor John Capon, 31, expects the new venture to fill a gap created last June when The Christian and Christianity Today was terminated (see June 20 issue, page 31).

Roman Synod: Room For Democracy?

Weeks before the October 11 opening of the Roman Catholic Synod of Bishops, liberal and conservative prelates scheduled to attend the international gathering in Rome had already drawn up battle lines for a possible showdown.

For example:

The church has “absolutely no room for democracy” in its structure, declared Joseph Cardinal Siri, Archbishop of Genoa and a conservative leader of the rigid Roman Curia. The non-democratic character of the church, he added, is the will of God and this “we cannot change and may not change.”

Other prelates disagreed. Among them was the popular and outspoken Leo Joseph Cardinal Suenens, Primate of Belgium, who earlier had published an extensive criticism of the Curia and urged greater “co-responsibility” in the church.

And a symposium of bishops, theologians, and canon lawyers meeting in Dayton, Ohio, last month, urged Pope Paul VI to allow greater authority for the Synod of Bishops. At least twenty-three hierarchies, including that of the United States, reportedly have asked that the Pope consult with national bishops’ conferences before making major pronouncements.

At the Dayton meeting, a statement issued by Bishop Alexander Carter, chief prelate of Canada, and fourteen American scholars recommended that full supreme power for governing the church belong to the whole episcopate. The Pope’s supremacy is “a primacy within rather than over” the rest of the universal body of bishops, the statement said.

The decision to call the synod into extraordinary session was made after a number of national hierarchies issued differing interpretations of the pontiff’s 1968 birth-control encyclical.

The official agenda for the meeting (a closely guarded secret until it leaked out) curiously did not mention either the birth-control issue or the celibacy of priests—two flash points of recent months. According to the Vatican, the main topic for the prelates was to be the relation between the national conferences of bishops and the Holy See, as well as among the conferences themselves.

The debate on authority was expected to surface during discussion of the requirement that national hierarchies obtain clearance from Rome “before publishing any declaration on a grave matter” (a Vatican recommendation).

Six American prelates, including John Cardinal Dearden, president of the U. S. hierarchy, were to be among the 146 bishops, fifteen Eastern Rite bishops, heads of fifteen Vatican departments, and several others named by the Pope to attend the synod.

As tension mounted last month between those who advocated stronger papal authority and those who plumped for greater sharing of it, a rival conference of progressive European Catholic priests was set to open three days earlier. The “little synod”—also to be in Rome—was called for at a “rump assembly” of priests held in Chur, Switzerland, last summer when the Second Symposium of European Bishops met there. Celibacy, birth control, and mixed marriage were set as agenda items for the proposed rival meeting in an attempt to steal thunder from the Bishops.

The Hindu-Muslim Conflict

Armed forces quelled violence in northern India last month, just in time for the centennial of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth on October 2. Sites of the rioting between Hindus and Muslims included Ahmedabad, the city in which Gandhi lived during the early years of his nonviolent struggle for India’s independence.

Cows typically touched off the disorders: when they wandered into prayer areas, Muslims killed them, thereby inviting retaliation from Hindus, who consider the cow sacred.

But the hostility goes deeper. Muslims moving from farm to city often feel at a disadvantage because Hindus have traditionally been India’s businessmen and because in India jobs usually come through caste connections. Also, Muslims have resented the removal of Urdu to unofficial status; their language was once the dominant one in northern India. Further, Muslims see Jan Sangh party efforts to change India from a pluristic state to a Hindu country as a threat to their participation in Indian life.

Although Muslims make up only 11 per cent of India’s population, they number 55 million. Only Pakistan and Indonesia have more Muslims. In a message to the Indian government, Pakistan expressed “deep concern” at the Hindu-Muslim riots and asked protection for Muslims and their property. Unofficial figures listed more than 350 dead and 700 injured before the army intervened in the disorders.

Joining A Higher League

The English soccer world has been rocked by the decision of two top players to leave the game for full-time service with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Last month, heedless of pleas from the giant crowd that included many tearful girl fans, 23-year old Peter Knowles played his last game for Wolverhampton. Two weeks later Bobby Tambling, 28, of Chelsea, an all-England forward, also decided to quit a lucrative career, be baptized, and give 150 hours a month as a “pioneer” with the sect. His pay would be $5.88 a month with $72 annual clothing allowance.

From London’s $720,000 Watchtower House a spokesman denied special efforts to convert famous sportsmen, but football officials are skeptical of the disclaimer. “If any player is approached by these people we would welcome a chat with him before he gets too involved,” says Cliff Lloyd, secretary of the professional footballers’ association. Meanwhile managers are understandably jumpy; as someone has said, they never know when a player will enter their office with the announcement: “I would like to pray with the Jehovah’s Witnesses next season.”

J. D. DOUGLAS

Whither Parochial Pupils?

Should the federal government provide money for public schools facing heavy enrollment increases because of the closing of parochial schools?

Yes, says Dr. Glenn L. Archer, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“Every child coming from a parochial school must have a guaranteed place available to him in the public school,” said Archer. He suggested establishment of local contingency funds to meet emergencies and said that the money should be provided by the federal government, by the state, or by a combination of both.

He called the “impacted aid” principle a precedent for such funding. It provides special help from Washington for school boards in areas where sudden influxes of population have been brought about by federal agencies.

Religion In Transit

The Rev. James E. Groppi said he was “happy” to go to jail in Madison, Wisconsin, and refused $50 bond to carry out his “holy act.” The militant Roman Catholic priest, protesting Wisconsin welfare cuts, was arrested for disorderly conduct early this month and cited for contempt of the Wisconsin State Assembly when he led demonstrators into the assembly chamber. The citation, first ever issued under an 1848 law, could keep the Milwaukee priest behind bars for six months without a trial.

As predicted (see September 12 issue, page 50), Paul C. Allen resigned as editor of the American Baptist newsmagazine Crusader to become an editorial writer for three Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, newspapers.

The Senate has passed and sent to the House of Representatives a liberalized food-stamp program that, among other things, will allow churches and other nonprofit agencies to administer food-stamp programs and to serve meals to elderly persons in exchange for food stamps.

Madalyn Murray O’Hair listed 20,000 people who oppose religious broadcasts from Apollo space flights. Family Radio Stations in San Francisco used a one-and-a-half-ton truck to send NASA more than 300,000 approving letters received since it began “Project Astronaut.”

A Maryland church runs a play of its own during Baltimore Colts football games. The first Baptist Church of Cambridge sponsors games broadcast over radio station WCEM with one-minute “commercials”—testimonies of professional football players geared to sports fans.

The largest Sunday school in the United States is that of Akron (Ohio) Baptist Temple, with an average attendance of 5,763. Seven of the top ten Sunday schools fall within a 500-mile radius of Cincinnati, Ohio; nine are Baptist.

The Delaware Department of Justice dropped a blasphemy charge against a high-school student, explaining that the 143-year-old statute was probably unconstitutional. William F. Bertolette was co-publisher of an underground high-school newspaper that contained an article referring to Jesus as a bastard.

A common Communion cup may spread infection, according to the report of a test conducted at Bethesda Lutheran Hospital in St. Paul.

American families should have only two children, urges a resolution passed in a special meeting of the Association for Voluntary Sterilization.

Deaths

JAMES C. BAKER, 90, retired Methodist bishop, founder of the Wesley Foundation movement on college and university campuses; in Pomona, California.

HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK, 91, author, leader of the fundamentalist-modernist controversy, founding pastor of Riverside Church in New York City; in Bronxville, New York (see editorial, page 31).

M. WILLARD LAMPE, 86, organizer and longtime director of the University of Iowa’s School of Religion; in Iowa City.

JOE EMERSON ROSE, 67, radio gospel singer of the thirties heard nationally on “A Word and a Song” and “Hymns of All Churches”; in Waynesville, North Carolina.

Personalia

On the last Sunday in September the Rev. Allan R. Watson, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, became the first ordained Baptist minister to conduct White House services. The previous week’s speaker was Dr. Charles H. Malik, a Greek Orthodox layman from Lebanon who formerly was president of the United Nations General Assembly.

