Book Briefs: May 27, 1966

Is Jesus Necessary?

The Theology of Rudolf Bultmann, edited by Charles W. Kegley (Harper and Row, 1966, 320 pp., $5.75), is reviewed by Clark H. Pinnock, associate professor of theology, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans, Louisiana.

This volume of essays was prepared in honor of Rudolf Bultmann’s monumental contribution to modern theology, and with the desire to elucidate aspects of his profound thought. Introduced by an autobiographical sketch and concluded by a full bibliography of Bultmann’s writings, the book contains seventeen constructive essays written for the most part by outstanding scholars who share his theological frame of reference. A fine feature of the book is the concise evaluation and response made to each essay by Bultmann himself; this creates a feeling of live discussion. Controversy arises only when attempts are made to modify one aspect of his theology or extend another. But no writer in the symposium appears to regard Bultmann’s influence in theology as negative (unless perhaps Michel), and most prefer to point ahead to new areas of relevance for it. What criticism there is comes chiefly from the “left,” from Ogden, who believes Bultmann should press on to greater consistency and cut back his insistence on the exclusive relevance of Jesus Christ. In the words of the editor, “Granted that Jesus actualised an authentic self-understanding, is man capable of acting freely and responsibly today independent of that historic paradigm?” (xvi). This is essentially the same complaint voiced by Bultmann’s non-Christian critics like Jaspers, who resents this arrogant restriction placed on the freedom of God. The book never really answers the problem, except by repeating an assertion (without proof, of course!) that “seeing the eschatological in the historical” is the scandal of the Gospel. Not a single essay really questions the extraordinary epistemological base on which this viewpoint is grounded.

In the lead paper, Gunther Bornkamm does the reader a fine service by indicating clearly the shape of Bultmann’s theology. The discerning reader is made aware of its skeleton and becomes acquainted with themes that often recur in the remaining pages. A challenge to Bultmann’s system should be registered in the reader’s mind by the first essay, in which Bornkamm discusses two critical issues: the relation of faith to history, and of theology to truth. In Bultmann, he writes, “there is a recognition of the paradoxical character of a revelation that can never be authenticated in the historical-empirical realm but can only be encountered in the Word event and grasped in faith” (p. 5). To preserve the “paradox” consistently, one must dispense with miracles, as Bultmann later observes (p. 272), lest objective evidence of this kind offend the modern mind and destroy the “paradox” as well. For in Jesus, God is both wholly revealed and wholly concealed (p. 47); otherwise, Bultmann asks, “What is there about the historical Jesus that lifts his incognito?” (p. 262). On this point we look in vain for any rebuttal to such nonsense. Any affirmation, it seems to this reviewer, that cannot in any way be verified and that actually excludes any possibility of being tested, is strictly meaningless. The further we remove the Gospel from history and fact, the more vulnerable it is, and the more irrelevant to any rational person. The glory of the Gospel is precisely what Bultmann despises, namely, the objectivity of redemptive events. To speak of “God’s gracious act” (p. 131) in this context is not a gospel paradox but sheer nonsense. It is mockery to offer the sinner a purely verbal solution when he needs the work of Christ.

Bornkamm’s second issue concerns theology and truth. It is axiomatic for Bultmann that the “objectified thinking of the New Testament” is impossible for contemporary man (p. 9). We are prevented, therefore, from making direct use of scriptural statements; instead, we must delve beneath the text to the possibilities of self-understanding hidden within. So the Bible has no normative significance for dogmatic theology (p. 10), and Bornkamm praises Bultmann for applying in the realm of cognition Luther’s discovery of justification by faith alone (p. 12; cf. Bultmann’s reaction, p. 258). The comparison would be funny if it were made in jest. But as a mature reflection, it is tragically fallacious and misleading. For there is all the difference in the world between turning from moral bankruptcy to the objective Cross and Resurrection (Luther) and turning from intellectual doubts to an existential leap in the dark (Bultmann). Bultmann’s thought indeed has a “relevance” for epistemology (p. 17); it renders theology an impossible subject for discussion. If Scripture is no principium theologiae, there is no Christian theologia. In the face of the analytical philosophy, the only term to describe Bultmann’s method of procedure is epistemological suicide.

