Lutheranism Is Still Luther
The Structure of Lutheranism, by Werner Elert, tr. by Walter A. Hansen (Concordia, 1962, 547 pp., $10.95), is reviewed by Robert Preus, Professor of Systematic Theology, Concordia Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.
By the “structure” of Lutheranism Elert means its confessional dynamic as this developed through the epochs of history and influences man’s life. In this volume, therefore, the author seeks to describe Lutheranism not merely according to its confessions, but by its inner dynamic and spirit. This is an immense undertaking even for such a large volume as this: it requires a vast knowledge of all the literature and history of Lutheranism’s first 200 years and a critical sifting of the evidence to discover the true nature of Lutheranism. The author is eminently qualified for the task.
Perhaps it is not an oversimplification to say that for Elert the paradigm for the structure of Lutheranism is Luther. Where the Lutheran confessions and later Lutheran orthodoxy follow his theology, his concerns, his spirit, they are recognized with true appreciation; where they fail to reflect Luther, and even where they address themselves to areas beyond his concern, they are condemned with faint praise or frankly criticized. There is real merit in such a thesis as Elert propounds. Certainly the basic structure of Lutheranism can be traced to Luther’s insight into such crucial matters as sin, freedom of the will, and in particular the impact of the Gospel, and Elert offers magnificent discussions of these fundamental themes. But just as the Lutheran confessions were composed by more men than just Luther, so a description of the structure of Lutheranism is more than just a tracing of Luther’s theology and spirit as it pervades two centuries.
To this reviewer there are two particular merits in this profound study. First, Elert shows that the Gospel motif lies behind all the theology and activity of Lutheranism. Second, he clears up many points at which Lutheranism has been misunderstood or misrepresented. For instance, he demonstrates with copious evidence (against the allegations of G. Warneck and others) that Luther and all who followed were intensely interested in mission work among the heathen, and did everything possible to carry on such activity. This resulted directly from the impact of the Gospel which underlies Lutheranism.
On only one point does Elert disappoint us: he does not come to grips with Luther’s doctrine of the Word, which is fundamental to a full appreciation of the structure of Lutheranism. On the matter of biblical authority he drives a wedge between Luther and the theologians of the later orthodox period, calling the latter biblicists. In this he is simply mistaken. It is true, as Elert points out, that the later dogmaticians argued too much from external criteria for the authority of Scripture and indulged in apologetics which was too extravagant at times. But their doctrine of Scripture’s authority does not differ from Luther’s, and they were perfectly justified (against Elert’s criticism) in deriving the authority of Scripture from its origin as well as pragmatically from its effects (as Elert wishes to do).
The Structure of Lutheranism is a classic, without doubt the finest single treatment of the subject available. One who reads and digests this volume—and this involves real work—will be greatly rewarded: he will know what Lutheranism is.
ROBERT PREUS
Up The Preliminaries
The Word in Worship, by Thomas H. Keir (Oxford, 1962, 150 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by Howard G. Hageman, Minister, North Reformed Church, Newark, New Jersey.
Dr. Keir’s book, based on his Warrack Lectures of 1960, is a welcome addition to the growing library of volumes on preaching. What makes it exceptionally valuable is that the author seeks to discuss preaching in its proper context, as part of the liturgy of the Church, seen from the Reformed point of view. Thus while the Scriptures and preaching are the major interest of the book, Dr. Keir does not forget the Church’s prayer, praise, and sacraments, all of which he properly sees as part of the ministry of the Word. That is a healthy Calvinistic emphasis. Too many soi-disant Calvinists detach preaching from its setting and play the worship of the Church down as a mere incidental preliminary; Dr. Keir restores it to the theological perspective which it must have in any Reformed view that wishes to claim the name of Calvin.
In this reviewer’s opinion the chapter on “The Song” is an especially valuable breaking of new ground, particularly when one considers the almost incredible things (both musically and theologically) that are uncritically accepted in Reformed worship. Dr. Keir attempts to give hymns their true Reformed liturgical function so that they do not become meaningless interludes chosen only because people like to sing them.
