CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY

Editorial

Helsinki - After One Yea.·

Jesus Christ: Conservative and Liberal ERWIN L. LUEKER

The Process of Americanization

HOlnilctics

Theological Observer

Book Review

VOL. XXXV July -August 1964 Nos. 7 and 8 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.

MOVING FRONTIERS. Edited by Carl S. Editor Meyer has assembled a distin­ Meyer. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing guished panel of highly knowledgeable col­ House, 1964. 500 (T) pages. 9 maps. laborators - Thomas Coates, William J. Cloth. $8.50. Danker, Erwin 1. Lueker, Herbert T. Mayer, This is a most welcome book. At the Everette Meier, Robert C. Schultz, Lewis human level, institutions - including church William Spitz, Sr., and August R. Suelflow. bodies - are what they are very largely be­ The nine chapters cover "The Lutheran cause of what they have been and because of Church in America, 1619-1857," "The Eu­ the environment in which they have devel­ ropean Background," "The Beginnings of oped and to which they have reacted. 'Missouri, Ohio, and Other States' in Amer­ Changes ar~ ~~_.:_.,_11y taking place, but ica. "The Missouri Synod Organized," developments of the past frequently con­ "Early Growth of the Missouri Synod," "The tinue to determine the decisions of the pres­ Missouri Synod and Other Lutherans Before ent. Men's memories are notoriously short, 1918," "Into All the World," "The Process however, and the influence of history is fre­ of Americanization," and "Four Decades of quently - all too frequently - discounted Expansion, 1920 -1960." The translated chiefly because it has been forgotten. sections in part reproduce existing publica­ Moving Frontiers is an effective aid to the tions; in part they are new. A very high fickle memory of the older generation and an degree of readability has been achieved. instructive resource for those whose life span (Only very occasionally an overly literal is too short to have lived through a great rendering, like "deacon" for the German deal of the past. Diakon in the sense of "curate" or "assistant Whether the reader is a member of The pastor," may mislead the unwary, or a recon­ Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod who dite term like "shrove money," the volun­ seeks a better understanding of the church tary gift made by a penitent after receiving body to which he belongs or whether he holy absolution, may demand recourse to stands outside the Synod's fellowship and more than a collegiate dictionary.) wishes to learn what has led the Synod to This volume provides documentation for its present complex of attitudes and posi­ a history of The Lutheran Church - Mis­ tions, he will find Moving Frontiers vastly souri Synod, not of the Lutheran community illuminating. This issue of CoNCORDIA in America as a whole. The attitude of the THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY contains on pages authors toward the Synod of which they all 407 to 419 a sufficiently representative ex­ are members is not wholly uncritical, but at cerpt to make a description of the book's certain points some readers might have been method unnecessary. This sample adequately grateful for more in the way of outside illustrates the authoritative and admirably appraisals of and reactions to Missouri Synod succinct introductions, the original documen­ positions. The galley proofs on the basis of tation that in nearly every case manages to which this review is written do not contain be neither too short nor too long and the the introductory material to the work. On wide range of the subject matter. principle, apparently, the authors have re- 441 442 BOOK REVIEW produced official documents where these were place, and it is hard to see what could have to be had. Official documents are certainly been omitted. A measure of the comprehen­ more authoritative than private expressions. siveness of the work is its inclusion of both But official documents arc also likely to be "A Statement of the Forty-four" and the a little stuffier, a little stiffer, a little less per­ Confessional Lutheran's reaction to it. The sonal, a little less revealing, and a little less major difficulty clearly is that space limita­ lively than private expressions of opinion. tions prevented the treatment of certain areas The reader will therefore be grateful for the which probably even the editor and the au­ leavening provided by the private expressions thors skirted with regret. of opinion. One such area is the role played by the At the same time the authors are sober nonofficial religious press of our Synod. The historians, and they have wisely refrained contribution which the Waltber League Mes­ from the incorporation of too much "human senger from Walter A. Maier to Alfred interest" material solely to provide "human Klausler made to the development of atti­ interest." There is enough of this, however, tudes within The Lutheran Church - Mis­ to make the nonhistorian (as well as the his­ souri Synod is barely hinted at. The forma­ torian) happy. This reviewer thinks of such tive role of the organ of the American items as the instructive excerpts from the Lutheran Publicity tlureau, the American diaries of Muhlenberg and Paul Henkel. Or Luthera1l - which from Paul Lindemann Claus Harms describing his reaction to through Adolph Meyer to John Tietjen has Schleiermacher's Reden uber die Religion. pioneered in sponsoring so many new ideas Or Duden's glowing descriptions of mid- and so many new types of church activity­ 19th-century mid-America. Or the evidence is not, as far as