Because not a single essayist successfully replies to these two errors, no real progress is made in the remainder of the book. This is not to say that the material is not extremely interesting and challenging. It is amusing, for example, to hear Ogden’s plea for Hartshorne instead of Heidegger, and to observe God’s obliviousness to the problem of what the Cross is now symbol of, if anything. Both Ott and Minear attempt to retain some degree of future eschatology to save their philosophy of history, but neither can manage to do so, while standing on Bultmann’s ground. Macquarrie rushes to the defense of existentialism by noting the “zone of common interest” with Christianity (p. 130). As for the other zones not held in common, we hear little of them. For in Bultmann’s thought, modern man himself defines the zones of his interest.

It is Ogden who, in the opinion of this reviewer, raises the book’s most urgent question. The demand for radical demythologizing is inconsistent with any stress on the unique role of Jesus Christ (pp. 120 f.). If salvation for man is, in fact, the realization of authentic existence) neither a divine nor a merely human Christ is an absolute necessity. Small wonder a Jew can be a full disciple of Bultmann (Sandmel, p. 220) without feeling uncomfortable. For no theology to which Jesus Christ bears so tenuous a relationship can deserve the name Christian. Bultmann’s scandal of non-verifiability is certainly not the biblical one. The biblical claim to objective truth and accomplished redemption is the scandal of the New Testament, and the one that Bultmann rejects out of hand.

The theology of Bultmann is not a depleted version of the biblical faith. It is a transmutation of it at every point. This volume presents his thought clearly and will meet with great applause from modern theologians still under Bultmann’s spell. Yet some men weep.

CLARK H. PINNOCK

A Great Work

The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church (three volumes), edited for the Lutheran World Federation by Julius H. Bodensieck (Augsburg, 1965, 2,599 pp., $37.50), is reviewed by Herbert T. Mayer, chairman, Department of Historical Theology, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.

The best description and evaluation of this work is found on the dust jacket: “… a valuable source of information for laymen, as well as for educators, theologians, and clergy … for all who want to know what the Lutheran Church is, thinks, and does. These three volumes, eleven years in preparation, provide a profile of the life and work of the Lutheran Church.… This Encyclopedia seeks to provide answers to practically any question which may be asked about Lutheranism. It is the most complete work on Lutheranism available in the English language.”

The reader can rightly ask two questions: How does it measure up as an encyclopedia of religion, for it claims to be this, and how does it measure up as a Lutheran encyclopedia? The answer to both questions is positive. For this project, sponsored by the Lutheran World Federation, more than 700 Lutheran scholars from all over the world combined their efforts under the general editorship of Julius Bodensieck. German scholars seem to have been preferred for many of the articles on contemporary scholarly subjects. Because the articles are often descriptive and even hortatory (compare the article on Bible study by L. Goppelt), instead of simply reportorial, the encyclopedia will influence the thinking of present and future generations of Lutheran Christians.

In general, the writing is at a popular level, which makes the work valuable for church and home libraries. The general theological orientation is toward conservative Lutheranism, in the sense that Johannes Knudsen describes it in his article on fundamentalism. He argues that Lutheranism was less affected by fundamentalism than some other denominations because “the stable confessional character of the Lutheran churches, combined with the belief in the Freedom of the Christian man, were instrumental in maintaining a balance between the fundamentals of the faith and the validity of human inquiry.” The articles that discuss biblical interpretation, ecumenical movements, and social action reflect the sound balance of most of the contributions.

The reader is struck by the editorial freedom the contributors exercised (as in the use of exclamation points in the text! or in the article on the “Lutheran Hour,” which reads almost like a press release). Other articles reflect a sort of homiletical or devotional character that strikes the reader of an encyclopedia as somewhat strange (e.g., “Warfare [Christian Life]”).