While the author’s discussion of the Lord’s Supper is a brief and incidental one, the point at which the subject is discussed is of some significance. The final chapter in the book is entitled “The Mouth-Piece.” It is as a development of a section (“Biblical Concreteness”) in this chapter that Dr. Keir discusses the relation between Word and Supper.
But most of the book is devoted to the question of preaching—and most of what the author says is both sound and stimulating. Dr. Keir has a great gift for memorable phrases, and his book bristles with them. “The real ages of great preaching have always been the ages of great hearing” (p. 5). “Loosening of the dogmatic structure always marks a weakness of the Church at the most vulnerable, because most characteristic, place in her economy” (p. 124). “On the hearer’s side the difference is between hearing a sermon and hearing the Word of God; between seeing forked lightning on a film, and being exposed to the whip and terror of the thing itself; between reading an article about life in the army and being handed your call-up papers …ˮ (p. 133).
The author is so obviously a preacher that it almost impossible for him to mention a scriptural text without pausing to point out its homiletical possibilities. Indeed, one sometimes thinks that the progress of thought is needlessly interrupted by these frequent homiletic excursions. Sometimes, however, the objection is a more serious one. Despite what he has to say about allegorical preaching and the use of an over-wrought typology, Dr. Keir is not always guiltless at this point himself. One is a little surprised, for example, to find him employing the well-worn allegorizing of 2 Samuel 18:8(p. 20) and a rather dubious application of 1 Kings 22:3, to mention but two examples. Surely there is enough to be preached in Dr. Keir’s understanding of the Word without making use of such questionable materials!
But this single blemish should not deter one from reading appreciatively one of the best books on the Reformed concept of preaching and worship to appear in recent years.
HOWARD G. HAGEMAN
The Evaluation Continues
Another Look at Seventh-day Adventism, by Norman F. Douty (Baker, 1962, 224 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by Harold Lindsell, Vice President of Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.
The author of this book has rendered a valuable service in that he has brought under scrutiny some of the major views of Seventh-day Adventism which were at the heart of the Barnhouse-Martin explosion several years ago. He deals with such subjects as man, death, inspiration, the Sabbath, the investigative judgment, and everlasting punishment. Douty argues that Martin and Barnhouse were wrong in their analysis and were taken in by the statements given them by the Adventists. His attitude toward Questions on Doctrine is that the book fails to represent the historical views of this group in its early days.
Douty is able to make a strong case against Adventism from its own writings. But there is one important question which remains to be answered. Has Adventism really changed? Is there a new stance which is evangelical? Perhaps the best answer to this question is found in one historical development which Douty does not treat in detail, the so-called “Brinsmead Movement.” This movement strongly argues that historic Adventism has been sold down the river by the present leadership and calls for a return to the old teachings of the group.
Douty does establish that there are Adventist writings which teach the peccability of Jesus, the necessity for keeping the Sabbath in order to be saved, the inerrancy of Mrs. White’s teaching, and the incompleteness of Christ’s work because of the investigative-judgment sequence and Adventist eschatology. Unfortunately he himself falls into at least one serious error: he fails to distinguish Christ as one person in two natures. “Inasmuch as it is the personality that is the responsible agent in sinning, then, seeing that the personality of Christ is Divine, to say that He could have sinned is to say that Deity could have done so.” Douty had better reflect on the Monophysite and Monothelite controversies of the early church centuries.
This work is worth reading. Surely the author has been fair in his analysis and careful in seeking authoritative sources.
HAROLD LINDSELL
Reading for Perspective
CHRISTIANITY TODAY’S REVIEW EDITORS CALL ATTENTION TO THESE NEW TITLES:
★ Exositosy Preaching Without Notes, by Charles W. Koller (Baker, $2.50). A remedy for that ironical moment in the pulpit when the impassioned preacher must pause to see what comes next.
★ Triumphant in Trouble, by Paul S. Rees (Revell, $3). A sensitive but ringing proclamation of the promises, the peace, and the encouragement of the Christian Gospel.
★ He Speaks From the Cross, by John Sutherland Bonnell, J. Wallace Hamilton, Gerald Kennedy, Robert J. McCracken, J. B. Phillips, Paul Scherer, and Chad Walsh (Revell, $3). Seven essays on the seven words of the Cross by a cross section of prominent clergymen.
