THE RICHES OF JOHN BUNYAN by John Bunyan. Reprinted by Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. $3.45. Reviewed by Rev. Harold Hollander.
Here is an opportunity for the scholar or avid reader of theological works to become acquainted with some of John Bunyan’s theological writings. In the first he makes a good case for holding that the Lord told His disciples to begin at Jerusalem as the Jerusalem sinner was the vilest of men. I confess there are angles to this matter that I had never thought about, but the author progresses a little too slowly to hold me spellbound. After devoting 93 pages to that subject, he proceeds from page 95 to 243 to deal with “The Pharisee and the Publican.” The last sixty pages or so are divided among the five remaining subjects. Not for everyone.
CHINA – A NEW DAY by W. Stanley Mooneyham. Published by Logos International, Plainfield, NJ 07060. 241 pages, paperback, $2.50. Reviewed by John Vander Ploeg.
The importance and value of t his 241–page paperback at a cost of only $2.50 should not be underestimated. This volume by W. Stanley Mooneyham is, as Billy Graham states, “highly readable.” Moreover, as a careful reading of the book reveals, it is chock–full of apparently authentic information about China, proclaimed by Mao-Tse Tung on October 1, 1949, to be the People’s Republic of China . As president of World Vision International, Mooneyham has obviously had such a measure of exposure to Communist China, and it to him, that he knows whereof he speaks.
Mooneyham is by no means alone in stressing the need and the wisdom of keeping a close eye on developments in China. He quotes Napoleon Bonaparte as having once said: “China? There lies a sleeping giant—Let him sleep, for when he awakes he will move the world.” Another quote reports the historian Arnold Toynbee as having said: “The twenty-first century will belong to China. They will be two-fifths of the human race by then.”
China is a book packed with factual information, obviously gleaned by the author [rom first-hand contact with this land with its population of about one billion. The reader is left with no doubt that Mooneyham is factual and objective and that he is well–qualified to write China – A New Day because he has had a great deal of exposure to the land and especially to the mind, the culture, and the ingrained traditions of the Chinese people.
For more than one good reason, China is a volume to be recommended for purchase and to be carefully read. Its value is far greater than the cost of it might suggest. The wealth of information about China in this “new day” has all the appearance of being authentic. If this sleeping giant, with a population of one billion, is really being aroused in our time, it would be inexcusable folly on our part if we are content to remain uninformed. At long last the bamboo curtain is being somewhat raised, and those who are wise will want to know what there is to know and to see through Mooneyham’s eyes what there is to see.
Getting to know China of today is not merely something abstract or theoretical. Rather, it is an intensely practical matter. Before God, we are our “brother’s keeper” whether he be red or yellow, black or white. Moreover, the recent “normalization of relations” between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China makes it of the utmost importance that we of the U.S. take advantage of every good opportunity to know with whom we are dealing. Also, the economic interests of both China, the U.S., and Canada as well, make it profitable, if not imperative, to know with whom we are doing business.
If the opening of some of China‘s doors today for international communications and exchanges should result in a new day also for Christian missions in Communist China, may the Lord grant that we may be found prepared to meet the challenge. Mooneyham’s China – A New Day may very well be consulted as one means in this if access can be gained to China with its one quarter of the world’s population.
THE PRESENCE OF THE FUTURE (The Eschatology of Biblical Realism) by George Eldon Ladd . Eerdmans Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan , 1974. 339 pages, paperback, $4.50. Reviewed by Rev. Morris H. J. Faber , Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The odd and puzzling title of this book may be clarified by expansion: “The Current Presence of the Future Kingdom.” The point of the book is that the kingdom of God lor of heaven, pages 110, 233) has been present with men since the time of John the Baptist and will come into fulness with a tremendous breakthrough at the end of time, pages 218, 307. Again and again the author presents this truth and does so with forcefulness hard to gainsay. He vigorously opposes the idea that the kingdom of God is to make no appearance on earth until history has ended. He equally opposes the idea that the kingdom will be consummated at time’s end without any cataclysm.
The author’s stance militates against postmillennialism, e.g., on page 126, because the teaching ignores the great upheaval to occur at Christ’s return. The author does not devote much time or space to· premillennialism, but he does show deviation from its strong contrast between Israel and the church, page 255. The term premillennialism, like postmillennialism and amillennialism, is nowhere mentioned , I believe. The term dispensationalism is mentioned once, pages 236, and then unfavorably. The Revelation 20:1–10 passage is not at all discussed or quoted, though it is referred to on page 119. I wish the author had used his great command of his subject to evaluate premillennialism explicitly rather than only by indirection.
The book is a revised and updated version of the author’s 1964 Jesus and the Kingdom. After an opening chapter on the past and present debate relative to the doctrine of the last things, the author presents two chapters on the promise of the kingdom as found in the Old Testament and as (mis)understood in the later apocalyptic literature that includes the Apocrypha. Chapters 4–12 tell of the fulfillment of the kingdom promise and are followed by two final chapters on the end of time.
The reading of the book leaves one greatly impressed with the author’s mastery of his subject and command of his material. It also reminds one of the marvel of the kingdom and the high privilege of membership in it. It likewise gives the reader interesting insights: that Christ’s disciples are the true Israel, not a new one, page 255. Also that Jesus offered the people not just a teaching, but also Himself, and therefore His followers are His slaves, page 249. Also that the mystery of the kingdom is that it appears in history and time as well as at the consummation of the ages, page 222. Also that Jesus’ parables do indeed conceal as well as reveal the truth, page 226. Also that the church is a means to the kingdom, not identical with it. Also that the Matthew 16 rock upon which Christ says He will build His church is, ac· cording to Ladd, the apostle Peter himself as representing the twelve confessors of Christ, page 260. (The difference between petros masculine and petra feminine is said to be unimportant.) Also that the fatherhood of God in Matthew 6 must be that over His disciples only, page 181. Other· wise it would be extended over even creatures. (So what if it is?)
Overall, not fast or easy reading, but worth reading!