Dr. Frank E. Farrell, at one time on the staff of CHRISTIANITY TODAY, has assumed duties as associate editor of World Vision Magazine after a stint at Gospel Light Publications.

Judson College will get a new president in December. Dr. Harm A. Weber will leave Covenant Baptist Church of Detroit, one of the largest in the American Baptist Convention, to head the liberal-arts college in Elgin, Illinois.

Evangelist Monroe Parker has been appointed general director of Baptist World Mission. The fundamentalist preacher will continue his evangelistic ministry while directing the mission from its new headquarters in Decatur, Alabama.

At an appreciation dinner in Chicago, Dr. Clyde W. Taylor, general secretary of the National Association of Evangelicals, was honored for a quarter century of service.

Dr. Kent S. Knutson was installed as president of 116-year-old Wartburg Theological Seminary last month. The theologian is the American Lutheran seminary’s ninth president.

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale presented the Good Samaritan Trophy of Guideposts magazine to United Methodist clergyman Dr. John L. Peters, president of World Neighbors.

The world’s oldest continuous gospel radio program, the late Charles E. Fuller’s “Old Fashioned Revival Hour,” has a new name, “The Joyful Sound,” and a new speaker, David Allan Hubbard, president of Fuller Theological Seminary.

Baylor University religion professor Kyle Yates has retired to write and preach at Bible conferences. Yates, a contributing editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY, served on a committee to produce the Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

Waterloo Lutheran University in Ontario will confer an honorary doctor of divinity degree on Paul-Emile Cardinal Leger next month. The former Roman Catholic archbishop of Montreal is visiting Canada this fall for the first time since he left in 1967 to minister to lepers in Cameroon, Africa.

World Scene

In the Philippines, two rival congressional candidates met for prayer before a political debate. The interreligious assembly sponsoring the politics-with-prayer program hopes to avoid the gun battles that accompanied 1965 elections.

Dr. Lars Thunberg, director of Scandinavia’s Ecumenical Institute in Sweden, anticipates a Scandinavian Church Council composed of denominations presently part of the World Council of Churches. Still uncertain is the status of the Roman Catholic Church.… Baptist seminaries in Sweden have a combined enrollment for the current year of seventy-two. For the first time a woman is president of the student body at one of the two seminaries.

Rumors that the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs plans to put a synagogue in the cellars of the Al Aqsa Mosque are “completely baseless,” said Dr. Zerah Wahrhaftig. The ministry head recalled that the chief rabbis had specifically forbidden Jews to enter the Temple Mountain area where the mosque is located. An Australian Christian is on trial for arson in the September burning of the mosque.

One of the last links between East and West Germany was broken when Communist pressure split the German Evangelical Church last month. Dr. Albrecht Schoenherr, formerly administrator of the eastern portion of the divided Berlin-Brandenburg diocese, was elected to the top post of the new Federation of Evangelical Churches in East Germany.

Bands, bunting, and Bob Jones, Jr., opened the Rev. Ian Paisley’s new church (estimated by Religious News Service to cost $420,000) in Belfast, Ireland. After a clash with police during the processional to the church, an estimated 6,000 persons from Northern Ireland, Scotland, and the United States overflowed into two tents to hear the president of Bob Jones University (Greenville, South Carolina) preach.

The vote planned for next May on union of English Presbyterians and Congregationalists has been postponed until 1971 because of legal issues.

“If this town is a microcosm of what can happen in the big cities across the nation,” the Rev. Larry Potts said, “then pity this poor country of ours.” Larry Potts loves Cairo, Illinois. And ask people in the city of approximately 10,000 what they think of Larry Potts and it becomes clear that Cairo loves the American Baptist minister.

That is, one segment of Cairo does. To the rest, he symbolizes what they’re literally up in arms about. The United Front says people like him are keeping Negroes and whites apart in Cairo, and keeping Negroes and the poorest of the poor whites from breaking through the equality barrier.

With only a cursory look at the years of racial strife in this moribund, economically depressed city, one would suspect there might be something to the United Front’s allegations. Newspaper accounts of what’s been going on in Cairo lead to only one conclusion: Potts and the rest of the town’s 60 per cent white population are wrong.

That’s on the surface. A different story—though not clear in all particulars—emerges When one digs beneath the surface. The whites, while far from pristine purity in their attitudes on race, are not so black as the public has become accustomed to hearing. And the blacks, who have some just complaints, may have been led astray by zealous “outsiders.”

Potts killed a man last year, and it has been hard for him to live it down. Disorders had been going on for some time when it happened. One day when his wife came home she found an elderly Negro waiting inside, club in hand, according to Potts. When Potts came on the scene he thought his young wife had been killed, and he grabbed the club and beat the man to death.

Even Potts is not certain whether this was part of the racial violence or just an isolated incident. “I cannot help but think those guys paid that man to do what he did, though,” he says. “Those guys” refers to the United Front of Cairo, headed by the Rev. Charles Keon, who is scheduled for full ordination in the African Methodist Episcopal Church this month. On October 4, during a “parade” marking the sixth month of a nearly total boycott of white merchants, Keon added another notch to his list of arrests. Twenty-three others were arrested with him but were soon bailed out by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a member of the Front.

Keon accuses Illinois Governor Richard B. Ogilvie of being an “enemy of the people” because he will not remove from office certain persons who have refused to give in to United Front demands. He told a press conference in New York, arranged by the National Council of Churches, that Cairo is “one step away from racial warfare.”

Few interviewed by this reporter really believe this to be the situation. “They’re not afraid of the whites,” Potts said. “You know who they’re afraid of? It’s those hoodlums and gangsters that are threatening them.”

Potts was a leader in reviving the “White Hats,” a Civil Defense unit that had been organized in the days of Eisenhower and the Korean conflict. When several fires were set by Negroes and shooting intensified, the group was reorganized. Men stood on the alert on their porches while others guarded intersections.

When Koen and an “outsider,” the Rev. Gerald Montroy, a Diocese of Belleville priest commissioned to work among Negroes in Cairo, protested to the governor, Ogilivie ordered the White Hats unit disbanded on the grounds that it was an intimidation to Negroes.

Since then another group has been formed—United Citizens for Community Action. It is headed by a lumber-firm operator, Bob Cunningham. Under questioning, several members halfway conceded he might be “a little bit on the racist side” but noted that UCCA is primarily concerned with “ending the whole thing.”

Ironically, Cairo’s new mayor, Presbyterian Pete Thomas, was the first to have Koen arrested; this happened when Koen was only seventeen. Thomas has a reputation for being fair-minded, however. In his first month on the job, he named Norman Seavers as the city’s first Negro city councilman.

In its slipping state, Cairo still shows signs of its former prosperity. Before the crippling boycott, the community boasted a $16 million market. But all the “Cairo—Love It or Leave It” signs posted around aren’t helping the city. Many are leaving.

Now, according to Illinois statistics, more than 40 per cent of Cairo’s homes are substandard. Unemployment—about 12 per cent—is second highest in the state. The rate for Negro unemployed males is 20 per cent.

Although it dragged its feet on school integration back in the fifties, Cairo had been making considerable progress in race relations before the outbreaks began two years ago. The school board was half Negro, and so was a city advisory group. Schools had become fully integrated two years ago. More than half the teachers were Negroes.

But as of last month, the schools were almost totally black, though whites still are a majority of the population. Then came Camelot.

Fearful for the welfare of their children in the public schools and of a breakdown in discipline, whites asked Potts to help them. He had a way with kids, they knew, because every Sunday morning one side of his church was filled with young people. Hastily, late last summer, an education wing in his Cairo Baptist Church was turned into classrooms and volunteers put Camelot school into shape.

Now nearly 300 whites attend classes in two buildings. Already the school is being ballyhooed by the United Front as the symbol of white resistance.

Potts insists that as far as he is concerned Negroes may come to the school. “We had to do something,” he said. “The way discipline had broken down … we just had to do something.”

