Concordia Theological Monthly
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CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY A Quarter-Century of Interchurch Relations: 1935-1960 ALFRED O. FUERBRINGER and MARTIN A. FRANZMANN Theology and Church Music as Bearers and Interpreters of the Verbum Dei WALTER E. BUSZIN Water into Wine: A Sign for the Modern Ministry ARTHUR M VINCENT Homiletics Theological Observer Book Review OL. XXXII January 1961 No.1 BOOK REVIEW All books reviewed in this periodical may be procured from or through Concordia Pub lishing House, 3558 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis 18, Missouri. THE MORALITY OF MEDICAL EXPERI between historic Calvinism and Neo-Calvin MENTATION ON LIVING HUMAN ism and is likewise demonstrated by his dis SUBJECTS IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT cussion of the points of disagreement between PAPAL PRONOUNCEMENTS. By John Abraham Kuyper and Klaas Schilder, which Joseph Shinners. 'YI ashington: The Cath he treats at some length. The points at issue olic University of America Press, 1958. center largely in the doctrines of common vii + 109 pages. Paper. $1.25. grace and absolute predestination. Involuntary subjects, e. g., under the Nazis, Van Til cites numerous authors, past and and voluntary subjects have been used in present, with adequate documentation in a host of experimentations to advance med footnotes, but unfortunately there is nl) ical science. Shinners has examined the index. L. W. SPITZ Roman Catholic position on the etl-.tical as pects of this question in modern science. LATIN FATHERS AND THE CLASSICS. He has formulated his general conclusion in By Harald Hagendahl. Goteborg: Elanders these words: "Voluntary subjection to ex Boktryckeri, 1958. 424 pages. Paper. perimentation is licit even though it involves Swedish Kroner 35.00. a direct mutilation for the good of another - This erudite but interesting volume is di through use of injury or risk of injury as vided into three parts. The first section deals means to end - as long as the mutilation with the influence of Lucretius' De rerum does not involve loss of functional integrity, natul'a on Arnobius, Lactantius, and, to a les as long as there is a proportionate good to be ser degree, on the other early apologists. attained, and as long as all due precautions The influence is not merely literary, nor are taken." (P.IOI) CARL S. MEYER merely negative, in that Arnobius, for in THE CALVINISTIC CONCEPT OF CUL- stance, rejects much of the physics of Lucre TURE. By Henry R. Van Til. Grand tius, but also positive, affecting the manner Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1959. in which Arnobius worked out his doctrine 245 pages. Cloth. $4.50. of the soul and also his polemics against The author's name guarantees a sincere pagan religion and worship. effort to present historic Calvinism's prin The second section deals with Jerome and ciples and practices in the sphere of culture. the classics. Jerome's knowledge of the clas Van Til defines the issue, gives the historical sics is more restricted (only the Latin clas orientation, and discusses the basic considera sics) than might generally be thought. The tions toward a definition. In an area of author classifies and traces the writings of thought and action which covers so many Jerome in their use of classical imitation and subjects and abounds in so many diverse points out that this permeates all of his opinions and judgments he admittedly has writings in spite of his antagonism toward not found all the answers. This is quite pagan eloquentia (as opposed to Christian obvious from his review of the differences veritas) . Sometimes Jerome will borrow 49 50 BOOK REVIEW quite extensively from classical authors with The survey begins, on the one hand, with no acknowledgment; on other occasions he the New Testament (where explicit refer boasts a familiarity with authors with whom ences to the text are conspicuously sparse) it is likely he had little or no acquaintance. and on the other hand with the earliest evi Thus he becomes an enigma, rejecting pagan dences of the Jewish interpretation of the and classical literature and culture and yet passage (clues are drawn from the ancient employing it and almost reveling in it. Jewish translations of the Old Testament). Hagendahl suggests that this inconsistency From this it appears that apart from Jesus' probably reflects a deep inner conflict of own teaching there was no expectation among Jerome's soul. the Jews of a Messiah who should suffer. The third section treats more specific By the first half of the second century, how points and problems concerning Latin Chris ever, this has somewhat changed, though the tian borrowings from secular literature, such Jewish opponent of Justin still refuses (cit as, for example, the ideas of four passions ing Deut. 21 : 23) to admit that the Messiah and four virtues. ROBERT D. PREUS could have been crucified. Fascher then surveys the later history WHY I AM A UNITARIAN. By Jack Men of Jewish messianism and apocalypticism, delsohn. New York: Thomas Nelson and uncovering many different outlooks and Sons, 1960. 