BOOK REVIEWS

Edward H. Madden and James E. Hamilton. Freedom and Grace: The Life of Asa Mahan. Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.,1982.273 pp. Reviewed by Harold E. Raser, Assistant Professor of the History of Christianity, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Missouri.

The latest offering in the important "Studies in Evangelicalism" series under the guidance of Kenneth Rowe and Donald Dayton is this long needed biography of Asa Mahan. Edward Madden, now retired from teaching at the State University of New York (Buffalo), and his former graduate student, James Hamilton, now of the Asbury College Philosophy Department, have collaborated to produce the first full-length critical study of a person who, though his life spanned nearly the whole of the nineteenth century and he played a central role in some of the most significant American religious, intellectual, and social movements of that century, has yet been strangely neglected in the chronicling of the prominent. His close associate and friend, Charles Finney, has captured the scholars' attention much more often. Mahan's many writings have been readily available, his Autobiography: Intellectual, Moral and Spiritual (1882) being a primary biographical source, but students of American history are only now beginning to mine the unpublished collections housed at Oberlin College and elsewhere, and to offer scholarly assessments of Mahan. For leadership in this effort we certainly owe thanks to Madden and Hamilton.

Freedom and Grace in an unembellished way sets out the facts of Mahan's rather colorful life (1799-1889). To some extent the straightforward prose adopted by the authors clashes with the often lively subject matter. Mahan's life was nothing, if not lively. Finding himself intellectually at odds with the prevailing "hyper-Calvinism" of his upbringing, even as a youth, he moved from one series of embroilments to another; "dismissed" from his first pastorate in New York (which Madden and Hamilton attempt to place in the most favorable light), he moved "out west" to Cincinnati only to come under charges of "heresy" by Presbyterians for his "new school" views, and to take the role among the trustees of champion of the abolitionist students at Lane Seminary during the famous "Lane Rebellion" (1834). From there Mahan moved to the presidency of the pioneering educational institution at Oberlin, which became the hub of many "radical" causes, among them abolitionism (Oberlin was an important stop on the "underground railroad" spiriting escaped slaves northward), women's rights (granted the first bona fide A.B. degree to a woman, 1841), health reform (Grahamism and homeopathic medicine), temperance, educational reform (away from the classical curriculum toward something more akin to modern "liberal arts"), and the holiness movement (Oberlin was the chief non-Methodist center of activity). Here Mahan constantly battled those who either opposed the causes to which he was committed, or whose own commitment registered less intense than his own. The eventual result was a forced departure from Oberlin.

Next it was on to Cleveland where Mahan helped to found a visionary university which for numerous reasons never fulfilled its early promise and utterly collapsed within a period of six years. This was followed by a brief period of "catch-as-catch-can" during which he acted for a time as president of the Western Homeopathic College in Cleveland, gave public lectures at the Melodeon, taught at a mercantile college, and preached where opportunity was presented. In 1855 he removed to Jackson, Michigan to pastor a Congregational church, where his appointment was opposed because of his holiness theology, and from there to Adrian, where he eventually became president of the small Wesleyan sponsored college. During a stormy tenure there Mahan introduced numerous curricular reforms, oversaw the transition of the school from Wesleyan to Methodist Protestant control, dabbled in progressive politics, tried his hand at Civil War military strategy (he was granted a session with President Lincoln to explain his views), and wrote his holiness classic, The Baptism of the Holy Ghost (1870). In 1872 he went to England where he became active in the infant English holiness movement, and lived out his last days as an English citizen editing holiness papers, writing, and preaching. Madden and Hamilton tell this story cogently, if not always compellingly.

The greatest strength of the book is in its mastery of the various written materials relating to Mahan's life. Previously unpublished as well as published sources have been meticulously analyzed to provide a fresh detail here or interpretive perspective there. Attention to the better known pre-Oberlin and Oberlin career has been balanced with almost equal attention to the less familiar Cleveland, Michigan, and British years, the facts of which are often fascinating! The section on Mahan's involvement in the English holiness movement deserves special reading if only for the fresh light it sheds on the careers of Robert Pearsall and Hannah Whitall Smith.

