THE AMERICANIZATION OF A CONGREGATION by Elton J. Bruins. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1970, pp. 122. $2.95, paperback. Reviewed by Rev. Jerome Julien pastor of the Faith Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
This book is a delightful one to read if you are interested in the history of our ecclesiastical forefathers and the development that took place in Holland Colony from its settlement in 1847. Though Dr. Bruins is actually only concerned with the history of a congregation—the Third Reformed Church in Holland—his concern is really a very significant part of the history of the Reformed Church. It is significant because the development of Third Church represents, as the book’s title indicates, the Americanization of the Reformed Church.
Now, to be sure, Americanization is imperative as immigrants become part of the United States. And there are certain experiences that Third Church and every immigrant denomination must have. For instance, the fact that ultimately that congregation would abandon Dutch for the English language and call a minister who owned an automobile was inevitable. But it is a question in my mind whether the reaction was always good. I think that the reaction in Third Church betrays a certain bent of mind often prevalent in the Reformed Church in America (and in the CRC, too), that we are to allow our culture to mold us somewhat, rather than carefully hold to principle. These comments are merely reflections, and by them I hope to point out the value of this book. What price did Third Church pay in this Americanization process? Already lit the tum of the century Third was known as being a congregation with a poor evening attendance. Besides, there was a constant agitation within the congregation until after World War II when the Church seems to have become dull to discussion about Sabbath observance, the lodge question, danCing, and other such questions.
The one criticism that can be made is that there is no attempt to discuss the theological development of the congregation. It seems that there can be little change without a change in theological attitude toward questions concerning the lodge, the Sabbath, and other such subjects. These are considered sociological issues, find are discussed and such. However, directly related to these is a theological attitude. Perhaps a study on the views and content of preaching by the various pastors would be helpful so the relation of preaching to the Americanization process can be seen. Another interesting study that might get to the core of theological development might be the contrast of the early attitude of favor with revivalism (characteristic of American fundamentalism) and the modem swing from fundamentalistic revival hymns and the use of the RSV, as discussed on page 85. Also, perhaps the developing concept of the doctrine of Church as it has been worked out in Third Church could be discussed to make this volume more valuable.
As it stands, this little book is interesting and readable. If you are interested in the history of the Reformed churches here in the United States you will delight in these insights.
THE FREEDOM OF GOD, by James Daane. Published by Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1973. 205 pages. Price $5.95. Reviewed by Rev. Gordon H. Girod, Pastor 7th Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
This was a difficult book for me to review, even though I became accustomed to reviewing when I did a weekly religious book review column for the local newspaper and also when r did numerous reviews for the “Reformed Review,” published by Western Theological seminary. Why was it difficult? I found it tedious reading. You see, this book is not biblical oriented or theologically oriented. What then? It is philosophically oriented with a strong rationalistic strain throughout.
James Daane finds the concept of a “single decree” most abhorrent. He even speaks about a “demonic” aspect to the theology of those who hold to the single decree and says this specifically with respect to the theology of the late Rev. Herman Hoeksema. Daane is equally repelled by the view that God’s decree is horn out of the very nature of God. He does not tell us, however, how God could plan and govern in a way that is contrary to His own nature.
To my mind, Daane’s negatives are much more clear than his positives. One call discover quite readily what he rejects. It is much more difficult to discover what he proposes in the stead of his rejections. This much would seem to be clear: God was and is free to deal with the world in a variety of ways, and God was “free” to choose among them and adopt anyone of many possible plans. This is likewise true, apparently, of the redemption which God wrought through our Lord Jesus Christ.
To characterize Daane as Infralapsarian would hardly be adequate. True. Daane would apparently hold that God acted only after man‘s sin to provide a way of salvation. Nonetheless, I have the feeling that historical Infralapsarians would be rather embarrassed both by the direction and the degree of Daane’s other views. According to Daane, God apparently was free to act in any number of other ways with respect to man and his sin. Daane seems to imply that he is doing God a favor by insisting that God was free to act in any way that He might chose, not being bound even by His own divine nature or the attributes that are usually ascribed to God.
Above all, Daane makes an issue of the fact that election is not being preached; no, not even by those who profess to accept it as a biblical given. He ascribes this to a faulty view of election which he proposes to correct through this dissertation. Daane does not take Into account that election ascribes all the glory of God, while leaving man without a shred of pride or self-adulation. This is the key to the popularity of practical Arminianism. The Arminian feels that he is free to talk about the grace of God while reserving to himself the ultimate choice and decision. Thus, the practical effect of Arminianism is to propose that man is autonomous. This is why election is not preached even by many who profess to believe in the fact of it. The “old man” continues to amid even preachers of the Gospel. The “old man” insists upon reserving some shred of pride for himself. The doctrine of election, as we have understood it historically, is not the cause of any problem in preaching. The rebellious nature of the “old man” lies at the scat of any problem this doctrine might appear to create.
