CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY

The Role of the Self in Counseling and Its Application to Pastoral Counseling DAVID LUDWIG

The Future of Theological Education SAMUEL I. GOLTERMANN

St. Paul's Ideology for the Urbanized Roman Empire SAUL LEVIN

Reading Programs in Theology: Hermeneutic(s) MARTIN H. SCHARLEMANN

Homiletics

Theological Observer

Book Review

Vol. XXXIX October 1968 No.9 BOOK REVIEW

All books reviewed in this periodical may be procured from or through Concordia Pub­ lishing House, 3558 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63118.

CARMEN CHRISTI: PHILIPPIANS 11.5-11 salvation. The key factor is that of obedience IN RECENT INTERPRETATION AND and vindication. IN THE SETTING OF EARLY CHRIS­ The final section seeks to place the hymn TIAN WORSHIP. By R. P. Martin. (independently of its place in Philippians) Cambridge: University Press, 1967. xii into the life of the early church. It probably and 364 pages. Cloth. $10.50. was used in a baptismal context to hymn Few passages in the New Testament have Christ as the Kosmokrator. Man's destiny is thus determined by his relation to Christ, not received more careful, detailed, and extended study than the great Christo logical passage in by demonic forces. The author of the hymn Philippians 2, and few present the modern has used both Hebraic and Hellenistic thought in his composition. It is thus in student of the Bible with as rilany varied in­ terpretations. The English student who con­ some sense a missionary manifesto. trasts the comm2ntaries of J. B. Lightfoot and Martin's careful evaluation of current F. W. Beare will see how widely divergent trends and interpretations make this a book of great value. Both theologians and pastors conclusions can stem from good scholars. Martin, formerly of the London Bible Col­ will find it a book to challenge and enrich lege and presently of Manchester University, them. We hope that they will read it. published a short survey of modern interpre­ EDGAR KRENTZ tation of this passage in 1960 (An Early DAS WEINWUNDER VON KANA: DIE Christian Confession). The present volume AUSLEGUNG VON JO 2, 1-11 BEl extends the coverage and gives a more de­ DEN V A'TERN UND HE UTE. By Adolf tailed evaluation; it serves as a kind of road map over the thorny path interpreters must Smitmans. Tiibingen: J. c. B. Mohr (Paul follow. The first section presents a survey of Siebeck), 1966. vii and 337 pages. Paper, the evidence for hymns in the New Testa­ DM 38.00; cloth, DM 43.50. ment, and then discusses the literary form The current interest in hermeneutics has (certainly hymnic) to propose a structure of led to a revival of study of the methods of six distichs, four through verse 8, two in interpretation used at various periods in the verses 9-11. After a survey of arguments for church. The Beitrage ZUy Geschichte der and against Pauline authorship, which leads biblischen Exegese, of which this is number to a non liquet conclusion, Martin surveys 6, has published a number of these studies the major trends of interpretation in the last that examine the history of the interpretation two centuries. of a specific passage. The bulk of the volume (some 170 pages) The book before us first examines the is taken up with a clear yet detailed inter- opinions of modern exegetes to demonstrate pretation of the hymn. One is struck in this that there are divergent opinions on most section with the fact that Ernst Lohmeyer points of interpretation. What is the proper and Ernst Kasemann seem to be most per- background for understanding the narrative? suasive to Martin. The hymn is primarily What is the major point which it is to teach? soteriological in intent, not Christo logical. It Is there a mario logical interest or not? Is is designed not to give information about the there a critique of contemporaneous under­ natures of Christ but rather about the path of standing of miracle? 631 632 BOOK REVIEW

The bulk of the book is taken up with The JulittS excluS1ts is valuable as a literary a careful and detailed survey of the exegesis work. It belongs to the pieces Erasmus wrote of the fathers of the East (down to about as a moral reformer. Its portrait of a pre­ A. D. 650) and in the West (down to about Reformation pope is supplementary, not A. D. 635). The fathers also show great primary, evidence of the character of Julius variety in detail, but have a contribution to II. The carefully prepared edition before us, make to modern exegesis in their concern for however, will be highly useful for the stu­ Christo logy (though modern exegetes cannot dent of the period. follow the identification of Christ with the The pacifistic note of the Julius deserves bridegroom). The Old Testament plays a mention. Julius is condemned for his wars, very minor role in their exegesis, a detail in not merely because he was a pope who waged which one can scarcely follow them. wars. CARL S. MEYER The very short third section of the book proposes some guidelines for the modern un­ GESAMMELTE AUFSATZE. By Kurt Die- derstanding of the Cana narrative. The trich Schmidt. Edited by Manfred Jacobs. '·hour" of 2: 4 must refer to the hour of Gottingcn: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Jesus' death; in that light the miracle is 1967. 