CONCERNING CHRISTIAN BAPTISM

Studies in the Original Christian Baptism. Johannes Warns. Translated from the German by G. H. Lang. Copyright 1957, by Paternoster Press, London. An American edition published by special permission at $3.95, by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Johannes Warns was born in 1874, and died in 1937. He was the son of a Lutheran clergyman, and studied in Greifswald, Halle, Berlin, and Bonn. His Short Textbook of New Testament Greek, was printed in a third edition in 1954. The volume on “Baptism” is a powerful presentation and will unquestionably have great bearing on current religious thought in the English speaking world. The Introduction is by Erich Sauer, a brother in law of the author, and himself the writer of several theological works of importance. It will be read with more than passing interest, as will the Translator’s Preface and the Author’s Preface.

From the latter we quote these lines: “This work has not been written to gratify a party; for baptism is no party affair but the privilege of all Christians. It is the continued attempts, in certain much read periodicals and tracts, to defend infant baptism, which have induced me to take up the pen in this matter.” The preface concludes with the statement: “This work, in examining the much disputed question of baptism, would also support with emphasis the axiom: Back to the Bible! Back to early Christian teaching and practice!”

Since this reviewer was reared as a member of the Lutheran communion, and still has many relatives and friends who subscribe to the Lutheran faith, this book may appear more impressive and worthwhile than it will to others, but it is my conviction that earnest students of all faiths will read it with appreciation. It is especially valuable because of quotations from many sources not previously available, and because it contains a documented history of the intensive warfare against immersion, through the years.

A glance at a few of the chapter headings will show the trend of the author’s thinking, and will be sufficient to whet the appetite of the mind for the contents. “What Does Holy Scripture Teach Concerning Baptism?” “Does the N. T. Know Infant Baptism?” “The Origin of Infant Baptism.” “The Fight Against Scriptural Baptism.” “The Reformers and Freedom of Conscience.” “Freedom of Conscience in the Modern State.” “The Significance of Biblical Baptism.”

The quotations at the head of each chapter are significant and well chosen. For example, take this one from Martin Luther (1528): “Baptism helps no one, nor is to be given to anyone, except he believes for himself, and without personal faith no one is to be baptized . . . . Where we are not able to prove that the young children themselves believe and have personal faith, it is my sincere counsel and judgment that one straightway desist—and the sooner the better—and never more baptize my child.”

While there are some things in the thesis with which we are not in agreement, we regret that we did not have access to this vast supply of source material in earlier years. We are indebted to the author, the translator, and the publishers for a valued contribution to the realm of religious literature, and commend the volume to readers of this quarterly.

—W. CARL KETCHERSIDE

A NEW VERSION

The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips (MacMillan, 575 pp., $6.00)

In the last decade several scholars of the Anglican Church have taken the lead in producing up-to-the-minute, conservative literature. The name of C. S. Lewis stands at the forefront in the ranks of those defending the evangelical outlook. But to those who seldom read any religious writing but the scripture, another name is sure to leave a significant and lasting impression. That name is J. B. Phillips.

Any new version of the scripture which “hits the presses” should give an invaluable contribution. If read intelligently, dispassionately, and from an unbiased viewpoint, a new version enables the reader to peer into the “meaning behind the text” from a different vantage point. Most of us who read only one version, and that usually the archaic authorized version, read familiar passages as we recite multiplication tables—we clip them off at unbelievable speed. The speed becomes almost as tremendous as our lack of comprehension.

Since the days of those pioneering giants, Weymouth and Moffatt, many new versions have appeared. Yet none, even the two mentioned, seem destined to rise above the Phillips’ version. The work of a translator is not easy. Even after he has deciphered the manuscripts and decided on the most suitable text, he must then put this text in the language people most readily comprehend.

Many reasons have been given for the rapid growth of the N. T. Church. But the simplest factor is quite evident. The Christians did not travel around with Bibles under their arms. They had a simple message to tell. And the message for the people was delivered in the language of the people. No Greek scholars, no professional interpreters, just a “layman telling a layman the score” in the common vernacular.