It will take more than a Camelot to solve the city’s problems. And naming a Negro councilman won’t solve much. But at least 95 per cent of the town would give nearly anything to see civil order return. Now, even though the catfish are biting nicely, who has the heart to go fishing—or the nerve?

WILLIAM WILLOUGHBY

In the 1940s. Jack Benny cracked about Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga—then obscure towns on the far, far fringes of greater Los Angeles—being whistle stops near the end of the railroad line. Anaheim, setting of Disneyland, that jewel of make-believe, has come a long way since then. And so has Billy Graham, who returned to the City of the Angels last month, twenty years after his meteoric rise to evangelistic fame began in a large tent at Washington and Hill Streets near the heart of what is now the nation’s third-largest city.¹Graham later filled the Los Angeles Coliseum in a major crusade in 1963 attended by nearly one million persons.

This time, Graham’s record-shattering Southern California crusade (September 26–October 5), was held in gleaming, modernistic Anaheim Stadium, home of the Angels baseball team.

Now 50, the onetime Fuller Brush salesman from North Carolina has preached to more than 50 million people in nearly 200 major crusades and rallies since the September, 1949, “Christ for Greater Los Angeles Campaign”—and the kiss of William Randolph Hearst. After several celebrities professed faith in Christ at that series of meetings, publisher Hearst gave the order: “Puff Graham.” And the young, flashy “Gabriel in gabardine” was catapulted on his way toward national fame as “a new revivalist.” The thrust was clearly of God. Graham firmly believes.

The man, the crusade methods, and the audience have changed dramatically since those early days of sawdust and love offerings. But the charisma and the message are the same. Billy still socks it to ’em with the simple, straightforward Gospel. And the Anaheim crusade shows that America still responds by the stadium-full.

Those who predict the flame-out of Graham evangelism should note the statistics: The ten-day Anaheim attendance swelled to 384,000. The nightly average of 38,400 was some 2,000 higher than the average for twenty-five days in the Coliseum in 1963. About 20,700 persons came forward to make decisions for Christ at Anaheim, three times as many as during the eight-week 1949 Los Angeles campaign (and twice the number at the New York crusade last June).

Visible church opposition to Graham—still evident in conservative Southern California in 1963—had virtually vanished this time around. Two groups that wouldn’t support him then but did this time are the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Conservative Baptist Association.

It was the young people who responded most warmly to the nightly invitations in this crusade, unlike the earlier ones. On one of several “youth nights,” the evangelist, with his 11-year-old son Ned at his side on the flower-banked platform astride second base, proclaimed to his audience (70 per cent under 25): “Jesus offers to young people the greatest challenge in the world.… Tonight I want to tell it to you like it is.”

Then, his resonant voice booming through the three-tiered stands: “There’s a song coming from heaven, and a beat from Christ. What beat are you marching to? Have you committed yourself to Jesus as a Person, the simple Galilean?” Graham stressed that God demands no less than do revolutionaries for their cause today: “God, you see, has always demanded everything.”

Eighty-four per cent of those who walked to the stadium infield in response to the invitation to receive Christ that night were under 25. Forty-two per cent were between 12 and 16, and many were under 12.

Inquirers and counselors in hippie garb were abundant throughout the crusade. A member of the War Lords motorcycle gang who came on a dare from his buddies ended up going forward. A teen-age couple, bound for a drive-in movie, got caught in traffic, were funneled into the stadium—and stayed to make decisions.

A goodly number of Mexican-Americans attended. There was only a sprinkling of Negroes from nearly all-white Orange County; several busloads of blacks came from the Watts section of Los Angeles.

A Marine lieutenant received a standing ovation from a crowd of 54,000 one night, after his stirring testimony of faith and patriotism. He told how he had found Christ after sustaining multiple wounds in Viet Nam. Afterward. Graham said of Lt. Cleve McClary, who lost an arm, an eye, and half his teeth, and who has had sixteen post-battle operations: “He can stand up here and talk about the joy of the Lord with a smile on his face. Christ can do that, and he can do it for you.”

Graham consistently lashed at favorite targets: sex (“a big problem for young people, probably the biggest problem you have”); drugs (“drugs are going to destroy the moral fiber of this country”); drinking (“say ‘no’; people will respect you”); overindulgence (“overeating also is a sin”); pornography; nudity on the stage, perversion on the screen; crime; and lawlessness.

In his final message to a crowd easily the largest ever assembled in Orange County, Graham asserted also that “our beloved America is in trouble” racially (“racial tensions are building in spite of fantastic reparations already paid by thousands of soldiers who died during the Civil War”—an apparent allusion to the James Forman Black Manifesto), and because of the Viet Nam war (“we’re fighting a winless war; I hope it’s the last we’ll ever fight with no intention to win”).

Warning of coming judgment, Graham asked: “Will God spare America? No … not unless there is a national renewal.”

At a final press conference, an obviously ebullient Graham, looking rested, declared that the Anaheim crusade was a high point of his career. “I feel more at home here than any place I’ve ever been,” he said, praising those who had planned the smooth-running crusade and members of the mammoth 7,000-voice choir. He expressed confidence that the $585,000 budget would be met with a surplus to use toward taping the crusade for nationwide television presentation on 350 stations in December (cost: about $1 million).

Was he disappointed that no public figures like gangster Jim Vaus, country-music star Stuart Hamblen, or track great Louis Zamperini had come forward as they did twenty years ago in the big tent?

No, Graham replied, the people whose lives have been changed at Anaheim “will be heard from in ten years.” He added that recently he had met seven men converted at the Los Angeles campaign twenty years ago “who now are pastors in Orange County alone.”

RUSSELL CHANDLER

An Old Tale Lives Again

Passport to Life City: A Modern Pilgrim’s Progress, by Sherwood Eliot Wirt (Harper & Row, 1969, 207 pp., $4.95), is reviewed by Calvin D. Linton, professor of English and dean of the college, The George Washington University, Washington, D. C.

Mr. Wirt, author of five books and editor of two others, fortunately possesses considerable writing ability. He needs it. Anyone who undertakes to write a novel paralleling Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress begins a journey only a little less hazardous than that of the original pilgrim. Bestriding the way are those who have been raised on Bunyan, and for whom even a hint of “improving” the Bedford tinker is of a piece with the work of the eighteenth-century “improvers” of Shakespeare. Looming on the sidelines are those who do not really know Bunyan except as a famous name—as they know Milton and Shakespeare—and who will be misled into thinking that they have now read him in the easy, modern version.

Neither attitude is entirely fair, and Mr. Wirt tries to anticipate both. “The Preacher of Bedford has never needed people like me to explain or interpret him. His genius speaks for itself,” he says in the preface. Rather, he says, “I have written a modern parable to show, if possible, what it means to search for the living God in our generation.… Yet it will be more than obvious that without Bunyan’s masterpiece the present work could not have taken shape. A list of characters and places at the end of the book serves to relate the nomenclature of the two tales.”

So Christian Anders, suffering from a mysterious pain and tightness in his upper spine and shoulders, fearing that the ultimate nuclear conflict is imminent, and living in a petty and nagging domestic situation, climbs into his Mustang one day and sets off aimlessly on the freeway. From the time when he meets Ernie van Gelst (Evangelist), O. B. Stennett (Obstinate), Guy Wise (Wordly Wiseman), and the other classic allegorical characters, the plot unfolds dramatically and quickly. The dialogue is well handled, and the characters are deftly drawn. For the reader ignorant of Bunyan, there would be considerable suspense of the good old-fashioned sort. For the reader familiar with Bunyan, there is the interest of discovering how the author gives immediacy and currency to the old predicaments and themes. Occasionally he needs a new character—one like the seminarian, who dismisses Christian Ander’s newly won faith as possessing “too many a priori’s. You apparently have no doctrine of the church—no sense of living tradition. Where, for example, do you work in the leitourgia, the diakonia, the koinania?” “Maybe,” says a hippie, “we’ll come and picket the place. Have a croak-in.”

