| BOOK NOTES |
Voices
of Concern
is now out, and we have sold that hundred that we set out to sell
before publication. Many others are selling the book also, of course,
but we will appreciate your ordering from us, for while the profit is
not much, it does help to keep
Restoration
Review
in
the black. The price is $3.50. We have one for you, and we will mail
it the same day we get your order.
Knowing
the mentality of its editor as I do, as well as a number of the
writers, I expected the book to be good, but it has far surpassed my
fondest expectations. It is first of all a very interesting book,
filled with thrilling human interest stories. It reeks of drama. You
might drop a tear when you read Bob Meyers’ testimony in
“Between Two Worlds,” especially when he tells of how he
“lay in a pup tent or on a cot many nights and cried quietly
into my pillow because the house I had built was falling apart.”
You
will be enchanted by Laurie Hibbett’s account of herself in an
Episcopal cathedral, relating her life in the Church of Christ to her
present situation, searching for something to say to “those
people I claim most fully my own,” and finding it as she reads
from her prayer book and studies the likeness of angels on the
stained-glass windows.
You
will be astonished as you read William Floyd’s reason “Why
I Could Not Be a Career Preacher” in the Church of Christ,
especially when your eyes fall upon paragraphs like this one:
My
father ministered to an Alabama congregation during the Birmingham
riots. He preached on segregation, his text being: “Do unto
others as you would have them do unto you.” He was called a
“son of a bitch” and a “devil” from the
audience when he was delivering the sermon. When the elders defended
his right to preach what he believed, the elders were dismissed by
the men of the congregation and my father was fired. Why have more
Alabama Church of Christ ministers not been fired? Where is the
church of our group that is in danger of being burned because of its
stand for decency?
And
it will make your hair stand on end to read of his account of the
politics that go on in the Christian colleges, his serving as the
president of the student body of one of them. Yet brother Floyd
remains a member of the church in Cookeville, Tenn., where John Allen
Chalk is the minister. He hasn’t left. He offers the most
piercing criticism I have ever read, but all in an effort to arouse
us to improve ourselves.
There
is no keener analysis of our problems anywhere than in Norman Parks’
essay on “Thy Ecclesia Come!” And you will not find a
sweeter spirit anywhere than in Logan Fox’s piece on “Destiny
or Disease?” And you will meet with surprises, such as when one
writer describes the ordeal of telling her minister how she felt
compelled to leave the Church of Christ, only to discover that the
minister himself desired to do the same thing, though he felt he
could not do so due to those he might discourage.
And
there is Pat Hardeman’s provocative “Why?” and he
does indeed tell
why.
It
is interesting.
On
and on it goes. There is lots of variety and diversity. Some are
still quite young; some are aged. Several are PhD.’s, while
others are strictly of “common cloth.” Some are men, some
are women. Some have left the Church of Christ, while others have
stayed. Some are apparently as conservative as they ever were,
relying upon the Bible for guidance as much as ever, while others
reveal definite “liberal” tendencies. Some are cool,
calculating, incisive; others are metaphysical, ever ready for a
rendezvous with the Spirit.
The
book is goodlooking, with attractive blue jacket and clear, crisp
type. Even one who often reads proof copy could not find even one
typographical error. There is indeed one grammatical error, a juicy
one, in the Introduction, made by an English professor, mind you, and
I must acknowledge that to be a real find. When I find an English
prof in a grammatical error that really makes my day!
This
book will help you to share a hope of better days to come for our
people. We assure you that you will be stimulated and electrified, as
well as touched and encouraged. As my wife puts it, noting that some
of the essays are highly autobiographical and others not, “Each
writer has his own way of really opening your eyes!” That says
it better than I have put it. The book is an eye-opener. Guaranteed
to pry open eyes!
OTHER
BOOKS
An
increasing number of our readers are using our Credit Plan, by which
you can make larger purchases and pay at the rate of only $5.00 a
month, or 10% of balance, whichever is higher. This enables you to
buy a set of Barclay’s
The
Daily Bible Study,
a
17volume set, beautifully bound, and the most readable and
resourceful commentary on the New Testament that we know of. $39.50.
The
Millennial Harbinger Abridged
may
not always be available, so you should get your copies of this
attractive 2-volume set, which is a selection of the best of
Campbell’s writings over many years as an editor. $9.95. We
recommend this as one of the best deals you can get, if you have any
interest at all in the history and literature of our Movement.
Ketcherside’s
new volume,
The
Paths of Peace, is
a reprint of Mission
Messenger
for
1961-62. This completes the six volumes that extend back to 1957. We
can supply them all for $ I 9.50, and you can pay for them on the
Credit Plan.
We
highly recommend
The
New Bible Commentary,
covering
the entire Bible. There is no single volume that is packed with more
helpful information, and it is high class, scholarly work. $7.95.
We have a new supply of the paperback editions of The Fool of God, which is the story of Alexander Campbell, and Raccoon john Smith, who was another of our great pioneers, both by Louis Cochran, at only $1.95 each.
|
No Issue of this journal during July and August. The next issue will be the September number. Restoration Review is published ten months of the year, 20 pages each time, making a 200 page volume by the year’s end. Next winter we will publish “Resources of Power,” which will be volume 8 of this journal in book form, with dust jacket and sturdy binding, at nominal price. Reserve your copy in advance. And why not now renew while you are at it? Restoration Review, 1201 Windsor, Dr., Denton, Texas 76201 |