CHRISTIAN REUNION – HISTORIC DIVISIONS RECONSIDERED by John S. Whale; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 255 Jefferson Avenue, S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49502; 141 pp., 1971, $2.95. Reviewed by Rev. Harold Hollander, pastor of the First Christian Reformed Church of Wellsbury, Iowa.
In the first 114 pages the author reviews the divisions that have marred the Christian Church throughout the years, and he observes that these differences arc basically theological in nature. For the most part, he does well in this description. However in this amount of space he can scarcely do more than give a thumbnail sketch of the theological differences that have developed in the church over a period of almost two millenniums. For those who are already familiar with these divisions the treatment is superfluous; for those who are not, it is insufficient.
The author really tries to make his point in the last two chapters of the book, and here it become apparent to me that he and I operate on different wavelengths. He apparently has hopes that the “acids of modernity” may dissolve the differences within Christianity. “In the acids of modernity the strife and divisions of Christendom are offered healing medicine” (p. 131). It appears to me, however, that those who use the acids of modernity to dissolve theological differences will discover that these same acids cat holes right into the foundation of their faith. For example, if by the use of synoptic analysis one concludes that the words “. . . and thou art Peter, and upon this rock . . .” are an interpolation “originating in Peter’s Antioch as propaganda for its ‘favorite son’”, then the age-old argument about who was given the keys of the kingdom disappears, but so does the foundation upon which faith rests, the reliability of the Scriptures. We might get rid of some differences that way, but what is left?
The cure is worse than the disease.
TYNDALE BIBLE COMMENTARIES – THE REVELATION OF ST, JOHN, by Leon Morrk Published by William B. Eerdmans, 1969, 263 pages, $4.50. Reviewed by Rev. Andrew Van Schouwen, pastor of the Oakland Christian Reformed church of Hamilton, Michigan.
Dr. Leon Morris is the Principal of Ridley College in Melborne Australia. He is the author also of other commentaries in the Tyndale series.
Dr. Morris mentions the fact that there are four principal viewpoints regarding the interpretation of the book of Revelation—the preterist, the historicist, the futurist, and the idealist. He himself feels that elements from more than one of these views are required for a satisfactory understanding of Revelation.
The book of Revelation is an interesting and challenging book. In seeking 10 review this book, I used it in connection with the preparation of a brief series of senll0ns on the book of Revelation. I also consulted the work of Dr. William Hendriksen, More than Conquerors, and I found that the two books complement each other. The book of Morris adds the details which arc necessary and valuable in the exposition of a passage. Its comments on the verses of Revelation are rather brief but very helpful.
Of particular interest to me was the exposition of Morris in connection with the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor. The verse-by-verse approach is greatly appreciated. Various insights are found here which are not found in other commentaries.
Even though this book was written as a commentary and has a wealth of scholarly material, it CRC also be used by laymen who are interested in the serious study of Scripture. A study of the book of Revelation is a rewarding and comforting experience. Its message gives assurance to the Christian church today. I recommend the study of this commentary in order to gain a better understanding of this message. This recommendation does not mean agreement with every detail; but this book is a good piece of exegetical literature.
YEARBOOK OF AMERICAN CHURCHES, 1972. Edited by Constant H. Jacquet, Jr. Abingdon Press, 201 Eighth Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37202 272 pages. $8.95. Reviewed by John Vander Ploeg.
Dating hack to 1918, the Yearbook of American Churches, after being published irregularly at times, has now appeared annually since 1951, making this 1912 volume the fortieth edition. Constant H. Jacquet, Jr., the editor, reports the following section added to this year’s edition:
“For many years the focus of the Yearbook was on the United States with a minimum of Canadian information. In this edition for 1972, we present a greatly expanded, but still not quite complete, Canadian section. This has justified, we believe, the changing of the subtitle of the Yearbook to read: ‘With Information on Religious bodies in Canada.’”
Whoever has this Yearbook at hand will find that it serves him well by placing current information such as the following at his fingertips:
Religious bodies in the U.S.