It is all done professionally and skillfully. Its evangelical impact will be great on thousands who never have read Bunyan and never will. This reviewer’s reservation is probably wrong-headed and almost entirely sentimental, as sentimental as the remark of Charles Lamb when he thumbed through a brand-new edition of Burton’s Anatomy: “What need was there of unearthing the bones of that fantastic great old man, to expose them in a winding-sheet of the newest fashion.…?” The unsentimental answer, actually, is: “Considerable need—if the modernizer is true to the faith of the original, and able to make the old tale live again. Mr. Wirt is both.

Handbook On Form Criticism

The Growth of the Biblical Tradition: The Form-Critical Method, by Klaus Koch (Scribner, 1969, 233 pp., $5.95), is reviewed by Meredith G. Kline, professor of Old Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Wenham, Massachusetts.

If somebody is looking for a very thorough introductory handbook on the form-critical method of biblical research, here is his book. The frequent long sections set out in small type and the generally cumbersome presentation may not excite the reader’s gratitude, but in this area one does not have much choice. And that is precisely why many seminary teachers will welcome this translation of the second edition (1967) of a widely used German work. Though it is mainly concerned with the Old Testament, illustrative excursions into the New suggest the broader applicability of the form-critical method and reflect the interrelationship between research in the two Testaments done along these lines, largely in the twentieth century.

Those with high views of biblical inspiration should not be turned off by the suggestion that the Scriptures be subjected to form-critical investigation. As literature, the Bible exhibits rich variety of form, and our understanding of what it says to us is bound to be enhanced by improved knowledge of the nature and function of its various genres, brightly illuminated by parallels in ancient extra-biblical literature. Moreover, form criticism has proved to be mildly corrective of some of the more radical conclusions of past higher criticism. Indeed, properly developed and applied, form criticism could have a shattering impact on much traditional literary criticism of Scripture. While using this method, the orthodox scholar, keeping pace with the supplementary movement through form criticism into Redaktionsgeschichte and rhetorical criticism, should be prepared to turn these techniques too to the advantage of sound biblical learning. There is need for an emphasis on the adaptively imitative and the creative in the contribution of the real biblical authors.

Unfortunately, in its conventional exposition, form criticism of Scripture has been vitiated by unfounded assumptions imbibed from older developmental approaches, coupled with either ignorance of the actual phenomena of ancient literature or disregard for them. The consequent distortion of reality has been most severe in reconstructions of the history of literary types and of the transmission of the biblical materials. These weaknesses are reproduced in Koch’s book, and vividly so in his own illustrative examples, which are generously supplied (Part II, pages 111–220, consists exclusively of such material). Subjectively determined form-critical analysis of Decalogue or beatitudes is presented, magnificently impervious to correction by the contradictory objective evidence of well-known ancient Near Eastern texts. In his discussion of categories like saga and legend, Koch blends the customary dismissal of the historicity of significant areas of the biblical record with patronizing concern over the horrified reactions he anticipates from the orthodox.

Gratifying is Koch’s refusal to évade the question of the theological consequences (especially for the canon) of form criticism, as generally practiced. However, with his characteristically modern assessment of the relation between revelation and response, Koch proves quite incapable of a satisfactory treatment of the problem of scriptural authority. He succeeds only in demonstrating anew the mutually determinative correlation of theological presupposition and methodological praxis.

Sound Devotional Commentary

Beacon Bible Commentary, Volume I: Genesis through Deuteronomy, by G. H. Livingston et al. (Beacon Hill, 1969, 630 pp., $6.95), is reviewed by R. K. Harrison, professor of Old Testament, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, Canada.

This book is part of a ten-volume commentary on the Scriptures that is comprehensive in interpretation and based on the King James Version. The contributors to this volume subscribe to the plenary inspiration of the Bible, but at the same time they are well aware of the necessary limitations imposed upon the processes of scriptural transmission by the purely human element. Accordingly they draw upon the resources of biblical scholarship to present a work that aspires to soundness of interpretation and lasting inspirational quality.

The commentary format includes exposition, exegesis, and homiletical suggestions, which make the series especially valuable for ministers and teachers in the church. The exposition of each book is prefaced by brief remarks on content, form, and authorship. I found the introductory material to the Pentateuchal books rather disappointing because of its brevity. The unsuspecting reader would have no idea whatever of the complexity of the subject if he did not go on to examine the short bibliography suggested. Even when space has to be watched carefully, the conservative scholar ought to have enough factual information on hand to provide a short, objective critique-in-depth of the liberal approach to Pentateuchal studies. I would like to see more aggressive conservative scholarship in evidence, and not least in commentaries like this.

The writers draw unobtrusively upon modern scholarship, though sometimes at second or third hand. Many renderings are based upon the Hebrew as understood by its contemporaries, which does much to clarify parts of the King James Version. The archaeology of the patriarchal period receives proper notice, and a thirteenth-century B.C. date for the Exodus is supported. The authors also correctly recognize the structure of Deuteronomy as a covenant-renewal document whose form has been illumined by the discovery of second-millennium B.C. international treaties. Short bibliographies conclude each major section of the commentary.

I was impressed by the devotional quality of the volume. Its exegesis is careful without being dogmatic, and the authors avoid such extremes of interpretation as assuming that the Nephilim of Genesis 6:4 were “fallen angels.” Equally sensibly, they decline to associate the Flood with any specific archaeological level in southern Mesopotamia.

This commentary should prove very valuable to all expositors of Scripture.

Early American Evangelist

John Eliot: ‘Apostle to the Indians,’ by Ola Elizabeth Winslow (Houghton Mifflin, 1969, 225 pp., $5.95), is reviewed by D. Bruce Lockerbie, chairman, Department of English, The Stony Brook School, Stony Brook, New York.

The list of saints who occupied New England’s stern and rock-bound coast in the name of God includes the notable Bradfords, Cottons, Winthrops, and Mathers. It also includes less famous persons, such as John Eliot, the subject of this biographical study by Ola Elizabeth Winslow.

Eliot came to Boston in 1631, one year after the Massachusetts Bay Company had arrived, and devoted his remaining six decades to evangelizing the Indians for Christ, earning himself the title “Apostle to the Indians.” During this time he was instrumental in the establishing of fourteen “praying towns,” Indian settlements where he preached in a difficult Algonquian language. His translation of the Scriptures into this Algonquian tongue remains one of the great cultural achievements in colonial America.

Miss Winslow, whose biography of Jonathan Edwards won a Pulitzer Prize, has undertaken to present the life of John Eliot with little of the apparatus usually available to the biographer. Many of Eliot’s records and sermons have not survived; by nature retiring, he was not a forceful figure whose actions found their way into the journals being kept by more prominent men. As a consequence, his biographer is forced to accentuate whatever material may be at hand, such as the account of Eliot’s minor part in the trial of Anne Hutchinson. The texts of representative passages from Eliot’s translations appear, but references to criticism of his work without direct quotations weaken the study and often irritate the reader, as does the sometimes shifting chronology of the book’s structure.

Scholars of the New England theocracy will not find their knowledge largely enriched by this book; however, persons wishing an adequate introduction to the development of evangelism in America will do well to read John Eliot: “Apostle to the Indians.”

An Awesome Role

Come, Let Us Play God, by Leroy Augenstein (Harper & Row, 1969, 146 pp., $4.95), is reviewed by Ralph L. Lynn, professor of history, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

Man has always and unavoidably played God, but till now in ignorant unconsciousness, says Augenstein. Now he must play God in the most intelligent and deliberate fashion, in genetic management, population limitation, and many other sensitive areas in which we have previously proceeded in laissez-faire chaos.

If we continue our present growth rate until 2020, we will have to export 200 million people annually merely to stabilize the earth’s population at ten billion. Obviously, any slower rate of increase would only delay catastrophe; equally obviously, space vehicles in transit to really distant planets would be flooded as would new planets themselves, whether near or far.

In genetics, by keeping defective people alive and allowing them to procreate. “we are constantly increasing the pollution in the genetic pool” with the consequence that within two to five generations, “one out of ten children born will be seriously defective.”