Cry For Freedom
The Inevitable Encounter, by Edward L. R. Elson (Eerdmans, 1962, 68 pp., $2.25), is reviewed by John R. Richardson, Minister, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia.
Believing that the Church itself is a challenging arena for evangelism and education, Dr. Elson presents nine topical sermons designed to meet this challenge. He maintains that it is not sadism to remind our generation of how our Christian forebears gave their lives that we might have the faith we now sometimes take so lightly. Only a costly discipleship, he insists, is adequate for our day.
In a day when our storehouse of freedom is being robbed, it is encouraging to are a champion of the principles of liberty at our national capital. Dr. Elson affirms that political freedom is the logical result of spiritual emancipation, and that only as men live under the higher sovereignty of God can they be trusted with their own destiny.
Dr. Elson speaks of the Reformed tradition, but his theology is not always “Reformed.” He says that Christ “never comes in until the door is opened on the inside” (p. 66). The experience of the brilliant young rabbi from Tarsus is a standing example of how the Lord in his sovereign grace is able to enter a closed door.
The themes discussed in this volume are of absorbing interest. They should stimulate the twentieth-century Christian to consider seriously the implications of the Gospel of Christ for his own life. Each sermon is graphic and marked by a positive accent.
JOHN R. RICHARDSON
Still Too Much
Karl Barth on God, by Sebastian A. Matczak (St. Paul Publications, 1962, 358 pp., $5.75), is reviewed by Gordon H. Clark, Professor of Philosophy, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana.
This Roman Catholic critique of ample title is characterized, not unnaturally, by repeated contrasts between Barth and Aquinas. Though the conclusion that they differ is sometimes superfluous or trivial, the author makes a telling point here and there.
For example, Barth holds that natural theology fails because it arrives at best at a Supreme Being and not at the Trinity. But God is the Trinity, and any other idea of God is idolatrous. Matczak replies: then the Old Testament must be discarded because it has no idea of the Trinity and especially no idea of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, if in heaven our knowledge of God will be more superior to our present knowledge than our present knowledge is to the idea of a Supreme Being, then our present knowledge of the Trinity is as useless as Barth thinks the idea of a Supreme Being is (pp. 73–77).
The author also attempts to defend the scholastic view of natural theology by the theory of analogy. The point is made that the theory of analogy is established after and not before the existence of God is proved. This is an interesting observation. Still, if existence is univocal in the proofs, as it must be for a valid implication, then the theory of analogy is destroyed in advance; whereas if existence is even later shown to be analogical, the proofs are then discovered to have been invalid (pp. 207, 208).
Throughout the author assumes the validity of the Thomistic proofs and the theory of abstraction and epistemology on which they are based. In addition to repeating scholastic themes of long standing he makes liberal use of the recent arguments of E. L. Mascall. But none of this (especially p. 251) is enough to convince a non-Aristotelian. In fact such a one, if a Reformed thinker, would be inclined to believe that Barth himself, for all his rejection of natural theology, still has too much, rather than too little, abstraction, empiricism, and analogy.
GORDON H. CLARK
In The Mirror Darkly
The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin (Dial, 1963, 122 pp., $3.50), is reviewed by James Daane, Editorial Associate, CHRISTIANITY TODAY.
Reviewing a book such as this is like dissecting a groan, or unnoting a musical composition. For the book is a bleeding of the heart, a groaning that has found a voice whose timbre comes from 400 years of being a man, yet something less, and the while knowing that one is more.
James Baldwin discovered in becoming a man that in the eyes of the majority he would never be one, that the doors of his future opened on nowhere.