this reviewer could discover, of the poverty of Lohe's North American even hinted at. Similarly, for an earlier gen­ apostles. Or Craemer's report of his Indian eration the Abendschule played a formative school. Or the dedication of Trinity Church, role of great significance. Freistadt, Wisconsin (along with the North­ A second important area that deserves ern District's urgent plea to the same con­ more than the casual attention which it re­ gregation not to discontinue private confes­ ceives is that of "stewardship." The present sion and absolution). Or the ordination (in relative liberality of the members of The Lu­ connection with a celebration of the Holy theran Church - Missouri Synod is not an Communion) of C. J. Hermann Fick in accident. It has a history of trial and error 1847. Or the schedule of increases in profes­ that ought to have been more fully docu­ sors' salaries in 1860 (Walther's was doubled mented. from $500 to $1,000 a year). Or Chaplain A third significant area is the history of Richman's experiences as a Civil \Var padre. worship within The Lutheran Church - Mis­ Or W/alther's 9-word cablegram to Carl souri Synod. The worship of God in Christ Manthey Zorn. Or the moving account of is at the very least a major activity of the Naether's death in India. church militant. It too has a history, not No anthology is ever completely satisfac­ least in The Lutheran Church - Missouri tory to everyone, but in this case the editor Synod. The frontiers of worship among us and his collaborators deserve extremely high have moved, thanks be to God. But Moving marks for effort and achievement. The selec­ Frontiers, alas, all but wholly ignores the tion of materials is splendid. A great deal of subject. screening and pruning has obviously taken Omissions like these can be corrected in BOOK REVIEW 443 a second edition. They do not reduce the BIBLICAL AND OTHER STUDIES. Edited value of the actual contents of the first edi­ by Alexander Altmann. Cambridge, Mass.: tion. Even as it stands, Moving Frontiers is Harvard University Press, 1963. viii and an admirable book in conception, in design, 248 pages. Cloth. $6.00. and in execution. It ought to be in the per­ This first volume of Studies and Texts to sonal library of every professional servant of be published by the Philip W. Lown Insti­ The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, tute of Advanced Judaic Studies contains pastor, professor, executive, teacher. The a number of articles which should appeal nonprofessional church member who buys it also to students not primarily interested in for himself or as a gift will not regret the Talmudic studies. Cyrus H. Gordon leads off purchase. In a parish library - and no par­ with an article demonstrating how archae­ ish library will from now on be complete ology confirms the nature of the milieu without it - it will enhance the useful in­ sketched in the patriarchal narratives of formation of church members and inspire Genesis. E. A. Speiser underscores this with them to devout praise of God for what He a comparative study of the Nuzi tablets and has done for them and for the whole church the stories related concerning the attempts through their synod. And in any community of Abraham and Isaac to pass off their wives that has a church of The Lutheran Church­ as sisters. Missouri Synod there should be no public A determined challenge to Paul Kahle's library or college library that does not re­ thesis on Old Testament textual history is ceive Moving Frontiers within a month. (If made by Moshe Goshen-Gottstein in "The the library's budget will not permit imme­ Rise of the Tiberian Bible Text." The diate acquisition, the gift of a copy by the Aleppo Codex now being edited in Jerusalem church would be an elementary public rela- was, according to Gottstein, the first codex tions action!) of the complete Old Testament and marks ARTHUR CARL PIEPKORN a climactic stage in the Tiberian text tradi­ A HISTORY OF MISSION HOUSE-LAKE­ tion because it is, he claims, the acme of the LAND. By Euge C. Jaberg, Roland G. achievement of the dynasty of Masoretes, Gley, Reinhard Ulrich, Arthur M. Krueger being the "only known true representative" and Theophilus F. M. Hilgeman. Philadel­ of Aaron Ben Asher's text. (P. 103) phia: The Christian Education Press, 1962. H. 1. Ginsberg, who holds that Koheleth is translated from Aramaic, offers in "The xvi and 277 pages. Cloth. $4.95. Quintessence of Koheleth" an interpretation Mission House-Lakeland near Sheboygan, of Eccl. 3: 1-4: 3 based on this thesis as an Wisconsin, now Lakeland College and a part antidote to geologistic literary interpretation. of the United Theological Seminary in the Robert Gordis tells us that Elihu's contribu­ Twin Cities, began in 1862 as an institution tion to the argument of Job is not the prod­ of the German Reformed Church in the uct of an orthodoxizing interpreter. Those United States. Its history as a German school, who are interested in the rise of historical­ its early struggles, its efforts to become Amer­ critical method will find Arthur Hyman's icanized, and its development have parallels study on "Spinoza's Dogmas of Universal to aspects of the history of some Missouri Faith in the Light of Their Medieval Jewish Synod schools. The five authors have suc­ Background" helpful, while students of ceeded in producing an interesting account Gnosticism should consult Saul Lieberman's of an essential aspect of the westward ex­ answer to the question "How Much Greek pansion of the German Reformed Church. in Jewish Palestine?" CARL S. MEYER FREDERICK W. DANKER 444 BOOK REVIEW

