PROHIBITING INFANTICIDE Moody Monthly for October, 1982, reports that a bill has been introduced in Congress making it a federal crime for any hospital to deny medical treatment to a handicapped infant. This legislation was prompted by the case of “Infant Doe” in Bloomington, Indiana, in which a baby born with a blocked esophagus and Down’s syndrome was allowed to starve to death in accordance with the parents’ wishes. In response to this President Reagan issued a memo to the U.S. Department of Health pointing out that the law does not permit government subsidized institutions to discriminate against the handicapped. The article goes on to cite several instances of allowing infants to die after abortions or because of serious birth defects. In one case an aborted baby was allowed to die after struggling 12 hours to survive. The report also mentions the growing number of lawsuits against doctors for not warning of birth defects. In a California case the State Supreme Court awarded damages to parents of a genetically deaf girl because the doctor assured them the child would be born well, whereas if they had known their child would be deaf they would have avoided conception or obtained an abortion . Pro-life advocates believe such cases encourage doctors to practice “passive infanticide” like that used in the case of “Infant Doe.”

BIBLE VERSIONS Under the title, Why Stop Here? Jack P. Lewis comments on the New King James Version (NKJV) in Christianity Today for October 8, 1982. “Here” in the title refers to 1611, the date the KJV first was published. Even the KJV has undergone many revisions. The new KJV is based on the revision of 1769. The publishers themselves point out that between those dates there were 24,000 changes in text and punctuation. While the language of the NKJV has been modernized, among other things by using you and You instead of thee and Thou for God and men, they have retained to a large degree the textus receptus basic to the KJV translation. Dr. Lewis cites some instances in which there has been departure from that text, and asks why all the progress made in determining the text of Scripture should be disallowed and the clock turned back to 1611. He has several good things to say about this new “Bible,” but prefers those that are based on better texts in the original. In this connection Bishop Bastian of the Free Methodist Church contributes an article on “We Have Been Bible Samplers Long Enough.” He compares the Revised Standard Version and the New International Version (RSV and NIV). He comes out strongly in favor of the NIV as being the best version for use today, and recommends that Christians and churches stop using many different versions and concentrate on one for use in teaching, preaching and especially memorization. His advice is also apropos to the situation in the Christian Reformed Church.

ETERNITY FOR JANUARY, 1983, contains several valuable articles under the overall caption of Yearbook ‘83, covering trends in the church, film, science, law, music, and a news quiz. Also under Resources ‘83 it has a listing of many agencies that will be a valuable reference for those interested in a wide variety of church/parachurch/missions data. The first article in this series is by Joseph Bayly, and is “a look at contemporary evangelicalism,” and asks the question, “Is this once sleeping giant beginning to doze again?” He mentions various trends that give cause for alarm. These reflect trends in our culture that influence our churches. The first is deterioration of marriage and the home, and views of sexual conduct generally. Bayly gives many illustrations. He states, “From a long-range viewpoint, this breakdown of Christian marriage and the family is the most ominous cloud on the horizon.” Next he mentions the changing roles of women in the churches. “There is a trend, especially in some evangelical seminaries, toward blurring gender roles. Another related trend among evangelical Christians today is a movement away from doctrinal emphasis, teaching, and precision.” Space does not allow me to list several other points made in this instructive article. Although Bayly is interested in the broader “evangelical” scene, much of what he writes has application to the Reformed churches also.

RELIGION IN THE USSR: HOW MUCH FREEDOM IS ENOUGH? In the October issue of Christianity Today there are two articles under this general theme in which the situation of the evangelical Christians and churches in Russia is discussed from two opposite viewpoints. Dentoz Lotz, a Southern Baptist who has worked in Russia for the past 15 years, looks at things from the standpoint of the registered or state recognized “Baptists.” He states that under the Czars there was also no freedom for these churches. He plays down the importance of the so-called “underground churches” and describes the progress being made by the regular churches as they exercise their limited freedom. On the other hand, Georgi Vins, well known also in our circles as a leader of the unregistered Baptists who was expelled from Russia in 1979 after spending many years in prisons, gives quite a different picture. He emphasizes that the state has no right to interfere in the affairs of the churches and the right of parents to teach their children. His concluding paragraph states: “The church has burst out beyond the officially sanctioned meeting places. Take Moscow, for example. About 60 years ago it contained 14 Baptist churches. At that time the Moscow population was 2 million. Now it is 8 million, and the government allov;s only one church. But there are more Baptists than there were then. So the rest are forced to gather either in homes or in the forest.”