Religious bodies in Canada.
Theological Seminaries in the U.S. Canadian Theological seminaries and faculties, and Bible schools.
Church-controlled and church-related accredited colleges and universities in the U.S.
Religious periodicals in the U. S. and Canada.
Trends in seminary enrollment: 19651970.
Church attendance polls.
Young clergy who consider leaving religious life.
Value of new construction of religious buildings.
This Yearbook is chock-full of pertinent information on the American church world. It is of interest to know. Inking just one example, how church attendance in America compares to that elsewhere. A recent Gallup International poll reports adult attendance as follows: Canada 44%, U.S.A. 42%, Netherlands 36%, Greece 26%, Australia 25%, Great Britain 30%, Uruguay 18%.
Constant H. Jacquet, Jr., the editor of the Yearbook, is director of the Research Library of the National Council of Churches in New York The wealth of information he makes available for handy reference in this volume is indispensable for anyone who wants to he knowledgeable as to the state of the American church world in our time.
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHRISTIANITY, Vol. II (Bi-Chuz), 502 pp., The Natioual Foundation for Christian Education, Marshallton, Delaware 19808, $12.50 ($6.25 at The Religious Book Discount House for members). Reviewed by John Vander Ploeg.
Unfortunately the conservative is frequently caricatured as a reactionary, blindly and doggedly devoted to tradition, and always hostile to progress. However, the healthy conservative is actually one who prizes that which is precious to him and is committed to the preservation of it on the basis of which he believes true progress c:tn then go forward. The conservative of this school will greet with genuine appreciation the appearance of each volume of The Encyclopedia of Christianity of which the plan calls for a set of ten. Volume III was scheduled to be 0ff the press by this time.
Dr. Edwin H. Palmer, Christian Reformed minister, presently serving as the Executive Secretary for the Committee on Bible Translation of the New York Bible Society, who served as the general editor for Volume I of this ambitious undertaking, stated the following in the Preface:
“Two qualities distinguish The Encyclopedia of Christianity: comprehensiveness and progressive orthodoxy. At present there is not an up-to-date work in the English language from a Protestant viewpoint that is as comprehensive as this present work . . . .
“The breadth of the Encyclopedia of Christianity will be discovered by a rapid perusal of its pages. It includes every person mentioned in the Bible; every geographical reference in the Bible . . . ; every animal, plant, tree, and mineral mentioned in the Bible, artifacts used in ordinary Biblical living: Biblical doctrines, ethical subjects; and subjects of church history . . . Particularly heavy emphasis was placed on theological doctrines . . . .
“The second main characteristic of the encyclopedia may be denominated as progressive orthodoxy. Each day we grow in our understanding of the Word of God and the history of the church. Just as there has been an astounding acceleration in our knowledge of science and technology, so there has been amazing progress in Biblical studies and archaeological advances. Accordingly, authors who are specialists in their fields have been selected from all over the world . . .”
Among the contributors whose names will commend this encyclopedia to those who want a work of respectable scholarship and committed to the historic Christian faith are the following: Edmund P. Clowney, Peter Y. De Jong, James De Young, john H. Gerstner, Edward Heerema, David Holwerda, Fred Klooster, Gcorge W. Knigllt III, H. ]. Kuiper, R, B. Kuiper, John Murray, Edwin H. P:tlmer, Louis Praamsm:t, John H. Skilton, Cordon Spykman, G. Aiken Taylor, Gerard Van Groningen, Cornelius Van Til, Johannes G. Vos, Martin Woudstra, Sierd Woudstra, and Edward J. Young.
Because of its breadth of coverage, up-to-dateness, scholarship, and its orthodox-conservative character, The Encyclopedia of Christianity is earning an honored place alongside of sllch older works as the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Schaff-Herzog, and Haftings. May the guidance of the Spirit and the Lord’s indispensable blessing be richly granted to the publisher and contributors for the successful completion of this significant undertaking.