335 pages. Cloth. DM 39.00. a proclamation in advance of the eschatologi­ Schmidt, ordinarius for church history at cal joy which Jesus' glorification has for the Hamburg University, died July 27, 1964. church. John is critical of a false under­ For this volume Manfred Jacobs has selected standing of miracle in the church of his day, 26 essays from Schmidt's pen, reflecting his for it separated the miracles from the death particular interests. One of the essays dates of Jesus. Thus John 2:4b is the key to the from the year 1929, two from the 19305. narrative. None comes from the war years between This is a valuable contribution to the his­ 1939 and 1945. The period between 1954 tory of exegesis. Scholars will refer to it and 1959 was a prolific one for &hmidt. frequently. EDGAR KRENTZ As might be anticipated from the author of a Grundriss de., Kirchengeschichte, the THE JULIUS EXCLUSUS OF ERASMUS. range of the essays is a wide one. Some are Edited by J. Kelley; translated by Paul historiographical, others deal with the Ref­ Pascal. Introduction and notes by J. Kelley. ormation and the Counter-Reformation. Five Sowards, Bloonlington: Indiana University have Luther as a subject; one Ignatius Loyola; Press, 1968. 141 pages. Cloth. $6.50. another Thomas Aquinas. Ecumenism, inter­ Pope Julius II (died 1513) was a warrior communion, catholicity, the mission of the and a Renaissance princeling. His death church, the confessing church are topics evoked a satiric masterpiece, an invective by which command this outstanding church his­ the foremost master of satire of the times, torian's scholarly attention. although Erasmus did not actually acknowl­ To single out one of the essays for atten­ edge the authorship of the dialogue. Sow­ tion may be indicative of the reviewer's pre­ ard's erudite introduction brings rather con­ dilections or of his judgment of what may clusive evidence that Erasmus was the author, be of interest to the reader. In his "Luthertum a conclusion in which scholars like Roland und Oekumene (1959)" Schmidt speaks of H. Bainton, Elizabeth F. Rogers, and Wallace the Synodical Conference and the intransi­ K. Ferguson concur. gence of the Wisconsin Synod, which, he Pascal's translation is the first complete says, is greater than that of the Missouri translation of Julius exclusus a coelis into Synod. He also cites Wilhelm Lohe and English. It was translated into German as Peter Brunner to show that Lutheranism has early as 1520; a French translation appeared a dialectic character. Luther gave an extra­ in 1615. Pascal speaks of the "exceedingly ordinary emphasis to the catholicity of the colloquial, almost racy, style and vocabulary" church. After 1537 Melanchthon stressed of the work. the pura doctriM and ecclesia visibilis, ac- BOOK REVIEW 633 cording to Schmidt on the basis of Jacobs' sen was also associated with William Tennent research, to identify the congregatio vere and George Whitefield and with the Great credentium. In the 17th century both Lu­ Awakening. ther's and Melanchthon's concepts are found, In the second part of the volume Tanis and in the 19th century Wilhelm Lohe tried treats Frelinghuysen's theology. He charac­ to reconcile both of them. This brief analysis terizes him as a follower of Gisbertus will indicate that Schmidt has a vast and Voetius, studied primarily on the basis of detailed knowledge of various periods of the Johannes a Marek's Christianae theologiae history of the church and that his analyses medulla didactico-elenctica. There was in are worth considering. Any of the other es­ Frelinghuysen's theology an emphasis on says would show a similar range of knowl­ "experimental divinity," a pivotal stress on edge and the need for a careful consideration rebirth and an underscoring of one's own of Schmidt's judgments. experience of the covenant relationship with Helga IVlietzsch has supplied a bibliog­ God. In his covenant theology Frelinghuysen raphy of 139 of Schmidt's writings. was a Voetian rather than a Cocceiano His CARL S. MEYER doctrine of election stressed the certainty of assurance of salvation. Frelinghuysen held DUTCH CALVINISTIC PIETISM IN THE that IX Drs, the "watchers on the walls of MIDDLE COLONIES: A STUDY IN Zion," should examine those who go to the THE LIFE AND THEOLOGY OF THE­ Lord's T hIe and determine their fitness, for­ ODORUS JACOBUS FRELlNGHUY­ bidding ..he unworthy to partake. The exer­ SEN. By James Tanis. The Hague: Mar­ cise of church discipline was of consequence dnus Nijhoff, 1967. xiii and 203 pages. in the ministry of the New Jersey divine. Cloth. 