It is not always possible to determine the principles by which a subject was included (“cloister,” “dulcimer,” “wizard”) or excluded, nor the principles that led to its treatment under a specific subject entry (thus abuses in pre-Reformation theology are treated under “Abuses” in Volume I). Under the subject entry of “scholasticism,” one is surprised to find only a discussion of Lutheran scholasticism, with no cross-references to the Roman Catholic movement. The importance of the topic is apparently not to be determined by the space it receives: Baptists are covered in only ten lines, while Zoroastrianism occupies two full columns. Thus editorial consistency was not always maintained. In the article on Christology by Ernst Kinder, Nestorius is correctly not identified as the arch-heretic that tradition has made him out to be; but in the treatment of Nestorianism (there is no article on Nestorius), he is so identified. A cross-reference under “Braeuninger” directs the reader to “Indian, American,” but this subject entry serves only as a cross-reference to “Indigenous Americans.”

But criticisms of this nature are primarily designed to show that the reviewer has done his homework; they are not intended to detract from the value of this great work.

HERBERT T. MAYER

Two And A Half Minutes

Healing for You, by Bernard Martin (John Knox, 1965, 194 pp., $4.50), is reviewed by Frank C. Peters, associate professor of psychology, Waterloo Lutheran University, Waterloo, Ontario.

This book is a translation of Veux-tu guérir, published in Geneva in 1963. The author, a psychiatrist and pastor, writes as a believing Christian well versed in the modern healing arts. Moreover, one senses a refreshing approach to Scripture—refreshing in that a psychologist is seen to accept light for his practice from Scripture. The trend of late has been for ministers to sit at the feet of psychologists.

The thesis of the book is that healing is a spiritual process because sickness is related to spiritual well-being. To treat the body and not the spirit is to leave the job half done.

God is concerned about men, and he expresses his concern through men. Herein lies the commission of pastoral counseling. Unless such ministering leads men back to God, it has sold its birthright for psychological pottage.

The book has an intriguing approach to psychological normality. Against the background of the modern sociological and statistical approaches, Martin dares to define normality in Christian terms. “Man, true man as God wanted him, is only met in the person of the son of Man, Jesus Christ.” Apart from Jesus Christ, man is not what he ought to be; he has not accomplished God’s plan. In Jesus Christ, God gives us the full vision of the man he had wanted from the beginning, the man we are called to become. From this stance psychiatrist Martin proceeds to take sin seriously. It is not merely deviation from a social norm, nor man’s realization of his own inadequacy, it is actual estrangement from God. All man’s defenses testify of this sense of estrangement, which the author calls “the gloom of dissimulation.” But pastors are also men, and as such they have their own “trees” that serve as hideouts, secret places where they take shelter. If the pastor is to help others in becoming “open,” he must first have experienced “openness” himself.

This reviewer looked hard for a clear delineation of conversion and found none. However, the author alludes to his own experience of searching for freedom as a replica of Paul’s liberation in Romans 7. The basic ingredients of a biblical conversion are discussed. To repent is to recognize one’s sin unreservedly and to face up to it. The danger of “romanticizing” repentance is ever with us, a prelude of anguish that fails to lead men into the symphony of a divine-human relationship through faith in Christ. Reconciliation with God necessarily calls for reconciliation with oneself—self-acceptance. Repentance and acceptance of oneself go together in a liberating experience of Jesus Christ (John 8:32). The problem this reviewer had with Martin’s treatment of “conversion” was that it seemed so similar to Kierkegaard’s “becoming a Christian,” with no emphasis on the attainment of “sonship status” in grace.

