HYMNS AND HUMAN LIFE. Erik Routley. Wm. B. Eerclmans Publishing Co., 2nd edition, 1959. 346 pages. $3.95.
Erik Routley is the eminent church historian from the University of Edinburgh. Although this is not a book on hymn music, it is the work of one who has written several books on the subject of church music. Would that more of his kind would show genuine interest in the handmaiden of true worship.
Hymns and Human Life first appeared in 1951. We are reviewing the second edition which has but two additional pages besides the usual correction of first edition errors. Routley intends the book to be a companion volume of Lord ErnIe’s famous work, The Psalms In Human Life, hoping thereby to make available a complete picture of the Old and New Testaments as source and inspiration for our sacred songs. However, I don’t believe Ernie’s book is available, at least in this country. Perhaps another edition of it would be of value for the present generation.
Boutley deals with over six hundred hymns in discussing their authorship and content. He comments on their popular reception through the years, and their association with the lives of their users. In all of this, he is, of course, stressing the poetry.
In an introductory chapter he comes to grips at once with the purpose of hymn-singing, viz., the articulation of Christian worship. All too often, he states, our hymn singing emulates that of the English judge, of whom it was said:
“‘ere ‘e comes, the ‘oly ‘umbug, ‘umming ‘is ‘ymn; ‘ow I ‘ate ‘im!”
Hymns, he maintains, are the songs of the militant church and true hymn singing is the most insistent way in which Christian faith and worship make an impact on the world around it. You can close your eyes, you can stay away from the church, and so neither taste nor see that the Lord is good, but you cannot close your ears! In hymns, he further writes, the church comes nearer to the man of the world than in any other part of its worship. They do not always do him good, but where sermons and even sacraments pass him by, hymns still make an indelible impression upon him.
The earlier chapters deal with such aspects as how hymns began in the first century, how they came to stay, how they came to life through the Reformers. From here he moves into the rich body of German hymnody, including Lutheran, Pietistic, and Moravian hymns. Then, across the channel to the “liberation” hymns of Watts and Wesley.
A later section concerns the hymn-writers themselves, bishops, priests, and deacons, pastors, missionaries and men of letters, as well as business men and women. A single chapter follows on American hymns and one, too, on youth and hymns. The final chapter is of particular interest to his fellow countrymen in England. A ten-page section of “Notes” contains source material for the extremely interested reader.
Although this is not a recent publication, it does contain a serious account of the best hymns of the Christian Church. A reminder of what actually constitutes good hymns is sufficient justification for its reissuance. Church libraries should stock it and encourage its use! Pastors, youth leaders and choir directors would especially profit from consulting it.
JAMES DE JONGE
NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY, EXPOSITION OF EPHESIANS, by William Hendriksen. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1967. Pp. 290. $6.95.
First of all, I wish to congratulate Dr. Hendriksen on having completed another commentary on the Pauline Epistles; thus far, volumes on I–II TimothyTitus, I–II Thessalonians, Philippians, Colossians-Philemon, and Ephesians have appeared. Now that the author is emeritated, he is able to devote all his time to the writing of commentaries so that the publisher announces a new title almost at the rate of one a year. Here is a man that is busy with the Word of God as long as the Lord will give him health. In Hendriksen’s own words, “There is no room in Christ’s church for drones, only for busy bees.”
One of the characteristics of Hendriksen’s commentaries is simplicity. Never does the author use words and concepts which only the trained theologian can understand. Instead, if technical terms have to be used, for example Creek words, they are relegated to footnotes where the scholar may check the accuracy of statements made. A good example of avoiding theological terminology is found on page 42, where the theologian would speak of “hapax legomena” but Hendriksen of “exceptional or new words.”
In explaining the text, the writer never forgets the problems and challenges of actual life. Repeatedly he introduces illustrations which are taken out of the treasury of his pastoral experiences. Without mentioning any names he speaks of the consequences of belonging to a secret society. “Even today there are societies which demand that their members make…solemn promises on pain of dire punishment if they fail to keep them” (p. 84). And without referring to the denomination in which he is emeritus minister, he explains at length the young people’s program known as the Summer Workshop In Missions (see p. 199). Whether he speaks of secret societies or of mission activities, the reader’s attention is captured by the many practical comments found throughout this commentary.
Moreover the style of the author claims the interest of the reader. In many cases Hendriksen is original in the presentation of his material and certainly not afraid of coining words if these convey the thought he has in mind. Thus he embodies a Scriptural concept in the word “stoneship·” (p. 52); and instead of saying, “he proclaimed the good news,” he writes, “he, accordingly, gospeled the gladsome message” (p. 137).