EARTH’S MOST CHALLENGING MYSTERIES, by Reginald Daly (Baker Book House, 1972, 403 pp., $3.95 pb), is reviewed by Sidney J. Jansma, Sr., President of the Wolverine Gas and Oil Co., Inc., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
H you are bewildered and confused about the variety of theories which purport to explain the earth‘s many mysteries, this is for you. This book on Earth Sciences written for laymen appears to be the most comprehensive, informative, and substantial ever published from a creationistic viewpoint. Reginald Dilly has for many years been an instructor in physics, mathematics, and geology; so his theses throughout lire richly supported by scientific facts and data. If you, reader, want ammunition to combat the false theory of evolution, you have the facts here to do so. Do yourself a favor and read its most fascinating pages—at one cent per page.
This book’s four-hundred pages are a library by themselves, and I found it hard to lay down once I had started reading. The book starts with the techniques of evolution and continues with atomic laws and the development of life forms as a theory subject to these laws. It explains how evolutionists assume how reptiles learned to fly and became birds. The book mentions the problems of missing links, macro-evolution, and discusses theories of how men may have evolved from the spider, some plant-animal, or have come from another planet. There is a section on human fossils and the assumed transmutation of invertebrate to vertebrate.
After having shown the fallacy of all this, the author talks about the extinction of mammoths and dinosaurs. The section on Siberia and its fossil islands is most intriguing since Siberia’s frozen fauna and flora indicate a formerly temperate climate. The live burial of mastodons, sabertooth tigers, and rodents is also accounted for by the author, as is the young-dating of coal and oil formations. The book has good sections on C-14 dating and pollen analysis. It names peoples around the globe with a tradition of some great flood. The book then analyzes high and low ocean water levels and their geological effects. The mysteries of bone caves, ancient shore lines, dried-up rivers and lakes, and fossil sharks on mountain tops are discussed.
There is in this book a section on former land bridges such as tlle one that connected England and France. There is a most comprehensive chapter on the ice a/(e which by itself is worth the price of this book. The book then details Lyel’s fantastic theory of uniformitarianism, six unsolved geological problems, ocean canyons, and sedimentary island building such as in Indonesia. It solves the everlasting mystery of mountains and valleys, the Canadian shield, and tIle Arctic. It shows why modern geology has not and cannot solve its problems and why science is in a state of ever-increasing confusion.
There is much more. This review would take many pages if all were presented here. Those who want to help combat the evolutionistic trends and don’t know how should get Earth’s Most Challenging Mysteries. The competence of the author should make this book a classic.
THE BEATITUDES: AN EXPOS)TlON OF MATTHEW 5:1–12, by Thomas Watson. The Banner of Truth Trust, London. 1971, PP. 312, $4.50. Reviewed by Rev. Jerome Julien, pastor of the Faith Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
In one word this bool: can be said to be rich. Typical of Puritan preaching, it is rich in Biblical knowledge, rich in doctrine, and rich in the experientiaL Again, typical of Puritan preaching, these sermons are packed with detail. So thorough was Watson that he had to treat most of the Beatitudes by preaching more than one message on each. Evidently, Watson was an able man in the pulpit because each sermon is “fresh, pointed, and instructive.”
Who was Thomas Watson? He was a well-known and popular minister during the last part of the seventeenth century. Before his ejection from the ministry in the Established Church –that horrible event in Church history when many faithful ministers of the Word in England were prohibited by law from preaching –he served as Rector of St. Stephens, Walbrook in London. When these ministers were allowed to preach without fear of fine or imprisonment (a fear which incidently did not dose their mouths to the truth) Watson served at Crosby Hall where he was joined in the pastorate by so great a man as Stephen Charnock.
This volume is a joy to read. This edition has many footnotes which explain obscure words and little-known names referred to in the text. Read it and you will receive a great blessing—it is a spiritual banquet. And those to whom has been entrusted the task of expounding the Word will find this book to be a great help for preaching. It‘s full of ideas.
THE CAMBUSLANG REVIVAL: THE SCOTTISH EVANGELICAL REVIVAL OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, by Arthur Fawcett. The Banner of Truth Trust, London. 256 pp., $4.50. Reviewed by Rev. Jerome Julien, pastor of the Faith Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Author Fawcett has obviously done his homework in preparation for this volume. It’s the story of a marvelous spiritual revival which spread through the Scottish Church following the forming of the Associate Presbytery by secession in 1733. Cambuslang was the place where it began in March, 1742, and it spread. Interestingly, the minister of this parish church near Glasgow was no dynamic man in the pulpit but he was spiritually acute. The results of tile revival were far-reaching. Even foreign mission activity has some roots in it.
Much background is given leading to the revival—historical, spiritual, and otherwise. And the weaknesses of the Established Church are not glossed over, either. The revival is explained in detail, as are the many results. As one reads about the results it is interesting to reflect on the weaknesses that developed in tile Church following this revival and to relate them to some of the excuses which accompanied it. The careful reader will find much thought-provoking material as he reads with an eye set on today’s situation in the Church.
A word of caution: this is a book for those who like to read history. It‘s fascinating history; it’s history from which we can learn—but it is history just the same.