As one might expect, Martin makes much of confession. It is refreshing that he does not fall into the trap of equating confession and catharsis. Quoting Thilo, he says: “Psychoanalysis and confession are not … irreconcilable opposites. They move, however, in two quite distinct paths. In psychoanalysis, the train is driven according to the will of the conductor (the psychologist). In confession, on the other hand, the train does not move according to the instructions of the conductor.…” Martin feels that many pastors are unable to hear confessions because of personal insufficiencies in their own lives. He tells of an American psychologist who visited about a hundred ministers with a list of problems he wanted to discuss with each of them. As soon as the minister interrupted him to take over, the psychologist pressed the button of a stop-watch. At best the psychologist was able to speak 2½ minutes!

According to Martin, parishioners would rather go to a doctor than to a pastor with their problems. This is interpreted as a failure of the ministry to relate significantly to real problems. What the author forgets to mention is that it may also be a significant commentary on modern scientific man, who does not want to face his problems morally. Perhaps we are now reaping the harvest of an amoral psychology sown for two generations in America.

Regarding forgiveness our author comes through in grand style. Since guilt is real, forgiveness must also be real. His concept of forgiveness is theological, not psychological.

The section on demon-possession is very helpful, though it stops short of a conclusion. While recognizing the reality of the devil and therefore the possibility of his power in men’s lives, the author “leaves the door open” for the possibility of demon-possession in our day. Since he accepts biblical demon-possession, he should have explained why he hesitates to accept it for today. That he would have grave clinical problems in this area is certain.

Pastors will find this an excellent book to give to friends in the healing arts. While it has a theological framework, it is almost completely devoid of theological technicalities.

FRANK C. PETERS

Conservative Wesleyanism

The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume VI, Hebrews-Revelation (Eerdmans, 1966, 523 pp., $8.95), is reviewed by Robert Mounce, professor of biblical literature, Bethel College, St. Paul, Minnesota.

The more than twenty contributing authors of this six-volume commentary come from nine different denominations, but are all within the Wesleyan tradition. The Hebrews-Revelation volume is conservative throughout. The Apostle John is said to be the author of all three Epistles assigned to him as well as the Book of Revelation. Peter himself is responsible for both his letters, and James and Jude were written by brothers of our Lord. It is even with some reluctance that the case for a Pauline authorship of Hebrews is left as unproven. Dates are early: James comes before the Jerusalem Council in A.D. 50.

Each book has a brief but helpful introduction. Blaney’s material on Revelation is especially well done. The format is pleasing: double columns, outlined by paragraph. Footnotes indicate that the greatest amount of exegetical help has come from the older commentaries. Bibliographies are relatively complete but not annotated.

The theological stance of the authors is everywhere present but is not obtrusive. Not even Hebrews 6:4–8 is made to say more than it does. All in all we find here a helpful conservative commentary by men with high regard for sacred Scripture.

ROBERT MOUNCE

Welcome Stimulus

The Theology of St. John by Joseph Crehan, S.J. (Sheed and Ward, 1965, 160 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by Thomas W. Harpur, associate professor of New Testament, Wycliffe College, Toronto, Ontario.

The present quest for renewal in the Roman Catholic Church has been heralded and accompanied by a flowering of biblical scholarship for which all Christians must be profoundly grateful. (A. Wikenhauser’s work on New Testament introduction, for example, has already proved a great boon to those who teach.) It is in this spirit that Father Crehan’s latest contribution to the growing discussion of the Fourth Gospel will be welcomed.

The author’s aim, as stated on the dust jacket, is to make available to clergy, college students, and laymen the results of the most recent Johan-nine researches. The format is that of a series of very brief “essays” on various aspects of the thought of the Gospel, the Epistles, and the Apocalypse—twenty-four in all. The reader is thus presented with a kaleidoscopic survey that cannot fail to impress upon him afresh the amazing depth and richness of New Testament concepts and themes.