23.50 Dutch guilders. However, Frelinghuysen's "overwhelming Yale's Tanis produced his study of Theo­ emphasis" - in Tanis' phrase - was on ex­ dorus Frelinghuysen (1692 to 1747) to sat­ perimental religion, and his Reformed Pie­ isfy in part the requirements for his Ph. D. tism was the main contribution which Fre­ degree at the State University of Utrecht in linghuysen made to American religious life. The Netherlands. In the first part he treats "His eHectual influence was greatest on those the life and person of Frelinghuysen, in the churches and movements which gave them­ second his theology. selves to experimental religion, for the tone Frelinghuysen has been called "the father of revivalism in the Middle Colonies was set of American Pietism," although its paternity by Frelinghuysen" (p. 162). is mixed. His pietism owes much to Lutheran CARL S. MEYER Pietism, it has been said. Tanis makes out RELIGIOUS FERMENT IN RUSSIA. By a good case for his strong dependence on Michael Bordeaux. New York: St. Mar­ Reformed Pietism only. There was Luther­ tin's Press, 1968. 189 pages, 2 appendices, anism in the family background, but young and 1 index. Cloth. $8.95. Theodorus was only nine when his Lutheran grandfather died. Before coming to the Rari­ Joining a religious sect in Russia today tan Valley of New Jersey, Frelinghuysen W," often amounts to a form of social protest pastor in Loegumer Voorwerk in East Fries­ against restrictive state control. To what ex­ land and (for a brief time) corector of the tent various sectors of Russian society engage Latin school in Enkhuizen. Between 1720 in this kind of antistate activity may be seen and 1747 he served Reformed congregations from the fact that more than 400 religious in the Raritan Valley. Here came contro­ sects are at work in the Soviet Union in this versy and contention, caused especially by the very year of grace. True, their membership excessive discipline (exclusion from Com­ is not large; yet they constitute an abiding munion and excommunication) that Fre­ reminder of man's yearning to be free. linghuysen practiced. However, Frelinghuy- The central theme of Bordeaux's book is 634 BOOK REVIEW that, amid the ferment in Soviet society, forces in the evolution of Soviet society" a group of Baptists has emerged which is in (p.189). open revolt against the Moscow leadership Anyone inclined to gloss over the harass­ of the Baptist movement. It is known as the ment of religion as practiced in the U. S. S. R. All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians ought to be required to read Appendix II and Baptists (AUCECB), whose beginnings of the present volume. It consists of eighteen go back to 1944. pages on which are listed the names of per­ In 1960 the government of the Soviet sons who have been imprisoned since 1961 Union issued new regulations which were to for daring to express their Christian convic­ be imposed on evangelical Christians. These tions. Again and again the following brief served to unite various strands of discontent entry is given: "died in prison." A list of into determined opposition to the established abbreviations used indicates whether a per­ leadership of non-Orthodox church life. son was just imprisoned, deported, or put on Many church groups came to the conclusion what is euphemistically called a "strict that their leaders in Moscow yielded too regimen." readily to the political pressures applied by Bordeaux has rendered the Christian cause the Soviet Council for Religious Affairs. The a service by writing with great care and on present volume is a rather detaileddescrip­ the basis of verified documents. Not too rion of the heroic efforts of AUCECB to much is known today of what really goes recall the leaders of the Baptist movement on in the U. s. S. R. What can be ascertained to be true to the demands of the Gospel that iLl the field of religious activity can be found the church not be of the world even though in this volume and in the references which she is in it. the author indicates. Persecutions endured by the Christian mi­ MARTIN H. SCHARLEMANN norities here described are reminiscent of the descriptions given in the Book Of" Acts. DAS HERkfENEUTISCHE PROBLEM DES Some of the reactions to the manifestations TODES 1M HORIZONT VON ROMER of raw Christian courage on the part of church 5 UNTERSUCHT. By Gerd Schunack. and government authorities reveal the kind Tiibingen: J. c. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), of puzzled mystification expressed by the 1967. 318 pages. Cloth. DM 46.00. Jerusalem high council to the spread of a This dissertation, submitted to the theo- new religion by the apostles. logical faculty of the Philipps-Universitat in One of the added features of Bou~deaux's Marburg and somewhat expanded for publi­ volume is its detailed description of the cation, presents one area of the investigation methods of control used in the Union of of Paul's concept of death as it relates to the Soviet Socialist Republics to discourage. the death of Jesus. Schunack's adviser was Ernst practice of religion. There is, for instance, Fuchs. This volume is a scholarly piece of the legal requirement for registratioq with work in the application of the principles of secular authorities all the way up from the the new hermeneutics. local level to the Council of Ministers of the The broad coverage of this study is indi­ Soviet Union. The