A weakness of the book is that in its commendable attention to detail, it ultimately, in my view, fails to capture the essence of the man, Asa Mahan. One comes away knowing a great deal about the course of Mahan's life, but not really having been exposed to Mahan as a living, breathing, feeling, decision-making person. One reason for this is the authors' tendency to continually attempt to justify Mahan's well-attested irascibility and the interpersonal problems he encountered in nearly every one of his administrative positions. It is stated several times that Mahan was a complex person, and yet his complexity is not given full play in the efforts to always smooth his rough edges and place his actions in the best possible light.

Another problem is in the handling of Mahan's holiness views. For one, the Oberlin holiness advocates (Mahan, Finney, Cowles, etc.) developed a distinctive holiness theology within the context of a "New Light" Calvinism at the same time that others, like Phoebe Palmer, were at work within the Methodist theological tradition. The interplay and distinctions between the two are very significant for understanding the history of the holiness movement in America, yet they are hardly considered. Related is the matter of Mahan's role in the evolution of the "Pentecostal motif" in American holiness theology as suggested by Donald Dayton and others. Madden and Hamilton have an opportunity to illuminate this issue. but rest content to simply acknowledge it and then affirm (but not demonstrate) that Mahan did not change his views significantly between the 183s Scripture Doctrine of Christian Perfection and the 1870 Baptism of the Holy Ghost. This is not very satisfactory.

Some criticism does not detract from the value of Freedom and Grace. All things considered, it is a solid study of Asa Mahan and the many movements and causes to which he gave his life. It should receive wide reading.

Did Christ Die for All? (The Five Points), by George E. Failing. Marion, Indiana: Presence, Incorporated, 1980, 23 pp. $1.25. An Introduction to Wesleyan Theology, by William M. Greathouse and H. Ray Dunning, Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1982, 126 pp. Reviewed by William M. Arnett Frank Paul Morris Professor of Christian Doctrine, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky.

This small volume, Did Christ Die for All? was first published under the title, For Whom Did Christ Die? (1978). It provides a judicious contemporary discussion of "The Five Points" of controversy between Calvinists and Wesleyan-Arminians. Even though it is rare to run across "Calvinists without reserve," as Clark H. Pinnock asserts in Grace Unlimited, there are reasons for continued polemical discussion in the opinion of both men. By means of an acrostic, A-B-C-D-E, Failing suggests and discusses "The Five Points of Arminianism": (1) Atonement for all- (2) Believers Alone are elected; (3) Convicting Grace; (4) Deliverance from sin; and (5) Endurance of believers. Through a printing inadvertence, chapters five and six are reversed, but that does not detract from the value of this modest volume. In contrast to Calvinism's interpretation of God's decrees and "double predestination," the author strongly asserts that "Christ died for all men though believers only are benefited."

An Introduction to Wesleyan Theology, a well-written volume, had its origin in a series of short articles written by William M. Greathouse for the Adult Teacher, a Sunday School publication of the Church of the Nazarene. Subsequently, it was edited and enlarged by H. Ray Dunning to approximately twice its original length, then edited and approved in its final form by Dr. Greathouse.

It begins with a "Prologue" on "Revelation and the Bible," then follows the main body which is divided into three parts, including ten chapters on basic Christian doctrines. It concludes with an epilogue" on "The Return of Christ." Each basic belief is discussed biblically historically, and systematically, and the three parts encompass the doctrines of God, Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, Man, Atonement, Divine Grace and Human Response, Salvation, Sanctification, the Church and Sacraments. A brief glossary of terms, a bibliography, and indices of subjects, authors, and Scripture texts, are also included. Both the novice in theology and the more advanced student will be informed and challenged by this small volume.

In the discussion concerning the Holy Spirit's activity in the production of the Holy Scripture, the authors call attention to the importance of the restriction set forth in the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene which emphasizes the written Word as "inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation." In other words, inerrancy is restricted to matters "necessary to our salvation." Furthermore the authors insist that the "Bible is not a book of science or of secular history." Inferentially, there appears to be room for the possibility of scientific or historical errors. While the Bible is not a book on science or secular history, it should be pointed out that Scripture does not make such an arbitrary distinction between spiritual and theological matters over against scientific and historical content in regard to authenticity or accuracy. On the contrary, "all scripture is inspired by God" (II Tim. 3:16). As Everett P. Harrison states, "the history of Biblical interpretation shows that the abandonment of the inerrancy of Scripture in non-doctrinal items has a tendency to make criticism of the doctrinal data much easier" ("Criteria of Biblical Inerrancy" in Christianity Today, January 20, 1958, p. 18).

