Periodicals

Although published under primarily humanist auspices, theological libraries should be receiving The Skeptical Inquirer, which is a journal issued twice a year. It reports scientific investigation into claims of paranormal occurrences that many people accept in a religious way. Such religiosity rivals not only secular humanism but also biblical Christianity. The latest issue (spring-summer ’78, vol 2. no. 2) includes, for example, reports on Uri Geller, biorhythms, and the disinclination of the government to get back into investigating UFOs (contrary to the normal desire of government to get into anything it can). There were also ten major book reviews ($10/year [$15 for libraries], Box 5, Amherst Branch, Buffalo, NY 14226).

Such well-known evangelicals as Pete Gillquist, Jon Braun, and Jack Sparks have been involved in recent years with a church fellowship known as the New Covenant Apostolic Order. Subscribe to its new quarterly tabloid, Again, to find out more about the group ($2/year, P.O. Box 17047, Seattle, WA 98107).

Libraries serving students thinking about military chaplain service should subscribe to Chaplaincy, a quarterly published by the General Commission on Chaplains and Armed Forces Personnel (the major interdenominational organization in the field). The first issue appeared at the beginning of 1978, but it is a successor to the older Chaplain. The new beginning apparently is intended to herald a more practical orientation. A monthly four-page Chaplaincy Letter, a news supplement, comes with subscriptions, which cost $15/year from 5100 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Suite 310, Washington, DC 20016.

School and church libraries serving record listeners and concertgoers should add to their collections Contemporary Christian Music, a monthly tabloid launched in July, 1978. It is sent free to members of the music industry; others can receive it for $7.50 for twelve issues from 3633 W. MacArthur Blvd., Suite 400, Santa Ana, CA 92704. There are numerous special columns, including ones for news from the east, the west, and Nashville. There are also top twenty-five listings under three categories: contemporary, southern gospel, and inspirational/M.O.R. (middle of the road).

Theological libraries, as well as many individuals with a special interest in Jewish studies, will want to subscribe to the newly launched quarterly, Shoah: A Review of Holocaust Studies and Commemorations. Impressive sponsors and editorial board members have been assembled. Obtain the next four issues for $6 from the National Jewish Conference Center, 250 W. 57th St., Suite 923, New York, NY 10029.

Christians interested in the arts should be aware of Arkenstone, “a bimonthly journal created to provide an arena for artistic expression and discussion within an historical biblical perspective.” The May-June, 1978, issue, was vol. 2, no. 3 and included articles on Clyde Kilby and Evelyn Waugh, as well as on poetry and parables ($5/year; Box 12926, St. Louis, MO 63141).

The West Changes Its Mind

Modern European Thought: Continuity and Change in Ideas, 1600–1950, by Franklin L. Baumer (Macmillan, 1977, 541 pp., $14.95), is reviewed by William W. Wells, visiting professor of church history and historical theology, Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia.

To say that the title of Baumer’s book lacks punch is an understatement; because of that, I almost refused to review it. After reading the first twenty or thirty pages, I forgave the author his unfortunate title, for the book is excellent.

Modern European Thought traces the major shift in intellectual perspective that has occurred in the West since 1600. At the beginning of that period, Europeans thought in terms of a static universe; today, Europeans and their American descendants conceptualize their world in dynamic terms. In Baumer’s words, we no longer think in terms of “being,” but in terms of “becoming”; he focuses on that shift.

The author raises what he takes to be the five perennial questions (at least in the West): what ought one to think about God, nature, man, society, and history. Having posed these questions, Baumer says that he will examine how they were answered during each of four centuries, seventeenth through twentieth. That’s the introduction. Baumer then plunges headlong into a discussion of how Europeans understood nature during the seventeenth century. From there on, the book unfolds as one might expect up to the half way point. The nineteenth century, however, turns out to be a special case. Baumer confesses that he can find no unified perspective in the welter of opinion current at that time. So while retaining his five major questions, he divides the chapter on the nineteenth century into subsections entitled, respectively: The Romantic World, The New Enlightenment, The Evolutionary World, and Fin-de-Siecle. In the final chapter, he returns to his original structure; our present century manifests a unified thought pattern: the triumph of becoming.

Throughout the book, Baumer majors in philosophy (although Hegel receives less attention than I would have expected). But he also extensively treats theology, political thought, philosophy of history, and the history and philosophy of science. Forty-two well chosen plates illustrate the shift in perspective from the history of art. (Regrettably they were poorly reproduced by the publisher.) Occasional references are made to European literature.

The task was ambitious; I am delighted to report that the author was equal to the task. Given the subject matter, the work could have been ponderous, but to the contrary it was exciting and stimulating to read. Furthermore, the book shows not only that a shift in perspective occurred between 1600 and 1950, but also the reasons for that shift.

Don’t relegate this book to an ivy-covered tower, however. The implications of Baumer’s study for the understanding and presentation of the Christian faith are many. For example, if the average contemporary person does in fact think at the deepest level in terms of a dynamic, changing cosmos, how can one speak to such a person as the God who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever?

Baumer’s study is essential for ministers and college and seminary teachers. It will be a standard work for years to come.

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