Underlying these and other equally crucial problems are two considerations rarely faced. How completely shall we manage? Who will be the managers? Augenstein hopes (probably in vain) for orderly public discussion and for the establishment of statutory, elective boards to serve local, regional, and national needs. He seems unaware that deliberately and effectively playing God will be likely to lead to the pride that goes before a fall, though he admits that scientists proceed successfully without introducing God into their hypotheses.

Augenstein is the head of the biophysics department at Michigan State University. His Christian conscience has led him to become involved in a variety of human affairs, and he has worked with the Atomic Energy Commission, is a member of the Michigan State Board of Education, and is an adjunct professor at San Francisco Theological Seminary. He has made literally thousands of speeches on the topics of this book, and some of them appear as chapters here.

The earnestness that marks every sentence will persuade most readers to forgive the disorganization, the breezy style, and the scrambled syntax that have survived from his speeches to the printed page. The book’s greatest value lies in the possibility that churches may use it, along with 16 mm films of his speeches available from Michigan State, in adult study groups. There may be no more effective way to get his message before the public, which must participate in the decisions by which we play God either in our traditional ignorance or in the informed, deliberate fashion for which Augenstein pleads.

Illuminates Gospel Accounts

An Archaeologist Looks at the Gospels, by James L. Kelso (Word, 1969, 143 pp., $4.95), is reviewed by Fred L. Fisher, professor of New Testament interpretation, Golden Gate Baptist Seminary, Mill Valley, California.

If you are looking for a book that illuminates the gospel stories with geographical and archaeological information interestingly presented, this is the book for you. If you are looking for a scientific study of archaeology as it pertains to the period of Jesus’ earthly life, this book will not meet your needs.

Dr. Kelso has impressive credentials as an archaeologist. But here he does not write for the expert or even for the advanced student. He writes for the layman. This no doubt explains why he often makes unsupported statements about matters that are still in debate. For instance, he says, “The Essenes originated with a super-orthodox group of Jewish priests from the high priestly family of Zadok,” without giving any indication that this is a highly conjectural statement.

The book follows a broad outline of the life of Jesus and makes illuminating comments on the background of many gospel stories. The various chapters have the tone of the lecture and perhaps originated as such. Although the author is obviously not a New Testament scholar, his background comments are usually helpful. The lay person interested in a deeper understanding of the Gospels and the preacher looking for illustrative material to liven up his sermons would find help here.

New Twist In Preaching

Dialogue Preaching, by William D. Thompson and Gordon C. Bennett (Judson, 1969, 158 pp., $4.95), is reviewed by H. C. Brown, Jr., professor of preaching, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.

The authors define dialogue preaching as “an act within the context of public worship in which two or more persons engage in a verbal exchange as the sermon or message,” and they divide it into two types: (1) congregational dialogue (pastor-preacher with his people), and (2) chancel dialogue (two or three persons discussing a topic within the hearing of the people). They discuss the origin of dialogue preaching, the congregation in dialogue, the types of chancel dialogue (they list four), and the values of dialogue, and they present eight chancel dialogue sermons (but no examples of congregational dialogue sermons).

These authors, unlike some others, do not claim that their work is the most significant of its kind in this decade. They do not say that it will cure all the ills of contemporary preaching. And they insist that the monological sermon will continue to be the primary method of preaching. But they persuasively urge the minister to try dialogical preaching in order to add drama, freshness, and creativity to his pulpit work.

Book Briefs

Division, Despair, and Hope, by Manford George Gutzke (Gospel Light, 1969, 167 pp., paperback, $.95). Survey of Israel’s history from the death of Solomon to the birth of Christ.

Balancing the Christian Life, by Charles Caldwell Ryrie (Moody, 1969, 191 pp., $3.95). A practical study of a number of the concepts and problems that are a part of Christian living.

The Tendencies of the Synoptic Tradition, by E. P. Saunders (Cambridge, 1969, 328 pp., $14.50). After careful investigation, the author concludes that there are no hard and fast laws of the development of the Synoptic tradition, therefore ruling out dogmatic statements that a certain characteristic proves a certain passage to be earlier than another.

Power Beyond Words, by Allan Jahsmann (Concordia, 1969, 180 pp., $4.50). A reevaluation of the methodology of Christian education in the light of a solid understanding of the communication process.

Stand on Your Own Three Feet, edited by Hugh M. Salisbury (Tyndale House, 1969, 162 pp., paperback, $1.45). Written by young people for young people, this volume deals with some of the major “hang-ups” of today’s teen-agers.

Funny, You Don’t Look Christian, by Robert M. Herhold (Weybright and Talley, 1969, 116 pp., $3.95). This funny, yet very challenging, collection of anecdotes and reflections reveals the deadly complacency of the average local congregation.

The View From a Hearse, by Joseph Bayly (David C. Cook, 1969, 95 pp., $.95). A practical book about death and the questions and problems that surround it, written by a man who himself has lost three children.

The Christian Faith: An Introduction to Christian Thought, by Dallas M. Roark (Broadman, 1969, 328 pp., $7.50). A textbook-type survey of Christian doctrine that evangelicals will do well to use with caution (his discussion of the inerrancy of Scripture really misses the whole point).

The Vacant Pulpit, by Jack Gilchrist (Judson, 1969, 159 pp., paperback, $2.95). This story of a pulpit committee’s search for the “right” man, written by the chairman of such a committee, will find many empathetic readers among those who have been involved in just such a quest.

Patterns of Medieval Society, by Jeremy duQuesnay Adams (Prentice-Hall, 1969, 306 pp., $6.95). This collection of readings offers an enlightening glimpse into medieval society, with special emphasis on its commitment to Christianity.

Inspiration and Canonicity of the Bible, by R. Laird Harris (Zondervan, 1969, 316 pp., paperback, $2.45). This reprint of a scholarly presentation affirming the infallibility of the Scriptures is one of the first in the new “Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives” series. Other reprints in the same series are Effective Bible Study, by Howard Vos (224 pp., $1.95) and The Psychology of Christian Experience, by W. Curry Mavis (155 pp., $1.95).

Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek, by Bruce M. Metzger (self-published, distributed by the Theological Book Agency, 1969, 100 pp., paperback, $2). New edition of a standard tool.

The Crime of Christendom, by Fred Gladstone Bratton (Beacon, 1969, 241 pp., $5.95). Contends that all manifestations of anti-Semitism are grounded in church teachings and warns that this evil can be eliminated only when the churches will relinquish orthodox Christology.

Leading Dynamic Bible Study, by Rice A. Pierce (Broadman, 1969, 128 pp., $2.95). A practical guidebook suggesting several ways of leading group Bible study.

Pueblo Intrigue, by Don Crawford (Tyndale House, 1969, 113 pp., $3.50). The story of the Pueblo incident as witnessed by two Christians who were on board.

By All Means, by Marvin Mardock (Bethany Fellowship, 1969, 174 pp., paperback, $1.95). Twelve leaders of missionary organizations introduce the reader to the specific field of missionary endeavor in which they are involved (e.g. aviation, medicine, literature).

The Future of God, by Carl E. Braaten (Harper & Row, 1969, 181 pp., $5.95). Sees the theology of hope as issuing forth in an ethic of revolutionary change.

Christian Communicator’s Handbook, by Floyd A. Craig (Broadman, 1969, 96 pp., paperback, $3.50). Could be very helpful to pastors and others who feel inadequately prepared to cope with the public-relations responsibilities thrust upon them.

The End Times, by Herman A. Hoyt (Moody, 1969, 256 pp., $4.95). A popular treatment of eschatology from a premillennial, pretribulation point of view.

The Light of the Mind, by Ronald H. Nash (University, 1969, 146 pp., $6.50). A careful examination of Augustine’s theory of knowledge.

God Is Too Much, by Joel Nederhood (Tyndale, 1969, 159 pp., paperback, $1.95). A collection of messages by the main speaker of the “Back to God Hour” radio broadcast.

Latin American Church Growth, by W. R. Read, V. M. Monterroso, and H. A. Johnson (Eerdmans, 1969, 421 pp., $8.95). This in-depth study of Protestant churches of Latin America is the product of nearly three years of intensive research and writing by a team of three missionaries.