But the book is more than a race’s anguish erupting into articulation. It is reflection, a perceptive and dignified analysis of the Negro’s lot of suffering in a white man’s land. It is a proud assertion against the odds of the centuries of a humanity denied, and still denied. Suppression of the Negro, says Baldwin, is the indispensable support for the white man’s proud myth about his superiority. Without it he could not sustain his otherwise insupportable self-estimate. The Negro is a mirror in which the white could see himself, but if he looked, says Baldwin, he could not tolerate what he saw. Looking in the mirror he would see darkly. White Americans will be saved only when they can accept the Negro as a mirror in which to see themselves, and by accepting themselves, save themselves from themselves. But the way of salvation is the same for both; the American Negro must learn to accept the white American. Without this double acceptance—the Negro’s acceptance of the white, and the white’s acceptance of himself—America is threatened, and chiefly by the white’s spiritual impotency.
Onetime-minister Baldwin’s solution is not Christian—nor yet un-Christian. It is law rather than gospel, a preparation of heathenism for Him who is the way. His analysis can teach the white much (and trouble him much, too) and the Christian even more—unless conscience be dead and all humanity drained off. But if so, then:
“God gave Noah the rainbow sign,
No more water, the fire next time.”
It is a mystery, says Baldwin, that the white should think the Negro wants his daughter. Not only does history suggest that desire ran in the other direction but, except for power, the white has nothing the Negro could want. Baldwin says he has seen nothing in the private or public life of the whites that would make a Negro want to be a white. Indeed, “the American Negro has the great advantage of having never believed the collection of myths to which white Americans cling.”
Unless America faces itself, it will have to face a bill “it is not prepared to pay.” The glorification of race “is precisely what the Nazis attempted. Their only originality lay in the means.…” Hope, for Baldwin, lies elsewhere: “We, the black and white, deeply need each other here if we are really … to achieve our identity.”
JAMES DAANE
About As Good As Can Be
Protestant-Catholic Marriage, by C. Stanley Lowell (Broadman, 1962, 135 pp., $2.75), is reviewed by W. E. Borne, Pastor, Foster Park Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois.
Writing in straight lines, Dr. Lowell travels the shortest distance between points. For clear, concise information on the involvements of a Protestant-Catholic marriage, this is about as good a book as can be produced.
The author takes his positions with forthright decisiveness, and if marshalling all pertinent facts accurately is an indication of scholarly work, this is a scholarly book. With hard statistics he spells out the religious fate of those who intermarry intending to maintain their previous religious affiliations, those who intermarry with one partner’s signing the antenuptial agreement (the text is included), and those who convert to one side or the other. The figures come from both Protestant and Catholic sources, and are not encouraging. Few people have any idea of the severity of the problems faced in a Protestant-Catholic marriage.
Against a background of fact and case history the author writes what is probably the most helpful chapter, one which delineates the counseling procedures before and after marriage. The available choices and their results are enumerated, together with the full implications of the Catholic attitude on birth control and abortion.
This is an excellent book. I know of nothing comparable in scope, conciseness, and clarity.
W. E. BORNE
A Chinese Square
God Who Redeems, by Eric H. Wahlstrom (Muhlenberg, 1962, 198 pp., $4), is reviewed by Robert P. Roth, Professor of Systematic Theology, Northwestern Lutheran Seminary, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The subtitle of this book, Perspectives in Biblical Theology, aptly describes the contents. This is not a complete or systematic treatment of biblical theology. Some subjects, such as the sacraments and preaching, are ignored altogether, but the subjects Dr. Wahlstrom has chosen to discuss have been treated with depth and originality. He examines the Bible as the record of the decisive acts of God. In both the Bible itself and the great events of salvation history, God is the dynamic and critical Person in the center of the stage.
Perhaps the book’s most original contribution is the suggestion that salvation history be schematized in the form of a Chinese square. Usually, following Cullmann, we think of biblical history as a linear progression with its beginning in Creation, ending in the Parousia, and midpoint in the event of Christ. Here Wahlstrom criticizes realized eschatology because it fails to recognize the decisive place of the future Parousia. Furthermore, the linear view of time fails to bring the past into redemptive significance with the present and the future. By describing a Chinese square with Adam and the Fall at the center and an outward progression through seven decisive events, Wahlstrom seeks to demonstrate that every successive event carries with it the past by creatively transforming it and projecting it forward by promise into the future. The seven decisive events are Eden, the Flood, Abraham’s covenant, the Exodus, the Exile, Christ, and the Parousia. The great virtue in this scheme is that it portrays the function of the Church to be not an end in itself but a suffering servant for the sake of the salvation of the world.
