"come to pass” ; "they have their day and cease to be.” In large measure they pass into oblivion so far as any lasting value o f anything they have written or said is concerned. In the meantime a great fuss and furor are made over their pronouncements, either good or bad. If we must have our theological heroes, we would do far better to select the writings o f those who have evidenced a far more permanent influence upon the church o f Jesus Christ and, indeed, the history o f mankind than have any o f these cur rent theologians. At the risk o f being considered naive, we would like to suggest very respectfully that it would be far more worthwhile, if the present-day brethren must worship heroes, that they select men whose writings have the ring o f authenticity because they wrote "as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” What’s the matter with the theology o f Paul, or Peter, or James or John or, indeed, the great theologians o f a former dispensation such as Isaiah or Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel or any one o f the other prophets o f olden times? It would be more meritorious, we believe, for our contemporaries to devote their attention to the proclamation o f the theology o f these great heroes o f the faith instead o f trying to defend the writings o f the current crop o f theologians who “ have come to pass.” It almost seems that if one desires to make a name for himself in American theological circles, all he has to do is be born with a German, Austrian, Swiss or other European name, do most o f his writings in a European language, learn to speak broken English, come to this country and begin to lecture. He has it made! He will be sure to find a large coterie o f devotees who will rally to his banner and loudly proclaim him one o f the great master minds o f the generation. We would suggest that our new evangelical and neo-orthodox friends would be rendering vastly greater serv ice to the cause o f Jesus Christ if they would proclaim for this generation a new emphasis upon the great doctrines that are found in the Word o f God as presented by the inspired writers o f both the Old and New Testaments, instead o f making a strenu ous but futile attempt to state not only what these modern theo logians have said but what they are supposed to have meant, regardless o f what they said. We suggest that we are in a decadent theological condition, even among so-called conservatives, when we have to spend so much time interpreting what these European theologians have written or spoken. O f course, they have a right to build their system o f theology as they may choose. Still it ap pears rather pathetic for American church men, especially o f the conservative persuasion, to jump on the band wagons o f these in dividuals and begin to haggle over their theological gymnastics. This is not our purpose in the pulpit or in the theological class room. It should not be our aim to try to discover some new theo logical quirk. Rather, it is our purpose, as it has been the goal o f every generation, to proclaim to that generation the eternal truths o f God’s Holy Word. There is nothing particularly new about (continued on page 45)
U n g e r ' s BIBLEHANBBOOK by Merrill F. Unger, Th.D., Ph.D.
• Introduction to the Bible, including its his torical and archaeological background •A carefully organized commentary on every book of the Bible •The fascinating record of the formation and preservation of the Bible •Outline of the intertestamental period •The dramatic history of the Christian church through the centuries •A comparative study of other religions •Charts, maps, photographic illustrations, draw ings and indexes by the hundreds A t Your Bookstore or write to
PROPHETIC B I B L E L A N D S T O U R
Deluxe Arrangements with DR. W ILLIAM W ARD AYER of Marching Truth Broadcast
Dr. Ayer offers over 40 years of Bible Prophetic study. A first hand interpretation of the Great Prophecies of God are to be featured on this historical tour with won drous blessing. OCTOBER 10, 1966 — THREE FULL WEEKS $1055 from New Year All Expense Tour “ A comprehensive study in Biblical Prophecy” Write: CLIFF GOTAAS TRAVEL Dept. KB-E6
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I M P A C T , of Archaeology m ■ Featuring Dr. Joseph Free, this informative film strengthens faith in the accuracy of the Scriptures.
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