A HOMOSEXUAL FAMILY The news section of Moody Monthly has an item about a decision of an appellate court in New York that ruled 4–1 that a homosexual man could adopt his lover as his son. The couple had lived in an apartment three years and wanted to avoid being forced out by a new landlord. The court defined a family as people engaged in a “continuing relationship of love and care, and an assumption of responsibility for some other person.” It declared that the traditional family is no longer the only model for family life.

NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST from the Christian Herald (November 1982) “There is probably not a Bible shop anywhere in the world distributing as many Scriptures as the one in Warsaw,” says an official of the London-based United Bible Societies. A record 440,000 Polish Scriptures will be produced by the end of 1982. A West Virginia preacher who handled snakes with his bare hands to demonstrate his fait h died as a result of a bite by a rattlesnake. He refused medical treatment. The Rev. John Lee Holbrook was bitten in August during services at the Lord Jesus Church in Jesus’ Name. Snake handling has caused at least six deaths in West Virginia since 1961.

Protestants and Roman Catholics are divided in their views in the creationism controversy according to a Gallup survey. Interviews with 1,518 adults found that Protestants believed the creation account of the Bible by 49 to 48 percent, while Catholics agreed with evolutionary theories by 55 to 38 percent. This issue also contains an article on “The Latest Trends in American Religion” by George H. Gallup Jr., based on new polls evaluating the statues of “religion” in America today. He indicates four prominent trends: 1. There is a glaring lack of knowledge and fuzziness about the central truths of our faith; 2. There is a high level of credulity, for example, many church goers believe in astrology; 3. There is a lack of spiritual discipline in our lives; 4. There is a continuing anti-intellectual strain in much U.S. religion.

THE LIBERATION OF LEBANON The same issue of Eternity has an interesting article on Israel’s part in the fighting going on in Lebanon. It is written by Marvin R. Wilson, a professor at Gordon College. He was one of a group of 50 Americans whose trip to Israel and Lebanon was paid for by the National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel (NCLCI). This organization no doubt supports dispensational views of God’s purpose with the modern nation of Israel. The writer gives many instances in which the public media reports are distorted against Israel. All 50 Americans agreed that Israel’s invasion of Lebanon must be understood as a legitimate act of self defense. He reminds us that while Israel and its “Christian” allies have committed atrocities, the much greater numbers killed and the destruction of such Christian towns as Damour, where thousands of Christians were killed by the PLO, have largely gone unreported. The article illustrates that Israel is doing a great deal to win the support of the “evangelical” element of the U.S. churches.

FAITH AND THE FATE OF THE EARTH is the title of a two part article in Eternity, October, 1982. Senator Mark O. Hatfield writes on “Let’s Risk Peace” and argues for a nuclear freeze and reduction of nuclear arms. Richard J. Neuhaus entitles his contribution “Consider The Ethics of Consequences.” Hatfield takes the position that the defense of the nation is not just a matter of weapons, but of internal financial and moral strength. He quotes President Dwight D. Eisenhower as stating that hardware is not enough; any nation that wants to understand its security must understand that hardware is but one component of defense. Spending money on weapons at the expense of other vital programs may actually weaken a country. Neuhaus, however, points out among other things, under Kennedy 47.8 percent of the budget went for defense and human services 25.1%, while today under Reagan 26.2% goes for defense and 53.2% for human services. He surveys various views pro and con nuclear armaments. Each article is followed by a short list of books for further reading and there is also a sampling of groups that are either pacifist on nuclear arms or pro-defense; names and addresses are given. A brief article tells of increasing interest in nuclear freeze efforts by Evangelicals and announces a “Conference on the Church and Peacemaking in the Nuclear Age” to be held in Pasadena, CA, May 25–28, 1983. The conference idea began with students of Fuller Seminary and has attracted wide support. This material in Eternity can be very helpful to anyone who wants a brief introduction to the issues involved in this vital subject. Neuhaus’ article is accompanied by several quotations by famous men. This one from Martin Luther is very much to the point: “If Adam had seen in a vision the horrible instruments his children were to invent he would have died of grief.”