General Most books are readily classifiable by time or place or topic but here are some that range beyond such boundaries, in addition to Christianity in European History. Libraries should have The Church in a Secularized Society by Roger Aubert et al. (Paulist), which treats Catholicism in the last couple of centuries and completes a series of five massive volumes called The Christian Centuries. The First Six Hundred Years (1964) and The Middle Ages (1969) were reissued last year, but volumes three and four are being revised before publication in English. By contrast, Howard Clark Kee uses only 100 pages to survey Christianity (Argus).

Faith’s Heroes by Sherwood Wirt (Cornerstone) is a delightful look at 10 great Christians from Polycarp to Amy Carmichael by the retired editor of Decision. A similar approach, but sticking to Catholics for six post-Reformation choices, is Saints Alive! by Anne Fremantle (Doubleday). A different approach to great leaders is provided by Herbert Mayer in Pastoral Care: Its Roots and Renewal (John Knox). He looks at a dozen men, such as Ambrose, Luther, and Asbury, to see how they shepherded in their time and what we can learn from them for today.

A Concise History of the Christian World Mission by J. Herbert Kane (Baker) is full of names and dates. By contrast, In Search of Christianity by Ninian Smart (Harper & Row) is a skilled observer’s impressions of a vast diversity of places and ways of being Christian, past and present. Geoffrey Bromiley surveys the development of doctrine in Historical Theology (Eerdmans) but with no attempt to be comprehensive for the complex period since the Reformation. The Parables of Jesus by Warren Kissinger (Scarecrow) is a history of the interpretation of the parables together with a thorough bibliography. As such it sheds much light on how different ages have understood this distinctive of our Lord’s ministry. Faith and Belief by Wilfred Cantwell Smith (Princeton) surveys the development of confusion between these two key concepts in Christian thought against the backdrop of these concepts in other religions.

The history of Christianity needs to be compared and contrasted with the history of other religions. Mircea Eliade launched a proposed three-volume magnum opus, A History of Religious Ideas (University of Chicago). The first volume covers from the stone age to the Eleusinian mysteries. Wanderings is a well-illustrated and skillfully written history of the Jews, especially stressing their relationships with others, by Chaim Potok (Knopf).

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WORSHIP AND SYMBOLISM Besides The Westminster Dictionary of Worship and The Study of Liturgy, five books in this area combine well-written text with skillfully chosen illustrations: from Protestantism, The Morning Stars Sang: The Bible in Popular and Folk Art by Anita Schorsch and Martin Grief (Universe); from Orthodoxy, The Icon: Holy Images, Sixth to Fourteenth Century by Kurt Weitzmann (Braziller); and from Catholicism, The Mass by George Every (Our Sunday Visitor), Heraldry in the Catholic Church by Bruno Bernard Heim (Humanities Press), and Rose Windows by Painton Cowen (Chronicle Books [870 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94102]). The last named describes the most impressive of Gothic cathedral windows. Teachers and students should be alert to the value of such visual aids in understanding the faith of earlier ages.

The Image and the Word: Confrontations in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam edited by Joseph Gutmann (Scholars) and Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture by Victor Turner and Edith Turner (Columbia) are scholarly essays on the roles of art and of sacred journeys.

From Sabbath to Sunday by Samuele Bacchiocchi (Gregorian University/available from the author at 230 Lisa Lane, Berrien Springs, MI 49103) and This Is the Day: The Biblical Doctrine of the Christian Sunday in Its Jewish and Early Church Setting by Roger Beckwith and Wilfrid Stott (Attic) examine the historical evidence to build cases for, respectively, Saturday and Sunday observances.

HYMNODY The diversity and antiquity of the Christian heritage is probably better reflected in our hymnbooks than in any other single source. Erik Routley, a Britisher now teaching at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, illustrates the ecumenicity of hymns by the publishers of three of his latest books. Hope, an evangelical music publisher, has issued under its Agape imprint Church Music and the Christian Faith, a survey with particular reference to the organ. Routley, a Congregationalist, also offers two major books through Liturgical Press, imprint of the Benedictines. A Panorama of Christian Hymnody is a historical survey, including the texts of 590 hymns, that ranges the English-speaking world and looks at spirituals and songs for children as well as more traditional hymns. An English-Speaking Hymnal Guide provides information about 888 of the most popular hymns. (The same publisher offers a far more specialized work. Papal Legislation on Sacred Music: 95 A.D. to 1977 A.D. by Robert Hayburn.)

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Two reference works from Concordia have a German Lutheran leaning that will compensate for Routley’s English bent. A Handbook of Church Music, edited by Carl Halter and Carl Schalk, and Key Words in Church Music, edited by Carl Schalk, both devote considerable space to historical dimensions. Singing With Understanding by Kenneth Osbeck (Kregel) presents words, music, and background information for 101 favorite hymns. Poets of the Church by Edwin Hatfield was originally released in 1884 and is now reprinted by Gale. Sketches of some 300 British and American hymnwriters of the previous two centuries are presented.

Of related interest is A Gift of Music: Great Composers and Their Influence by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson (Good News), who are associated with L’Abri. Also note The Odes of Solomon (Scholars), edited and translated from Syriac by James Charlesworth, who believes the odes to be the earliest Christian hymnbook.

SPIRITUALITY A standard reference work for libraries is The Oxford Dictionary of Saints by David Hugh Farmer (Oxford), with entries on a thousand saints associated with the British Isles. Christian Prayer Through the Centuries by Joseph Jungmann (Paulist) is a popular survey. Western Mysticism: A Guide to Basic Works, compiled by Mary Ann Bowman (American Library Association), is a helpful bibliography.

A Great Treasury of Christian Spirituality, compiled by Edward Alcott (Carillon), contains not only the usual selections (Bernard, Teresa), but some unexpected ones (Watchman Nee, Paul Tillich). The Classics of Western Spirituality series from Paulist continues with such recent Christian additions as Origen and Richard of St. Victor and two Protestant greats, Johann Arndt and William Law.

The global resurgence of religions, both traditional and innovative, has stimulated renewed academic interest. A leading evangelical sociologist, David Moberg, has edited a score of papers presented at two international sociological conferences under the title Spiritual Well-Being (University Press of America).