Seen from God’s side every event has judgment, redemption, and a promise. Seen from man’s side there is always repentance, faith, and hope. One might ask why Wahlstrom chose these seven as the decisive events in salvation history and left out others such as the establishment of the Kingdom and the building of the temple with its cultus. Surely kingship and sacrifice contain judgment, redemption, and promise in the pedagogy of God just as much as the seven chosen by Wahlstrom.
Apart from this minor amendment to his scheme it should be said that this book is one of those rare publications which have both clarity and depth. Its provocative and original thesis makes it rank with Hebert’s Throne of David and Cullmann’s Christ and Time.
ROBERT P. ROTH
A Thing Of Beauty
Our Living Bible, by Michael Avi-Yonah and Emil G. Kraeling (McGraw-Hill, 1962, 384 pp., $15), is reviewed by Frank Farrell, Assistant Editor, CHRISTIANITY TODAY.
The luminous good looks of this tome superbly reflect the brilliance of the five-volume Illustrated World of the Bible Library, from which 400 full-color illustrations have been borrowed. These are accompanied by a simple, explanatory text; the resulting reconstruction of the life and culture of Bible times is a delight to behold, with photographs, drawings, and maps all playing a part in the vivid illumination.
Certain critical views and the inadequacies of some theological statements mar the work, but it seeks to avoid theology in directing its appeal to both Christians and Jews. Emphasis is upon biblical data which lends itself to helpful illustration. Pictured are tablets of primitive writing, and ancient scenes of ritual ceremonies, battles, and activities of daily life. The fruits of archaeology and epigraphy are here seen to splendid effect.
FRANK FARRELL
Book Briefs
The Autobiography of Jesus, edited by Frank C. Laubach (Harper & Row, 1962, 192 pp., $3, paper $1.50). Another modern attempt to rewrite Scripture, this time by relating the life of Jesus in the first person.
1000 Tips and Quips for Speakers and Toastmasters, by Herbert V. Prochnow (W. A. Wilde, 1962, 142 pp., $2.95). Clean, funny humor; a few of these quips and tips may save you in many an unfunny situation.
Man From Cyrene, by Frans Venter (Muhlenberg, 1962, 332 pp., $4.95). A South African novelist relates how Simon, strong man-of-the-soil from African Cyrene, long rejected, then finally accepted as Messiah the One for whom he carried a cross one day.
These are the Sacraments, by Fulton J. S (Hawthorn, 1962, 160 pp., $4.95). Sheen’s words and Yousuf Karsh’s photography dramatically present the meaning of Rome’s seven sacraments. A clear presentation for Protestants who want to know.
John Wilbur Chapman, by John C. Ramsay (Christopher, Boston, 1962, 230 pp., $3.95). His message, his methods, and the man himself, who was one of the outstanding evangelists of the last generation.
The Anatomy of Dirty Words, by Edward Sagarin (Lyle Stuart, 1962, 220 pp., $4.95). Vocabulary of filth under copyright. As scholarly, purposeful, and exciting as the usual public restroom literature.
The Best of the Sanctuary, by Charles M. Crowe (Abingdon, 1962, 112 pp., $2.25). One hundred brief devotional readings selected from the yearly issues of the author’s The Sanctuary.
The Person You Can Be, by Roy A. Burkhart (Harper & Row, 1962, 260 pp., $4.50). Author psychologizes a rather liberal theology to enable the reader to become the person he essentially is.
All the Promises of the Bible, by Herbert Lockyer (Zondervan, 1962, 610 pp., $6.95). Author begins by allowing Samuel Johnson and Webster’s dictionary to define the meaning of “promise” and then presents a prodigious amount of material with little organization and even less discernible purpose.
Living Letters (Tyndale House [Wheaton, Ill.], 1962, 338 pp., $3.50). A paraphrase (of all the New Testament epistles) which the jacket defines as a simple and accurate restatement of the biblical writers’ thoughts resulting in an “easier reading … of the mighty Word of God.”