Jonathan Edwards, edited by David Levin (Hill and Wang, 1969, 263 pp., $5.95). Essays on various aspects of the life of this giant of American church history.

Conflict and Harmony in Science and the Bible, by Jack Wood Sears (Baker, 1969, 97 pp., paperback, $1.95). Takes the position that if absolute truth is attained both in science and in biblical understanding, the apparent conflicts between science and the Bible will evaporate.

Meet Me at the Door, by Ernest Gordon (Harper & Row, 1969, 154 pp., $4.95). Although the “answers” presented here are theologically inadequate, this work by the dean of the chapel at Princeton University offers helpful insight into the serious questions troubling today’s college young people.

Often we sunday-school teachers leave our classrooms on Sunday discouraged because the students—whether young or old—seem to have missed the touch of God upon their lives that morning. Then that verse in Isaiah, “My word shall not return unto me void …,” flashes to mind, and we think, “All is not lost. God will work it out and will not let his Word return void.”

But have we not taken comfort in an idea that is not biblical? The verses preceding Isaiah 55:11 suggest a need for response and involvement among those to whom the Word is given before we can claim the promise of verse eleven. And it is evident that our Sunday-school class was not responsive or involved.

When God gives us a responsibility, he is neither magnified nor exalted when we fail to fulfill that responsibility and then say, “Well, God will turn it out for good in the end!” If our preparatory study is shallow, if we make only a hurried attempt to fit the truth of God’s Word into the lives of our students, we cannot expect them to feel the life-changing touch of God during the Sunday-school class.

In the evangelical churches, the facet of biblical exposition that is perhaps most in need of improvement is application. Truth correctly fitted inevitably has impact. The Word of our Father cogently applied shatters our shallow spirituality and floods our being with His power and presence.

Following are some guidelines for application:

1. The application must be related to the student’s life, rather than the teacher’s. As the teacher studies the text, the passage begins to filter into his life and find its mark among his own fears and pressures. But when Mr. Brown tells his class how faithful God was in giving him favor in the boss’s eyes when he refused a contract that involved a kickback, Johnny may leave class thinking, “When I get a job I’ll ask God to help me.” What Johnny needs to see is how that same eternal principle relates to a ten-year-old. And to accomplish this his teacher needs to know where Johnny lives and what tears at his heart. Johnny must see that God is able to give him favor in his friends’ eyes when he refuses to go along on a shop-lifting expedition.

2. The application must be parallel with the truth of the passage. If the teacher is discussing Colossians 3:1–4, for example, about setting our affections on things above, he should not conclude with an example of how drinking killed a teen-ager and wrecked a family. An inappropriate application not only lacks impact but often causes resentment among the hearers. If the application flows naturally from the passage, however, then any negative reaction is generally between the student and the Spirit of God; he realizes that the idea comes from the passage and is not the teacher’s pet peeve of the week.

3. The application must be specific. If the application is general, the student will probably do one of two things. First he may leave it generalized and never bring it down to his own life, to where the rubber meets the road. This means he will not change his conduct.

The more specific the application, the greater the impact of the truth upon the student. But we do not want to be so specific that we single out one or two hearers and exclude the others. The principle is to think in terms of common denominators (what do most of the students have in common in the areas of family life, school life, friends, and so on). The smaller the group, the greater our opportunity to tailor the application to specific needs.

The other option the student may take when presented with a generalized application is to apply it to an area of his life where he is currently doing well. This leads us to the next guideline.

4. The application must be in an area of weakness. If the truth is not pointed to an area of weakness, the hearer will think of the truth in terms of his strength. If the message is on stewardship, then the student who gives liberally but spends no time on the things of Christ will tend to think of stewardship in only the financial area. For the message to change his life he must see that truth in light of his weakness.

We do not try to step on our own toes. If the teacher or pastor misses our particular weaknesses, then we tend to think we checked out okay.

Again this emphasizes the necessity of knowing where our students live. It is amazing to see how readily students reveal their weaknesses to someone who takes the time to build bridges of love and communication.

5. The application must be motivating. There are two major ingredients in motivation. First, the truth must touch a felt need of the student. If he sees that the Word of God speaks to the issues that claw at his heart, then he will respond to the Scriptures with enthusiasm and obedience.

The second ingredient in motivation is the teacher’s belief. If the teacher believes something deeply, then this belief is translated into enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can be communicated. If the teacher is not deeply committed to what he is teaching, then he cannot be really enthusiastic about it, and his students will think, “If he doesn’t care, why should I?” Contagious enthusiasm at the level of his felt need stimulates the student to positive response.

6. The application must be unhurried. The truth or principle in a lesson is comparable to the payload in a rocket, and the application of a lesson is parallel to the engine thrust of that rocket. Without the thrust the payload is useless. So with Scripture: truth taught in a manner that does not infiltrate a student’s life will yield today what it always has—Pharisees.

The teacher needs to become a clock-watcher and jealously guard the application time of a lesson or progressively weave the application into the lesson.

To fulfill all six of these principles is no easy task; it requires time, knowledge, and sanctified creativity in conjunction with the Spirit-given gift of teaching.

But the alternative of weak or invalid applications produces students who, though they may be biblically literate, are spiritually ignorant—an alternative the teacher cannot choose if he seeks to touch his students with the presence of God.

WILLIAM BOYD, chairman of the Department of Christian Education, Western Bible Institute, Denver, Colorado.

The rising tide of emphasis on the social gospel is sweeping into its current a number of the unsuspecting, and, though what I am going to write will be unpopular with many, I feel I must say, “Beware!”

All about us there are evidences of secular and material need, and any true Christian is moved by compassion when he sees the plight of the less fortunate. If he fails to give assistance where possible in money, time, and effort, he may prove himself unworthy of the name he bears, and he may miss his greatest opportunity to witness to the validity of his faith.

But let him beware lest he substitute for the Gospel of Jesus Christ a secular gospel.

Surely, helping to meet the material needs of men is a worthy endeavor. Certainly it becomes us as Christians to demonstrate our loving concern for the unfortunate.

But such action can be fatally deceptive in lulling the Church into complacency about its basic responsibility to witness to the Gospel of spiritual redemption through faith in Jesus Christ.

The early apostles were confronted with the crying needs of new Christians, many of whom had given up literally everything to follow Christ. The need was there and also the responsibility, but they never swerved from their own mission of preaching Christ. They said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables” (Acts 6:2).

It still is not right to substitute anything for preaching the Gospel. Those who are called to preach the Word should preach the Word. They must not be insensitive to the secular and material needs of their brethren; but while the meeting of these needs among fellow Christians must be cared for by the Church, the needs of society as a whole must be the concern of the government and of Christians and others working through agencies established for this purpose.

A minister of the Gospel is called to preach; he is not a sociologist, a psychiatrist, or an economist. He preaches for ultimate solutions, not temporary. He preaches about things of eternal import which, if believed, have a tremendous effect on man’s temporal welfare.

One would have to be blind not to see that many who speak the loudest about the “social implications of the gospel” have neither knowledge of nor concern for the message of God’s redemption for mankind through the death and resurrection of his Son. It is equally obvious that other ministers take every opportunity to help those in need while they faithfully preach Christ as Saviour from sin.

We should beware lest we be swept along in the tide of now popular movements which are, at best, humanistic and altruistic, and in which unbelievers can and do readily join. These are movements which, even if they attained every objective, would still leave men spiritually lost. The right balance between spiritual concern, and compassion in the face of need, though difficult to maintain, is vitally important.

What could please Satan more than for the Christian ministry to be diverted into “serving tables”? What could be more disastrous for the Church and its witness in the world than for it to give the impression that it is primarily concerned with the needs of the body—economic, political, and social?

Although there are people who insist that the influence of the Church has waned because of its neglect of social problems, I am confident that this lost influence is due to the Church’s compromise with the world and its failure to preach the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Inherent in the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord are built-in social advantages. There are opened avenues of blessing reserved for believers alone. In one simple sentence Jesus stated the basic approach the believer should take toward his own economic problems—“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [housing, food, clothing—the necessities of life] shall be yours as well” (Matt. 6:33). This is not an oversimplification but rather a glorious fact confirmed by millions of believers.

