Pointers for Preachers

THE BIBLE IN THIRTY-TWO PAPERBACKS

Something new is afoot in the way of a new Bible. First, The New English Bible (New Testament) recently made available. This is the English counterpart of the Revised Standard Version, and promises to be as good. It is the work of a group of talented scholars, who aim to produce the Bible in modern speech, and in the light of recent archeological discoveries. The Old Testament will follow later.

Second, comes news of something really new in concept. Jewish, Protestant, and Roman Catholic scholars are likely to work together, although in various parts of the world, in producing a Bible which will be the product of scholarship rather than of theological groups. "A valid, accurate text in idiomatic English" is the aim, according to Dr. William Foxwell Albright, for thirty years professor of Semitic languages and director of the Oriental Seminary department at the Johns Hopkins Uni­versity, Baltimore. This work is largely Dr. Al­bright's brain child, although some thirty distin­guished scholars representing the three faiths men­tioned are engaged in the task.

The aim is to produce this work in thirty-two paperback volumes in the well-known Anchor Books, the publishers having invested $500,000 in the translation, according to press releases by Lynn Pool, of Johns Hopkins University.

H. W. L.

MENTAL RESERVATIONS

The person who harbors mental reservations is af­flicted with a disease difficult to diagnose. How fully does the bride subscribe to the marriage vow as she stands beside her groom at the altar, and vice versa? Or to what extent does an elected official's mind follow his lips as he pledges to uphold the Constitution? In the sign­ing of international treaties, does the mind of him who signs embrace all that the pen writes? Re­member the Hitler-Stalin peace pact? The difficulty here lies in the fact that there is no known instru­ment for measuring sincerity. A convert takes the baptismal vow. How much of it does he really embrace?

Perhaps the most serious aspect of this problem involves the gospel minister and his personal com­mitment. He receives his charge and challenge at ordination time. In the examination room words of commitment flow from his lips. Do they all come from his heart? What of his pledge to evangelize? What about the seventh commandment? How about tithing, personal visitation, and promotional responsibility? Did the heart dictate the assent of his lips or were there mental reservations?

Of all God's calls, the call to preach is strongest. It transcends all conditions and destroys all quali­fying clauses. It is a safe contract with no fine print. Like Samson wielding his jaw-bone club, it acknowledges no if's and tolerates no mental reser­vations.

Show me a man once strong but now floundering on the iceberg of frustration, and I will show you a man who had at his ordination, or subsequently developed, mental reservations.

E. E. C.

OVERUSED AND UNUSED

Overused and unused—how true this is of the magnificent collection of inspiration and devotion provided by our hymnbook. Some hymns are used so often that the congregation can sing them without looking at the book at all. This is good if at the time they are singing their minds are on the rich thoughts they are expressing. But when a hymn is used so often that it no longer stirs the emotions, then it is time to give it a rest.

In one church the absence of hymnbooks from the racks in the pews was so noticeable that the re­mark was made to the choir director, "Doesn't your congregation sing at all?"

"Oh, yes," he said, "everybody sings—the same hymns over and over." How tragic! That church had a fine heating plant to warm the bodies of those who attended, but no hymnbooks to warm their souls!

When the apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Colosse he urged them to admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in their hearts to the Lord (Col. 3:16). The hymns become a medium not only of inspira­tion and worship but also of the methods of teach­ing the gospel. And in more than one place in his letters he appears to be quoting from the hymns that the early Christians sang.

"Sing unto the Lord a new song," exclaims the psalmist. But instead of selecting one from the hundreds of excellent but unused numbers, too often we take the line of least resistance and sing the same ones again and again. One of the best-known gospel songs opens with this line: "Sing them over again to me," but When a hymn, even a good one, is used continuously, it loses its appeal and the congregation sings mere words and not real thoughts.

Let us admonish one another as we praise our God in hymns and spiritual songs—even new ones!

R. A. A.