WOMEN In addition to the previously mentioned Women of Spirit, there are other titles to note in this burgeoning area of study and restudy. Women and World Religions by Denise Lardner Carmody (Abingdon) surveys the historical role of women in each major religion. Beyond Androcentrism, edited by Rita Gross (Scholars), explores the same ground with more detailed essays. Woman’s Proper Place: A History of Changing Ideals and Practices, 1870 to the Present by Sheila Rothman (Basic) looks at society as a whole, although religion looms large. Our Struggle to Serve: The Stories of 15 Evangelical Women, edited by Virginia Hearn (Word), can help promote understanding by those of more traditional views. Women in Baptist Life by Leon McBeth (Broadman) is a well-documented survey, while Full Circle: Stories of Mennonite Women, edited by Mary Lou Cummings (Faith and Life), includes 19 brief biographies from the past two centuries.

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SOCIETY Several brief works range throughout Christian history, reflecting on various aspects of the church in society: Good News to the Poor: The Challenge of the Poor in the History of the Church by Julio de Santa Ana (Orbis), The Idea of Justice in Christian Perspective by Jan Dengerink (Wedge), Christianity and Political Philosophy by Frederick Wilhelmsen (University of Georgia), and Religious Thought and Economic Society by Jacob Viner (Duke).

Studies of the interrelatedness of Christianity and society in modern times are increasingly important as even secularists begin to wonder whether human rights and freedoms and a decent standard of living can long continue alongside the undermining of the Christian roots. Bernard-Henri Lévy in Barbarism with a Human Face (Harper & Row), a European bestseller, contends: “Apply Marxism in any country you want, you will always find Gulag in the end.” But many professing Christians don’t see it that way. See Varieties of Christian-Marxist Dialogue, edited by Paul Mojzes (Ecumenical Press, at Temple University).

John Senior, a classics professor, writes on The Death of Christian Culture (Arlington) and accuses Western intellectuals of preparing the way for a new Dark Age. In the previous one, it was the frontier monasteries that kept classical learning alive; will Bible colleges perform that function this time around?

Mordechai Rotenberg in Damnation and Deviance: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Failure (Free Press) uses historical illustrations to blame Calvinism for much of our modern malaise. He says that Hasidic Judaism represents a better approach. It is thoughtful, but his data can be interpreted differently.

The important relationship of Christianity to the development of science, which in turn has so affected the modern world, is again sketched by one of the ablest historians of science, Stanley Jaki, in The Origin of Science and the Science of Its Origin (Regnery/Gateway).

Three notable collections of colloquium papers very definitely reflect a global perspective: Church and State: Opening a New Ecumenical Discussion (World Council of Churches), Church and Nationhood (World Evangelical Fellowship), and The Ministry of Development in Evangelical Perspective: A Symposium on the Social and Spiritual Mandate, edited by Robert Lincoln Hancock (Carey).

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The question of war and Christian participation in it has been a perennial concern for the church, with Christian militarism generally having the upper hand. The larger context is surveyed by John Ferguson in War and Peace in the World’s Religions (Oxford). A major compilation of documents from the past four decades, mainly reflecting the views of traditional pacifists such as Mennonites and Quakers, in dialogue with other views, has been edited by Donald Durnbaugh. On Earth Peace (Brethren Press). It is a necessary source for serious study of this subject. A Jesuit’s personal narrative of visits to pacifist activists around the world is Peace Eyes, published by the Center for Peace Studies at Georgetown University.

HISTORICAL METHOD AND REFLECTION The methods that historians use and the search for overall meanings in events both past and projected are of considerable relevance to Christians and to theology. Two evangelical historians offer useful introductions to the complex of issues raised by historical study: History in the Making: An Introduction to the Study of the Past by Roy Swanstrom (InterVarsity), and God and Man in Time: A Christian Approach to Historiography by Earle Cairns (Baker). One of the most renowned elder statesmen among church historians, Roland Bainton, offers his reflections on the importance of studying the past and how it relates to Christian faith in Yesterday, Today, and What Next? (Augsburg).

One of the ablest historians in our time who is a Christian is Herbert Butterfield. Seventeen of his essays, including nine previously unpublished, have been issued as Writings on Christianity and History, having been selected and skillfully introduced by C. T. McIntire (Oxford). A new edition of Arnold Toynbee’s Gifford Lectures, An Historian’s Approach to Religion, was also released by Oxford with the addition of the famed thinker’s previously unpublished last essay that expressed his life-long agnosticism. It is appropriately entitled “Gropings in the Dark.” Toynbee increasingly appreciated the importance of the religious dimension in human affairs but he made no claims to be Christian.

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Of more specialized interest: Knowledge and Explanation in History by R. F. Atkinson (Cornell). Pasts and Futures, Or What Is History For? by Jean Chesneaux (Thames and Hudson), Has History Any Meaning? A Critique of Popper’s Philosophy of History by Burleigh Taylor Wilkins (Cornell), and Max Weber’s Vision of History by Guenther Roth and Wolfgang Schluchter (University of California).

EARLY CHURCH Probably the most popular nonbiblical saint is Nicholas (alias Santa Claus). A detailed scholarly study not only of what can be known about the man, supposedly a fourth century bishop in Asia Minor, but also of his impact ever since is provided by Charles Jones in Saint Nicholas of Myra, Bari, and Manhattan (University of Chicago).

A first-century Jew with considerable influence on early Christian exegetical and theological scholarship is helpfully introduced in Philo of Alexandria by Samuel Sandmel (Oxford). A different region is the focus in Jews and Christians in Antioch in the First Four Centuries of the Common Era by Wayne Meeks and Robert Wilken (Scholars). Two detailed works are from Oxford: Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian by Philip Rousseau, and Manuscript, Society, and Belief in Early Christian Egypt by Colin Roberts.

Kudos to Baker for their active reprinting program. Noteworthy here: The Beginnings of Christianity: Part One, edited by F. J. Foakes Jackson and Kirsopp Lake, is actually a monumental five-volume commentary on Acts (the projected part two never having appeared); The Early Christians, edited by Eberhard Arnold, consists of excerpts organized by topics; and A Companion to the Study of St. Augustine, edited by Roy Battenhouse, is a thorough introduction to the great bishop and theologian.

MIDDLE AGES Besides Pelikan’s The Growth of Medieval Theology, the other offerings in this field were more restricted in scope. But the following titles should be of interest to some nonspecialists: Light from the West: The Irish Mission and the Emergence of Modern Europe by William Marnell (Seabury), Religious Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe by Lester Little (Cornell), The Nobility and the Making of the Hussite Revolution by John Martin Klassen of Trinity Western College (Columbia), Richard the Lionheart by John Gillingham (Times Books), The Trial of the Templars by Malcolm Barber (Cambridge), Bonaventure and the Coincidence of Opposites by Ewert Cousins (Franciscan Herald), and an important collection of Selections from English Wycliffite Writings, edited by Anne Hudson (Cambridge).