The Apostle Paul tells Christians: “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.… And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6, 19).

Have we the right to demand for unbelievers the blessings God reserves for those who put their trust in him? Is not the Church in grave danger of betraying its mission when it joins in secular welfare projects that have no concern for the spiritual needs of those involved? Again I say, there is a line of distinction here that must be determined by the leading of the Holy Spirit. I am sure that many true Christian ministers are in danger of being swept into fruitless programs for fear they may be accused of being unloving and unconcerned, when as a matter of fact they are both truly loving and deeply concerned.

Let us be very clear in this matter; a Christian must help meet material and physical need where he finds it. He must exhibit the love of Christ in concrete ways so that the resultant glory and honor accrue to his Lord. But all this is the fruit of the Gospel, not the Gospel itself. If this distinction is always kept clear, we will spare ourselves heartache and misunderstanding. Social concern must never become an alternative for the Gospel; it is a legitimate and certain result of our salvation in Christ.

At the same time, the Christian should not commit himself to every program of social action that comes along. Some of these programs are capable of doing great harm, for they would substitute revolution for regeneration, socialism for free enterprise, and, in effect, Communism for Christianity. We must be exceedingly careful in this whole area, for it is one where the enemies of Christ often masquerade as angels of light. On the one hand we must not be stampeded into some unwise action for fear of seeming “unchristian,” or in an attempt to curry favor with those leading the social-action movement. On the other we must never refrain from being involved in works of loving concern for the unfortunate.

Hold fast to the message that Christ came into the world to make new creatures, and to the fact that in twice-born men the social order will be provided with “salt” and “light.”

L. NELSON BELL

Look Who’s Cheering For Mao!

A team of medical workers from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has perfected a technique for curing deaf-mutes, according to a report I saw last week. This is splendid news, but with the utmost solemnity the account went on to brag that out of 157 deaf-mutes currently under treatment 32 can now shout, “Long Live Chairman Mao!”

A cartoon that showed Snoopy carrying the same slogan led to a student’s being disciplined during the ascendancy of Red Guardmanship. The plaudits of “a ghost and a monster” were rightly denounced as unacceptable, and the offending one was made to write out a “self-critical confession” (can’t you imagine the Red Baronial chortles?).

It scared me, then, when the U. S. Marine Corps admitted that Marines who tried to obtain discharges were handcuffed to mirrors and forced to look at themselves for eight-hour periods, in order to “stimulate a change of attitude.” The object of the exercise, explained a Marine spokesman, was to give nonconformists time for “self-appraisal.”

Taking stock of oneself is theoretically the sort of thing we should have more of, but a sustained scrutiny of their own reflection would promptly evoke from many the complaint that the mirror was distorted. It reminds me of a discerning Frenchman who said: “One must always tell what one sees. Above all, which is more difficult, one must always see what one sees.”

Still on the same tack, an ancient number of the Boston Congregationalist recently drew my attention to the results of an anonymous pastor’s self-assessment. Included in it were two paragraphs that ought to go down to posterity and all others interested. I quote:

I am going to clean up my inner life. There are three distinct demons that have troubled me much in the past that I am going to lay for good this winter. I have been drifting; this is going to be a winter of mastery.

I am going to cut out all that has become unreal in my life and conversation, stock public prayers that mean nothing any longer, pulpit phrases that have lost their savor, and all social cowardices and hypocrisies.

He wouldn’t have made it in Red China or the Marine Corps, and I am skeptical even about his ecclesiastical future in Boston. Nevertheless, I like the sound of that guy, wonder if those three D.D.’s he referred to got what was coming to them by way of exercise, and hope that 1915 did indeed prove to be for him a masterful winter.

EUTYCHUS IV

Sex And The Christian Child

Thank you for the article by James Huffman (Sept. 26). It was most helpful in its discussion of “Sex Education in the Public Schools.” He not only raised the right questions but was fair in his presentation.

I have appreciated the direction your magazine has taken more and more. To grapple with the problems of our day, and to look at them in the light of the Gospel. Also delighted to see the emphasis that came through at the U. S. Congress on Evangelism. It is time the Church takes the lead in this area of social concerns.

ROGER WENZEL

Faith United Church of Christ

Fort Wayne, Ind.

In my candid opinion, James Huffman’s treatment of sex education can only contribute to the increasing breakdown of morality in our society. I am utterly amazed that an intelligent, seemingly informed Christian scholar could ever speak approvingly of Sexology magazine. If it “can hardly be regarded as lascivious,” then I don’t know what can. Perhaps I need a new dictionary.

HENRY T. HUDSON

Calvary Chapel

Massillon, Ohio

It seems to me that, generally speaking, you have done a most thoughtful job, although I think both the NEA and the AMA will be quite startled to be saddled with the formation of SIECUS. In point of fact, SIECUS was founded quite independently by six professionals in various fields, but it is listed in the AMA Directory of Voluntary Health Organizations.

I am afraid, too, you do give the impression that SIECUS is responsible for programming in public schools. We actually have no programs at all for schools and had nothing at all to do with the Chicago or New York City school programs except for acting in a minor consultant capacity for the latter.

You are more than fair to me, and I am deeply grateful that you pointed out how deliberately twisted my statements have been made. I also think you were extremely fair about Sexology in covering the truth about it. You are also most skillful at stating the inevitable fact that, as a public voluntary health organization, SIECUS cannot operate within any specific framework—although you will note that we review many religious-based publications, and include these in our reading list.…

All in all, I am most grateful to you. Certainly, I hope that those of the evangelical denominations will read and ponder, for I believe it is due to the overrighteous fervor of some of their brethren that, in the name of Christianity, offenses against the peace and democratic processes of communities are being committed.

MARY S. CALDERONE, M.D.

SIECUS

New York, N. Y.

Executive Director

The article leaves me disgusted.…

I have the material of SIECUS and have seen enough of Dr. Calderone to know that they are “unbiblical and relativistic—which evangelicals find unsatisfactory.” Furthermore, they are agents of Satan who would pull down the Kingdom of Christ with all the ferocity of Herod.

Then after praising this company of sex purveyors, we have the usual mealy-mouthed hand wringing about the churches’ and parents’ failure and how we ought to take the Bible seriously on matters of sex.…

Sex is preeminently a private matter. Have you ever wondered why so little education is given by parents (I received none)? The Scripture condemns every manifestation of sex except in marriage in which the man and woman become one flesh. Could anything be more private? I am not ashamed or afraid of sex but it is private. I’m having difficulty giving my seven children sex education—not because I don’t want to but because they don’t want to.

I conclude therefore that poor as it is, no sex education is better than the unbiblical, relativistic corruption SIECUS is peddling and any public school could relativistically peddle.

CHARLES A. SIGNORINO

King of Prussia, Pa.

I wish to express my appreciation for James Huffman’s article. As the fairest, calmest evangelical treatment I have read, it needs wide distribution.…

The author’s comment, “For, while its materials treat sex with a much needed wholesomeness and a medical accuracy, they nevertheless do so from an unbiblical, relativistic point of view that the evangelical finds unsatisfactory” must not be used as a SIECUS “turn-off” but should be related to a later comment, “He will probably find the SIECUS-related materials useful: they are among the best prepared, most factual in the field.”

The current, intense controversy over sex education only increases a young person’s dilemma about his own sexual role. In recognition that responsibility for sex education cannot be compartmentalized, the General Program Council, Reformed Church in America, has embarked on a ministry which recognizes the urgent role of the home, the church, the school, and society in understanding God’s gift of human sexuality.

ARTHUR O. VAN ECK

Secretary for Church Life and Mission

Reformed Church in America

New York, N. Y.

There are many Christians in this Great Republic who will be much discouraged by the article.

Mr. Huffman was wise to visit abroad at publication time.… Many, many Christians are fighting this public-school sex education because we have studied both the curriculum and the people behind it, and we know them to be opposed to everything we stand for.…

Sex education must be kept out of the public schools, and kept where it can be controlled and planned by those closest to the children involved. Even the liberal churches would do better.