process is so ·slow that cated by approximately 14 pages of bibliog­ many groups assemble without registration. raphyand 18 pages of indexes. Besides prob­ The epilogue to this book indicates to ing Old and New Testament texts, the author what extent the boldness of the siIIlpI<:! Chris­ searches into the Jewish writings of the inter­ tians belonging to AUCECB has produced testamental period and delves into the Stoic a similar ferment within the Russian' Ortho­ concept of death. He also charges Gnosticism dox Church itself. It is the author's opinion with having influenced Paul's view of death. that Christianity of the virile kind, as· prac' The extent to which the reader may agree ticed by these dissident groups, "may yet with the author's conclusions will depend prove itself to be one of the most· dynamic largely on his own personal principles ot BOOK REVIEW 635 hermeneutics. There is here a broad area for eastern religions in the first century, Langer­ justifiable dissent. Be that as it may, a patient beck shows that what is new in Christianity and somewhat laborious perusal of the mate­ is original to it. In Rom. 1: 18 fl. Paul is rials presented in this volume will reward clearly drawing on the Wisdom of Solomon, the reader with a clearer understanding of 13-15; there is, for instance, no mention of current theology in Germany and its impact demonic forces. Thus there is ultimately a on theological thinking in America. mediation of Platonic thought via Wisdom LEWIS W. SPITZ to Paul-and not some nonexistent, pre­ Christian' Gnosticism; (4) the philosophy of AUFSATZE ZUR GNOSIS. By Hermann Ammonius Saccas; (5) the conflict between langerbeck, edited by Hermann Dorries. theology and popular religiosity at Rome be­ Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, tween A. D. 13 5 and 165; (6) an article in 1967. 216 pages. Paper. DM 34.00. honor of Werner Jaeger's 60th birthday. Thirty years ago the nature and origins of Dorries has provided an introduction, Gnosticism seemed to be an assured result of which gives a short pen portrait of Langer­ careful scholarship: it arose out of Near East­ beck, aild an overview of the maior con­ ern, especially Iranian, thought that antedated tributions of the articles, and added a bib­ Christianity. This hypothesis, put forward by liographY· of his works at the rear of the Richard Reitzenstein (1861-1931), gained volume. Carsten Colpe has added documenta­ general acceptance. tion to modern literature published since As Dorries mentions in his introduction, these essays were written. these essays by Langerbeck, at his death pro­ The nature and role of Gnosticism in the fessor of classical philology at the University history of the early church is a major ques­ of Frankfort, call this interpretation into tion in, current discussion. These essays by question. He adopts a position that he him­ a classicist ~how the dangers of studying the self credits originally to Harnack and that he New Tes,tament apart from the entire ancient sees developed in masterly fashion by Eugene world (Langerbeck himself is probably defi­ de Faye but disregarded in most of the recent cient on the side of Judaism) and demon­ discussions. This position maintains that strate ! tile shortsightedness of theological Gnosticism is the product of Hellenism com­ education that removes classical humanism bined with Christianity, rather than of Ori­ from its concerns. This volume, especially ental religions and Christianity. In this the third ,~ssay, is a major contribution to, process Platonism plays a decisive role. theology, that would be impossible without Langerbeck supports this view with an in­ that broad knowledge. EDGAR KRENTZ terpretation of the Oriental religions. In his opinion they play a role over against Chris­ HERESY IN THE MIDDLE AGES: THE tianity only in the third and fourth centuries, RELATION OF HETERODOXY TO C. By Gordon not earlier (p. 85). Thus the interpretation DISSENT 1250-C. 1450. Lefl. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1967. of the school of comparative religions is false. x and 800 pages. Two volumes. Cloth. (Langerbeck documents this by a close exam­ $15.00. ination of Hans Jonas' work on Gnosis, pp. 17 fl., and of Edward Norden's Agnostos CONTOURS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. By Theos, pp. 32 ff.) Leopold Genicot. Translated from the The six essays deal with the following French by Laurence and Rona Wood. topics: (1) a critique of the current inter­ New York: Barnes and Noble, 1967. xi pretation of Gnosticism; (2) the anthropol­ and 322 pages. Cloth. $7.50. ogy of Alexandrian Gnosticism (Basilides A major treatment of religious dissent in and Valentinus) as reported by Clement of Europe 'from the 13th to the 15th century Alexandria and Origen; (3) Paul and Greek by one· cif the foremost scholars of the thought. After rejecting the influence of thought of the later Middle Ages deserves 636 BOOK REVIEW careful perusal. Leif of Manchester investi­ Both Leif and Genicot are to be recom­ gates in some depth the disputes among vari­ mended to the student of the Middle Ages. ous Franciscans, but he ranges much farther. CARL S. MEYER The Beguines and Fraticelli, the heresy of the Free Spirit, the Flagellants, the LoUards and EARLY CHRISTIAN ART. By F. van den their leader (\'VycliO, and the Hussite ref­ Meer, translated by Peter and Friedl ormation are his main topics. He emphasizes Brown. Chicago: The University of Chi­ teachings and beliefs in the total context of cago Press, 1967. 