Effective as this approach may be in presenting to the non-specialist an up-to-date picture of the nature and range of Johannine ideas, it does have certain serious weaknesses. Most of the topics considered, such as “John’s Concept of Truth,” “The Concept of Life,” “The Logos Doctrine,” and “The Keeper of the Gate,” are treated in virtual isolation from the others; what emerges, consequently, is a theological necklace from which the string has been removed rather than a theology as such. One feels keenly the lack of some preliminary discussion of the nature and purpose of the Gospel, in particular, to provide a framework or basis for what follows. Furthermore, the attempt to deal with so many issues in so short a space often forces the author into a brevity that both tantalizes and frustrates the reader. In the 4½ pages devoted to “John and the Kerygma,” for example, nothing is said about the Cross or the Resurrection of Christ, although both are essential themes. The discussion of Qumran and Old Testament parallels that we are given instead, interesting though it may be, seems to hang suspended on the periphery rather than to emerge from the center of John’s main theological concern. Similarly, in the discussion of the cleansing of the Temple (chap. 10), we are led, somewhat surprisingly, to the doctrine of the bodily assumption of the Virgin Mary, while there is but a fleeting reference to the presentation of Jesus as initiating a radically reformed worship, with its corollary of the Christian Church as Christ’s Body, the new Temple.

Father Crehan accepts without discussion the conclusion of Father Martin-dale (The Catholic Commentary on Scripture, Edinburgh, 1953) that the Apocalypse has the same author as the Epistles and Gospel, i.e., John the Apostle. This estimate of the Revelation will not appeal to most modern scholars and results in what seems to be a strange mixing of otherwise distinctive motifs. The clearest example of this is in a discussion of the “Sign of the Woman” (Rev. 12), where we are led from early patristic exegesis of the passage interpreting the woman as the Church, through much later traditions identifying her as the Virgin Mary, back to the Fourth Gospel where the title “woman” twice given to Mary (John 2:4, 19:26) is regarded as a Messianic sign—a sign of the continuity of the Church, of which she is the mother.

On the positive side, students of the Johannine literature will be grateful for the numerous references to possible parallels in the Qumran and other Jewish sources, as well as to the Fathers. Frequently the author is able to throw fresh light on the difficult problem of the relation between the Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels, as in his treatment of the Logos doctrine. The discussion of the discourses of Jesus in John is particularly good in this connection, especially the examination of Bultmann’s claim to find in them the hand of a later editor. Crehan, here as in the rest of the book maintains a conservative position that is based, not upon personal prejudice, but upon solid learning and a command of the relevant materials. Perhaps the best feature of all is the opportunity the book affords for further cross-fertilization of scholarly thinking. Protestant New Testament scholars will continue to welcome the stimulus and encouragement to new avenues of thought provided by those whose background and tradition is in so many ways different from their own.

Whether or not the book will fulfill the aim of providing a fresh appreciation of John’s theology for the laity and parish clergy remains to be seen. This reviewer must confess to some doubt. The work remains a collection of scholarly notes on aspects of Johan-nine thought, rather than a unified presentation of a distinctive theological point of view.

THOMAS W. HARPUR

The Word In Prison

My Chains Fell Off, by Verdon Lamont Hollis (Carlton Press, 1966, 155 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by L. Nelson Bell, executive editor,CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

This is the story of a hardened criminal who reached the dregs of society, was guilty of almost every known crime, and spent many years in prisons. It is a painfully detailed account of human depravity, and of the brutalizing and dehumanizing life within prison walls. It tells of Hollis’s childhood, spent in grinding poverty without any spiritual training—no church, no contact with Christians. Of the 155 pages, 130 are given to utterly frank accounts of crime and debauchery.

Then in the last pages the reader encounters a miracle. The chains fall from Hollis’s soul and spirit, and the ensuing prision years become a time of intense study and an opportunity to witness to the power of a life transformed by Christ.

This conversion story is a modern-day account of the Holy Spirit’s speaking through the Word of God. A Christian inmate gave Hollis a Bible. For a long time he ignored it. Then the Spirit led him to start at Genesis 1:1—“In the beginning God …”—and to keep on reading. Stumbling, spiritually blind, not understanding, but dimly aware of a flickering light, Hollis read on and on. One day in the Psalms he read and prayed, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” At that moment the chains fell off, and he became a new creature in Christ.