Phillip’s attempts to alleviate the necessity for the “intermediate men.” (By all means read his introduction before reading the text) . Several years ago Earnest Sutherland Bates edited a version called The Bible in Living Language. But if anyone read Bates’ one page commentary at the beginning of each book, you soon got the impression that the language was all he wanted to live—he made every attempt to smother the message. Phillips does not include any radical comments or critical apparatus. Neither is he guilty of much of the bibliolatry so prevalent in the Christian Church and Churches of Christ today.

In his admirable introduction, the author says that “a translator is not a commentator.” However, the very first work of the commentator is to obtain an acceptable and worthy translation. Obviously when there is a selection to be made between two different meanings, he is commenting on the text by merely selecting one If we broaden out translation to mean the transmission of thought from one language to another, I suppose it would safely fit Phillips’ work. He uses the paraphrase frequently, though with delightful taste, for a literal translation would be sometimes horrendous. His whole effort is to bring forth a moving, exciting story, for that is exactly what God’s word is. Despite Paul’s words in 1 Cor. I agree with Phillips that “for the most part I am convinced that they had no idea that they (the New Testament writers) were writing Holy Scripture.”

He again urges us, “We have to take these living New Testament documents in their context, a context of supreme urgency and acute danger. But a word is modified very considerably by the context in which it appears, and where a translator fails to realize this, we are not far away from, the result of an electronic word transmuter.” In contending that “the translator must be flexible,” Phillips justifies his use in John 11:40 of “by this time he’s decaying” rather than “by this time he is stinking”. He uses “shake hands” rather than a “holy kiss.” His whole translation of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 are supreme examples of this.

The usual method of “versing by numbers” the text is done away. The author divides the text into paragraphs according to thought, content, and the rhythm of the story. He places a verse number for the first verse in these “paragraphs of many paragraphs,” as well as a suitable titular heading of his own selection.

It might be well to illustrate some of the more outstanding phrases in his text. In Luke 15:14, the American Standard says the prodigal “began to be in want.” Phillips says “he began to feel the pinch.” Whenever the phrase “Verily, verily, I say unto you” appears in other versions, Phillips translates “Believe me.” In James 5:16, Phillips writes “Tremendous power is made available through a good man’s earnest prayer,” while the American Standard says, The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.”

As far as criticism is concerned, little can be offered. It does seem that in his attempt to put an “English flavor” into the text, the author sometimes reads from our culture into the meaning. In 1 Timothy 5:1 in the phrase, “Rebuke not an elder,” Phillips writes “Don’t reprimand a senior member of your Church.” The implication is unfortunate, for Timothy never had a Church. He was a traveling evangelist who established and confirmed churches, In every case Phillips translates “the evangelist” as “the preacher.” While this is linguistically true, the implication is certainly not true to the New Testament culture.

Phillips evidently belongs to the school of scholars who ignore the presence or absence of the article in the Greek; (For study on this, see MacKnight’s Epistles, appendix on the article, and The Gospel Restored by Scott, section on the figurative use of faith.) Whenever the Greek word for law is used, in every case he translates it “the Law.” This vitiates much of Paul’s argument, particularly in Rom. 6:14-15; 10:4, and Gal. 2:16, 19, 21. The article or the absence of it does not indicate something special in every case, but it certainly does have tremendous significance in these passages as well as many others.

On the whole we must heartily recommend this translation, which thus far is limited to the New Testament. Every home should have one. If the purpose of the translator is to put into our language thoughts which the author put in the Greek language, and by reading we comprehend the intention of the original author, then J. B. Phillips has no peer as a translator. The version is so moving and gripping one can hardly put it down. Not being bound by “superstitious folderol,” he has made an invaluable contribution to the Biblical field. While some chose to transliterate words (and almost trans-obliterated the meaning) Phillips chose to paraphrase. Truly it is the New Testament in Modern English. It is so plain, in fact, that it would take two whole sermons for an experienced pulpiteer to confuse the meaning of one of its texts.

