Book Briefs: January 29, 1971

More From C.S. Lewis

God in the Dock, by C. S. Lewis (Eerdmans, 1970, 346 pp., $6.95), is reviewed by Cheryl A. Forbes, a member of the staff ofCHRISTIANITY TODAY.

These essays were collected and edited by the late C. S. Lewis’s private secretary, Walter Hooper. Written over a twenty-four year period, they were originally published in various obscure newspapers and magazines.

Hooper has divided the book into three parts. The first section contains essays that are theological, focusing on miracles. The title of the book comes from the second part: “The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock” (p. 244). This group of essays discusses problems that are “semi-theological”—they are neither theology nor ethics. The essays in part three treat various ethical topics. The editor has concluded the book with letters by Lewis to various newspapers and magazines on many of the same topics. The tone of Lewis’s essays is never somber, but always serious. His ideas are presented with wit and clarity, without gloom and pessimism.

Some of the ideas found here also can be found in his other books. The essay on miracles is a simplified, greatly shortened version of his book on the subject. But most of the essays will be new to the majority of readers. Some overlap each other, and a few are repetitive. “The Trouble with X …” and “ ‘Miserable Offenders:’ An Interpretation of Prayer Book Language” say the same thing. In too many of the essays example and illustration are repeated, but there is enough variety to compensate for this.

The topics range from miracles and the question of animal pain to sociology and vivesection. One essay, “Priestesses in the Church?,” should infuriate all members of the Women’s Liberation Movement. But his argument cleverly developed from Pride and Prejudice should delight any who admire an intelligent, well-conceived argument.

An interview of Lewis conducted by Sherwood E. Wirt in May, 1963, will interest many evangelicals. Wirt’s language is not that of Lewis, and his attempt to translate Lewis’s ideas into the language of “decision” is interesting but unnecessary.

For those who know little of C. S. Lewis or his ideas this book is a good introduction, perhaps better than Christian Reflections (also edited by Mr. Hooper). God in the Dock contains some of the best of Lewis’s witty apologetics. And for those who have long known and loved the writings of Lewis, this volume is a welcome addition.

Scholarship Come Of Age?

The Bible and Modern Doubt, by Mack B. Stokes (Revell, 1970, 286 pp., $5.95), is reviewed by Watson E. Mills, associate professor of philosophy and religion, Averett College, Danville, Virginia.

One ironic consequence of the historical-critical method of biblical study has been that, just as the human race was “coming of age” and advancing into the future with unprecedented rapidity, scholarship was learning how to push the New Testament backward into the past and even imprison it in a specific time segment. The result was a vast chasm being opened between the first and the twentieth centuries. A serious historical dichotomy was born creating a painful paradox: the more we understand the ancient faith, the more irrelevant it appears for our twentieth century world. It is indeed tragic that critical reconstruction has gradually, however unwittingly, served to make the New Testament more and more remote and less and less relevant.

It is no wonder, then, that there has been a resurgence of interest in hermeneutics. Professor Mack B. Stokes, Associate Dean and Parker Professor of Systematic Theology at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, has given us a stimulating volume that aims at challenging the Christian to think about his Bible. Stokes hopes—not in a critical sense—to engage the reader in a dialogue by reflecting upon some of the contemporary doubts about major themes of the biblical revelation. He is writing for the general reader rather than the sophisticated theologian—an extremely commendable and refreshing direction!

The author builds his case upon four assumptions: (1) that the major teachings of the Bible are true, but this cannot be taken for granted any longer; (2) while the Bible is relevant, this must be shown through careful interpretation; (3) the major teachings are indispensable to the Christian religion; and (4) the major teachings move in a direction opposite from prevailing modern ideas (pp. 5, 6). Given the audience to whom the book is directed, these suppositions, however simplistic, seem acceptable. He follows this with four principles of biblical interpretation that are well worth pondering. These undercut biblical literalism that results in a piecemeal view of revelation, and encourage the reader to regard the biblical record in terms of the living God whose revelation is dynamic, not static, and confirmed in experience, not in the laboratory.

Parts one through four are respectively theological, anthropological, soteriological, and ethical in emphasis. Part four is the most readable and rewarding. Specifically, chapter fifteen, dealing with race relations, will afford the layman a needed look at the problem from the perspective of sound biblical theology. Stokes suggests specific biblical passages that bear upon the problem, and shows how commitment to the truths of the Christian faith necessarily excludes racism.