COMMUNICATION AND CONFRONTATION: A PHILOSOPHICAL APPRAISAL AND CRITIQUE Of MODERN SOCIETY AND CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT, by Dr. S. U. Zuidema, Wedge Publishing Foundation, Toronto, Canada, 432 pages, $8.95. Reviewed by Nick Van Til.
One only has to read a short distance in to this work compiled from the extensive writings of Professor Zuidema to realize that the title was chosen for sales purposes and is not particularly apt as far as the contents are concerned.
Even the subtitle claims somewhat too much. In characteristic fashion the committee on selection, under the influences of European scholarship, seems to conclude that “modern society and contemporary thought” are limited to what goes on in Europe. Moreover. the publisher louts Zuidema’s writings as “blazingly to the point.” Concurrence in that opinion would undoubtedy depend on agreements as to what are the burning issues.” Offhand it seems more like the kind of over-statement we have learned to expect from Toronto-based publications.
The selection committee decided that the works of Zuidema to be included had to be scholarly and had to treat philosophic themes. That already narrows the reading public. The interest is narrowed still more when we learn that philosophy for the most part is limited to Existentialism and Phenomenology. Hence a reaffirmation of exaggeration when it is claimed that the book ranges over contemporary thought. It deals with a rather limited segment of contemporary philosophy, though a very important segment and one in which Zuidema has made himself an expert.
Zuidema’s expertise extends to the interplay of philosophy and theology to the extent of authoritative mastery. We may note the following under the Title “Heremeutics in Contemporary Theology”:
Bultmann thinks that the contingent event of the kerygma, whereby man receives his authenticity as man, de iure lies existentially-philosophically within the existential-philosophical Begrifflichkeit, though not de facto. Karl Barth on the other hand, comes to the correct conclusion that this would mean the end of his conviction that church-dogmatical hermeneutics, even when it should limit itself to the Daseins-Hermeneutik, exists by the grace of a differentia specific which also in its specificity is so specific that it cannot de fure be conceived, comprehended or considered reasonable by any philosophical Daseins-Hermeneutik (p. 359).
While the above quote may require a second reading even by the expert, Zuidema has a way of summing up in pithy statements which tend to illuminate the more difficult passages. He ends the above article from which we quoted with the observation, “Insofar as existential theology wants to be existential, it is no theology. Insofar as it wants to be theology, it is not existential. Yet it wants to be both at the same time!” (p. 364).
The contents of the first half of the book cover a wider range of subjects than the second half. As to interest, this would almost suggest that there should have been two volume, one of them more technically philosophical, the other with more appeal to the general reader. Looking over the extensive bibliography of Zuidema’s writings, there seems to be ample material for a volume that would have much wider general appeal. In fact, one such little article is sandwiched into the first section, an article on “The Great Commandment.” In this writing Zuidema is at pains to disabuse the do-gooders of the notion that love of fellowman is synonymous with love of God. By way of example, he suggests that a wife would scarcely be satisfied with a husband who displayed unstinted affection for the children but never demonstrated directly his love for her.
In the article on “The Great Commandment” Zuidema also has a word for those who are turned off by the establishment and would devote themselves improvidently to the cause of providing for others as proof of their love. Zuidema says:
I am of the opinion that it is illegitimate to read the commandment of neighborly love in an absolutized manner, oriented to an altruism which, although utopian and ideological, is foreign to the realism of the Scriptures as a whole, and no less to the realism of Christ. He who neglects himself or lets himself be sct aside. has robbed himself of the possibility to devote himself to the service of his neighbor. By way of example, he who wishes to serve the other by living for the other without making a living for himself, becomes a nuisance to Public Welfare, or, through his own fault, prematurely ends up on the graveyard (p. 110).
The translations into English in this volume, I think, has been more successful than some previous attempts in making Dutch theologian-philosophers available to those whose reading is limited to English. The earlier citation is not typical in the number of untranslated words in the general text. The publishers also deserve a note of thanks for furnishing a liberal index of subjects, an aid which is so often lacking in a work of this nature.
