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Book Reviews Book Reviews Toward a Christian Political Ethics. By Jose M iguez Bonino. Philadelphia, Pa: Fortress Press, 1983. Pp. 126. Paperback $5.95. Ch rist in a Poncho: Witnesses to the Nonviolent Struggles in Latin Ame rica. By Adolfo Perez Esquivel. Edited by Charles A ntoine. Translated from the French by Rob­ ert R. Barr. Ma ryknoll. N. Y : Orbis Books, 1983. Pp. iv, 139. Paperback $6.95. These two volu mes by Argentinian Christians provide contrapuntal un der­ sta ndings of Christian polit ical respon­ sibility, especially in Latin America. UNEXPECTED NEWS Miguez , Pro tes tant professor of theolo­ Reading the Bible with gy in ISED ET (ecume nica l semina ry in Buenos Aires), author of Doing Theology Third World Eyes in a Revolutionary Situation, is heir of Leh­ by Robert McAfe e Brown mann and World Council of Churches Viewin g th e Bible from th e ecumenica l ethics. Perez, Catholic stan dpoint of third world painter and scu lptor, fo under of Serv i­ C hristians, the author cio por Paz y [u st icia, 1980 Nobel Peace draws disturbing new Laureate, sometime pri so ner, is heir to insights from ten familiar Gandhi, King, and the 1968 Medell in scriptural passages. Conference . Discussion of the vari­ Mi gu ez employs dialogical ethical ous passages is followed method, following em pirica l an alysi s by reflection on wi th th eological reflectio n-from pra xis th e issues th ey raise. to th eor y and back. Perez is a catalyst, Paper, $7.95 connecting Latin America's man y no n­ violent movements. He writes :" O ne of th e keenest fru strations of modern in­ ISLAM: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE dustrialization arises from th e extreme by Michael Nazir-Ali dispropo rtio n bet ween catastrophic in­ for ma tio n an d effective remedy" (p. This enlightening discu ssion of the religiou s, polit ical, socia l, and economic 40). His illustratio ns of participat ion problems of Islam is written from th e standpoint of one who is a C hristian with and stra tegy incl ude the mothers of the a Muslim background living in a Muslim world. " ... compulsory reading for all Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, ceme nt students of religion and histor y .. ."-Lamin Sanneh, Ce nter for th e Study of workers, Indian s, and peasants. World Religions, Harvard University Paper, $11.95 Miguez traces th e " modern ization pro ject" from au thoritariansim to de­ THE POLITICS OF SPIRITUALITY mocracy, th en to th e na tio nal security by William Stringfellow state, w ith its total concentration of power, suppression of dissen t, and The noted atto rney, activ ist, and lecturer William Stringfellow views holiness ideological cover for transnat ional in ­ as wholeness and connection with all of creation, encom passing neither moral terests . T his has failed : " A regime th at spirituality nor religio us pietism. Taki ng a somber view of today's technological has nothing but sheer rep ressive force world, he advocates a political strategy for th ose called to live in th e Da rk Ages on w hic h to rely is ul tima te ly doomed" of the present. Paper, $7.95 (tentative) Available N ovember 5. (p . 75) . He notes " the complex relatio n be tween th e Protestant missionary en­ A vailabl e from your local bookstore or direct from th e publish er terpris e and th e expans ion of the (please in clu de $1.00 per book for postage & handling). nort hern capita list wo rld ," and Catho­ lic support of governing elites (p . 62) . THE WESTMINSTER PRESS 925 Ch estnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107 Paul Deats is Walter G. Mu elder Professor of Social Ethics, Boston University School of The­ ology, Boston, Massachusetts. October 1984 179 NEW From. William. Carey Library, Now both churches come to criticize the Missions Publisher authoritarian regimes. The new project of liberation will be socialist, demo­ MISSIONS GROWTH: A Case Study on Finnish Free cratic, open, and self-correcting (p. 77). Foreign Missions, by Lauri Ahonen, 88 pages, paperback. Miguez criticizes prior political Most case studies on church growth focus on the development of a church ethics; Luther's two kingdoms; "the re­ or a denomination while the exploration of the factors which have contributed sponsible society" (relevant to stable to the growth of a mission is a rare activity in missiology. This new study discerns societies, not the Third World); Chris­ the distinct factors that contributed to the growth of the Finnish Free Foreign tian realism (a pragmatism that finally Mission of Finland. supported the status quo). The libera­ Retail $5.95 Special Offer $4 ..25 postpaid tion project embodies an incarnational ethic, with love and justice no longer UNTO THE UTTERMOST, Doug Priest Jr., Editor, 313 pages, subordinated to order. There is an "in­ paperback. evitable tension between the human A volume of collected essays on missions related subjects