Book Reviews

Book Reviews THE SEARCH FOR GOD: ClnusnA:NITY, ATHEISM, SECULARISM, WORLD RELIGIONS. Hans Schwarz. SPCK, 1975. 288 pp. £2.95. This work is described on the cover as 'an ideal text for the traditional first course in Christian theology'. It therefore deserves very careful considera tion. Professor Schwarz has covered an immense field, starting with the problem of any kind of belief in God, proceeding through philosophical arguments for the existence of God, the nature of religion as such and the religions, the gradual emergence of the idea of God in the Old Testament, and leading up to God as the God of history, the final manifestation of whose grace and righteousness are to be found in Jesus Christ. It is clear that he has read very widely on every section of this vast theme, and has provided for us notes and a bibliography so extensive that I fear that the first year student is more likely to drown in them than to swim. The method followed is the American-a very brief and condensed sum mary of the teaching of a thinker, followed by an even briefer criticism, introduced with somewhat monotonous iteration by the phrase 'we may wonder'. I have myself experienced so much difficulty in various contexts in ascertaining exactly what Schwarz means that I wonder whether the student will be able to follow his exposition without considerable elucidation on the part of a teacher. But perhaps that is what is meant by calling the work an ideal text-book. When this method is followed, clearly a great deal depends on the selection of writers to be considered. I must confess to having been a little astonished at finding so much space given in 1975 to the 'god is dead' movement, which was as dead as the dodo by 1970, and to the absurdities of Thomas Altizer. I would not myself have even mentioned in such a book the even greater absurdities of The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. This means no more than that on such subjects judgments will differ. I have, however, a rather more serious anxiety. I asked myself the question, if I were giving a course on this subject, who are the writers with whose works I would specially wish my students to be familiar? Without giving myself time to reflect, I wrote down twelve names; here is my list William Temple, Lionel Thornton, John and Donald Baillie, Kenneth Cragg, Ninian Smart, John Macquarrie, H. D. Lewis, Ian Ramsey, C. H. Dodd, Austin Farrer, Eric MascaU. Only two of these names are found in the 134 135 index to this book-Macquanie and Mascall each get one rather faint commendation in a note. I would not wish my students to be so ignorant of the immense travail of philosophical and religious thought which has been carried through in Britain in the last fifty years. This is not to say that this is not a good book. I shall be glad to have it on my shelves as a work of reference. I am sure that it will be useful in America, particularly in those parts of America where the Germanic tradition is still very strong. I am less confident that it will be useful in those areas where the great British tradition in philosophy and theology is taken seriously. More could have been done to bring the style into conformity with the generally accepted standards of English writing. Proofreading has been carelessly carried out. In the index, A. T. van Leeuwen appears as van der Leeuwen (he is not the same person as G. van der Leeuw). And poor Hanis Rackham ought not to be condemned to appear as R. Hackham (p. 228, correctly on p. 218). STEPHEN NEILL, Bishop TOWARDS WORLD COMMUNITY: THE CoLOMBO PAPERS. S. J. Samartha. wee, 1975. 163 pp. Fol1owers of five major religions met at Colombo in April 1974 in multi lateral dialogue to discuss the resources and responsibilities of religious people with regard to world community. They were for the most part academics who were not truly representative of the faith they professed. This book is a record of the papers given together with some critical assess ments. Those who were present found it a memorable occasion and 'a sign post on a long road'. But there were evident difficulties and Dr. Samartha draws attention to three of them. There were the differences between theistic and non-theistic faiths, the interpretation of contemporary situations and the understanding of history and, of course, of terminology. One of the Muslim contributors sees it •as a fact of history in almost every religion that most fundamental religious tenets have been re-interpreted from time to time to harmonise with the changed thinking of the time'. The doctrine of re-incarnation with its implication that in other births men could behave and be quite different from their present experience made the Buddhist see al1 the differences that keep men apart quite absurd and unrealistic. ALAN S. NEECH THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS. Norman Anderson. IVP, 1975. 244 pp. £1.95. For the past twenty years previous editions of this book have been one of the best introductions to the study of the great non-Christian religions. Now in a revised edition, which has been much improved, the publishers have produced a tool which future generations of students who want concise, factual accounts of the origin and teaching of these religions will greatly value. None of the writers is a follower of, or a convert from, the religion he describes but all of them have lived in the countries where those religions are practised and, from the acknowledgments, it is clear that there has been consultation with some who are. Wherever possible articles have been brought up to date and extensive book lists follow each chapter. I found the chapter on the 'Religions of pre-literary societies' (surely a better term than 'primitive' or •animistic'!) especially understanding and sympathetic. 136 But 'Hinduism' and 'Islam' will be most referred to by readers in this country because of our increasingly pluralistic society as a result of recent immigra tions. Professor Anderson's concluding article on the Christian approach to other religions will be of great help to many who are losing their way in the current debate on dialogue. This little book cannot be too highly commended. It really does help readers to understand what men of dif· ferent religions mean by the words they commonly use and that is all impor tant in any discussion. ALAN S. NEECH THEOLOGY AND CHANGE: EssAYS IN MEMORY OF ALAN RICHARDSON. Ronald H. Preston. SCM Press, 1975. 211 pp. £4.50. It is impossible in some two or three hundred words to review a volume of eleven essays by as many different authors. It is possible to do little more than indicate the occasion which called for the production of the book and to glance at some of the authors. Alan Richardson, a dear friend of the present reviewer, would have been seventy on October 17th, 1975. This collection of essays was to have been a Festschrift to be presented to him on that day. As events turned out it was presented to his devoted wife, Phyllis, for Alan had died on February 23rd. The opening essay, 'After Liberalism: Reflections on Four Decades', is written by his contemporary Lord Ramsey. The two theologians had known one another since the nineteen-twenties. 'The years when the foundations of York Minster were found to be crumbling and its Dean was diverted from his study to the courageous leadership in saving it,' Lord Ramsey writes, 'were also the years when the rumblings of theological foundations were heard.' The parallel is an interesting one. Everybody knows how much Alan Richardson did to ensure the strengthening of York Minster's founda tions. I venture to think that history will show how great was his contribu tion to the strengthening of our theological foundations at a time when many felt that they were slipping, and some, less competent than Alan, were doing much to unsettle them. Quietly and with an astonishing persistence, over some four decades, Alan, as canon, lecturer, professor and dean, wrote, lectured and preached, and the church is the richer for his work. The writers of some of these essays were his pupils, others his close friends. All are in debt to him. It is a good team, including John Bowden, Anthony and Richard Hanson, Robert Leaney, Ronald Preston and John Bennett. Another book waits to be written-Alan Richardson, his life and thought. It could be a great book. DONALD CANTUAR: THE COMMON CATECHISM: A CHR:IsnAN BooK OF FAI1H. Search Press, 1975. 690 pp. £5.50. The Common Catechism is an attempt by Catholic and Protestant theologians to offer a joint statement of the Christian faith. It is the work of some thirty-six continental scholars acting off their own bat, and was first published in German in 1973. Some of the names (Andre Dumas, Alois GriUmeier, Heinrich Ott, WoJfhart Pannenberg, Ferdinand Hahn, Claus Westermann) are familiar to English readers through tbe translation of their scholarly writings. The team was equally balanced between Protestants and Catholics. ('Ibe authors are at pains to point out that such epithets are largely labels of 137 convenience and should not prejudge the question of whether others besides Roman Catholics may not rightly be called Catholics.) The first thing that strikes one is the sheer bulk of the book-nearly two and a quarter inches thick. But when the reader opens it, he will he relieved to find that this is not a catechism in the accepted sense of the term.

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