The discussion on "Sanctification" in chapter 8 relates it to justification, regeneration, growth in grace, initial and entire sanctification. Frequent reference is made to the writings of John Wesley. Not all would agree with the assertion that "in Wesleyan terminology, regeneration is synonymous with "initial sanctification" (p. 86). Many would prefer to say that they are inter-related and concomitant, but not synonymous. Crisis and process are given emphasis in the discussion of holiness.

Undoubtedly the most unusual aspect is that the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene is not mentioned in the entire chapter on sanctification. In the "Preface," Dunning is careful to point out that the volume is not "a commentary on the creedal affirmations," nor is it "an official document of the church in the same sense as the Articles" (p. 8). Nevertheless, "at appropriate points, reference is made to parts of the Articles of Faith in the Manual" (p. 7). Thus twelve of the fifteen Articles of Faith are mentioned in the discussion of various aspects of Christian beliefs. Obviously the question arises in regard to why it was not "appropriate" to make any reference to the Manual on Entire Sanctification, particularly in the light of the fact that the discussion affirms in substance what this particular article sets forth. Both authors, however, are "committed churchmen in this tradition" (p. 8) and will undoubtedly clarify for their readership in general, and to the Church of the Nazarene in particular, what is their motive or conviction in regard to this important issue. The volume as a whole is a valuable contemporary discussion of "the faith which was once delivered into the saints" (Jude 3).

A Celebration of Ministry: Essays in Honor of Frank Bateman Stanger, edited by Kenneth Cain Kinghorn. Francis Asbury Publishing Company Inc., 1982, 148 pp. Reviewed by Frank G. Carver, Professor of Biblical Theology and Greek, Point Loma College, San Diego, California:

Frank Bateman Stanger retired from the presidency of Asbury Theological Seminary May 31, 1982, after 20 years of distinguished service. A cross-section of his many friends have prepared a delightful Festschrift in his honor. Presented are twelve essays concerned with both the theological foundations and the practical aspects of the Christian ministry followed by "A Bibliographic Introduction to the Writings of Frank Bateman Stanger" compiled and annotated by D. Willima Faupel, Director of Library Services at Asbury Theological Seminary. As we attempt to give some clue to the content and direction of each essay and the variety of "issues in ministry" covered the significance of the Festschrift will hopefully be evident.

Earl G. Hunt, Bishop in the United Methodist Church, opens with a much needed call to Wesleyans in "Toward a Recovery of the Sacred" (pp. 11-21). With Isaiah 64, "a prayer on the part of the faithful for a universal theophany" (p. 11), in the background Hunt seeks "to focus the attention of the contemporary church community upon the timeliness and, indeed the urgency of a new outcry on the part of the faithful for divine self-disclosure in our moment of history" (p. 12).

He does this by thrusting before us four pathways. First is the task of Christian liberal arts education to build an awareness of the Holy back into its perspective and curricula-the glory of the lighted mind! Second, Hunt sets forth the responsibility of the church to be indeed the church, "willing to pay the price involved in the recovery of its authentic character in our contemporary world " (p. 16). This is a most probing section. Third is the necessity of the individual pursuit of holiness by those spiritual disciplines which God has honored through the centuries. Fourth, he calls us to an interpretation of the gospel as "purely and simply God Himself" (p. 19)-forked lightning! Hunt's words are challenging far beyond their brevity to mind, heart, and will-"we believe also in the possibility and probability of an immanent new epiphany, a fresh divine disclosure" (p. 21). He speaks to my hunger.

Harold B. Kuhn, Professor of the Philosophy of Religion at Asbury Theological Seminary, stretches the mind with "Michael Polanyi, Modern Pioneer in Epistemology" (pp. 22-32). Kuhn presents Polanyi as a "pioneer in epistemology" over against the dominant epistemological dualism which is founded in the philosophical system of Immanuel Kant. He asserts that the Kantian view of knowledge and reality leading to the distinction between pure reason and practical reason is now seen by many thinkers as "destructive, not only of rational thought in general, but of all valid religious knowledge" (p. 23).