147 pages, with frontis­ the Later Middle Ages. Leif himself puts it piece in color, and 48 plates in black and this way: "The convergence between the white. Cloth. $8.50. heretical and non-heretical is the theme of This volume is an essay designed to dem­ this book. It is pre-eminently a study of onstrate the thesis that the art of early Chris­ heterodoxy passing into dissent and ulti­ tianity (that is, from A. D. 200 to 600) mately heresy. Its major premise is that reflects an entire culture, and that the "con­ heresy, far from being alien to Christian tent provides the key, the indispensable and society, had its source in the tensions between only keJ to the whole" (p. 30). Two intro­ Christian precept and religious practice; it ductory chapters survey the history of the differed from orthodoxy in the means by study of this art and list the surviving monu­ which it sought to overcome them" (p. vii) . ments. VaLl den Meet is critical of early Heresy in the IvIiddle . he believes, was scholarship for concentrating on the mean­ doctrinal and social, antisacerdotal and apoc­ of alyptic, and that its cause must be sought in ings early Christian art, though he does much the same himself and rarely discusses the social context. Genicot's volume begins with the dawn technique. On the other hand he criticilo:es of the Middle Ages, basks in theif noontide, recent art scholarship which concentrates on and laments their dusk. He offers a compact (echniques and aesthetics without discussing presentation, sometimes difficult to follow, meaning. which finds the Middle Ages ending in mis­ Subsequent chapters discuss the basilica, ery and confusion. Yet the realization is memorial chapels, baptistries, cemeteries, and there that a new order is arising and with so on. The final chapters discuss the indebt­ it the nostalgic conclusion: "So long as there edness to classical motifs and the unique is a vV' estern Culture, and a Christian Church, character of this art. Contrary to much the b1iddle Ages, which created the one and scholarship, the author holds that the basilica were nurtured by the other, will not die" had no real prototype in pagan architecture; (p.251). it became dominant very quickly after A. D. Realistically, Leff and Genicot do not be­ 313 in a form that varied only slightly, be­ long together in the same review. The topics cause it provided "a convincing architectural of lefT's 800 pages command less than lO form" for already existing Christian worship pages in the Frenchman's work - and this (p. 56). Yet it is a building of late antiquity is not said disparagingly. Genicot, however, that would not surprise any ancient man. begins with the assumption: "A last cause of weakness and disunity in the Church was The volume is interesting but not com­ heresy" (p. 229) . Heresy attacked abuses pletely convincing. It pays too little atten­ and sought to remedy them, he admits, and tion to classical prototypes. The variety in­ so he tries to get behind the heresies to find herent in early Christian architecture is mini­ their causes. However, one thinks of Tertul­ mized. The octagonal shape of San Vitale in !ian, Augustine, and Luther who said in one Ravenna is so unusual as to ask for explana­ fashion or another, "Ambition is the mother tion; the two basilicas at Philippi kept the of all heresies and sects." The psychological laity out of the central nave by balustrades and the sociological factors deserve emphasis and restricted them to the side aisles and with the theological factors. galleries. Nowhere are mentioned the meth- BOOK REVIEW 637 ods used to turn pagan temples into Chris­ The first section is, in this reviewer's opin­ tian churches. ion, by far the best part of the book. This The author is correct when he says that section examines the philological, archaeo­ sophrosyne is common to both classical and logical, and artistic evidence for the social early Christian art. He is also correct when position, economic status, and even meth­ he states that Christ gave a new measure for odology of fishing and fishers in Greece, humanity in Christian art. But is he correct Rome, and Palestine. V/hat emerges is a in saying (p. 120) that the Passion is not picture of men who were scarcely unlettered, dealt with adequately in Christian art prior ignorant, or innocents from the country. to about A. D. 1000? What of the Passion That they were agrammatoi (Acts 4: 13 ) sarcophagus in the Lateran and the crucifix­ means only that they were not trained inter­ ion scene on the doors of Santa Sabina? Or preters of the Torah and says nothing further the panel on the British Museum ivory box about their educational status. This section (Lowrie, plate 95)? is most illuminating; it read to this reviewer like a novel. Again, is the interpretation of the house The second section is something else. It church correct when Van den Meer himself is both in design and space the major section states that no house churches have survived? of the volume and was to discuss the sym­ What of the Dura Europus church? One bolic meaning of the metaphorical use of plate is wronglyrcJpued to on p .. 