When he began his work Phillips settled upon three goals for himself as a translator and his work as a translation. He contended that the translator must be a skillful writer. He is. Again, he must write without the obtrusion of his own style and personality. This achievement is also his. Lastly, he said that “a good translator should be able to produce in the hearts and minds of his readers an effect equivalent to that produced by the author upon his original readers.” In this he has admirably succeeded.

—A. Dale Crain

REVOLT to “CHURCH of CHRIST-ISM”

In The Great Hand of God I Stand, by Margaret Edson O’Dowd, 1958, $2.00

“If I be damned, as many shall believe, for the thoughts of my heart as revealed in these pages, then my only answer is the title I have chosen for this book . . .

“My brethren believe they are ‘the church’ that is spoken of in the Bible. They believe that anyone who is not a member of their group will be lost. They believe that all the churches around us are wrong, that the members of these churches are on the road to hell. Only those in the religious group called ‘church of Christ’ have the approval of God and Christ; therefore, theirs are the only prayers that are heard by God; they are the only ones walking in the light; they are the only ones who have ‘the truth’; they are the only ones that Christ is in the midst of when they come together for worship; they are the only ones who receive God’s spiritual blessings; others, regardless of how much good work they do, are none of God’s; they have only Satan as their father and whatever blessings they receive are from him.”

Believing that her own spiritual experience was typical of that of many people, and in order that her friends and loved ones of the church of Christ might know the why of her “falling away” from their conception of “the truth” Margaret Edson O’Dowd wrote “In The Great Hand of God I Stand.” It is a soul stirring book and will cause the reader who is honestly seeking truth co do some soul searching. Right or wrong as she may be in some of her observations and conclusions, she presents a challenge not only co the members of the church of Christ but to all who are undernourished (spiritually) and who hunger for a diet that will quiet the pangs of conscience and bring that feeling of peace that passeth understanding. To those who are looking for excuses to give up, this book may help them to do it sooner; to those who love the Lord, it may be an incentive to try harder than ever before to “raise the banner high.”

Margaret Edson, although not reared in a Christian home, was baptised at the age of 15 and married at the age of 17 (1929) to John 0’Dowd, a church of Christ preacher. Some twenty years later the words and sermons to which she once listened with so much interest and agreement gradually ceased to have life or spirit. She wondered why those who had listened to those same sermons for more years than she “were not tired beyond measure” of hearing them, and she calls it “this form of religion that had no power to feed the spirit.” How will she dare to differ with those who “stand for the solid truth-meaning, of course for the truth as they preached it”. She found that “to deny the teachings of our brethren seemed almost to be infidelity—that is the stronghold of tradition and custom and its claws dig deep and hold fast in one’s conscience. On the other hand, to condone it seemed to be a form of deceit”. She couldn’t continue to teach her class and give answers “slanted toward the teaching of our brethren” and at the same time be honest with herself and her God; she sought and found excuses for giving up the class. She who once had been so regular in attendance at all Gospel meetings possible, attended fewer and only “out of duty” attended the ones of the congregation of which she was a member. The faults of the Pharisees seemed to fit her own brethren perfectly and she was aware that “I had grown to look at everything with a critical viewpoint.” As she thought of those who had “backslidden” and who gave no excuse for it, she wondered if they, too, “could not nourish their spirits on the low caloried spiritual diet they were being fed and because of the nausea that comes in being lukewarm they became cold and dropped by the wayside.” A few more years passed and she became most miserable because of the state of indecision she was in—the confused spiritual turmoil that tore at her constantly. After twenty-nine years in the Church of Christ as the wife of a church of Christ preacher, she made the decision to “take my stand for right in the best way I knew how.” She reports “I have embraced NO formal religion. I am studying my Bible and I have found much inward peace; I am practicing Christianity daily; and I have not left Christ.”

