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March 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
Living Through These Days B y P hilip E. H oward
I ö u r cß iterature ^ a b le 1 ! j I W h a t t o P u r c h a s e a t B io la B o o k R o om
The President of the Sunday School Times Company has assembled in this book a number of choice editorial articles that have appeared in the Times, the Westminster Teacher, and the Adult Bible Class Monthly. They are just such articles as are needed by the perplexed Christian in these trying days. Revell Co. Cloth. Price $1.25.
tullian and Augustine, but also traces their influence on the trend of medieval and modern philosophy and'theology. Al though the chapters of the book first ap peared some years ago as magazine ar ticles, they are by no means out of date. It is fortunate that they have been pre served in permanent form. 412 pages. Oxford University Press. Cloth. Price $3.00. 1 — o — Rainbow Missionary Stories B y S tella M. R udy This is a group of true incidents, col lected by Miss Rudy (herself a mission ary to China) from the experiences of fellow workers in many lands. The lan guage of the book will be easily under stood by very small children, but the stor ies will be equally interesting to older boys and girls. The pictures which il lustrate each chapter are made from ac tual photographs taken by missionaries. The book will not fail in its purpose to awaken the interest of young people in the great enterprise of foreign missions. 190 pages. Revell Co. Cloth. Price $1.50. — o — St. John B y W. G raham S croggie Dr. Scroggie’s reputation as a Bible teacher, already well established in Eng lish-speaking countries, will be enhanced by this excellent volume. It is a devo tional commentary on the “heart of the gospel,” which will take rank among the very best that have appeared in recent years. There is an excellent outline of the book, by means of which the reader can easily trace the onward sweep of John’s argument. Here and there are little touches of textual criticism which show the author to be a thorough scholar. For instance, in the study of the words, “I and my father are one,” attention is drawn to the fact that the numeral is not in the masculine but in the neuter gender in the Greek. “This fact shows that the Son and the Father are not one person, but one in essence and nature.” The ex position of the Gospel is thoroughly sound and is punctuated by many practical spir itual lessons. The style is captivating. There are many pithy, epigrammatic sen tences which fix the truth in the mind. Dr. Scroggie appeals constantly to the hearts and consciences of his readers. From each page there seem to dart forth, like barbed arrows, sharp convicting in junctions, warnings, and appeals. 132 pages. Harper & Bros. Cloth. Price $1.25. —rO---- Henry Martyn of Persia B y J esse P age This life story of an outstanding mis sionary “shines with a glory reflected from the cross of Christ.” 179 pages. Picker ing & Inglis. Cloth. Price $1.00.
Concise Critical Comments on the Bible ' B y R obert Y oung
— o — Calvinism and the Philosophy of Nature B y V alentine H epp
Dr. Young claims to have rid himself of all traditions and subserviency to com mentators who have preceded him and to have sought literal and idiomatic transla tions. Whether he has succeeded in di vesting himself of all preconceptions and prejudices, let each student of his work judge ,for himself. It is easy to imagine that he may have been influenced, doubt less unconsciously, by some philosophi cal preconceptions when he translated the first words of Genesis: “In the beginning of God’s preparing.” At any rate, many Hebrew scholars still believe that “pre pare” is not a good rendering of the He brew verb and contend that it is not “childish” to object that “if this word bara does not express creation proper, the Hebrews had no other word to do so.” In spite of the fact that Dr. Young may not be able to establish all his claims to originality, all will commend him for his painstaking research and his genuine scholarship. His notes are of great value to the careful student. Cloth. Price $3.00. — o — Studies in Tertullian and Augustine B y B enjamin B reckenridge W arfield This is Volume IV of a projected ser ies of ten volumes of writings of the late Dr. Warfield on theological and historical themes. The first chapter deals with the part in the development of Christian doc trine, which was played by Tertullian. This great church father came upon the scene_ when it was necessary to state the doctrine of the Trinity in clear terms over against the Modalistic Monarchian- ism which was seeking to overthrow the Trinitarian tradition. The contribution of Tertullian is carefully evaluated, with the conclusion that, while he cannot be credited with the invention of the doc trine of the Trinity, “it was through him that the elements of this doctrine first ob tained something like a scientific adjust ment.” The larger part of the book is devoted to a study of the life and work of Au gustine. The influence of this great thinker and prolific writer, especially upon the western church, is clearly traced. It is shown that by his insistence upon the final authority of the Scriptures as against the authority of reason or of the church, and also by his doctrine of grace with which he combated the errors of Pelag- ianism, Augustine laid the foundations of the Reformation upon which Luther and his associates builded. Dr. Warfield’s ability to gather perti nent evidence and his fairness in weigh ing the evidence are very apparent in this volume. The student of theology and church history will find that the book not only gives light on the times of Ter
According to Dr. Hepp, a Calvinistic world-view is reasonable and scientific, be cause it makes human reason “a gift of God.” Knowledge “must be guided by faith.” Therefore, the student of nature must come as a humble learner to the Creator who is transcendent above nature, and yet immanent in nature. Calvinism finds a simple explanation of the “dishar mony in nature” in its doctrine of sin. True science can be found in harmony with Calvinism, but unbelieving science is given no place. There must be a priori truths, or prin ciples, which precede both inductive and deductive reasoning in science, says the author. And these principles cannot be discovered “through thought or exper ience.” We are therefore compelled to fall back on revelation. This revelation contains light about nature, for we “may not abstract God from His work” unless we determine to have a deistic God. It is not contended that Scripture contains “data of nature” ; it does have a true phil osophy of nature. It tells of the origin of nature by creation; it knows nothing of the supposed eternity of matter or of force. It has no place for theories of spontaneous generation or tranformation. No mechanistic view of the universe is made possible. Modern world-views are in error in that they reject the principles found in Scripture. Dr. Hepp makes this point clear by reference to astronomy and geol ogy, as taught by unbelieving science. Therefore, he says, Christian scholars should not “hesitate to draw the conclu sions from their faith for the natural sciences.” 223 pages. Wm. B. Eerdmans Bub. Co. Cloth. Price $1.50 — o — The Shadow of the Great Tribulation B y A rno C. G aebelein This is a much-needed pamphlet writ ten by the Editor of Our Hope and sup plied for free distribution. It will clear the minds of those who have been blinded by the fog which has been created by the wild teaching concerning the great tribu lation. Six other helpful tracts by Dr. Gaebelein, “The Kingdom in the Old Testament,” “The Kingdom Parables in Matthew Thirteen,” “The Royal Psalm One Hundred Ten,” “Fulfilled Prophecy,” “If Christ Should Not Return,” and “Res- surrection,” are now offered for fifty cents for the entire number. Address: Our .Hope, 456 Fourth Ave., New York City.
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