BIBLE ET CLASSICISME. By Jean Laloup. 'X.LV'l]aLt;, does not receive adequate considera­ Tournai, Belgium: Casterman, 1958. 299 tion. By restricting himself, basically, only pages. Paper. 84 Belgian Francs. to philosophic thought, Boman does not seri­ ously consider the views of drama and history HEBREW THOUGHT COMPARED WITH that human life is noncyclical in namre. Had GREEK. By Thorlief Boman. Translated Boman restricted himself to only one genre from the German by Jules Moreau. Phil­ of Hebrew literature, he would have found adelphia: Westminster Press, 1960. 224 his picmre of Hebrew thought altered quite pages. Cloth. $4.50. a bit. For that reason, one can suspect that These two books each compare Biblical his view of Greek thought is quite one-sided, and classical thought. Both have strengths as it is. Nowhere does he really consider that and weaknesses. A full discussion of either one basic difference between Hebrew and would require many pages. This review Greek lies in the area of approach to life. must content itself with a few general com­ The Greek can be playful, even in most seri­ ments about methods and results. ous things such as religion. The Hebrew Laloup organizes his book somewhat could not. There are many such points that like a systematic theology, treating in order Boman never mentions. His book would be such topics as World, God, Man, History, more adequately titled Hebrew and Platonic Salvation, Society, Love, Death, and Immor­ Thought. EDGAR KRENTZ tality. His basic criticism of Greek thought is that it is either too rigidly dualistic or BIBLICAL WORDS FOR TIME. By James monistic, leaving no place for the Creator­ Barr. Naperville, Ill.: Alex R. Allenson, God of Biblical revelation, who keeps Bibli­ 1962. 174 pages. Paper. Price not given. cal thought from this difficulty, since it con­ In 1961 Barr published The Semantics of ceives of Him as an active force in history. Biblical Language, a severely critical exam­ Laloup's major weakness is that he assumes ination of linguistic argumentation in cur­ that later Christianity, especially Roman rent Biblical theology, especially in Kittel's Catholicism, has the same vitality as Biblical T heologisches W orterbuch. The present thought. In this respect he is a false guide. work is an application of his remarks to Boman's book has attracted much atten­ a number of recent studies of the Biblical tion, both favorable and critical, since its first concept of time, including those by John appearance. It has already gone through Marsh, Oscar Cullmann, Gerhard Delling, three German editions. Basically, Boman and J. A. T. Robinson. attempts to prove that Hebrew thought is A number of important points emerge: dynamic, Greek static. l"1~iJ, for example, 1. The concept approach reveals some does not mean "to be," but "to become," serious weaknesses, since it tends to concen­ while dvm expresses for the Greek a state trate on words in isolation, emphasize of being. He analyzes in similar fashion such etymological work far beyond its value, and concepts as Word, Time, Space, and History. disregard the word in syntactical relations. Unfortunately, Boman is able to make his This last, in Barr's view, is disastrous. case only by severely circumscribing the evi­ "A valid biblical theology can be built only dence he will accept from Greek thought. He upon the statements of the Bible, and not uses Plato as his primary source. Heraclitus' on the words of the Bible" (p. 147). The flux he will not admit as evidence of a more concept method tends to impose a scheme dynamic approach to thought. Even Epicurus on words that disregards the actual linguistic is disregarded. The view that time is motion, phenomena. BOOK REVIEW 445