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THE REFORMATION Probably the most important study in this area is Luther’s House of learning: Indoctrination of the Young in the German Reformation by Gerald Strauss (Johns Hopkins). Luther and his associates were not just concerned about theology and church practice, but with upgrading the spiritual and moral tone of the whole of society. Compulsory schooling was the chosen method. But the author’s examination of the evidence leads to the conclusion that at least for Germany, “a century of Protestantism brought little or no change in the common religious conscience and in the ways in which ordinary men and women conducted their lives.”

Biographical studies included two lavishly illustrated books from Collins: Thomas More: The King’s Good Servant by Gordon Rupp, and Ignatius of Loyola by Karl Rahner and Paul Imhof. Also published: a study of the theology of Robert Barnes and William Tyndale, Luther’s English Connection by James Edward McGoldrick (Northwestern Publishing House); a definitive biography of Lazarus Spengler, leader of the Lutheran Reformation of Nuremberg, by Harold Grimm (Ohio State University); and Faithful Unto Death by Myron Augsburger (Word), popular accounts of 15 Anabaptist youths who were tortured and executed for their faith by fellow professing Christians.

Reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of the Lutheran, Reformed, and Hussite movements are presented by Jan Lochman, a Czech, in Living Roots of Reformation (Augsburg).

Also note a new edition of Luther’s highly influential small and large catechisms, entitled What Does This Mean? edited by Philip Pederson (Augsburg), and the translation of part twoof early Lutheran theologian Martin Chemnitz’s Examination of the Council of Trent (Concordia).

WORLD EVANGELISM The most widely known evangelist of all time has been in the news even more frequently than usual the past couple of years and three major recent books reflect the diversity of accounts. Considerable publicity has been given to Marshall Frady’s Billy Graham: A Parable of American Righteousness (Little, Brown). Frady claims to be basically sympathetic but understandably many secular reviewers and supporters of Graham feel otherwise. In any case, the book in key respects is also about Americans in general and evangelicals in particular; it is not simply about one evangelist who found himself in some peculiarly demanding roles. The other two major books are clearly favorable and, besides their normal audience, should be read especially by those who are exposed to Frady’s interpretation. Billy Graham: Evangelist to the World by John Pollock (Harper & Row) updates the same biographer’s earlier book by describing Graham s worldwide ministry in the seventies. Billy Graham: Saint or Sinner by Curtis Mitchell (Revell) examines and refutes the allegations of irregularities over the past couple of years. A warm appreciation for Graham as a father is given by daughter Gigi Tchividjian in Thank You, Lord, for My Home (Ideals).

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Another famous global evangelist is the subject of a very favorable biography by Richard Quebedeaux, previously known for spotting or charging trends in evangelicalism. His latest book is I Found It! The Story of Bill Bright and Campus Crusade (Harper & Row). Two less spectacular organizations assisting in world evangelism are reported in Count It All Joy! The Story of Joy Ridderhof and Gospel Recordings, Inc. by Phyllis Thompson (Harold Shaw), and The Word that Kindles by George Cowan (Christian Herald) and God’s Free-Lancers by James Hefley (Tyndale), both on aspects of Wycliffe Bible Translators. A different communications medium, broadcasting, which aims to help believers as well as to evangelize the lost, is enthusiastically portrayed and defended by Ben Armstrong in The Electric Church (Nelson).

An enthusiastic overall survey of contemporary evangelism is by Ted Engstrom of World Vision. What In the World Is God Doing? The New Face of Missions (Word). But for a sobering awareness of how much still needs to be done (which could provoke questions about whether many evangelistic dollars are wisely spent) see Operation World, a brief country-by-country survey of evangelical strength and weakness, by P. J. Johnstone, available from Send the Light (P. O. Box 148, Midland Park. NJ 07432), and especially see Unreached Peoples ’79 edited by C. Peter Wagner and Edward Dayton (David C. Cook). The latter book, growing out of a project of the Lausanne Committee and World Vision, is a major contribution to the developing concept of evangelizing by peoples rather than by country (a unit which normally includes numerous peoples with widely varying responses to the gospel). This approach also needs to be employed in historical studies rather than focusing on artificial national or denominational boundaries.

ECUMENISM The World Council of Churches comes in for criticism in Amsterdam to Nairobi by Ernest Lefever (Ethics and Public Policy Center at Georgetown University) with respect to its activities regarding the Third World, in The World Council of Churches and the Demise of Evangelism by Harvey Hoekstra (Tyndale), and in The Russians and the World Council of Churches by J. A. Hebly (Christian Journals [760 W. Somerset, Ottawa, Ontario]).

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The ecumenical community Taize is celebrated by Rex Brico (Collins). The ecumenicity of the Pentecostal-charismatic movements is the subject of Locusts and Wild Honey by Rex Davis (World Council of Churches) and Three Sisters by Michael Harper (Tyndale), a charismatic Anglican who compares evangelicals and Protestant and Catholic charismatics.

CATHOLICISM Major theological and academic libraries have the 15-volume New Catholic Encyclopedia issued in 1967 by McGraw-Hill. A supplemental vol. 16 appeared in 1974, and now vol. 17 has been released with some 800 articles from A to Z concentrating on “change in the church,” of which there has been plenty. Many of the entries are of relevance to Protestants, from “abortion” to “women.” (It is available also from copublisher Publishers Guild, Box 754, Palatine, IL 60067.)

Not the least of the changes has been in the papacy. The Inner Elite by Gary MacEoin (Andrews and McMeel) provided information about each of the cardinals in anticipation of an approaching conclave to select a successor to the ailing Paul VI. Journalists were very glad for its existence when they had to refer to it twice to find out about previously little-known, newly elected popes. Two journalistic accounts are noteworthy: The Year of the Three Popes by Peter Hebblethwaite (Collins) is the more academic in tone; The Making of the Popes 1978: The Politics of Intrigue in the Vatican by Andrew Greeley (Andrews and McMeel) tells more than can be known but in the author’s customary engaging (often infuriating) style.

Looking back a little, Between Two Wars by Robin Anderson (Franciscan Herald) tells about Pius XI, who served from 1922 to 1939. The Evolution of Dutch Catholicism, 1958–1974 by John Coleman (University of California) is an excellent study of how one of the most conservative branches of Catholicism swiftly became one of the most progressive. Catholicism and History by Owen Chadwick (Cambridge) gives fascinating insights into the process by which the Vatican finally allowed scholars to use its archives and some of what was discovered therein.