written by those who cost of their realization (structural have either served on the mission field or who have dedicated their lives to changes) and the human cost of their fulfilling the Great Commission. Among the contributors of original articles postponement." The criterion is maxi­ are Donald McGavran, Tetsunao Yamamori and Charles Taber. mizing human possibilities and mini­ Retail $8.95 Special Offer $7.50 postpaid mizing human costs (p. l07). The ..THE BAHA'I FAITH: Its History and Teachings, by William conflict always involves some measure McElwee Miller, Reprinted 1984, 444 pages, paperback. of violence, though Jesus" rejected vio­ With the recent growth of the Baha'i and the focus of attention on the group lence. Power refuses to 'yield to norms because of events in Iran, this is an important standard title on the subject. and principles; yet ethics is normative. It is an authoritative and readable work compiled by one who has had intimate These tensions are never resolved. acquaintance with the subject. A facsimile translation of the Al~Kitab Al~Aqdas, For Perez, nonviolence in Latin holy book of the Baha'is, is included in the book. America emerges at the confluence of Retail $10.95 Special Offer $7.50 postpaid two torrents: the militarization of pow­ er in the state and the evolution of the Order from church to "gospel radicalism." He questions armed liberation struggles, wi{{iam Care~ Librar~ "for fear today's oppressed will be­ come tomorrow's oppressors" (p. 27). P.O. BOX 4012Y, PASADENA, CA Yl104 Liberation theologians have not yet re­ flected sufficiently on nonviolence (p. 31). When the masses have their backs to the wall, "They seem to have to re­ sort. to violence"; Perez understands the attitude but disagrees on method (p. 29). The Nicaraguan revolution did Jacques Desseaux CHURCHES THE APOSTLES LEFT BEHIND, THE, Raymond not unambiguously demonstrate the TWENTY E. Brown, 5.S. A distinguished scholar looks at success of military action. "The Decla­ CENTURIES seven different New Testament churches after the ration of the International Meeting of OF death of the Apostles. 0352-4 (cloth) $8.95 Latin American Bishops on 'Nonvio­ ECUMENISM 2611-7 (paper) $4.95 lence: A Power for Liberation' " (print­ ed in Appendix A), in 1977, (;:) GROWTH IN AGREEMENT: Reports and Agreed Statements distinguishes the spirit from the meth­ :!21'" of Ecumenical Conversations on AWorld Level, edited by od of nonviolence: "As a spirit, nonvi­ {!1~ Harding Meyer and Lukas Vischer. Provides access olence takes its point of departure in Af/jl to key agreements between the Churches ataworld the conviction that human beings are level. 2497-1 (paper) $14.95 not irremediably set in mutual con­ ~]~ DOING THE TRUTH IN CHARITY,_ Statements of Popes Paul frontation as enemies" (p. 125). Miguez warns against hatred of tntroducnun by I.Ullf~IW M. Hur"(~. 1:. ....1' VI, John Paull, John Paul II,and the Secretariat for PrO.. motlng Christian Unity, Thomas F. Stransky, C.S.P. the enemy. Neither author is a dogma­ and John B. Sheerin, C.S.P. Essential resource for tist, unaware of other options. TALES ecumenism. 2398-3 (paper) $12.95 -Paul Deats d TALES OF CHRISTIAN UNITY, The Adventures of an CHRISTIAN UNlIT Ecumenical Pilgrim, Thomas P. Ryan. C.S.P. Adiary of a year's journey to ecumenical centers and experi­ The Other Side of 1984: ences in Europe, England, and the Near East. Questions for the Churches. 2502-1 (paper) $9.95 TWENTY CENTURIES OF ECUMENISM, Jacques Des­ By Lesslie Newbigin. Geneva: World seaux. An objective study of past divisions within Council of Churches, 1983. Pp. 75. Paper­ Christianity, attempts at reconciliations, and ecu­ back $3.95. menical activity during this century. 2617-6 (paper) $4.95 This small book was prepared within a study for the British Council of Churches and has been reissued by the World Council of Churches, with a perceptive postscript by Wesley Ari­ arajah, who evaluates its thesis from 180 International Bulletin of Missionary Research within the context of churches in the rageously commended to an age for technology about which we have been Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka. which it is the crucial clue both to self­ "undeceived" but of which we can "The other side" of 1984 is not, here, honesty in the present quandary and never again be innocent. the factors by which human sanity to common salvation. -Kenneth Cragg might contrive to prevent the wilder Wesley Ariarajah, in his Post­ nightmares of Orwell's perverted tech­ script, asks pertinently how this bib­ nology. Rather, it is years ahead in lical, Christian "fiduciary framework" Anglican BishopKennethCragg livesin Oxford­ which Bishop Newbigin reads an anal­ is to engage with other "frameworks" shire, England, and serves as Honorary Assist­ ogy with Augustine's fifth-century of religious "trust," given the tempta­ ant Bishop in the Oxford Diocese.
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