18: for fishing (and hunting) terminology. About 20 read 26. 70 pages are devoted to the Greco-Roman, Still the book is interesting, provocative, Near Eastern, and Jewish-Rabbinic usage. and clear. Unfortunately, this reviewer would Much scattered material is brought together. regard it as inadequately documented and It is not always clearly organized. priced very high. He would give the palm This section concludes with an examina­ to Jean Lassus' The Early Christian and tion of the fishing metaphor in the gospels Byzantine World (New York, 1967) as less and the traditions lying behind them. Wuell­ expensive, better illustrated, more compre­ ner here pushes the thesis that the historical hensive, and more adequately documented. Jesus was Himself, together with His disci­ The present volume makes interesting read­ ples, a historical phenomenon and so the ing, provided that it is set into a wider source of later theological diversity. Not context of interpretation. only is it not clear what relation this has to EDGAR KRENTZ the metaphor under discussion, but it is not THE MEANING OF "FISHERS OF MEN." even clear what the author means by it in By Wilhelm H. Wuellner. Philadelphia: the perspective of history. This may be be­ The Westminster Press, 1967. 256 pages. cause his method is frequently to list scholarly opinion on a point (see pp. 13 8 f., Cloth. $6.95. 148 f., 197 f.), make some comments on it, This is, by turns, an exciting and infuriat­ and then conclude with a thesis of his own ing book: exciting because one feels the which may not be inductively established. author has much that is worth saying, infuri­ The English style of the book is often turgid; ating because he often does not say it in an example is this sentence from page 142: language that is readily understood. "Imminent, inaugurated, or realized escha­ As he himself says, there is really only one tology is in each case, whether at Qumran, narrative in the New Testament that uses with John or Jesus, and proved by the 'signs the phrase "fishers of men" (p.166). There and wonders' that accompany each and their are, to be sure, some other indications of the respective disciples, it is of great importance metaphor (zogrein in Luke 5:10, for exam­ that we avoid identifying the 'signs' of 'the pie). But Wuellner must cast his own net end' with the Kingdom itself." This turgidity very wide in order to flesh out a text of some of style is unfortunate, because the amount 250 pages on this theme. of scholarship revealed in many specific com- 638 BOOK REVIEW ments 1S lmpressive. It does not aid in un­ example, in art, history, and philosophy. derscoring his thesis that the office and func­ The first major section deals with the her­ tion of being "fishers of men" was given only meneutics of art. Here the major contribu­ to the original apostles (including Paul) and tion, in this reviewer's opinion, lies in the not to subsequent believers and preachers. discussion of the role the game (Spiel) plays EDGAR KRENTZ in understanding, a concept that goes back as far as Aristotle. It is in the interaction of PLATO'S PHAEDRUS. Translated by R. playing the game, that is, in the give-and­ Hackforth. Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs­ take between art and its interpreter, that the Merrill Company, n. d. 172 pages. Paper. understanding of art takes place. $1.45. The second major section deals with the The Phaedrus is Plato's defense of philos­ question of truth in the Geisteswissen­ ophy and rhetoric, with proposals for a re­ schaften. Here are included the disciplines structuring of rhetoric to bring it into con­ of history, philology, theology, and jurispru­ formity with proper dialectical philosophy. dence. In this section Gadamer turns to pos­ It is a most delightfully written work. itive account the historical gap between text The decision to reprint Hackforth's com­ and interpreter that embarrasses so many mentary in The Library of Liberal Arts makes hermeneuticians. No interpreter comes with­ this work available to a wide audience. It out prejudgments to any text. What is cen­ is a major work of Platonic interpretation. tral in importance is that he recognizes that the text and its subject matter are the only EDGAR KRENTZ criterion for the elimination of false prejudg­ W AHRHEIT UND METHODE. By Hans­ ments. Thus Gadamer walks the narrow line Georg Gadamer. Second edition. Tiibin­ between objective historicism on the one gen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1965. hand and existentialism on the other. xxix and 524 pages. Cloth, DM 42.00; This view is applied to