We now have a Zuidema for scholars and one worthy of intensive study. Why not also a Zuidema for the laymen. As suggested, there is no lack of material and there should be no lock of interest amongst lay readers. We hope the translators and the publisher can get together for such an effort.
In the first 114 pages the author reviews the divisions that have marred the Christian Church throughout the years, and he observes that these differences arc basically theological in nature. For the most part, he does well in this description. However in this amount of space he can scarcely do more than give a thumbnail sketch of the theological differences that have developed in the church over a period of almost two millenniums. For those who are already familiar with these divisions the treatment is superfluous; for those who are not, it is insufficient.
The author really tries to make his point in the last two chapters of the book, and here it become apparent to me that he and I operate on different wavelengths. He apparently has hopes that the “acids of modernity” may dissolve the differences within Christianity. “In the acids of modernity the strife and divisions of Christendom are offered healing medicine” (p. 131). It appears to me, however, that those who use the acids of modernity to dissolve theological differences will discover that these same acids cat holes right into the foundation of their faith. For example, if by the use of synoptic analysis one concludes that the words “. . . and thou art Peter, and upon this rock . . .” are an interpolation “originating in Peter’s Antioch as propaganda for its ‘favorite son’”, then the age-old argument about who was given the keys of the kingdom disappears, but so does the foundation upon which faith rests, the reliability of the Scriptures. We might get rid of some differences that way, but what is left?
The cure is worse than the disease.
TYNDALE BIBLE COMMENTARIES – THE REVELATION OF ST, JOHN, by Leon Morrk Published by William B. Eerdmans, 1969, 263 pages, $4.50. Reviewed by Rev. Andrew Van Schouwen, pastor of the Oakland Christian Reformed church of Hamilton, Michigan.
Dr. Leon Morris is the Principal of Ridley College in Melborne Australia. He is the author also of other commentaries in the Tyndale series.
Dr. Morris mentions the fact that there are four principal viewpoints regarding the interpretation of the book of Revelation—the preterist, the historicist, the futurist, and the idealist. He himself feels that elements from more than one of these views are required for a satisfactory understanding of Revelation.
The book of Revelation is an interesting and challenging book. In seeking 10 review this book, I used it in connection with the preparation of a brief series of senll0ns on the book of Revelation. I also consulted the work of Dr. William Hendriksen, More than Conquerors, and I found that the two books complement each other. The book of Morris adds the details which arc necessary and valuable in the exposition of a passage. Its comments on the verses of Revelation are rather brief but very helpful.
Of particular interest to me was the exposition of Morris in connection with the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor. The verse-by-verse approach is greatly appreciated. Various insights are found here which are not found in other commentaries.
Even though this book was written as a commentary and has a wealth of scholarly material, it CRC also be used by laymen who are interested in the serious study of Scripture. A study of the book of Revelation is a rewarding and comforting experience. Its message gives assurance to the Christian church today. I recommend the study of this commentary in order to gain a better understanding of this message. This recommendation does not mean agreement with every detail; but this book is a good piece of exegetical literature.
YEARBOOK OF AMERICAN CHURCHES, 1972. Edited by Constant H. Jacquet, Jr. Abingdon Press, 201 Eighth Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37202 272 pages. $8.95. Reviewed by John Vander Ploeg.
Dating hack to 1918, the Yearbook of American Churches, after being published irregularly at times, has now appeared annually since 1951, making this 1912 volume the fortieth edition. Constant H. Jacquet, Jr., the editor, reports the following section added to this year’s edition:
“For many years the focus of the Yearbook was on the United States with a minimum of Canadian information. In this edition for 1972, we present a greatly expanded, but still not quite complete, Canadian section. This has justified, we believe, the changing of the subtitle of the Yearbook to read: ‘With Information on Religious bodies in Canada.’”
Whoever has this Yearbook at hand will find that it serves him well by placing current information such as the following at his fingertips:
Religious bodies in the U.S.
Religious bodies in Canada.
Theological Seminaries in the U.S. Canadian Theological seminaries and faculties, and Bible schools.