Polanyi (1891-1976), a physicist and chemist, after World War II turned to epistemology undertaking what can be called "a discovery of discovery" (p. 26). His emphasis on heuristic epistemology, a knowledge theory based on discovery, led him to recognize belief as the source of all knowledge: "all knowledge, including scientific knowledge, is personal knowledge " (p. 30). Thus he asserts the unity of all knowledge which means that theological truth must be part of it. Kuhn concludes that Polanyi's "post-critical epistemology" opens the door to a deliverance from the Kantian model "and a rediscovery of the essential unity between knowledge and Christian faith" (p. 32). Yet, even as a layman in philosophy, I wonder if the Kantian model is as detrimental to Biblical faith as Kuhn alleges, despite the attractive usefulness of Polanyi's pioneering work.

Significant for Wesleyans in this day of the inerrancy watershed is the chapter by William J. Abraham, . . . (where is he now?), "The Concept of Inspiration in the Classical Wesleyan Tradition" (pp. 34-7). As he examines Wesley's conception of divine inspiration, "a feature of Wesley's doctrine of Scripture that does not fit the versions of historical Christian orthodoxy now currently available" (p. 34), Abraham opens some fascinating new avenues for our continued exploration.

Abraham sees an unresolved tension in Wesley between his deductive and inductive approaches to scripture. On the one hand Wesley is committed to dictation in a way that appears to place him with contemporary inerrantists. But on the other, with his attention to the actual phenomena of scripture in which he admits the possibility of error, he can also be viewed with those who find the authority of scripture "in its ability to bring people into a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ" (p. 34). Wesley's famous "man of one book" passage clearly points in that direction. Wesley does not himself address this unresolved tension between his commitment and his research. Abraham asserts that to identify Wesley as a modern fundamentalist in his understanding of scripture would be seriously to distort his intention.

Abraham then explores, after citing Luther and Calvin, the considerable Wesleyan discussion of inspiration from Wesley's day until the present-Clark, Watson, Nast, Pope, Miley, Wiley, etc. With perhaps the notable exception of the German, William Nast (1807-1899), in Abraham's view "the classical Wesleyan tradition shares the confusion that generally pervades the Protestant heritage" (p. 44), the treating of inspiration and revelation as more or less identical. In other words the tension was relieved by the dominance of the deductive approach with even H. Orton Wiley failing "to inhibit modern conservative Wesleyanism from taking over the position of Warfield on inspiration" (p. 43).

Abraham concludes that the Wesleyan heritage is rich and complex from which much can be learned. He suggests that although it is deficient, a deficiency "due in large measure to a failure to reflect sensitively on the meaning of religious language" (p. 44), yet "the recovery of the riches and genius of our tradition is surely one of the great tasks that confronts us in the immediate future" (p. 44). The message I hear in Abraham's provocative essay is that our Wesleyan tradition calls for the task that will fulfill the hope imbedded within it, the construction of an approach to scripture that will do full justice to the nature of scripture.

Howard Snyder, Educational Coordinator, Wesleyan Urban Coalition, invites us to think again about the church in his contribution, "The Church and the Language of Sacrament" (pp. 48-59). Beginning with the inadequacy of the distinction between the visible and the invisible church and the church seen as paradoxically combining both institutional and charismatic elements" (p. 49) Snyder explores the possibility of help in the third model of Avery Dulles (Models of the Church, 1974): the church as sacrament.

After first defining the idea of sacrament, four New Testament words and ideas important for the understanding of sacrament are discussed: sign, covenant, thanksgiving, and mystery.

The crux of the essay comes in Snyder's application of the Anglican definition of sacrament to the church: "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof" (p. 53). With some attention to dangers involved in a sacramental understanding of the church Snyder concludes that the church is a sacrament "in the sense that as the community of God's people she is a sign, symbol, and servant of the Kingdom of God on earth . . . a means of grace" (p. 55). This he spells out in ways that contribute to an adequate Wesleyan ecclesiology.

Kenneth Cain Kinghorn, Professor of Church History at Asbury Theological Seminary, illumines the perplexing issue of infant baptism among contemporary Wesleyan evangelicals from a historical perspective in "The Wesleyan Understanding of Baptism" (pp. 60-66). His study of Wesley shows that Wesley had "two different views of baptism-one for infants and another for adults" (p. 64) making Wesley both a catholic churchman and an evangelical evangelist. In the light of Wesley's position Kinghorn concludes his essay with some personal observations which give theological perspective to the practice of infant baptism as truly Wesleyan.