The roles of monks and nuns have been important for a very long time. Reflections on changes in the past as well as prospects for the future are in Shaping the Coming Age of Religious Life by Lawrence Cada, et al. (Seabury), New Pressures, New Responses in Religious Life by John Dondero and Thomas Frery (Alba), In Habit: A Study of Working Nuns by Suzanne Campbell-Jones (Pantheon), and Forty Years Behind the Wall by M. Raymond, a Trappist (Our Sunday Visitor).

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PROTESTANTISM No new major surveys of any of the worldwide denominations appeared last year that I know of. Stephen Neill’s Anglicanism (Oxford) is back in print in a fourth edition while The Church in History by John Booty (Seabury) is on the same subject but with American Episcopalians chiefly in mind. Also in a fourth edition is Presbyterians: Their History and Beliefs by Walter Lingle and John Kuykendall (John Knox), a brief account that does not reflect Calvinistic orthodoxy. Pentecostals Around the World is an informal, personal account by Karl Roebling (Exposition). The Mennonite World Handbook, edited by Paul Kraybill (Mennonite World Conference [528 E. Madison, Lombard, IL 60148]), is an essential guide to the vast array of Mennonite (and related) denominations.

Official accounts of their overseas work by American-based bodies include: Founded on the Word, Focused on the World: The Story of the Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society (P. O. Box 5, Wheaton, IL 60187), A People of Mission: A History of General Conference Mennonite Overseas Missions by James Juhnke (Faith and Life), and The Expanding Church by Spencer Palmer (Deseret) on the rapidly growing, non-Protestant Mormons.

AFRICA Several important books appeared during the past year that sum up present knowledge while pointing the way to future studies. Christianity in Independent Africa, edited by Edward Fasholé-Luke, Richard Gray, Adrian Hastings, and Godwin Tasie (Indiana University), includes two score essays on specific topics or case studies, mostly from people who are or were based in Africa and half by Africans. A different style of scholarship, of even more interest to the nonspecialist, though not possible without the foundation of detailed labors by others, is represented by two historical surveys. Peter Falk includes even the earliest centuries in North Africa in a comprehensive survey of Christianity in every corner of the continent in The Growth of the Church in Africa (Zondervan). The 550-page book is crammed full of names, dates, and places. More readable, and much more limited in its time frame is A History of African Christianity, 1950–1975 by Adrian Hastings (Cambridge). Both books are well documented and indexed and include lengthy bibliographies.

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Toward the end of 1976, a major Pan African Christian Leadership Assembly was held in Nairobi, bringing evangelical leaders from around the continent face to face. Together in One Place is the story of PACLA by Michael Cassidy and Gottfried Osei-Mensah while Facing the New Challenges is a compilation of some 100 speeches delivered there. Both volumes are published by Evangel in Kenya and available together for $12.50 from African Enterprise, P. O. Box 988, Pasadena, CA 91102. Four months later a smaller gathering at Milligan College featured four African speakers with responses by others that were published as The Church in Africa, 1977, edited by Charles Taber (Carey). A different theological perspective is represented in the papers from the Pan-African Conference of Third World Theologians held in Ghana at the end of 1977 and published as African Theology En Route, edited by Kofi Appiah-Kubi and Sergio Torres (Orbis).

Thoughtful works by single individuals include The End of an Era: Africa and the Missionary by Elliott Kendall (London: SPCK), The Missions on Trial by Walbert Buhlmann (Orbis), An Urban Strategy for Africa by Timothy Monsma (Carey), and Toward an African Theology by John Pobee (Abingdon). The first is an interpretive historical survey, basically sympathetic to the missionaries. The second is a Franciscan leader’s report of an imaginary courtroom trial with witnesses for and against missions. The last two look to the future evangelistically and theologically. Meanwhile, don’t neglect the pre-Christian past. The Religion, Spirituality, and Thought of Traditional Africa is by Dominique Zahan (University of Chicago), an expert in the field.

Turning from the continent as a whole to specific sections of it, The Church Struggle in South Africa by John de Gruchy (Eerdmans) ably gives historical background to the racial conflicts. The Boy Child Is Dying by Judy Boppell Peace (InterVarsity) shares experiences in the life of an American who lived in South Africa for eight years, which can help all readers to understand a little better something of the suffering there. One of the best known South Africans was the prolific nineteenth-century devotional writer and churchman who is the subject of a biography by Leona Choy, Andrew Murray: Apostle of Abiding Love (Christian Literature Crusade). A twentieth-century figure, with a different style of spirituality than Murray’s, is C. F. Beyers Naudé, an Afrikaner who was a successful pastor, moderator of a major regional synod in one of the Reformed churches, and who was willing to forfeit his standing in the white church and society when he became convinced that his church’s support for apartheid was contrary to biblical principles. Read his story in Naudé: Prophet to South Africa by G. McLeod Bryan (John Knox).

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The autobiography of the recently elected prime minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, Rise Up and Walk by Abel Muzorewa (Abingdon), tells of the Methodist bishop who entered civil politics and, after the book was published, became the first black leader of his nation.

Moving up to central Africa, Zaire: Midday in Missions by Donald McGavran and Norman Riddle (Judson) first tells of the past work that has seen such a flourishing Christian community planted and then looks to the future. Caught in the Crossfire by Levi Keidel (Herald) is fiction, based very closely on fact with respect to civil war in Zaire in the sixties, and varying Christian responses to it.

The first black missionary from America went to west Africa, and his biography, as well as the story of the missionary society of black Baptists that bears his name, is told in Lott Carey by Leroy Fitts (Judson).

Two detailed scholarly studies that advance the understanding of evangelism in Africa are Worldview and the Communication of the Gospel: A Nigerian Case Study by Marguerite Kraft (Carey) and The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa: Anglicans and Africans in Colonial Kenya, 1875–1935 by Robert Strayer (State University of New York).

ASIA Comparatively little on Christianity in Asia came to my attention last year. Perhaps the most significant is Nepal and the Gospel of God by Jonathan Lindell, telling of the Christian presence in that predominantly Hindu mountain kingdom. The focus is on the 25-year-old United Mission to Nepal, publishers of the book. (North Americans may obtain the book for $5.95 prepaid from Mrs. Char Valvik, 5744 23rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55417.)

Especially focusing on the decade from 1964 to 1974 is Protestantism in Changing Taiwan by Dorothy Raber (Carey).

There is sure to be a rash of books on China. Three short ones to note: Love China Today edited by David Aikman (Tyndale) and China: A New Day by W. Stanley Mooneyham (Logos), both from an evangelical viewpoint, and China: Search for Community by Raymond Whitehead and Rhea Whitehead (Friendship) from a nonevangelical stance, quite sympathetic to the mainland government.