Church-controlled and church-related accredited colleges and universities in the U.S.
Religious periodicals in the U. S. and Canada.
Trends in seminary enrollment: 19651970.
Church attendance polls.
Young clergy who consider leaving religious life.
Value of new construction of religious buildings.
This Yearbook is chock-full of pertinent information on the American church world. It is of interest to know. Inking just one example, how church attendance in America compares to that elsewhere. A recent Gallup International poll reports adult attendance as follows: Canada 44%, U.S.A. 42%, Netherlands 36%, Greece 26%, Australia 25%, Great Britain 30%, Uruguay 18%.
Constant H. Jacquet, Jr., the editor of the Yearbook, is director of the Research Library of the National Council of Churches in New York The wealth of information he makes available for handy reference in this volume is indispensable for anyone who wants to he knowledgeable as to the state of the American church world in our time.
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHRISTIANITY, Vol. II (Bi-Chuz), 502 pp., The Natioual Foundation for Christian Education, Marshallton, Delaware 19808, $12.50 ($6.25 at The Religious Book Discount House for members). Reviewed by John Vander Ploeg.
Unfortunately the conservative is frequently caricatured as a reactionary, blindly and doggedly devoted to tradition, and always hostile to progress. However, the healthy conservative is actually one who prizes that which is precious to him and is committed to the preservation of it on the basis of which he believes true progress c:tn then go forward. The conservative of this school will greet with genuine appreciation the appearance of each volume of The Encyclopedia of Christianity of which the plan calls for a set of ten. Volume III was scheduled to be 0ff the press by this time.
Dr. Edwin H. Palmer, Christian Reformed minister, presently serving as the Executive Secretary for the Committee on Bible Translation of the New York Bible Society, who served as the general editor for Volume I of this ambitious undertaking, stated the following in the Preface:
“Two qualities distinguish The Encyclopedia of Christianity: comprehensiveness and progressive orthodoxy. At present there is not an up-to-date work in the English language from a Protestant viewpoint that is as comprehensive as this present work . . . .
“The breadth of the Encyclopedia of Christianity will be discovered by a rapid perusal of its pages. It includes every person mentioned in the Bible; every geographical reference in the Bible . . . ; every animal, plant, tree, and mineral mentioned in the Bible, artifacts used in ordinary Biblical living: Biblical doctrines, ethical subjects; and subjects of church history . . . Particularly heavy emphasis was placed on theological doctrines . . . .
“The second main characteristic of the encyclopedia may be denominated as progressive orthodoxy. Each day we grow in our understanding of the Word of God and the history of the church. Just as there has been an astounding acceleration in our knowledge of science and technology, so there has been amazing progress in Biblical studies and archaeological advances. Accordingly, authors who are specialists in their fields have been selected from all over the world . . .”
Among the contributors whose names will commend this encyclopedia to those who want a work of respectable scholarship and committed to the historic Christian faith are the following: Edmund P. Clowney, Peter Y. De Jong, James De Young, john H. Gerstner, Edward Heerema, David Holwerda, Fred Klooster, Gcorge W. Knigllt III, H. ]. Kuiper, R, B. Kuiper, John Murray, Edwin H. P:tlmer, Louis Praamsm:t, John H. Skilton, Cordon Spykman, G. Aiken Taylor, Gerard Van Groningen, Cornelius Van Til, Johannes G. Vos, Martin Woudstra, Sierd Woudstra, and Edward J. Young.
Because of its breadth of coverage, up-to-dateness, scholarship, and its orthodox-conservative character, The Encyclopedia of Christianity is earning an honored place alongside of sllch older works as the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Schaff-Herzog, and Haftings. May the guidance of the Spirit and the Lord’s indispensable blessing be richly granted to the publisher and contributors for the successful completion of this significant undertaking.
COMMUNICATION AND CONFRONTATION: A PHILOSOPHICAL APPRAISAL AND CRITIQUE Of MODERN SOCIETY AND CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT, by Dr. S. U. Zuidema, Wedge Publishing Foundation, Toronto, Canada, 432 pages, $8.95. Reviewed by Nick Van Til.