While the author presents the major alternatives to such crucial issues as God, alienation, and redemption, the basic question seems to be whether or not Christians are willing to take the Bible seriously. This well organized volume deserves serious consideration because it presents the issues clearly to that segment of Christendom that so desperately needs to know what the questions are as well as how to move toward positive answers. This volume gives a resounding “amen” to a statement made a few years ago by Leander Keck: “There is a way to read the Bible which opens the door to vital faith, without shutting the door to critical thought.”

Christianity Anti-Sexual?

The Christian Response to the Sexual Revolution, by David R. Mace (Abingdon, 1970, 142 pp., paperback, $1.75), is reviewed by David E. Kucharsky, associate editor, CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

David Mace, a Quaker, is professor of family sociology at Wake Forest and former executive director of the American Association of Marriage Counselors. He seeks to “bring home plainly the urgent need for a Christian reinterpretation of sex.” He is deliberately vague on what behavior pattern should emerge, but the direction is clearly away from an objective code. “Sexual intercourse in marriage,” he contends, “can be as immoral and exploitative as it can be outside marriage.”

Christian standards of sexual morality should be based “on the ethical teaching of Jesus,” Mace suggests. The criteria by which the ethics of any sex act should be judged are seen in these questions: “What would it do to me as a child of God and a follower of Christ? What would it do to my sexual partner, who is my neighbor to be loved as myself? What would it do to the family, and to the well-being of children?”

This is regarded as the “healthy” biblical view of sex as opposed to some of the things Paul taught about women and marriage which, Mace intimates, were conditioned by Greek philosophy. The writer of Revelation is accused of having been corrupted by Oriental and Neoplatonic dualism because he said that the 144,000 had not been “defiled with women.”

Mace sees some objectionable aspects in promiscuity and pornography, but what bugs him most is that Christianity has been an “anti-sexual” religion these 1,900 years. And it seems not to occur to him that repressive attitudes toward sex with all their unfortunate consequences have nonetheless been more conducive to human progress than pagan permissiveness.

Missionary Vision

Student Power in World Evangelism, by David M. Howard (Inter-Varsity, 1970, 129 pp., paperback, $1.25), is reviewed by Donald McGavran, dean of the Graduate School of World Mission and Institute of Church Growth, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.

Student Power is the best brief book available on the evangelization of the world. It is fair, balanced, and soundly historical. It sees world evangelization in perspective. It uses facts correctly. Its picture of the part students have played in world mission is accurate.

The book, rising out of the student movement, is written by a young man for the now generation. Howard knows college and university students and their hangups about missions. He uses the contemporary dialect well—and is up-to-date enough to call “tell it like it is” a cliche. He will be read with pleasure and profit in universities and colleges all across the United States and should be translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and other languages.

Brevity enhances the value of the volume. A sound, biblical base in both Old and New Testaments, a wide historical approach, and contemporary issues have been compressed into 120 interest-packed pages. Readability is high. Thought moves briskly. Young men and women will study the book chapter by chapter with a sense of newness and advance at every session.

In the current confused era following the collapse of European empires and the rise of over a hundred independent sovereign nations, foreign missions is concluding a major job of self-renovation. Inevitably, reconstruction has been accompanied by criticism and disparagement of the old. Voices, sometimes shrill, denounce “paternalism” and “cultural imperialism.” The errors of missions and missionaries have been overemphasized. The goal was to make missions more effective; but the Church-at-large, seeing missions clobbered every sunrise, grew rather pessimistic about the whole enterprise. David Howard restores the balance. He says each student should ask himself: “Even if missions have made mistakes, what has this got to do with my obedience to God as regards the evangelization of the world?” Student power has still to be applied to the fullest in evangelization of this generation.

This small volume has been produced for the more than eleven thousand students who attended the Ninth Inter-Varsity Missionary Convention, and it was used there to good effect; but it should be used in thousands of other places. Missionary-minded ministers and laymen all over America should get this little volume, study it, and use it with their youth. Student Power can help denominations everywhere recapture their missionary vision and obedience.

Newly Published

One Divine Moment, edited by Robert E. Coleman (Revell, 1970, 123 pp., paperback, $1.95). The revival that began at Asbury College on February 3, 1970, is vividly described along with some of its effects in following months elsewhere.

The Theology of Altizer: Critique and Response, edited by John B. Cobb, Jr. (Westminster, 1970, 269 pp., $7.50). The respectful criticisms of nine scholars representing various positions (none evangelical), together with Altizer’s responses.

