CONTEMPORARY ISSUES FOR EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS
David L. McKenna, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1978, $1.95.
The French say the best per fumes come in the smallest bottles. This is certainly true of this little paperback. It's basic values are: (1) it presents clearly several important moral issues gambling, euthanasia, morality in the media, the death penalty, professional sports, prison conditions, et cetera; (2) it is brief; (3) it is written from an evangelical viewpoint; (4) the discussion is derived from the author's personal involvement with issues: a father who becomes a vegetable because of a stroke, accompanying a son to a PG movie, a call to chair a State committee on gambling, et cetera; (5) it recognizes the complexity of the issues for example, after giving approbation to certain forms of capital punishment, the author concludes that "tomorrow's answer may be different"; and (6) the style is lively and refreshing.
Daniel Augsburger
IN SEARCH OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY PAULS
Reuben Hilde, Pacific Press Publishing Association, Mountain View, California, 1980, 112 pages, $3.50.
This short volume covers various phases in the life of Paul, a man who ranks high as an ambassador for God. He was a theologian, a laborer, a servant, a saint, a willing martyr, a teacher, an orator, and a writer. He was a courageous and for giving man, as well as a crusader and sufferer with great insight.
The book, written by a well-known educator and author, guides the reader to those characteristics that made Paul such a great man and at the same time points him to those factors that, in Christ, may convert him into a modern Paul. He goes through Paul's experience, step by step, beginning with his boyhood, through his period of innocence, the period of intolerance that turned him into a persecutor, then his conversion, and finally through his work as a frontiersman for Christ.
Each chapter is initiated with a set of definitions, explanations, and descriptions of topics, places, and people that appear within its pages. Throughout the volume general comments are made on Paul's epistles and letters. Emphasis is given to the false system of worship versus grace, to legalism versus faith, and their relationship to grace.
Walton J. Brown
PROCLAIMING THE WORD
R. Edward Turner, Andrews University Press, Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104, 1980, 183 pages, $7.95, paper back.
This volume deals with one facet of the unique role that Ellen G. White played in the development of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, namely her counsels and her own experience as related to preaching. The author adds to what may already have been written on the subject by giving special consideration to contemporary historical influences, the nineteenth century world of American homiletical thought and culture. Involved in this is attention to Ellen White's use of literary sources, which was in many ways similar to the usual practice. A biographical sketch of Ellen White places her in the context of the developing Seventh-day Adventist Church, thus providing background for her counsels relating to nineteenth-century American preaching. It was fol lowing the death of James White on August 6, 1881, that Ellen White took on more of the responsibilities of preaching, and it was then that she began to reflect and write upon the place and importance of preaching.
Her appearance as a woman speaker came at a time when the practice was becoming accepted; also, the counsels she gave in regard to preaching, as to style, subject matter, and emphasis on the Bible, were often in line with current homiletical theory and practice. The author puts her counsels in the context of what was occurring in the historical continuum of the church.
Conclusions arrived at include the conviction that Ellen White's concepts about preaching played a vital role in the development of the Seventh-day Adventist Church; that her concepts grew out of her experience and the needs of the developing church; that this concept allows an openness to further development; that her concepts of preaching exhibited a close affinity with contemporary theories and must not be viewed in isolation. Ellen White had the highest regard for the office of preaching and urged the minister toward excellence. She emerges as a major religious leader of the nineteenth-century church.
Appendix A provides a listing of James White's and Ellen White's sermons appearing in the Review and Herald for the years 1866-1887. Appendix B provides a chronological listing of Ellen White's sermons according to topics. Appendix C is a chronological listing of non-Ellen G. White articles on preaching appearing in the Review and Herald, 1850-1905.
Orley Berg
LET THE PEOPLE SING
Harold B. Hannum, Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D.C. 20012, 1981, 105 pages.
Since Professor Hannum has dedicated his life to church music, we might expect that a book by him with this title would deal with the use of congregational hymns in worship. And we are not disappointed. Layman and pastor alike will find food for thought in the background chapters dealing with religious and aesthetic experience and the arts and religion.
Chapter 8 is an informative discussion of many of the less familiar hymns in our hymnal, and will prompt the reader to venture into new musical paths. The longest chapter (chapter 9, 44 pages) is devoted to a survey of congregational music. The actual words and music of many hymns are included here as examples, such as "Be Thou My Vision," "Children of the Heavenly Father," and "At the Name of Jesus."
This book will do much toward increasing our knowledge of the great hymns of the past, which are often neglected by pastors and congregations. For those who are interested in learning more, a selected bibliography is included.
Shirley Welch