2. Barr insists that actual use of words in DID THE EARLY CHURCH BAPTIZE IN­ syntactical arrangement must finally de­ FANTS? (Die Siiuglingstaufe im Neuen termine theological evaluations. Testament und in de" Alten Kirche). By 3. In this light Biblical words, qua words, Kurt Aland; translated by G. R. Beasley­ are not distinctively Biblical. The current Murray. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, usage of a word in contemporary authors may 1963. 120 pages. Cloth. $3.50. be of more value than the usage in Old Aland, professor at the University of Testament. Munster, herein points out in brilliant de­ 4. One must be far less dogmatic about tail the weaknesses that he sees in Joachim supposed Biblical views, insofar as they are Jeremias' Die Kindertaufe in den ersten vier derived from the structure of the words. This lahrhunderten (Gottingen, 1958), the Eng­ is not to say there are no Biblical attitudes lish translation of which, Infant Baptism in toward time. Rather, it is to say that mere the Fint Four Centuries (London: SCM linguistic analysis, as presently used, is inade­ Press, 1960), was reviewed in CONCORDIA quate to discover them. THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY, XXXIII (April 1962) 247, 248. The publisher promises 5. All of this should be comforting, for the answer of Jeremias in the near future. it gives a much higher value to translations Aland is not attacking the theological than most current Biblical scholars will necessity of infant baptism, nor is he suggest­ admit. Translation substitution is a respect­ ing that the practice of infant baptism be able scholarly procedure, even necessary. discontinued. He is merely examining the Translation can reveal the fundamental historical evidence from the New Testament points of Biblical assertion. and the early Christian writings for the prac­ What shall we say to all this? Barr's book tice. Even though Aland feels that the evi­ at some points, perhaps, overstates its case. dence for this practice in the early churches Nonetheless, it dare not be dismissed. Any is hardly convincing, he also feels that "the­ person who uses one of the theological word­ ological fidelity" to the apostolic Gospel is books so popular now ought to read this more important than "methodological con- work (and Barr's Semantics). Barr may lead tinuity." to a general revision of method in Bible In his piece-by-piece refutation of Jere­ study. EDGAR KRENTZ mias' evidence Aland holds that the early writers obviously have adult baptism in ABRISS DER BIBELKUNDE, ALTES UND mind, and that Jeremias' evidence actually NEUES TESTAMENT. By Claus Wester­ illustrates that infant baptism was first intro­ mann. Stuttgart: Kreuz-Verlag, 1962. duced, except for unusual cases, in the early 318 pages. Cloth. DM 14.80. third century, when Tertullian tries "to stem This knowledgeable popular introduction the tide of development toward infant bap­ to the entire Bible, Volume I of the Hand­ tism." Aland rather caustically restructures bucherei des Christen in der Welt, is written the evidence that Jeremias accumulates from with a fine pedagogical sensitivity. Wester­ second-century writings and inscnptlons, mann is not interested in trees for their own arguing that it points at most to "youthful" sake, but rather aims to limn the landscape rather than "infant" baptisms and sometimes of 66 beautiful parks. In the process he dem­ actually seems to suggest that only adults onstrates skillfully how to bridge the scholar's were baptized. study and the pew. If infant baptism was not practiced in FREDERICK. W. DANKER the primitive church, the big question is why 446 BOOK REVIEW