One only has to read a short distance in to this work compiled from the extensive writings of Professor Zuidema to realize that the title was chosen for sales purposes and is not particularly apt as far as the contents are concerned.
Even the subtitle claims somewhat too much. In characteristic fashion the committee on selection, under the influences of European scholarship, seems to conclude that “modern society and contemporary thought” are limited to what goes on in Europe. Moreover. the publisher louts Zuidema’s writings as “blazingly to the point.” Concurrence in that opinion would undoubtedy depend on agreements as to what are the burning issues.” Offhand it seems more like the kind of over-statement we have learned to expect from Toronto-based publications.
The selection committee decided that the works of Zuidema to be included had to be scholarly and had to treat philosophic themes. That already narrows the reading public. The interest is narrowed still more when we learn that philosophy for the most part is limited to Existentialism and Phenomenology. Hence a reaffirmation of exaggeration when it is claimed that the book ranges over contemporary thought. It deals with a rather limited segment of contemporary philosophy, though a very important segment and one in which Zuidema has made himself an expert.
Zuidema’s expertise extends to the interplay of philosophy and theology to the extent of authoritative mastery. We may note the following under the Title “Heremeutics in Contemporary Theology”:
Bultmann thinks that the contingent event of the kerygma, whereby man receives his authenticity as man, de iure lies existentially-philosophically within the existential-philosophical Begrifflichkeit, though not de facto. Karl Barth on the other hand, comes to the correct conclusion that this would mean the end of his conviction that church-dogmatical hermeneutics, even when it should limit itself to the Daseins-Hermeneutik, exists by the grace of a differentia specific which also in its specificity is so specific that it cannot de fure be conceived, comprehended or considered reasonable by any philosophical Daseins-Hermeneutik (p. 359).
While the above quote may require a second reading even by the expert, Zuidema has a way of summing up in pithy statements which tend to illuminate the more difficult passages. He ends the above article from which we quoted with the observation, “Insofar as existential theology wants to be existential, it is no theology. Insofar as it wants to be theology, it is not existential. Yet it wants to be both at the same time!” (p. 364).
The contents of the first half of the book cover a wider range of subjects than the second half. As to interest, this would almost suggest that there should have been two volume, one of them more technically philosophical, the other with more appeal to the general reader. Looking over the extensive bibliography of Zuidema’s writings, there seems to be ample material for a volume that would have much wider general appeal. In fact, one such little article is sandwiched into the first section, an article on “The Great Commandment.” In this writing Zuidema is at pains to disabuse the do-gooders of the notion that love of fellowman is synonymous with love of God. By way of example, he suggests that a wife would scarcely be satisfied with a husband who displayed unstinted affection for the children but never demonstrated directly his love for her.
In the article on “The Great Commandment” Zuidema also has a word for those who are turned off by the establishment and would devote themselves improvidently to the cause of providing for others as proof of their love. Zuidema says:
I am of the opinion that it is illegitimate to read the commandment of neighborly love in an absolutized manner, oriented to an altruism which, although utopian and ideological, is foreign to the realism of the Scriptures as a whole, and no less to the realism of Christ. He who neglects himself or lets himself be sct aside. has robbed himself of the possibility to devote himself to the service of his neighbor. By way of example, he who wishes to serve the other by living for the other without making a living for himself, becomes a nuisance to Public Welfare, or, through his own fault, prematurely ends up on the graveyard (p. 110).
The translations into English in this volume, I think, has been more successful than some previous attempts in making Dutch theologian-philosophers available to those whose reading is limited to English. The earlier citation is not typical in the number of untranslated words in the general text. The publishers also deserve a note of thanks for furnishing a liberal index of subjects, an aid which is so often lacking in a work of this nature.
We now have a Zuidema for scholars and one worthy of intensive study. Why not also a Zuidema for the laymen. As suggested, there is no lack of material and there should be no lock of interest amongst lay readers. We hope the translators and the publisher can get together for such an effort.