The sordid details of this book are the backdrop against which one sees a moving drama of the grace and power of God, another demonstration that the Word of God is “quick and powerful” and is a living Book through which the Holy Spirit continues to speak.

L. NELSON BELL

The Best Thus Far

The Anchor Bible, Volume 16: Psalms I (1–50), introduction, translation, and notes by Mitchell Dahood, S. J. (Doubleday, 1966, 329 pp., $6), is reviewed by Ronald Youngblood, associate professor of Old Testament languages, Bethel Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota.

At least three times in his recent volume, History, Archaeology, and Christian Humanism, William F. Albright pays glowing tribute to the linguistic and exegetical abilities of his former student, Mitchell Dahood. The book here under review neither faults the appraisal of its author’s esteemed mentor nor disappoints those of us who have been anxiously awaiting its publication.

Jesuit Dahood, a faculty member at the highly prestigious Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, is professor there of a discipline that did not exist forty years ago. Today, however, the literature of ancient Ugarit is widely recognized as the most important single tool for a proper understanding of Old Testament Hebrew poetry. Dahood’s fine commentary on the first fifty Psalms is the best example thus far produced to demonstrate the truth of that judgment.

While agreeing that the consonantal Masoretic text of the first third of the Psalter is remarkably well preserved (emendation being required in scarcely half a dozen cases, as, e.g., Ps. 45:4), the author insists that since Masoretic vocalization is late it is therefore frequently misleading. Many of his attempts at textual reconstruction remain unconvincing (for example, his treatment of 2:11), as he himself would readily admit (pp. XLII f.). Nevertheless, in the opinion of the reviewer, the bulk of Dahood’s proposals will stand up well in the light of further investigation. Needless to say, the key to most of his new readings is his extensive knowledge of Ugaritic lexical, grammatical, and literary parallels.

“The bearing of the Ras Shamra tablets on biblical philology is most widely felt in the study and interpretation of prepositions” (p. 189). In addition to the importance of this dictum, the author points to our new recognition of the widespread use of the vocative case, double-duty suffixes and other forms of ellipsis, and the precative perfect as samples of Ugaritic syntactic subtleties that broaden the range of hermeneutical choice for the student of the Old Testament.

Nor does Ras Shamra limit its assistance to linguistic matters, for it aids in theological understanding as well. Dahood adduces many new synonyms in the Psalms for the concepts of God, heaven, and the nether world. Moreover, he notes in them a much more pervasive emphasis on resurrection and immortality than has been allowed by modern Psalter scholarship. Indeed, the generally conservative orientation of his commentary will doubtless be appreciated by its evangelical readers.

The author is at his weakest when citing Akkadian and Amarna parallels, which are far more plentiful than he seems to realize and which would have supported his theses at many points. Even his Ugaritic citations are on occasion undigested (as in divergent translations of the same Ugaritic phrase on pp. 110 and 122). His English renderings of the Psalms also frequently leave much to be desired, consisting far too often of mere sentence fragments (see, for example, 19:4; 19:11 [twice!]; 39:5b; 44:17). The woefully inadequate biblical index should have been either expanded greatly or omitted entirely. It is to be hoped that such flaws (including also a large number of typographical errors) will be corrected in future editions, for Dahood’s impressive and scholarly effort is a worthy addition to the generally excellent Anchor Bible series. One can only look forward with optimistic expectation to the publication of Volume 17 by the same author.

RONALD YOUNGBLOOD

For Laymen

God in the New Testament, by A. W. Argyle (Lippincott, 1966, 224 pp., $2.95), is reviewed by Steven Barabas, professor of theology, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois.

This book, written by the former dean of Regents Park College, Oxford, who is now instructor in New Testament Greek at Oxford University, is part of the “Knowing Christianity” series, which is intended to provide for thinking laymen a reliable but nontechnical presentation of what the Christian religion is all about. The substance of the book is the Whitley Lectures given at two Baptist colleges in Britain.