The Mysterious Presence, by Edwin C. Munson (Fortress, 1963, 112 pp., $2.95). A Lutheran pastor shares his Communion sermonettes.
Islam, by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, Vol. VII of “Religious Perspectives,” ed. by Ruth Nanda Anshen (Harper & Row, 1962, 216 pp., $4.50). President of the General Assembly of the United Nations presents the religious perspective of Islam for war, peace, and social and political life.
Classics in Logic, ed. by Dagobert D. Runes (Philosophical Library, 1962, 818 pp., $10). Readings presenting various theories of knowledge gathered from the epistemologists of many schools and epochs.
The Royal Way of the Cross, by Ray Cecil Carter (Fortress, 1963, 98 pp., $2). Eight short essays that point out the issue of the Cross for every human being. Authentic Christian writing.
When You Are Asked About Faith and Life, ed. by Heinrich Giesen, tr. by Elmer Foelber (Fortress, 1963, 190 pp., $3.75). Forthright, substantial, clear answers to 168 questions; from the Lutheran perspective.
Mary Bunyan, by Sallie Rochester Ford (Bible Truth Depot, 1963, 488 pp., $3.75). A tale of religious persecution; available for the first time in 100 years.
Paperbacks
The Upper Room Disciplines 1963 (The Upper Room, 1962, 371 pp., $1). Less than rugged biblically, and with no visible support for the claim that these are devotions particularly for ministers, theological students, and church workers.
Rediscovering the Natural in Protestant Theology, by Karl T. Schmidt (Augsburg, 1962, 91 pp., $1.65). An attempt to get theology, which often sticks to the ceiling, down to the floor where life is lived. P. Ramsey, A. Nygren, D. Bonhoeffer, and others are drawn into a good theological conversation.
Alcoholism and the Alcoholic, by Maxie C. Collins (Fairview, Inc., Ridgeway, S.C., 1962, 159 pp., $2). One of the finest brief-yet-thorough discussions of the problem.
To Love Is to Grow, by Patricia and Christine White (Abingdon, 1962, 96 pp., $1.25). A relaxed, forthright discussion of sex, marriage, family living, from the Christian perspective.
Why I Am at the Seminary, edited by Thomas W. Wersell (Augustana, 1962, 160 pp., $2.50). Forty-one seminarians tell why they are in seminary. Could well serve purposes additional to the announced one of wooing more men into the ministry.
My Body Broken, by Melvin A. Hammarberg (Fortress, 1963, 138 pp., $1.75). Messages for Lent by a Lutheran minister; one for each day from Ash Wednesday to Easter.
Creeds of the Churches, edited by John H. Leith (Doubleday, 1963, 590 pp., $1.95). A valuable reference book whose value would be threefold greater if it did in fact contain “all the major theological affirmations of the Christian community.”
The Ship of Fools, by Sebastian Brant (Dover, 1962, 400 pp., $2). The original work of this title, whose author sought to maintain the status quo against the tides moving toward the Reformation. Translation of a 1509 work.
The Church—Local and Universal, by Leslie T. Lyall and Lesslie Newbigin, and Evangelicals and the World Council of Churches, by A. T. Houghton (World Dominion Press, 1962, 28 and 30 pp., 1s. 6d. and 1s.). Second and third of the series, “Things We Face Together”; written by authors of diverse position but of common concern for the Church.
The Sermon on the Mount, by Roger L. Shinn (United Church Press, 1962, 112 pp., $1.45). Short readings, with a long punch, on aspects of the Sermon on the Mount. First published in 1954.
Survey of the Training of the Ministry in the Middle East, by Douglas Webster (Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, 1962, 63 pp., $.75 or 3s. 6d.). A report of a survey of theological education in Iran, the Arabian-Persian Gulf, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt, undertaken by a commission of the World Council of Churches.
I Write to You Fathers, by Melford S. Knutsen (Hayfield Publishing Co. [Hayfield, Minn.], 1962, 103 pp., $1.25). Direct, readable writing that speaks to the practical issues involved in being a father.
The Inspiration of the Scriptures, by A. W. Pink (Bible Truth Depot, 1962, 144 pp., $1.50). A popular defense of the Scriptures. First printed in 1917.
