Once a year we attempt to bring our readers up to date in the various fields of Christian learning by devoting an issue to books. But those of our magazine readers who are not also book readers needn’t abandon the issue here at the threshold: features, editorials, letters, and news will furnish plenty of variety. Even these readers should take a look at our list of last year’s “Choice Evangelical Books” (page 34). Books are filled with ideas, and ideas are weapons. Of all books of weaponry, the Bible itself, of course, stands foremost. So read books, and read the Book!
From this issue’s unity we move on to diversity. Coming up a fortnight from now: An article on abortion, and the central question that the U. S. Supreme Court avoided in handing down its recent decision (is the fetus to be considered a human being?); another on justification, by the well-known evangelical theologian-philosopher Gordon Haddon Clark; an exhortation to exhorters by our peripatetic editor-at-large John Warwick Montgomery; and a guide to “discerning artistic spirits,” which will launch a new monthly feature: a three-column page devoted to the arts.
Cheryl Forbes has climbed up a step on our editorial ladder, from editorial assistant to editorial associate. Kudos to her.
This year we return to putting all our surveys of the previous year’s books in one issue. In just two years we have increased our number of survey articles from three to eight in order to make this annual issue an even better permanent reference tool. “Significant” books are not determined by doctrinal soundness, for we can profit from books with which we disagree. Similarly, bestsellers are not necessarily of lasting value. Compiling these surveys depends upon the cooperation of the publishers as well as the surveyors, and we wish to thank them and to apologize for unintentional or unjustifiable omissions. On pages 34 and 35 we mention a few books by evangelical authors to which we wish to call special attention.