theological her­ paper, DM 36.00. meneutics in a sentence worth quoting: "Die Heilige Schrift ist Gottes Wort, und das This work stands in the tradition of bedeutet, dass die Schrift vor der Lehre learned, critical, and theoretical scholarship derer, die sie auslegen, einen schlechthin­ which characterizes German thought at its nigen Vorrang behiilt" (p. 313 ) . very best. Heidelberg's Gadamer surveys, A third major section applies the insights evaluates, and relates the thought about the of the first two to the nature of language. nature of interpretation that has been dis­ Here a high evaluation is given to language: cussed in art, law, literature, philosophy, and "Sein, das verstanden werden kann, ist theology for the past two centuries. (He also Sprache" (p.450). This is meant to be un­ illuminates the discussion with magnificent derstood as an explication of what Gadamer interpretations of Greek philosophy, espe­ has observed phenomenologically, not to be cially Plato and Aristotle, and medieval a kind of metaphysics of language. Her­ thought.) meneutics is the art of carrying on a con­ A book as comprehensive as Gadamer's versation with language, above all with writ­ requires a kind of universal genius to review ten language, with texts. This hermeneutics it. Its 500 plus pages overwhelm one. The also includes the idea of applicatio, as J. ]. result of a lifetime of philosophic thought, Rambach urged in the age of Pietism. This it requires slow, careful meditation to appre­ is true of both jurisprudence and theology. ciate its complexity, depth, and wisdom. And This notion of applicatio under the text plays there certainly is wisdom there. Gadamer is a major role in Gadamer's thought. concerned with the question of understand­ No short review can do more than urge ing. Understanding is especially a problem the widespread and long-lived conversation in areas of human life where scientific pre­ which this book deserves. It is an evaluation cision and method are not attainable, for of all hermeneutical thought from Plato on. BOOK REVIEW 639

I suspect that this volume will be read and to social reprisal. The main cause of this appreciated a century from now, when most persecution of missionaries was Israel's rejec­ contemporary volumes will long be forgot­ tion of God, as demonstrated by her mis­ ten. It is a volume that cries for translation. treatment of His messengers (prophets and EDGAR KRENTZ apostles), who have His value (see 5: 10-12). Hare does not refer to 10 :40-42 in this con­ THE THEME OF JEWISH PERSECUTION nection. OF CHRISTIANS IN THE GOSPEL AC­ On the basis of this rejection of God by CORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. By Israel, argues Hare, Matthew is pessimistic Douglas R. A. Hare. Cambridge: Univer­ about the future of Israel. Their rejection sity Press, 1967. xiv and 204 pages. means that the present mission is to Gentiles Cloth. $8.50. as opposed to Jews (28:19 ethne). This This volume studies the evidence for message demonstrates and brings to comple­ Christian suffering at the hands of Jews tion the already existing guilt of Israel. in Matthew. Its focus of interest is thus the Israel has been replaced by the church, which age for which Matthew wrote and not the is not a new Israel; Matthew underscores quest for the historical Jesus. Its method is discontinuity with Israel for the church, but that of redaction criticism. continuity of the Messiah, who is the Mes­ A priori, one would expect tension be­ siah of Israel. tween Christians and Jews, since Christians Hare regards Matthew as reflecting the questioned the symbols of Torah, temple, conditions of the church about A. D. 85, and holy city. Moreover Christians rejected when the synagogs were closed to her. The Jewish nationalism, had a different attitude gospel is not written for Jews but for the toward Gentiles, and opposed the accepted church, which must be encouraged, even in religious leadership of Judaism. Syria, to engage in the Gentile mission. How did the Jews react to all this? Hare's Hare's volume is a welcome contribution long and important second chapter examines to the literature on Matthew. It brings many data outside of Matthew to answer this ques­ insights into aspects of the text that are tion. (Hare is very critical of W. R C. easily overlooked. Even where there might Frend's analysis in Martyrdom and Persecu­ be a difference of view about the historicity tion in the Early Church, 1965.) There is of particular logia on Jesus' lips, this volume no case where a Jewish court executed a will be appreciated. EDGAR KRENTZ Christian (Stephen was killed by a mob. By Jules James by Herod Agrippa I for a nonreligious THE EXPERIENCE OF LOVE. Toner. Washington, D. Corpus Books, cause). Flogging and imprisonment were c.: 1968. 