1914 AND CHRIST'S SECOND COMING
William MacCarty, Review and Herald" Publishing Association, Washington, D.C., 1975, 64 pages, $.60.
This book is based on a paper written while the author was pursuing his Master of Divinity degree at Andrews University.
The year 1914 is a pivotal date in the prophetic structure of the Jehovah's Witnesses. In that year, they believe, more than 2,500 years of Gentile control of the earth, under the rule of Satan, ended, Jehovah's rule was reinstated, and Christ Himself returned, invisibly, to earth.
The thesis is rooted in the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great tree (Dan. 4:4-37). The Witnesses take the "seven times" of the dream to mean seven prophetic years of 360 days each. They base this on the year-day principle, with each day representing a literal year (a historical interpretation accepted by the Reformers and by Protestants for centuries). Then the Witnesses simply subtract the date 607 B.C., the year they accept for the destruction of Babylon (actually it was 605 B.C.), from the resulting 2,520 years. This gives them A.D. 1914 (after adjusting for part of a year).
This whole prophetic structure is tied to an anchor date, 539 B.C., the year of the fall of Babylon. The Witnesses take this year as a fixed date, "where sacred and secular historical events coincide and are linked in perfect agreement."
In examining the thesis of the Jehovah's Witnesses the author takes his departure from this date and goes on to examine the Biblical, astronomical, archeological, and historical data germane to the subject.
MacCarty demonstrates that 539 B.C. is not a fixed date at all, but is a derived date, arrived at because of its relationship to other, astronomically fixed dates, which the Witnesses do not mention.
He also points out that the Witnesses seem to ignore or overlook other evidences that blunt or undermine their thesis, sometimes appearing to discredit sources that do not bolster it.
In this study of the claimed evidences for the return of Christ in 1914, the author has brought together solid material that will help the reader to understand and meet the issue. The reader will also find in this small book an other plank to add to the structure of his faith in God's Word.
Thomas A. Davis
WHITE ROBE, BLACK ROBE,
Charles L. Mee, Jr., G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, New York, 316 pages, $7.95.
A far cry from ordinary historical studies is Charles Mee's ex citing presentation of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation through the dual biographies of Giovanni de'Medici (Pope Leo X) and Martin Luther. By pursuing the tangent careers of these two prominent figures, Mee discovers an archetypal establishmentarian opposed to an archetypal revolutionary, and, hence, a lesson for contemporary times.
The book is arranged in a gaiting fashion, with the biography of each man followed separately in alternate chapters. Leo X emerges as a product of the Italian Renaissance, thoroughly schooled in the political chicanery of the Papacy. A cardinal at 13, the young Medici was a natural for a papal administration marked by spendthrift practices and bankrupt religion. Luther, on the other hand, came from a harsher German environment, fighting his way from spiritual panic to the solid Reformation faith. From 1517 to 1521 these two men clashed in a rupture that produced the Protestant church.
Mee's work, however, is more than a historical study of a well-known era. Its lasting merit lies in its penetrating psychological analyses of Leo and Luther, and in its profound interpretation of Luther's spiritual growth. For pastors who want to get "inside" the Reformation, this book is a must!
Jerry Gladson
THE MESSIANIC HOPE A DIVINE SOLUTION FOR THE HUMAN PROBLEM
Arthur W. Kac, M.D., Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1975, 355 pages, $3.95.
This volume is divided into three major sections: (1) The Unveiling of the Messianic Hope; (2) The Messianic Mission of Jesus of Nazareth; (3) Life After Death.
Although we could not agree with the author's position on the nature of man in death, this is but a small portion of what is generally a very valuable work. This is particularly so since the author, Dr. Kac, as a Hebrew Christian brings into these pages illuminating passages from rabbinic sources, showing rabbinic belief that the Old Testament prophecies were to find their fulfillment in the Messiah.
Arthur W. Kac, M.D., is the editor of The American Hebrew Christian, the official organ of The Hebrew Christian Alliance of America, as well as the editor of The Interpreter, a periodical with emphasis on the redemptive message of the Bible.
The purpose of this volume is to convey the thought to the reader, Jew and Gentile alike, that God has a solution to man's problems and that the solution is found in the concept of the Messiah, a concept that he traces from Genesis to Revelation. Although Kac sees a continuing fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies as related to the Jews today (all Israel must be saved), and in the present state of Israel, this aspect of the subject is not dealt with to any great ex tent.
All students of the Bible will benefit from this publication, but those interested in reaching the Jews with the gospel will find it especially helpful.
Orley Berg