In his translation of Ephesians, Hendriksen gives his own, at times striking, version. Such is the last part of 2:11, “Therefore remember that formerly you the Gentiles in flesh, who are called “circircumcision’ by that which is called ‘circumcision’—in flesh, handmade!—…” However, at chapter three verse fifteen the translator, wishing to comply with the play on words found in the Greek, renders the text as follows, “14 For this reason I bend my knees to the Father, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name: the Father’s Family.” I do not think that the addition “the Father’s Family” is so helpful in conveying the similarity of sound in pater (Father) and patria (family). I, for one, prefer Luther’s translation, which disregards similarity in sound yet accurately relates the meaning.
14. Derhalben beuge ich meine Knie vor dem Vater unsers Herro Jesu Christi,
15. Der der rechte Vater ist ueber alles, was da Kinder heisst im Himmel und auf Erden.
The reader learns to know Hendriksen as a Reformed theologian who loves the doctrines of his church. He is informed that his only comfort in life and death is in belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ a doctrine beautifully formulated in the first Lord’s Day of the Heidelberg Catechism (p. 93; see also p. 103). And when he discusses the meaning of Eph. 2:3, he in asking the question “But is not God also merciful?” uses words borrowed from Lord’s Day 4 of the Heidelberger.
In commenting on the doctrine of the covenant, the commentator leaves the field of New Testament theology to tread the path of Dogmatic theology. Hendriksen defines the covenant as “that divinely established arrangement between the triune God and his people whereby God carries out his eternal decree of redemption by promising his friendship, hence full and free salvation, to his people, upon the basis of the vicarious atonement of Christ, the Mediator of the covenant, and they accept this salvation by faith” (130). Although this closely-worded definition expresses the doctrine of the covenant very well, it is questionable whether all these thoughts can be derived from the text, that is Eph. 2: 11, 12.
It is interesting to hear the author, as a Reformed theologian, make a few comments about R. C. H. Lenski, the well-known Lutheran commentator. Says he, “…This eminent commentator, whose works have been a blesSing to many, blames Calvinism—as he does rather frequently—for what he considers an erroneous view” (p. 170). On the whole, however, he refrains from polemics even though the reader at times wonders whether Hendriksen is asking fictitious questions or whether he is actually citing genuine objections. This happens to be the case in the Introduction where he lists a large number of objections which have been raised against Pauline authorship. Here one would appreciate some specific reference to authors who voice these objections.
The Introduction, which includes the translation of Ephesians, comprises more than sixty pages; yet Hendriksen’s discussion on the destination of the letter to the Ephesians is incomplete. If his choice has fallen on the circular letter theory which holds that the original Epistle to the Ephesians showed a blank in the address—“to the saints and believers who are in Christ Jesus”—and that the words “in Ephesus” had to be filled in later, he will have to explain why the preposition in has been omitted. The theory of the blank space would be acceptable if Paul had merely written, “to the saints and believers who are in in Christ Jesus.” Furthermore, if the circular letter theory needs any support at all it certainly is by way of manuscripts. To date no manuscript has been found which bears the name of a church other than Ephesus. Merely conjectural is the suggestion that a copy which retained the blank space was sent to all the neighboring churches and after it had completed its circuit the words “in Ephesus,” by previous direction of Paul, were inserted. For a comprehensive discussion of the theories relative to this problem, the author might have consulted the article by N. A. Dahl, “Addresse und Proemium des Epheserbriefes” in Theologische Zeitschrift VII (1951), pp. 241–264.
Throughout the commentary, the author draws his material from many sources to which he makes reference in footnotes and bibliography. Yet the observant reader may wish that Hendriksen had omitted some of these references in favor of those directly related to the study of Ephesians. Articles such as those by J. Coutts, “The Relationship of Ephesians and Colossians,” New Testament Studies IV (1957–58), pp. 201–207, and J. A. Allan, “The ‘In Christ’ Formula in Ephesians,” New Testament Studies V (1958), pp. 5462, if not quoted directly should at least have been mentioned. The volumes of the New Testament Commentary series may be enhanced if they include most, if not all, material pertinent to specific studies. To be sure, individual volumes of this series do exhibit changes which have led to improvement; perhaps the inclusion of more literature which is relevant and recent may become a characteristic feature in future commentaries.
The above remarks, mentioned as helpful suggestions, do not intend to detract from the practical value of this commentary on Ephesians. We are indeed thankful that the author has made another contribution and we hope that he by the grace of God may continue, and eventually complete the New Testament Commentary.
SIMON KISTEMAKER