The author summarizes a great deal of data on the New Testament doctrine of God, and does so very well. He begins with a chapter on the relation between the Old and the New Testament concepts of God, and then deals with important aspects of the Godhead one by one: the sovereignty of God, the fatherhood of God, the Son of God, the Spirit of God, the doctrine of the Trinity, and finally God as the giver of eternal life. The book is almost a systematic theology in miniature, for it treats of such diversified subjects (all, however, related to the God of the New Testament) as the Kingdom of God, election, love, angelology, the Atonement, the Resurrection, and the Second Coming.

Almost every statement Argyle makes is supported with references to Scripture. This makes for slow reading but is helpful to the reader who wants to know the scriptural reason for what is said. Since the book was written for laymen, it is not philosophical or speculative. The author tries to set forth simply and clearly what the New Testament teaches about God. Although presented in outline form, the subject is not over-simplified. Argyle never seems to move about uncertainly in an ethereal atmosphere or to try to hide his ignorance or real views in a thicket of verbiage.

The author belongs to a new school of British scholars who, while fully abreast of the latest research, take the witness of the Bible very seriously. Their attitude toward Scripture is refreshingly reverent. On matters of historical and literary criticism of the Bible, their viewpoint is moderately liberal. For example, whenever Argyle refers to the Epistle of the Ephesians, he says that it was probably written not by Paul but by a disciple of his; and he does not hesitate to say that Luke may have placed a saying of Jesus in a wrong context. He also thinks that those who die without Christ will probably be given a second chance, and that their future will grow ever more painful until they submit to Christ at last (for this he does not, however, give scriptural support). Nevertheless, he has not the slightest doubt of the truth of the main doctrines of Christianity, such as the Trinity, and the deity, resurrection, and virgin birth of Christ. The average layman can profit greatly from this book, although he may be a bit confused by an occasional statement in which Argyle reflects his somewhat liberal viewpoint.

STEVEN BARABAS

Book Briefs

Adventures with God, compiled by Harry N. Huxhold (Concordia, 1966, 230 pp., $3.50). One hundred fifty devotional writings with prayers and Bible readings; for children 8 to 12.

The Last Discourse of Jesus, by G. M. Behler, O. P. (Helicon, 1965, 286 pp., $5.95). A verse-by-verse commentary on St. John’s account of Christ’s farewell to his apostles at the Last Supper.

The Language of the New Testament, by Eugene Van Ness Goetchius (Scribners, 1965, 349 pp., $5.95; also paperback workbook, 277 pp., $2.95). A Greek language text which claims characteristics that will tempt people to study Greek.

Israel’s Sacred Songs: A Study of Dominant Themes, by Harvey H. Guthrie, Jr. (Seabury, 1966, 241 pp., $5.95). A critical study of the poetry of Israel (mostly the Psalms—and only some of them) that sees it not as expressions of propositional truth but as the praise of God by the community of Israel.

Time and History: A Study in the Revelation, by Mathias Rissi (John Knox. 1966, 147 pp., $4.50). A christological approach to the Book of Revelation that derives its essential category of interpretation from the meaning of time and history as disclosed in the cross and resurrection of Christ.

The Old Testament World, by Martin Noth, translated by Victor I. Gruhn (Fortress, 1966. 404 pp., $8). A concise yet comprehensive presentation of the geographical and historical setting of the Old Testament.

The Child’s Book of Psalms, selected by Edith Lowe, illustrated by Nan Pollard; Hear Our Prayer, selected by Sharon Stearns and illustrated by Helen Page; Hear Our Grace, selected and illustrated by Sharon Banigan (Follett, 1966, 44 pp. each, $1 each). Delightful for small children.

The Four Translation New Testament (Moody, 1966, 739 pp., $9.95). Four easy-to-read translations (King James, New American Standard. Williams—In the Language of the People, Beck—In the Language of Today) of the Greek New Testament in parallel columns.