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EUROPE Besides the books on specific portions of Europe or on the worldwide dimensions of European-based denominations, there were two surveys of recent European Christianity from American evangelical perspectives: The Changing Church in Europe is a well-documented overview by mission executive Wayne Detzler (Zondervan), and Europe at the Crossroads, a briefer, more personal account by journalist Wallace Henley (Good News).

BRITISH ISLES One of the most influential Christian writers of all time was John Bunyan. His numerous works are widely available, but the sort of critical editions (comparing the variations in editions in the author’s lifetime) that are widely available for other writers are outdated. So we welcome volume eight (one of the first to appear of a projected 13-volume series) of The Miscellaneous Works of John Bunyan (Oxford). The four best known works are not in this series. For brief excerpts from the more than 60 books by Bunyan, see Upon a Penny Loaf compiled by Roger Palms (Bethany Fellowship).

Bunyan was a dissenter from the state church, and suffered imprisonment for his views. An interesting overview of the diverse and globally influential tradition of dissent in England from 1700 to 1930 is provided in A Gathered Church by Donald Davie (Oxford).

More specialized studies with wider than usual interest are, in roughly chronological order, Catholic Loyalism in Elizabethan England by Arnold Pritchard (University of North Carolina), Sir Philip Sidney and the Poetics of Protestantism by Andrew Weiner (University of Minnesota), Religious Controversies of the Jacobean Age by Peter Milward (University of Nebraska), John Wesley and His World by John Pudney (Scribners), Prophets and Millennialists: The Uses of Biblical Prophecy in England from the 1790s to the 1840s by W. H. Oliver (Oxford), The Protestant Crusade in Ireland, 1800–70 by Desmond Bowen (McGill-Queen’s University), and The Man in the Manse, on nineteenth-century Scottish ministers, by Ronald Blakey (Columbia).

WESTERN EUROPE Dale Brown’s Understanding Pietism (Eerdmans) is a much-needed introduction to one of the more misrepresented Christian traditions, with special emphasis on theology. Hans Nielsen Hauge: His Life and Message by Andreas Aarflot (Augsburg) is a disertation rewritten for wider readership on one of the key shapers of Norwegian Christianity. A rather different in:uence, first in Western Europe, then elsewhere, was provided by Friedrich Schleiermacher, subject of an introductory study by C. W. Christian (Word).

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More specialized studies include Calvinist Preaching and Iconoclasm in the Netherlands, 1544–1569 by Phyllis Mack Crew (Cambridge), Aufklärung Catholicism, 1780–1850 by Leonard Swidler (Scholars), Grotius Universe: Divine Law and a Quest for Harmony by William Vasilio Sotirovich (Vantage) on the Dutch jurist and theologian, Hugo Grotius, and Hans Rookmaaker by Linette Martin (InterVarsity), a biography of the Dutch evangelical art historian.

The German Churches Under Hitler, by Ernst Christian Helmreich (Wayne State University), is a 600-page, thoroughly documented summation of what is known and an indication of what still needs studying in the greatest tragedy for Jew, Gentile, and church of modern times. Would the Middle East crisis be what it is, would Communism have spread beyond the Soviet Union, if only the Christians in the land of Luther and the Pietists had done more to oppose the cult of Germanism? Literature on the Holocaust is growing rapidly and I mention only one title as an example of those who did stand up to the Nazis: The Assisi Underground by Alexander Ramati (Stein and Day) is about Francis’s hometown and its citizens, led by a priest, who successfully protected 300 Jews throughout the war.

EASTERN EUROPE Severe conflict between church and state is hardly new for this region. St Filipp, Metropolitan of Moscow by George Fedotov (Nordland) translates a Russian account of a sixteenth-century leader who was executed by Ivan the Terrible. Russian Orthodoxy under the Old Regime, edited by Robert Nichols and Theofanis George Stavrou (University of Minnesota), contains essays on the two centuries before the Revolution.

For the Communist period, Christel Lane provides a very helpful sociological overview of the various denominations in Christian Religion in the Soviet Union (State University of New York). Alexander de Chalandeau supplies a much needed dissertation on The Theology of the Evangelical Christian-Baptists in the USSR, with some helpful historical background to the various denominations commonly lumped as Baptists. It is available from Baptist Mid-Missions (4205 Chester Ave., Cleveland, OH 44103). Another persecuted minority is studied in The Catholic Church: Dissent and Nationality in Soviet Lithuania by V. Stanley Vardys (Columbia).

A nineteenth-century Russian Mennonite leader, Johann Claassen, is the subject of a popular biography, Trailblazer for the Brethren by Elizabeth Suderman Klassen (Herald) while the sufferings of Mennonites during the Revolution are reported by Dietrich Neufeld, now in English, in A Russian Dance of Death (Herald).

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A 500-page, passionate, documented report of religious persecution throughout Eastern Europe is Silent Churches by Peter Babris (Research Publishers [Box 633, Arlington Hts., IL 60005]). For challenge and encouragement, read Here They Stand: Biblical Sermons from Eastern Europe compiled by Lewis Drummond (Judson).

LATIN AMERICA The changes in the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America in the past two decades have been greater than anywhere else. Two surveys of those developments: Mission to Latin America by Gerald Costello (Orbis), and Thè Revolution of the Latin American Church by Hugo Latorre Cabal (University of Oklahoma). For a good compilation of selections of 13 theologians (two of them Protestants) advocating change, usually under the name liberation theology, see Frontiers of Theology in Latin America edited by Rosino Gibellini (Orbis). Dom Helder Camara: The Conversions of a Bishop, an interview with José de Broucker (Collins), is virtually a testament by one of the key figures in the changes.

Protestant activity is reported in The Growth of Japanese Churches in Brazil by John Mizuki (Carey) and Paid in Full: The Story of Harold Ryckman, Missionary Pioneer to Paraguay and Brazil (Light and Life).

MIDDLE EAST Especially in view of the attention given to this predominantly Muslim region, it is good to have a first-class historical survey, country by country, of Christians in the Arab East by Robert Brenton Betts (John Knox). Besides Christians, another minority presence is surveyed, but with a full 900-page coverage: A History of Israel from the Rise of Zionism to Our Time by Howard Sachar (Knopf). A welcome attempt to explain on a popular level the historical background and present experiences that cause Middle Eastern rivalries to fester is provided in Arabs, Christians, Jews by James and Marti Hefley (Logos). Seven Canadians contribute essays to Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation in the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Christian Perspective (Friendship).