King James II New Testament, by Jay P. Green (Associated Publishers and Authors, 1970, 252 pp., paperback). Despite the choice of name, this is not a translation in honor of the last Roman Catholic king of England (1685–88), the one that was finally defeated in the north of Ireland by the forces of William of Orange. The format, English style, and textual basis are all little changed from the King James I. Regrettably, there is no indication where changes have been made or where alternative renderings are possible.

Philosophy and Education in Western Education, by John A. Stoops (Interstate, 1971, 424 pp., $7.95). A textbook that introduces the concepts of philosophy, touching on a few important philosophical orientations of Western civilization (idealism, Thomistic synthesis, pragmatism).

Four Minor Prophets: Their Message for Today, by Frank E. Gaebelein (Moody, 1970, 252 pp., $4.95). These expository addresses on Obadiah, Jonah, Habakkuk, and Haggai have been extensively revised to make a devotional commentary. The author was at one time co-editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

Pray in the Spirit, by Arthur Wallis (Christian Literature Crusade, 1970, 126 pp., paperback, $1.25). Starting with the importance of baptism of the Holy Spirit, the author explores the Spirit’s role in prayer, including tongues-speaking. He cites numerous examples of mystical experiences.

The Opaqueness of God, by David O. Woodyard (Westminster, 1970, 160 pp., paperback, $2.65). A brief introduction to Barth, Bultmann, Bonhoeffer, Van Buren, Ogden, Buri, Pannenberg, and Moltmann.

Ezekiel, A Commentary, by Walther Eichrodt (Westminster, 1970, 594 pp., $12.50). A translation of perhaps the most important recent scholarly commentary on this major prophet.

This Little Planet, edited by Michael Hamilton (Scribner, 1970, 241 pp., $6.95). The only drawing factor about this book, which rehashes the basic issues in ecology today, is the introduction by Senator Edmund S. Muskie.

Roger Williams: Witness Beyond Christendom, by John Garrett (Macmillan, 1970, 306 pp., $7.50). A valuable scholarly work portraying Williams as the biblically guided figure that he was.

Preaching From a Pentecostal Perspective, by Sam F. Middlebrook (Vantage, 1970, 112 pp., $3.75). Sermons by faculty members at the leading Bible college of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.

Eyes on Europe, by W. Stuart Harris (Moody, 1970, 156 pp., paperback, $1.95). A helpful, popular, somewhat subjective, country-by-country survey of evangelical presence.

Ben Israel: The Odyssey of a Modern Jew, by Arthur Katz with Jamie Buckingham (Logos, 1970, 207 pp., $4.95). The author leads us through his search for meaning in life—from Communism to hedonism and finally to the recognition of Jesus as Messiah. He found peace when he entered into a “covenant” relationship with God.

Quattlebaum’s Truth, by Mark Gross (Harper & Row, 1970, 145 pp., $4.95). A poor attempt at originality in the discussion of the standard “Who am I? Who is God?” questions.

Hellenistic Ways of Deliverance and the Making of the Christian Synthesis, by John Herman Randall, Jr. (Columbia, 1970, 242 pp., $7.95). Useful for studying the religious background in which Christianity arose, culminating in Augustine, but the author’s evaluations (of Paul, for instance) do not commend themselves.

The Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, by Willi Marxsen (Fortress, 1970, 191 pp., $2.95). By one who does not believe it actually happened, yet still claims to be a Christian.

Between Honesty and Hope, translated by John Drury (Maryknoll, 1970, 247 pp., $2.95). Thirty documents since Vatican II issued by Roman Catholic leaders of Latin America.

Conquering the Fear of Death: An Exposition of First Corinthians 15, by Spiros Zodhiates (Eerdmans, 1970, 869 pp., $9.95). Those who liked the author’s other prolix commentaries (i.e., James, John 1; Matt. 5; 1 Cor. 13) should like this one, too.

Dictionary of Pagan Religions, by H. E. Wedeck and Wade Baskin (Philosophical Library, 1971, 363 pp., $10). If you want to know about Oannes, Hohodemi, Ba, and the like, here’s your source.

Some of the above books will later be reviewed at greater length.

In The Journals

A scholarly journal devoted to the person and work of the Holy Spirit from the Pentecostal viewpoint is Paraclete (1445 Boonville Ave., Springfield, Mo. 65802; single copy $.75). Articles in the Winter, 1971, issue include “The Working of Miracles” by R. L. Dresselhaus, “Chrysostom and the Charismata” by A. T. Floris, and “The Spirit’s Authority in the Old Testament” by D. B. Pecota.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.