Directors of American Philosophers III, 1966–67 (Archie Bahm, 1966, 514 pp., $12.50). The third biennial compilation of names, addresses, and duties of American philosophers, and an index of philosophical societies and journals.

Our Father: An Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer, by Ernst Lohmeyer, translated by John Bowden (Harper and Row, 1966, 320 pp., $4.95). An analysis and interpretation that blends scholarship and religious understanding.

Looking God’s Way, by Reuben K. Youngdahl (Augsburg. 1966, 170 pp., $3.95). Refreshing sermons in lively style.

The Thought of Teilhard de Chardin: An Introduction, by Michael H. Murray (Seabury, 1966, 177 pp., $4.95).

Bible Sermon Outlines, by Ian MacPherson (Abingdon, 1966. 192 pp., $3.95). Outlines with a wisp of logic and a whisper of content.

Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: The Acts of the Apostles, Volume I translated by John W. Fraser and W. J. G. McDonald, edited by David W. Torrance and Thomas F. Torrance (Eerdmans, 1965, 410 pp., $6). A good, new translation.

The World Council of Churches: A Study of Its Background and History, by David P. Gaines (Richard R. Smith, 1966, 1,302 pp., $18.50). Complete data on the WCC. A very valuable reference work.

Doing What Comes Supernaturally, by Thomas A. Fry, Jr. (Revell, 1966, 126 pp., $2.95). Short perceptive essays that make good reading.

The Bible and the Schools, by William O. Douglas (Little, Brown, 1966, 65 pp., $3.75). A Supreme Court Justice reflects on Bible reading and prayer in public schools.

My God, Why?: And Other Questions from the Passion, by Wallace T. Viets (Abingdon. 1966. 112 pp., $2.25). Provocative writings often less than biblical.

Sex, Family, and Society in Theological Focus, edited by John Charles Wynn (Association, 1966, 256 pp., $4.95). Up-to-date reading that shows more about how things are than how they ought to be.

No Greater Love: The James Reeb Story, by Duncan Howlett (Harper and Row, 1966, 242 pp., $4.95). The spiritual odyssey that ended in an act of violence in the streets of Selma, Alabama, and galvanized the conscience of a nation.

Crusade Against Hunger, by I. W. Moo-maw (Harper and Row, 1966, 199 pp., $3.95). The story of unsung heroes of the soil, the agricultural missionaries battling starvation and spiritual misery in underdeveloped countries of the world.

Paperbacks

A Handbook of Contemporary Theology, by Bernard Ramin (Eerdmans, 1966, 141 pp., $1.95). Very lucid and trustworthy explanations of the meaning of theological concepts used in contemporary theology. Anyone who reads any theology or modern religious writings will find this little book very valuable.

The Church Inside Out, by J. C. Hoekendijk, translated by Isaac C. Rotten-berg (Westminster, 1966, 212 pp., $1.95). An attempt to make known to the English world an independent, sometimes controversial Dutch figure, a “troubler of Israel.” Here are his thoughts on evangelism, race, and the place and function of the Church in the changed modern world.

The Instant Bible, by Fred M. Wood (New Life Religious Library, 1966, 134 pp., $1). It was bound to come. But this too shall pass.

Brief Outline on the Study of Theology, by Friedrich Schleiermacher, translated by Terrence N. Tice (John Knox, 1966. 132 pp., $2.50).

Nature and God, by L. Charles Birch (Westminster, 1966, 128 pp., $1.45). Nature has the first word, God gets the last—sounding suspiciously like Whitehead and Tillich.

My Comforters, by Helen Good Brenne-man (Herald Press, 1966, 80 pp., $1.50). Written by someone who knows. A wonderful booklet for the ill and handicapped, or even for the short-term hospital patient.

The Holy Spirit in Your Teaching, by Roy B. Zuck (Scripture Press, 1963, 189 pp., $2.45). First published in 1963.

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