Two major contributions from MARC, both edited by Don McCurry, are World Christianity: Middle East, which surveys Christian activity in 16 countries where there is comparatively little, and The Gospel and Islam, a lengthy compilation of papers from a major conference in 1978 on evangelizing Muslims. This volume ranges beyond the Middle East to the entire Muslim world and is essential for all who are concerned with the subject.

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NORTH AMERICA In addition to The Gospel in America and the encyclopedic works of Melton and Piepkorn mentioned at the beginning of this survey, a few other titles should be mentioned that treat North America (or the United States) generally before looking at certain major topics and periods. A History of the Churches in the United States and Canada by Robert Handy (Oxford) is now available in paperback. It would lead to a better understanding of religious developments and how they relate to society generally if more books kept both these neighboring countries in their purview. Protestantism, edited by Hugh Kerr (Barron’s Educational Series), is a useful collection of writings by prominent religious leaders and thinkers that provides an overview of the development and diversity of Protestantism in America. Evangelicals are better represented than is customary in such works.

For those who think that Jim Jones, Sun Myung Moon, and the Hare Krishnas represent something new on the scene, be sure to read Alternative Altars: Unconventional and Eastern Spirituality in America by Robert Ellwood, Jr. (University of Chicago).

The appearance of so many books on death (and coming back from the dead) in recent years, from both religious and very secular perspectives, has made death a growth industry. A good collection of essays surveying how previous generations of Americans viewed death ever since colonial times is Passing: The Vision of Death in America, edited by Charles Jackson (Greenwood). As a source directing one to sources for the study of religious attitudes by ordinary people over the decades, students should be familiar with Handbook of American Popular Culture, edited by M. Thomas Inge (Greenwood). Too much historical writing that purports to tell about people generally instead reflects the views of intellectuals who write and of the bureaucrats who shape what goes into archives. The growing study of popular culture can facilitate the study of religion at the level where religion has always mattered most, indeed among the kind of people with whom God Incarnate was pleased to dwell.

AMERICAN INDIANS The often heroic, often tragic and depressing attempts to communicate the love of Christ to the first Americans have been the subject of many books on particular episodes, but so far as I know there is no comprehensive treatment. Two indispensable helps to the study of this subject were issued last year. Indian Missions: A Critical Bibliography by James Ronda and James Axtell (Indiana University) is carefully selected and annotated. The Native American Christian Community: A Directory of Indian, Aleut, and Eskimo Churches, edited by R. Pierce Beaver (MARC), attempts to report on all presently existing churches, schools, missions, and other agencies. Naturally some were missed but every user will find that there is much more than he thought existed; the history of how most of these various groups came into being remains to be written.

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That the European settlers of America found themselves doing battle with the Indians has been a continuing ethical problem for committed Christians. See The First Frontier: The Indian Wars and America’s Origins, 1607–1776 by David Horowitz (Simon and Schuster). For a contemporary Indian’s testimony of what conversion to Christ has meant in her life, see My Searching Heart by Crying Wind (Moody).

BLACK AMERICANS Besides the comprehensive Black Religions in the New World mentioned at the beginning of this survey, there were several notable specialized studies of Black Christianity. Black Preaching by Henry Mitchell (Harper & Row) is a new edition of a historical survey of what has always been one of the most important aspects of the black religious experience.

Slave Religion: The Invisible Institution in the Antebellum South by Albert Raboteau (Oxford) and Trabelin’ On: The Slave Journey to an Afro-Baptist Faith by Mechal Sobel (Greenwood) are excellent scholarly studies of the development of Christianity among a people who might have been expected to reject something so closely identified with their oppressors. Indeed, Raboteau’s book won first place in a national competition for the best scholarly book in religion. Both authors had to uncover sources that other historians thought nonexistent. One of the crucial questions is how white Christians could possibly justify to themselves the enslavement of their black brethren. It was not without difficulty that they did so. Ham and Japheth: The Mythic World of Whites in the Antebellum South by Thomas Virgil Peterson (Scarecrow) is a scholarly presentation of the rationale.

The Children Is Crying by A. Knighton Stanley (Pilgrim) reports the work of northern Congregationalists among southern blacks from the Civil War to the 1920s.

A new publisher, Lambeth Press (Box 21, Essex Sta., Boston, MA 02112), has issued two scholarly books on important leaders. Defender of the Race by David Dean is on James Theodore Holly (1829–1911), first black Episcopal bishop and founder of the Orthodox Apostolic Church in Haiti. God Comes to America by Kenneth Burnham is on Father Divine (1880?–1965) whose religion, which accepts him as God, is still flourishing years after his change from being an “embodied God to an ethereal one.”

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Two studies on black movements that blend religion and politics are Garveyism as a Religious Movement by Randall Burkett (Scarecrow) and Black Leaders in Conflict: Joseph H. Jackson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. by Peter Paris (Pilgrim).

REVIVALISM Although the term is not necessarily apt, at least the subject matter is receiving serious attention. Many Americans are not aware of the extent to which widespread, prolonged revivals have influenced the religious history of this country in a way unmatched among other major nations. Reflections on Revival by Charles Finney (Bethany Fellowship) and Lectures on Revivals by William Sprague (Banner of Truth) represent nineteenth-century Arminian and Calvinistic stances, respectively, from prominent American ministers. (In Finney’s case they represent his 1845–46 writings on the subject, a decade later than his better known Lectures on Revivals.) William McLoughlin surveys five awakenings from colonial times to the present and their relationships to social change in Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform (University of Chicago). Two more specialized studies: Transatlantic Revivalism: Popular Evangelicalism in Britain and America, 1790–1865 by Richard Carwardine (Greenwood) and Gospel Hymns and Social Religion: The Rhetoric of Nineteenth-Century Revivalism by Sandra Sizer (Temple University). More popularly oriented reflections on the past and the future are offered by Lewis Drummond in The Awakening that Must Come (Broadman).

COLONIAL PERIOD As a welcome change, Puritan studies did not dominate the output last year. Baptist Piety: The Last Will and Testimony of Obadiah Holmes, introduced and edited by Edwin Gaustad (Eerdmans), gives us a view of life in the seventeenth century by one whose convictions clashed with those of the New England establishment. The seventh volume of Essays and Reports of the Lutheran Historical Conference available from Concordia Historical Institute featured several papers on colonial Lutheranism while The Dutch Reformed Church in the American Colonies by Gerald De Jong (Eerdmans) tells of another denomination. At the close of the period, independence produced a crisis for American Anglicans in a way that it did not for other denominations. The solution is very ably presented in Bishops by Ballot: An Eighteenth Century Ecclesiastical Revolution by Frederick Mills, Sr. (Oxford).