214 pages. Cloth. $2.75. changes of emphasis down to present-day A Boston Unitarian minister offers in this Zionism. He also turns his attention to the book, the 11th of the publisher's "Why I (mostly later) opinion that the suffering Am" Series, one man's apologia for Uni servant of Isaiah 53 is not an individual per tarianism on the threshold of his group's son but the people of Israel as a whole. In merger with the Universalists. It furnishes the Middle Ages this interpretation was pro an excellent insight into the present state of pounded especially by Rashi, and in this organized liberal religion in America and form came to the attention also of Martin the nature of the appeal that has nearly Luther (although the author devotes more doubled Unitarian membership in the last of his space to the modernized form of this decade. ARTHUR CARL PIEPKORN view represented by Leo Baeck and Martin Buber). A long report on Luther's denun ]ESA]A 53 IN CHRISTLICHER UND ]iJ ciation of the collective interpretation is DISCHER SICHT. By Erich Fascher. Ber given, in which it is apparent that the respect lin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 1958. and solicitude for the Jewish opponents once 58 pages. Paper. DM 2.70. displayed by Justin has now disappeared. With a text like Isaiah 53, a history of its But Luther is credited with having correctly interpretation down the centuries easily blos analyzed the fundamental gulf between the soms into a full-blown comparative study two views as tracing ultimately to a basic of two world religions. Judaism and Chris cleavage in the concept of God: for Chris tianity stand in deep-rooted contrast with tianity the Suffering Servant is at the same reference to this text, though it is a highly time the God-man, whereas for Judaism such significant one for both. Fascher, professor a union of the divine with the human is of New Testament at Berlin and new gen unthinkable. eral editor of the Theologischer Handkom After noting that the majority of modern mentar zum Netten Testament, presents here Protestant exegetes tend in the direction of a survey of Christian versus Jewish interpre the collective interpretation, Fascher shows tations of the "Suffering Servant" passage. that Christians, despite this, will never be BOOK REVIEW 51 able to identify themselves directly with the Israel. The whole gamut of approaches in Servant of Isaiah 53, as the Jews do. Chris the literary criticism of the Pentateuch is tianity will in faith continue to see Jesus as succinctly set forth. the Servant who has suffered for us, and to Since literary criticism had greatly limited this extent the gap between the Christian and (and in some extreme cases almost com the Jewish understandings of Isaiah 53 will pletely disavowed) the direct use of the Pen always remain unbridged. tateuchal documents for gaining an under The task of covering the 2,000-year his standing of Moses' life and work, another tory of a text's interpretation is an aspiring approach was needed if anything positive one, involving work with sources of greatly was to be said about Moses at all. Part II of varying accessibility and completeness. The Smend's study gives an illuminating exposi attempt to achieve such coverage will almost tion of a widely adopted method: that of inevitably result in some spottiness, and using evidence from historically better-at there are places where our author relies heav tested periods to make inferences back to ily on the studies of others. But he has given Moses. Certain facts known about later times us a very valuable treatment, which (along make it likely that a man such as Moses did with his previously published works in the once exist. For example, the religion of area of the history of interpretation) we may Israel surely must have had a founder, and hope will provide added incentive toward the something of his character Can be deduced pursit of such studies also on our side of the from later circumstances. Similarly, the uni Atlantic. ARLIS J. EHLEN fication of disparate tribes into a nation (or at least into a league for the common wor DAS MOSEBILD VON HEINRICH ship of Yahweh) must have been accom EWALD BIS MARTIN NOTH. By Ru plished by some great leader. Connections dolf Smend. Tiibingen: J. c. B. Mohr, have also been drawn between Moses and 1959. viii and 80 pages. Paper. DM certain phenomena known to have existed be 8.80. fore his time, for example, the "God of the Of the promising new series, Beitrage zur fathers" religion of the patriarchs, the re Geschichte del' biblischen Exegese, this is the ligion of the Semitic nomads (especially that first issue to deal with an Old Testament of the Kenites, the tribe into which Moses topic.