ALICE B. WIGGIN

Concord, Mass.

Your article by James Huffman was a very good analysis of this issue. However, I am surprised that he did not mention the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s excellent books on the subject. Although the Church has made “no widespread, systematic effort,” these books do back up our religious convictions.

MRS. KEN METZGER

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

A Gift Of Workers

As a former pastor, I can appreciate the “organizational inadequacy” mentioned in “The Minister’s Workshop” (Sept. 26). However there is a serious danger in taking the “industrial” approach, if done uncritically. This is the application of a convenient double standard. On the one hand, the worker would be considered a “called one” when work assignments were made, sacrifice was required, vacation and pay given (if applicable), and so on; but on the other hand, the worker would be considered an “employee” when such matters as personal interests, conscience, authority, and job security (if applicable) were in view. It would be wise to remember that Christian workers are gifts from the Lord to his Church, and should be handled so. In doing this, we may solve part of the motivation problem also. Aside from this, the article is appreciated.

WILLIAM C. WALDEN

Southampton, Mass.

One Man’s Opinion

Isn’t it a bit presumptuous for the reviewer of Elisabeth Elliot’s book Furnace of the Lord: Reflections on the Redemption of the Holy City (Sept. 26) to project upon his readers his own beliefs of what the author’s expectations were? It is certainly a waste of your subscribers’ time to find a review so filled with opinion and so limited in perceptive analysis of the material at hand.

A book and author of this caliber deserve a review that reflects fewer opinionated conclusions and more in the area of objective analysis and skillful literary discernment.

EUGENIE L. DE HAAS

Orono, Me.

Spanning Lessing’s Ditch

Dr. Hughes’s article, “Reason, History, and Biblical Authenticity” (Sept. 12), is a good analysis of a major problem inherent in the two-leveled universe handed to us via the humanism of the Renaissance. He understands, too, and quite adequately, that the issues in Historie and Geschichte are rooted in the basic questions occasioned by modern rationalism. It should be noted, however, that to understand the problems and to see whence they arise is not necessarily to answer the basic question and accusation implied in Bultmann’s query, “How is such faith distinguished from a blind acceptance involving a sacrificium intellectus?” …

The point which should be made is that the illumination of the Holy Spirit is the necessary ingredient to span Lessing’s ditch and to get from mere historical belief to biblical faith. This is not a sacrificium intellectus, since it in no way deprecates the historical data but rather affirms them. It is instead the enabling, making willing, and even compelling of the heart and mind to assent cordially to the truth as it is in Christ. In the biblical view as orthodoxy has always affirmed it, two things are needed for faith: the Word (witness) and the Spirit. Strictly speaking this is not simple opinion, thoughtless credulity, or mere historical assent, nor should these things ever be confused with biblical faith.

ERIC G. LEMMON

Pasadena, Calif.

The Ire In Ireland

I must congratulate Dr. Douglas on his largely accurate summing-up (“John Bull’s Other Island,” Sept. 12) of the situation in Northern Ireland. It is an example of the ever-disastrous combination of religion and politics, which seems inevitably to lead to injustice and discrimination. The example which he gives of election candidates stating openly that they “have never employed a Roman Catholic” appears, unfortunately, to be typical of the attitude of members of the Unionist party.…

I would point out one small inaccuracy in the article, where he writes of “a rebellion by the nationalists in the south, with some help from revolutionary France.” This hides the fact that this uprising was supported by the majority of the Presbyterians in Ulster.… There is a tendency to assume that all Catholics supported independence and all Protestants British rule, but such was by no means the case. Most of the leaders of the movement for independence … were Protestants, so perhaps it is not so surprising that a Protestant was elected the first president of Ireland.

R. H. RICHARDSON

Headmaster

Grammar and High School

Sligo, Ireland

I was born and raised in the Republic of Eire; I am Protestant and I attended Roman Catholic schools until I was twelve years old. Because there seems to be lack of a voice to speak for Ulster, I am going to do the best I know how to rectify this discrimination.

Your editorial (“Reflections on Ulster,” Sept. 12) seems to indicate that Catholics are very unfairly treated in Ulster and that Protestants are afraid to go south for fear of reprisals. Both statements are outright lies. If Catholics were being abused in Ulster, the government of Eire would soon send up an army and put an end to such treatment. The Republic of Eire knows full well that the agitation in the north is caused by their own (supposedly long outlawed) Irish Republican Army (IRA), aided and abetted by radicals from France and Germany and, of course, Miss Bernadette Devlin.

You could try to be fair in your editorials and practice a little of what you say Ulster should do. “Repay no evil with evil” works both ways, and your lack of material pertinent to the Ulster situation does you no credit.… If you do practice what you preach, please print this letter.

WILLIAM C. WOODS

Medford, Ore.

The situation in Ireland is certainly complex, but at the grass roots Protestants and Roman Catholics in Ulster can and do live and work beside each other in complete harmony. But we Protestants as British subjects do not want to be in an all-Ireland republic, and we do not desire to have the legislation of our country controlled by the Roman Catholic hierarchy.

As the IRA and other political organizations which are determined to bring about a United Ireland are supported and maintained by Roman Catholics, it is only natural that the issue appears to be a battle between Protestants and Roman Catholics. Protestants resist the political power of Rome just as freedom-loving Americans would resist Communism.

Having said this, 1 fully endorse the final note of your editorial based on Romans 12. As Christians we in Ulster should and must seek to fulfill this scriptural injunction.

NORMAN PORTER

Director

The Evangelical Protestant Society

Belfast, Northern Ireland

It is hard to understand how a magazine such as CHRISTIANITY TODAY would fall in line with propaganda coming from biased Roman Catholic reporters through the daily press. The issue at stake is not civil rights.… The border between North and South is the thorn in the flesh of the Roman Catholics.…

I would not deny the fact that there may be isolated cases of discrimination. It is not all one-sided either.… If Roman Catholics were loyal citizens of their country, I am sure they would enjoy the same rights and privileges regardless of their religion.…

I have great interest in the affairs of Northern Ireland; I still own a farm there. I am in close touch with the situation … and would be willing to make a special trip to N.I. with an impartial observer to verify my statements. I enjoy your magazine, and it would be with regret that I cancel my subscription, when it expires.

JOHN GARLAND

Rochester, N. Y.

Timely ‘Times’

A great spiritual awakening among God’s people is our only hope to evangelize the world. Thankfulness flooded my heart as I read your timely editorial “Times of Refreshing” (Sept. 12). It is imperative that every born-again believer join with Hosea and seek the Lord till he comes and rains righteousness upon us.

CLARENCE MINTON

First Baptist Church

Loraine, Tex.

An Ugly Old Kingdom?

Concerning the “What If …” cartoon (Sept. 12): One of the beautiful young women at the recent Miss America contest in Atlantic City—Miss Nebraska, I believe she was—uttered a beautiful little prayer on stage, so why shouldn’t the winner of such a contest also be able to rattle off portions of the Bible by memory? I doubt very much that Jesus intended for his Kingdom of Heaven to be the exclusive property of the old and ugly, but the latter act as if it is at times.

JACK IMMELL

Buffalo, Okla.

Observations On Reservations

Once in a while one is made to wonder how much research has been done before a writer places his conclusions on paper. To me such is the case with regard to “Indian Reservations About the Church” (News, Sept. 12).

Without doubt he has touched some of the sore spots in our lack of ministry to the first Americans. But how could he miss the tremendous evangelistic and missions efforts of the Assemblies of God on practically all reservations and on even many of the rancherias—as well as in large cities? My information is that we have the most widespread of all such representations in the Indian ministry. There are many licensed and ordained Indian ministers. (And in the Southwest, at least, Indians have long been accepted just as whites have in our Assemblies.) Sacrificial efforts are being made constantly by both white and Indian ministers to bring the biblical message to these neglected ones.

LEONARD PALMER

First Assembly of God

Taft, Calif.