it was ever introduced. Aland suggests, as advancing. This is Latourette's VieW of de­ one reason, the growing belief that infants velopments since 1914. The ecumenical were not innocent. This is not at all clear. movement gives him considerable hope for The early fathers teach that infants are in­ the further advance of Christianity. His nocent, but they also teach that infants in­ global survey of Christian activities in the herit the consequences of Adam's sin. (One 19th and 20th centuries comes to an end cannot argue from the silence of some of the with this fifth volume, a survey of the coun­ apostolic fathers.) Indeed, when Aland tries outside of Europe in the last half cen­ quotes Tertullian's cautions against infant tury. The author's wide range of reading, his baptism to support his thesis that these dem­ evident grasp of details, his ability to onstrate a recent introduction of the prac­ organize materials and to present them tice, he is overlooking the fact that it is pre­ lucidly all stand out prominently in this cisely Tertullian who has a deep theological volume, as they do in the previous four vol­ grasp of the inherited character of the human umes of the history of Christianity in the plight. 19th and 20th centuries. The work has been This reviewer does not feel that Aland has widely acclaimed. It will stand with the Ex­ destroyed the significance of the so-called pamion of Christianity among the very fore­ oikos-formula. Again, the statements he most of the author's many contributions to records from the documents of the third cen­ history. Pastors ought to see to it that this tury demonstrate anything but excitement valuable reference work is added to parish over the introduction of a new practice. libraries and to the public libraries of the Aland has made clear, however, that here, towns or cities in which they find themselves. as in other areas of thought and practice, It is not likely that it will be duplicated or the early churches may not have been uni­ superseded for at least a century. form in their development and may have dif­ CARL S. MEYER fered on the question of infant baptism from the very beginning. ANONYMOUS PROLEGOMENA TO PLATONIC PHILOSOPHY. Translated WALTER W. OETTING t by L. G. Westerink. New York: The CHRISTIANITY IN A REVOLUTION­ Humanities Press, 1963. Iii and 69 pages. ARY AGE: A HISTORY OF CHRIS­ Cloth. $5.50. TIANITY IN THE NINETEENTH AND Westerink has for some years been editing TWENTIETH CENTURIES. Vol. V: the works of late classical commentators on THE TWENTIETH CENTURY OUT­ Plato, gradually compiling an entire corpus SIDE OF EUROPE: THE AMERICAS, of late Platonism. His editions are concise, THE PACIFIC, ASIA AND AFRICA, accurate, and clear. The present text illus­ THE EMERGING WORLD CHRIS­ trates the type of philosophic teaching done TIAN COMMUNITY. By Kenneth Scott by Christian philosophers of Alexandria in Latourette. New York and Evanston: the sixth century after Christ. The edition Harper and Row, 1962. vii and 568 includes text with apparatus, a very full in­ pages. Cloth. $8.50. troduction, complete references to parallels, The impact of forces coming from "the and complete Greek indices. These editions erstwhile Christendom" continued in the enable the historian of the church to fill in 20th century to be powerful; in Europe the one area of the progress of Christian thought. process of de-Christianization was continu­ They deserve a place in every seminary li- ing, while outside Europe Christianity was brary. EDGAR KRENTZ BOOK REVIEW 447