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Of course, Puritan studies were not neglected. Very helpful additions to the literature include: Thomas Hooker, 1586–1647 by Frank Shuffelton (Princeton), A Faire and Easie Way to Heaven: Covenant Theology and Antinomianism in Early Massachusetts by William Stoever (Wesleyan University), Cotton Mather: The Young Life of the Lord’s Remembrancer, 1663–1703 by David Levin (Harvard), God’s Altar: The World and the Flesh in Puritan Poetry by Robert Daly (University of California), and So Dreadfull a Judgment: Puritan Responses to King Philip’s War, 1676–1677, edited by Richard Slotkin and James Folsom (Wesleyan University).

MIDDLE PERIOD Revivalism has been portrayed at times as if it were the only religious expression in the South. A very helpful corrective is The Gentlemen Theologians: American Theology in Southern Culture, 1795–1860 by E. Brooks Holifield (Duke).

Among the most remarkable families in American history was that of Lyman and Roxana Beecher and their eleven children. Chariot of Fire: Religion and the Beecher Family by Marie Caskey (Yale) is a fascinating theological biography of the family, while Henry Ward Beecher: Spokesman for a Middle-Class America by Clifford Clark, Jr. (University of Illinois) is a study of the most influential of the sons.

The Beechers were prominently represented in the efforts leading to Civil War, not least through daughter Harriet Beecher Stowe. How northerners reacted to the war is conveyed in American Apocalypse: Yankee Protestants and the Civil War, 1860–1869 by James Moorhead (Yale).

Meanwhile, two of the most famous converts to Catholicism were writing back and forth. The Brownson-Hecker Correspondence, from 1841 through 1872, has been edited by Joseph Gower and Richard Leliaert (Notre Dame).

Since the Civil War, scholarly interest has been much greater on the more prestigious liberal branch of Protestantism. But increasingly there are responsible studies of the oft-caricatured conservatives. The Home Base of American China Missions, 1880–1920 by Valentine Rabe (Harvard) looks at missions when it was still of concern to both liberal and conservative Protestants.

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The origins of two major innovative movements within conservative evangelicalism are the subjects of two excellent books from Oxford: Vision of the Disinherited: The Making of American Pentecostalism by Robert Mapes Anderson and Living in the Shadow of the Second Coming: American Premillennialism, 1875–1925 by Timothy Weber. Also now in paperback is Ernest Sandeen’s ten-year-old The Roots of Fundamentalism: British and American Millenarianism, 1800–1930 (Baker).

ORGANIZATIONS Two comprehensive histories that appeared last year testify to the diversity of religion in America. The Mormon Experience by Leonard Arrington and David Bitton (Knopf) is the quasi-official story of the largest branch of Mormonism, based in Utah. In interesting ways, with the notable exception of theology, the Mormons are a kind of succession to the early Puritan settlements. Theologically, it is fair to say that in view of such doctrines as polytheism and preexistence of souls, Mormonism is more removed from historic Christianity than Islam is. The other major treatment is of a small denomination, the Brethren in Christ, a German-American body that blends strands from Anabaptism, Pietism, and later Wesleyanism into a group that is now part of the evangelical mainstream: Quest for Piety and Obedience by Carlton Wittlinger (Evangel Press).

The Believers’ Church in Canada contains papers from a conference largely representing Baptists and Mennonites, edited by Jarold Zeman and Walter Klaassen, available from the Baptist Federation (P.O. Box 1298, Brantford, Ontario).

The Last Trump by Ingemar Lindén is a thorough scholarly investigation by a Swedish Adventist of some turning points in Seventh-day Adventist history, published by Verlag Peter Lang (Münzgraben 2, Bern, Switzerland.) Aspects of other Protestant bodies are treated in The Advance of Baptist Associations Across America by Elliott Smith (Broadman), Heirs of Promise: A Chronicle of California Southern Baptists, 1940–1978 by Elmer Gray (from P. O. Box 5168, Fresno, CA 93755), Where the Saints Have Trod: A Social History of the Church of God (based in Anderson, Indiana) by Val Clear (Midwest Publications, P. O. Box 122, Chesterfield, IN 46017), Growth and Decline in the Episcopal Church by Wayne Williamson (Carey), and The Power of Their Glory: America’s Ruling Class, the Episcopalians by Kit and Frederica Konolige (Wyden). The last named is a gossipy potpourri about rich people who say they’re Episcopal. It is only marginally about religion.

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Visions of Glory: A History and a Memory of Jehovah’s Witnesses by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (Simon and Schuster) is both an autobiography of one who was a very active teen-age Witness (who eventually became a Catholic) and an informal but helpful history of the movement. Trade publisher interest in sects is also shown in two other popularly written studies: Patriarchs and Politics: The Plight of the Mormon Woman by Marilyn Warenski (McGraw-Hill) and Rocky Mountain Empire: The Latter-Day Saints Today by Samuel Taylor (Macmillan).

Turning to specialized religious agencies: Wings for the Word by Robert Taylor (Logos) is a short account of the 163-year-old American Bible Society; The Growth of a Work of God by C. Stacey Woods (InterVarsity) is a founder’s comparatively candid reminiscence of the 40-year-old Inter-Varsity movement among American collegians; A Christian Union in Labour’s Wasteland, edited by Edward Vanderkloet (Wedge), tells of a little known kind of evangelical organization, the Christian Labour Association of Canada; and Pioneer’s Progress: Illinois College, 1829–1979 by Charles Frank (Southern Illinois University) chronicles a representative older Protestant (Presbyterian and Congregational) college.

MODERN PERIOD Religion in America:1950 to the Present by Jackson Carroll, Douglas Johnson, and Martin Marty (Harper & Row) is an extremely useful adjunct to the books and articles that seek to discern and predict trends in the kaleidoscope that is American religion. The main feature is 13 national maps showing the distribution of as many denominational families. There are also numerous charts showing trends in belief as well as interpretive essays.

Three other ways of looking at large portions of the modern religious scene were provided. Atlas of Religious Change in America by Peter Halvorson and William Newman (Glenmary Research Center) gives four national maps for each of 35 denominations based on two surveys (in 1952 and 1971) of membership by county. Christian Occasions by Alan Whitman (Doubleday) is a collection of photographs that the cover says show “unusual styles of religion,” but one finds instead the very usual revivalistic and charismatic forms depicted. The Born-Again Christian Catalog by William Proctor (M. Evans or Revell) is a curious combination of pop articles for new Christians and lists of all kinds of evangelical enterprises from camps to cassette producers, from TV stations to travel attractions.