Perhaps Margaret O’Dowd’s decision has not made her “a part of the answer” but using the pen as a scalpel she has with language so familiar to the ears of her group laid bare “the problem” produced by the beliefs of her brethren.

One by one, chapter by chapter, she shows why “with my development in life, the things I once believed to be ‘the truth’ have become inconsistent, unreasonable, and un-Christlike” To the familiar “as can and must see truth alike,” she answers “parts of truth we find as we increase in wisdom and knowledge but no one man or group can rightfully say, ‘I or we have the truth.’ If we could correctly make such a claim we would have attained an equal place with Christ and would have no further purpose in life; our mission here would have been fulfilled.”

“Baptism for the remission of sins—for salvation; Acts 2:38, and Mark 16:16”—passages memorized by all church of Christ members, is questioned by Mrs. O’Dowd, “Can we believe that Jesus and the Apostles would have spent so much time teaching against the Pharisee’s ideas of ‘outward forms and appearances’ then would have turned around and bound on us a physical act which would be the deciding factor in the salvation of our souls?” Her handling of the question of “the age of accountability” may seem to some ridiculous and bewildering yet it points out quite forcefully the weakness of a phrase which is not found in the Word of God.

In the chapter on “word quibbling” she states that when Jesus healed the sick man of palsy as recorded in Matthew 9: by saying “son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee,” that “immediately the scribes behaved exactly as my brethren do today.” Jesus, you will remember, asked them why they thought evil in their hearts. Mrs. O’Dowd observes, “we should take this very seriously for I believe today we often make judgements of some things where the only evil there is is in our own thinking.” She proceeds to list words over which quibbling occurs, such as “join” (added to); “our church” (Christ’s church); “interpret” (rightly divide); etc.

She believes that the church of Christ has become a religious stumbling block since “in so much of our practice we are sticklers to rules and forms in the same sense the scribes and Pharisees were.” In her effort to get her brethren to use common sense and reasoning she was always met with “if any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God” or “where the Bible speaks, We will speak; where the. Bible is silent we will be silent.” And she reasons “we have been so proud that we go by a ‘thus saith the Lord’ in all our practices, yet no religious group has had more divisions than we have had. The truth of this is that we get so strict trying to prove how close to the Bible our practice is, that we not only cause others to stumble over the blocks we have set up, but we sprawl over them ourselves and never get anything done but a lot of talking.” An example of this is the problem presented by the sick and the orphans. Mrs. O’Dowd states “oftentimes we go in a complete circle over such matters and by the time we decide on a scriptural way to carry out the question under consideration, the hungry man has already starved and the orphan has grown up.”

In closing she discusses prayer and how that Jesus came “to show people how to live on a far greater plane than they had ever known; to give the KEY of living to them” and concluded “to my wonderful and beloved friends who call themselves the ‘church of Christ’ our teachings limit our faith so that one cannot believe the things I have written in this chapter . . . I am not satisfied to have just life but I want it as Christ promised ‘I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.’

—Cleona Harvey

CRITICAL THINKING

Logic For The Millions, A. E. Mander, Philosophical Library, New York, $3.00.

John Locke taught that man had an intellectual power of comparing the impressions derived to him through the senses. This faculty he called “reflection.” Alexander Campbell once said that in order for a man to be great, he must meditate two hours for every hour he studied. Reflection, meditation; the power of mind turned upon itself. Many of our friends must be interested in this science, judging from the number that have ask for a good book on the subject of Logic.

Logic is the science of reason, and really is the art of consistency. Man is basically a reasoning animal, and most of us would like to develop some ability in reflecting upon our own arguments. We desire this ability because of a sincere eagerness to present Truth more effectively. Logic for the Millions is just such a book. Designed, planned, and intended, as its title indicates, for all classes of readers. We recommend it to those who are interested in further investigation of the subject. We believe that in order for a book to be good, it must not only handle the subject treated, but must handle it simply and in an orderly style. This method helps the student to outline and digest the material presented. Mander has excelled in this respect. We will outline the first chapter in Section V on “Generalization” to help you see what we mean.