THE PROBLEM OF SOVEREIGNTY IN Thought, edited by David Knowles. As a THE LATER MIDDLE AGES: THE companion to Tierney's Conciliar Theory, for PAPAL MONARCHY WITH AUGUS­ instance, it joins an illustrious group and TINUS TRIUMPH US AND THE PUB­ makes a highly significant contribution to LICISTS. By Michael Wilks. Cambridge: an understanding of the thought of the Later University Press, 1963. xi and 619 pages. Middle Ages. CARL S. MEYER Cloth. $12.50. ROMISCHE GESCHICHTE. By Alfred Augustinus Triumphus (c. 1270-3 to Heuss. Braunschweig: Georg Westermann 1328) or Augustinus of Ancona, a Paris­ Verlag, c. 1960. xvii and 621 pages. educated Augustinian, was an adviser of Cloth. DM 34.00. Charles, the son of King Robert of Naples. He wrote the Summa de potestate ecclesiastica PROPYLA'EN WELTGESCHICHTE: EINE (1326), regarded by Charles McIlwain as UNIVERSALGESCHICHTE. Ed. by Colo "one of the half dozen most influential and Mann and Alfred Heuss. VoLIII: GRIE­ most important books ever wri[ten" about CIIENLAND, DIE HELLENISTISCHE the nature of papal supremacy in the Middle WELT. By Fritz Achachermeyr, Alfred Ages. Augustinus Triumphus wrote 35 other Heuss, C. Gradford Welles, and Olof books, but none of them outranks the Summa Gigon. Berlin: Propylaen Verlag, c. 1962. de potestate ecclesiastica. This theological, 723 pages, plus 101 illustrations, 18 as well as political, treatise has as its main colored illustrations, 5 facsimiles, and 10 purpose the defense of the papal supremacy. maps. Cloth. DM 90.00. In the 16th century it was used widely, as Works of popularization are always was Marsiglio of Padua's Defensor pacis needed to keep the interested laymen alert to ( 13 24), which set forth theories of state new developments in the humanistic disci­ supremacy. There were many others in the plines. These two popular histories enable late 13th and early 14th centuries who wrote the German-reading public to follow the on the relation between the ecclesiastical and course of ancient history with interest and the civic spheres, the temporal and the spirit­ profit. Both are workmanlike, no-nonsense ual. Augustinus, however, will not have these books, with none of the false romanticizing distinctions, since to him the unity of uni­ often found in popular works. versal society is embraced in the ecclesia, of While both accomplish their aim well, which the pope is the head, rector totius they differ slightly in content and form. collegii. The identification of the head with Heuss' Roman history is quite strictly de­ the body makes the pope, according to voted to political history. Cultural expression Augustinus Triumphus, the head, the heart, is only touched upon as necessary to explicate and the soul of the body politic. political development. The volume is not Wilks' scholarly, comprehensive treatment provided with any illustrations or maps (the has also a noteworthy section on "conciliar second certainly a handicap to the lay reader). theory," which provides many insights. The The 100 pages of the concluding section, appendices, especially the "Notes on the which surveys modern literature on Roman Publicists and Anonymous 'VVarks," and the history, will enable the interested reader to bibliography are very helpful. The footnotes pursue any topic further. Indeed, scholars with their copious quotations add greatly to will find this section of value. the value of the work. This third volume of the Propylaen Welt­ The volume is the ninth in the new series geschichte is a delight both esthetically and of Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and in so far as content is concerned. The text 448 BOOK REVIEW presents in clear form the intellectual and quers the rational; for example, Christianity political history of the ancient Greeks. The conquered Greek thought. At the same time plates are superb and carefully chosen, al­ it is an honest book. While this reviewer is most an anthology of Greek art in them­ out of sympathy with the basic view of the selves. Unfortunately no specific references book's author, he must nevertheless state that to them are found in the text. In addition to this is an important book, to be slowly and the illustrations, helpful maps, genealogical carefully digested. It sets the scandal of tables, and similar aids orient the lay reader. Christianity into a new, if sometimes strange, One might wish that further subheadings had light. EDGAR KRENTZ been placed into the text to aid him. DIE RELIGIONSGESCHICHTLICHE Neither volume presents new views or SCHULE. By Carsten Colpe. Giittingen: interpretations. They would be out of place Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1961. 265 if they did. Nor do they document the text pages. Paper. DM 27.00. with references to sources of modern litera­ ture. In short, both do precisely what they The basic problem for the student of the set out to do, to give a detailed overview of history of Gnosticism is to determine whether ancient history for modern readers. primitive Christianity is in debt to a Hel­ EDGAR KRENTZ lenistic redeemer myth or whether Chris­ tianity is itself the source for the aberrations RATIONALISM IN GREEK PHILOSO­ that follow. Colpe is wary of unassured "as­ PHY. By George Boas. Baltimore: The sured results" of criticism and especially of Johns Hopkins Press, 1961. xii and 488 the tendency among students of the history of pages. Cloth. $7.50. religions to accept uncritically the conclusion This book deals with ancient Greek that despite the nonexistence of the redemp­ thought on four basic problems, the distinc­ tive role of the primal man in the Hermetic tion between appearance and reality, the tractates his existence must be inferred from method used to make the distinction, the the fusion of Jesus and the primal man made appraisal of human life, and the nature of by gnosticized Christianity. The redeemed­ ethics. It examines Greek thought from redeemer myth, he concludes, is a modern Anaximander to Plotinus, though the chap­ construction and does not adequately serve ters dealing with later Stoicism, Philo and as a heuristic device for understanding the Gnosticism, and Plotinus are really outside texts themselves. Colpe's own suggestion is the self-imposed limits the author has set. to capitalize on what he calls the "Selbst­ This is an intensely personal book. Boas begriff," a category to be employed in his has no sympathy with anything that is non­ second volume, in which he plans to trace rational, that is, with anything that does not the nOUJ-idea as it develops from a personal attempt to arrange all phenomena into a concept into a redeemer figure. A third vol­ classified body of information, into which ume is contemplated to discuss the New new information can be fitted. He has little Testament and Gnostic Christology with spe­ sympathy with anything that is religious or cial reference to the two-fold development that recognizes a reality beyond that inherent into active and passive soteriological ele­ in phenomena. Thus Epictetus and Marcus ments. This study is bound to be treated Aurelius to him have betrayed the Greek with great respect and cannot be ignored by rational system. anyone whose researches touch on the history It is a pessimistic book in some ways. Boas of Gnosticism. really feels that the irrational always con- FREDERICK W. DANKER