A major trend in the past couple of decades has been the growth of liberalism within Catholicism and its decline within Protestantism. The Battle for the American Church by George Kelly (Doubleday) is a hard-hitting, documented case charging (and lamenting) the decline of Catholicism because of unchecked liberalism. Pilgrim Press, publishing arm of the United Church of Christ, has issued two works of major importance, the former for professionals and the latter, based on it, for everyone who is interested. Understanding Church Growth and Decline, 1950–1978 is edited by Dean Hoge and David Roozen. Martin Marty wisely says of it, “Do not open your mouth about trends and patterns in church membership and participation unless you have read this book.” Where Have All Our People Gone? New Choices for Old Churches by Carl Dudley is aimed at mainline congregations who want to win back something of their former constituencies. In this same vein, a pastor-turned-sociologist, Wade Clark Roof, studies Community and Commitment: Religious Plausibility in a Liberal Protestant Church (Elsevier). Based on detailed research among North Carolina Episcopalians, as well as mature reflections on the religious scene generally, he finds the prospects for liberal religious vitality gloomy. Meanwhile, from the staunchly conservative side, Ernest Pickering presents a thoughtful defense, based on theological and historical considerations, of Biblical Separation: The Struggle for a Pure Church (Regular Baptist Press).

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The discussion of American Civil Religion continues unabated. Twilight of the Saints: Biblical Christianity and Civil Religion in America by Robert Linder and Richard Pierard (InterVarsity) is an excellent evangelical contribution. No Offense: Civil Religion and Protestant Taste by John Murray Cuddihy (Seabury) is a thoughtful and provocative defense of civil religion, asking how the country could have survived without something like it. God and America’s Future, by Frederick Sontag and John Roth (Consortium), deserves mention as does A Public Philosophy Reader, edited by Richard Bishirjian (Arlington). The latter includes a score of politically conservative, thoughtful essays from a dozen writers since 1955. They constitute a good demonstration of a kind of theology of civil religion.

Among serious biographies and autobiographies of recent religious figures, we mention: Streets by Margaret Budenz (Our Sunday Visitor), a Communist convert to Catholicism; Soul on Fire by Eldridge Cleaver (Word), Black Panther convert to evangelicalism; The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: Andrew Greeley and American Catholicism, 1950–1975 by John Kotre, on the priest-journalist-sociologist who entertainingly offends all comers; The Man from Ida Grove by Harold Hughes (Chosen), former U.S. Senator; John F. Kennedy: Catholic and Humanist by Albert Menendez (Prometheus); An Approach to Christian Ethics: The Life, Contribution, and Thought of T. B. Maston edited by William Pinson, Jr. (Broadman), on a Baptist teacher of ethics; Least of All Saints: The Story of Aimee Semple McPherson by Robert Bahr (Prentice-Hall), on one of the leading evangelists of a few decades ago; Take a Bishop Like Me by Paul Moore, Jr. (Harper & Row), Episcopal bishop of New York; The Breeze of the Spirit: Sam Shoemaker and the Story of Faith at Work by Irving Harris (Seabury); Growing a Soul: The Story of A. Frank Smith by Norman Spellman (Southern Methodist University), on a leading Methodist bishop; and Van Til: Defender of the Faith by William White, Jr. (Nelson), on one of the foremost Reformed thinkers of our time.

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Popular testimonies are intended for inspiration, not serious study. Nevertheless they can reveal a lot, positively and negatively, about what religion means on the everyday level. Here are some especially interesting collections of testimonies. The Overcomers by Russell Chandler (Revell) tells how several famous evangelicals (such as Carl Henry, Bill and Gloria Gaither) have faced crises. The Daniel Dilemma by Peggy Stanton (Word) is on prominent men (such as Gerald Ford, Mark Hatfield) trying to live ethically in public life. The Dollars and Sense of Honesty by George Armerding (Harper & Row) gives stories on applying Christian principles in the world of business. Meshumed! by Zola Levitt (Moody) presents the testimonies of nine Jewish converts to Christ. Conversion is not always in an orthodox or cultic direction. The stories of nine who did not go that way are told in Re-Creating: The Experience of Life Change and Religion by Virginia McDowell (Beacon).

The modern charismatic movement is one of the hot trends of the times and most of the literature coming from it is still of the very enthusiastic genre. Future historians need to know about it and libraries need to collect it for it does represent primary source material even for those who are not inspired by it. Like A Mighty River by David Manuel (Rock Harbor [P. O. Box 1206, Hyannis, MA 02601]) is an account of the giant ecumenical conference in Kansas City in 1977 while Prophecy in Action by Jim Ferry and Dan Malachuk (Logos) tells of the rally in Giants’ Stadium on Pentecost Sunday 1978. The personal stories of three charismatic leaders are told in I Gotta Be Me by Tammy Bakker, wife of the PTL host (New Leaf), The Exploding Church by Tommy Reid (Logos), and That They May Be One by Thomas Donn Twitchell (Logos).

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The Jonestown tragedy and the continued prosperity of nontraditional religions will make for a continuing rash of books on the subject. All Gods Children: The Cult Experience, Salvation or Slavery? by Carroll Stoner and Jo Anne Parke is now available in paperback from Revell or Penguin. It has been well received as a journalistic attempt to be fair yet firm. Joel MacCollam writes from the perspective of an Episcopal minister in Carnival of Souls: Religious Cults and Young People (Seabury). Both books not only present information about active groups, but examine motives for joining them and what parents and others can do to help win adherents away. Living Together Alone: The New American Monasticism by Charles Fracchia (Harper & Row) is a detached description of monastic innovations within a wide variety of religious traditions. One who claims to be an excultist and who has been making quite an impact on many conservative Protestants is exposed in The Todd Phenomenon by Darryl Hicks and David Lewis (New Leaf). Crazy for God: The Nightmare of Cult Life by Christopher Edwards (Prentice-Hall) is the story of an ex-member of Moon’s Unification Church.

Several books were rushed into print following Jonestown. Evangelical accounts of the group were presented in People’s Temple, People’s Tomb by Phil Kerns (Logos) and Deceived by Mel White (Revell). The testimony of a missionary kid who was won to Jones during the Brazil years and only slowly found her way back to Christ is told in The Broken God by Bonnie Thielmann (David C. Cook). A lengthy account is also provided in Six Years with God: Life Inside Rev. Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple by Jeannie Mills (A & W).

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