The contribution of Dennis F. Kinlaw, Representative at large for Asbury College (should this be updated?), is a brief statement concerning "The Christian Scholar" (pp. 67-69) from the perspective of a trained Biblical scholar who has also served as president of a Christian liberal arts college.

"Administration as Ministry" (pp. 72-79) is a slightly longer discussion by one who also has served as a college president, David L. McKenna, President of Asbury Theological Seminary. McKenna utilizes Biblical precedents as he seeks to show the scriptural legitimacy and nature of administration as ministry.

Robert E. Coleman, Professor of Evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary, knows how to probe our spiritual consciences in his discussion of "The Prayer Life of the Christian Minister" (pp. 80-87). He motivates, informs, and illustrates his theme in a penetrating way. The way our daily quiet time "is kept is likely the best index we have to spiritual vitality...Really it is not a matter of time so much as priority" (p. 83).

Continuing the practical vein is James Earl Massey, Radio Speaker for the International Christian Brotherhood Hour, with helpful comments on "The Preacher's Rhetoric" (pp. 88-99). It is the text and its truth that shapes the rhetoric.

The most concretely practical of the essays is that of George W. Hunter III, Executive for Evangelism in the United Methodist Church, who gives six specific suggestions for "Equipping Church Laity for Evangelistic Ministry" (pp. 100-113). Starting with "Identify Your Church Strengths in Ministry" (p. 101) his suggestions are comprehensive, give evidence of coming from actual experience in the local congregation, and impress the reader with their workability and adaptability.

The essay which I most like to ponder further is that by Morton Kelsey, Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame (is he still there?), on "Christianity and Wholistic Health" (pp. 114-125). He defines the problem, sketches the history in the church, reminds of the changing attitude of medicine, discusses the "six emotions which have a devastating effect upon the human psyche"-fear, anger, stress, depression, loneliness, and psychic infection, and concludes with his proposal for the facilitation of effective wholistic healing in the churches. Indicative of his perspective is his comment dealing with depression: "The only final healing for this emotion which slows down or shuts down all bodily processes comes as we are touched by a center of meaning and concern which is transcendental. Jung put it well: 'The approach to the numinous is the real therapy' " (p. 123). An appropriate reminder for the "holiness' tradition!

The final essay is "The Pastor's Ministry to Ill Persons" (pp. 126-140) by Laurence W. Wood, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Asbury Theological Seminary. Wood's chief concern is "the problem of anxiety which underlies the whole of human existence" (p. 126).

With some help from Tillich, Wood first defines the problem of anxiety as it afflicts ill persons in terms of the four dimensions of human experience: the physical, the moral, the personal and the religious. Second, Wood outlines the pastoral resources available for ministry to such persons. Here he discusses the ministry of listening, the proclamation of the Word, sacramental sources, and prayer as a pastoral resource. On listening he talks about leading the sufferer to the hill of Calvary for "at the Cross we know and feel God listens to our deepest distress" (p. 132). In conclusion he describes the pastor as a spiritual friend who "provides the right environment for healing to those who suffer anxiety in times of illness" (p. 139). I find Wood's contribution both encouraging and informative as one who seeks to be "in ministry" to others.

This volume of varied essays is a fine tribute to a man who spent so many years preparing men for the ministry. There is something here for every reader dependent on where one's interests and calling are. There is stimulation and help for most of us in both theological and practical essays. The editor is to be commended in the balance displayed in his choice of contributors.

Christianity Confronts Modernity, eds. Peter Williamson and Kevin Perrotta. Ann Arbor: Servant Books, 1981. Reviewed by Albert L. Truesdale, Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Christian Ethics, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Missouri.

Attempts by Christians to offer a proper response to modernity (secularity) are legion. And the various types of responses are hardly less numerous. They range from unqualified rejection of the secular mood, to death of God theology as represented by Paul van Buren and William Hamilton. Today, many theologians are reassessing what was once believed by many to be the hegemony of secularism's claim that the world is "closed." (We recognize that secularity must not be equated with secularism.) The reassessment of secularism is being forced upon us by the "reappearance" of the sacred in modern life (often in bizarre forms), even in those institutions-such as the university-which have till now been considered the citadels of secularism.