A. What is “Generalization”?

1. A statement covering more cases than have been observed does not rest on ‘observation’.

2. A statement covering more cases than have been observed is based on an ‘inference’ or a form of reasoning known as ‘generalization’.

3. To generalize is to infer that what has been found true in ‘all observed’ cases, is true of ‘all’ cases (including those which have not been observed); or to infer that what has happened on all known occasions must in similar circumstances always happen.

After defining “generalization,” Mander deals with “Testing a Generalization” and “False Generalization.” Each section as well as each chapter is handled in this simple and clear style. In every instance he defines and gives illustration and example of the material presented. This method helps the student to come to grips with and handle the subject. Is it not true that we generalize every day? We see a Negro who is dishonest, so we generalize that all Negroes are dishonest. A person of the world notices a Christian who is a cheat and concludes that all Christians are cheats.

Most of us will agree that it would be wise to reflect on the processes of our mind, and to meditate on the problems of presenting Truth. Was not consistency the basic principle of Paul’s argument in Romans?

—Clint Evans

LOVE AS A SOURCE OF LIFE

Love or Perish, Smiley Blanton, M. D., Simon and Schuster, New York, 1956, $1.00, Paperback.

Numerous books have been written in recent years telling people how to overcome feelings of anxiety and to have confidence in themselves. A good many of these serve only to bolster one’s feelings for a short while, but utterly fail to give any actual insight into the causes behind the inadequacies in meeting life’s varied situations. Dr. Blanton in his years of successful psychiatric practice and observation of cause and effect relationship has helped scores of men and women to find the real meaning of life. He has written this book to show the means by which one can analyze his own emotions and strike a proper balance between life’s two basic drives, love and aggression.

No rigid formula for changing one’s life is provided as in the writings of amateurs. He draws heavily upon religious concepts that other psychiatrists reject. Indeed he has been a leader in bringing about a cooperation between religion and psychiatry in attempting to solve emotonal problems. Actual observation of many distraught persons whose emotions were badly twisted, whose love was crowded out by intense hate, has shown him the value of the Biblical emphasis on “God is Love.” Without proper love life becomes burdensome and intolerable, health deteriorates, and physical and mental ills set in, and some even are driven to self destruction.

The author is greatly alarmed at the unsatisfactory lives that thousands are living. Energy is consumed in neurotic patterns of behavior that could be channeled into creative and productive work. Resentments developed during infancy and early childhood and buried deep in the subconscious mind often cause this condition. Unlike some physicians Dr. Blanton feels that these lives can be changed when proper insight is provided the individual. One need not go through a life of torture because of infantile fantasies carried over into adulthood. Feelings of shame and guilt can be eliminated when one gains a right understanding of love, including self love, which is not evil as some have taught.

The conditions for happy marriage are fearlessly and frankly discussed in language that is decorous and dignified. The mutual sharing of God’s great arrangement for the propagation of the human species is explained as requiring a giving up of one’s own self interest and striving for the wellbeing of the companion. Too many marriages are disintegrating because the participants are childish and immature, not capable of giving and receiving love.

He recalls briefly some case histories and shows how that love proved to be the answer in each instance. Hatred is shown to be a waster of energy and a poisoner of the human system, causing many to lead pinched, narrow lives when they should really bloom out into the magnanimous nature that God intended for each individual. The basic drives of childhood and how they go astray are explained and some of these cases are followed on into adulthood where abnormal behavior brings them to the attention of the psychiatrist or counselor. The “transfer” of childhood hates is shown to be a major cause of trouble between husband and wife. One should read this book carefully and see how the author confirms the wisdom of the Scriptural admonition “let all that you do be done in love.” This is not just another prescription on how to find peace of mind, but a soul searching analysis of human behavior that will help to a realization of true happiness.

—Elliot Williams