219 pages. Cloth. $5.95. not generally used, though the former was on occasion. There was no formal excom­ Paul says, "So faith, hope, love abide; but munication of Christians prior to A. D. 70, the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor. 13: 13 ). although an informal ban and social exclu­ But what is love? The author intends a sion is probable. In short, prior to A. D. 70 philosophical answer to the somewhat lim­ there was little organized opposition to ited question: What is human love? By thus Christianity by Jews, though they did at reducing it in scope he avoids giving an times try to use Gentiles to prosecute their interpretation of John's theological state­ case. ment, "God is love" (1 John 4: 8 ) . As Hare's three following chapters show how a philosopher he agrees or disagrees with the Matthew uses the theme of Jewish persecu­ philosophers who have preceded him or are tion. The basic passages are 23:29-39; 10: his contemporaries. Some of these, such as 16-23; and 5: 10-12. They are not evidence St. Augustine, St. Thomas, and Paul Tillich of a general persecution. Rather all three (to mention a recent one), were theologians suggest that Christian missionaries were ex­ as well. Fortunately Scripture does not ap­ cluded from Jewish synagogues and subject proach the subject of love philosophically. 640 BOOK REVIEW

Instead of offering a definition of love it chapters of Genesis, for example, as though gives some striking examples of it. John these verses offered a scientific account of the says (or are these the words of Jesus to way in which the world came into being. Nicodemus?), "God so loved the world that For such individuals Barbour's volume is He gave His only Son" (John 3:16), and to must reading. They will find here a lucid His disciples Jesus said "This is My com­ and well-balanced discussion of what the mandment, that you love one another as real issues are. As a case in point, let them I have loved you. Greater love has no man ponder over Langdon Gilkey's observation: than this, that a man lay down his life for "If scientific explanation excludes divine ac­ his friends" (John 15: 12-13). The Lord tivity . . . then no hypothesis of physics, takes the practical approach. For the philo­ chemistry, geology or meteorology is accept­ sophically minded, Toner's book provides able to Christian minds, and no faithful a keen intellectual exercise. Christian can plan his morrow on the basis LEWIS W. SPITZ of a scientific weather forecast" (p. 169). MARTIN H. SCHARLEMANN SCIENCE AND RELIGION. Edited by Ian G. Barbour. New York: Harper & Row, THE HOLY BIBLE AS PRINTED BY 1968. 323 pages. Paper. $3.95. ROBERT AITKEN AND APPROVED Barbour's work is the first in a new series & RECOMMENDED BY THE CON­ of paperbacks published under the general GRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF editorship of Martin E. Marty. By means of AMERICA IN 1782. American Bible So­ these books, says the foreword, "a new gen­ ciety Edition. New York: Arno Press, eration can confront religion through ex­ 1968. Unnumbered pages. One-volume edition, cloth, $14.95; two-volume edi­ posure to significant minds in theology and related humanistic fields." tion, with a replica of Aitken's original Science and Religion comes in four parts, binding, $32.95. offering a total of 17 essays by a group of Aitken's Bible of 1782 was the first com­ scholars about equally divided between theo­ plete English Bible to be printed in America logians, philosophers, and scientists. The first and the only one printed by the authorization three chapters provide a description of the of the Congress. Aitken, a Quaker, emigrated contemporary scene. The next set of essays from Scotland to Philadelphia. deals with the problem of the relation be­ The American Bible Society has author­ tween religion and the methods of science ized the facsimile reprint of its copy of the in terms of epistemology. The third part Aitken Bible. The volume is sturdily bound, discusses the scientific view of evolution and printed on good paper, and might actually its relation to the theological concept of serve as a working copy of the King James creation. Part four describes science as a way Version. (The Apocrypha are not included in of controlling and transforming the world. this Bible; the reprint has the error "thy The final chapters examine the theological doctrine" for "tbe doctrine" in 1 Tim. 4: 16.) implications inherent in the discoveries of Thirteen pages of introduction by Mar­ electronic computers, the secrets of genetics, garet T. Hills tell the story of printer and and the possible existence of intelligent life book. The reprint contains a commendation on other planets. by the chaplains of the House and Senate in A great deal of mischief is being perpe­ 1967, as the original did in 1782. trated today by well-meaning individuals This handsome volume belongs on the who oversimplify the question of the rela­ shelves of every lover of the Authorized Ver­ tionship between science and religion. The sion; it will make a thoughtful gift to any church today moreover is plagued by persons pastor. It is a delight to the eye and the who "twist to their own destruction" things hand, a worthy tribute to the printer who in Scripture which are hard to understand went into debt to print the Scripures. (2 Peter 3: 16), interpreting the opening EDGAR KRENTZ