In Christianity Confronts Modernity, Evangelical and Roman Catholic theologians take up the question of the church's response to secularity as it appears in the latter part of the twentieth century. By inquiring into how the modern spirit has influenced Evangelical Protestantism and Roman Catholics the contributors avoid the error of pitting a "sacred church" against a "secular world."

Although the mood of the book reflects the more sober assessment of secularity that came along after such books as Honest to God and The Secular Meaning of the Gospel it nevertheless attempts to recognize in the modern geist those changes in humankind's understanding of itself and the world that have had and can continue to have salutary consequences, and which should be embraced and guided by the Christian faith.

Most of the chapters succeed in identifying the distinguishing features of the modern spirit and in stating the central evangelical, and nonnegotiable, elements of the Christian faith which seem to be most directly affected. They also succeed in showing the often subtle ways in which the alien aspects of secularity and its child, technological society, have altered the church's understanding of its theological foundations, life, and mission.

Although in chapter one at some points Mark Kinzer's (senior elder of the Free Church Fellowship, Ann Arbor, Michigan) account of the formative influences of mass technological society is too simplistic, it does provide a fair and insightful description of how modern technological society has influenced social change and Christian identity. His four "pastoral responses to modernity" avoid "knee-jerk" reactionism and point us in a direction that can lead to a truly distinctive Christian life and witness in the world.

In chapter two, "Ideology Vs. Theology," Dale Vree, editor of the New Oxford Review, delivers a warning to the church against easy identification with any ideology-right (the Christian New Right) or left (Marxism).

Although he too closely identifies liberation theology with Marxism and Pelagianism, Vree's description of how the cardinal doctrines of evangelical faith can be reduced to a political ideology fundamentally alien to the Christian gospel should put a shot across every Christian bow, whether the ship flies its flag to the right or to the left.

The book's most penetrating analysis of one particular aspect of the modern temper is Paul C. Vitz's description of contemporary secular psychology, and more especially, the pop-psychology of the Your Erroneous Zones and I'm Okay; You're Okay variety. He skillfully distinguishes secular psychology's orientation towards naturalism, reductionism, individualism, relativism, subjectivism, and the fixation on self-realization, from the Christian commitment to the worship of God (as opposed to narcissism), to community, and to the end of self-sovereignty.

But Vitz's contribution is not simply polemical. He boldly points the way to what he calls a "Christian psychology." "In the long run," he says, "it will be possible to baptize large portions of secular psychology so as to permanently remove its anti-Christian thrust" (p. 142). According to him Christian psychology will be one that (1) is based on the existence of a trinitarian God; (2) has a clear and well worked out morality and value system; and (3) that introduces fundamental new concepts and practices into psychology and counseling such as prayer and fasting, forgiveness, responsibility for one's actions and the Holy Spirit as healer.

Steven B. Clark's chapter discusses the impact of modern methods of historical research on Biblical studies and on our understanding of Biblical authority (he is overall coordinator of The Word of God, Ann Arbor, Michigan). Clark's delineation of what he designates as the three modern approaches to scriptural authority (the traditional or theological method; the secular-historical approach; and the historical-Biblical approach) is generally accurate. Although his judgment of the historical-critical method is unnecessarily severe he is correct that whenever exegesis is reduced to a branch of history interpreted in positivistic and reductionistic terms the Scriptures are emptied of their "core content-the supernatural intervention of God in the world in Christ." A positivistic approach to the Bible "undercuts its authority by denying and ignoring the authoritative revelation of God as expressed in the teachings of Christ and his apostles" (p. 165). While expressing his appreciation for the historical-critical method he insists that it does not complete exegesis. The historical-critical method must become a part of the "historical-Biblical" approach to the Scriptures. In addition to critical analysis of the text exegesis must also take full account of the church's confession of faith regarding the God of whom the Bible speaks, of His mighty deeds in creation and redemption. Exegesis must include both critical analysis and understanding of the faith affirmation(s) voiced in a particular text and in the Scriptures as a whole. Otherwise, the exegete has not yet encountered the text. What Clark describes as the "historical-Biblical" method sounds much like canonical criticism as advocated by James Sanders, and, somewhat differently, by Brevard Childs.

Clearly, the most comprehensive and imaginative chapter of the book is written by Donald Bloesch, "The Challenge Facing the Churches." On the one hand Bloesch rejects any tendency to identify the church with ideologies (which he defines as "a complex of ideas designed to reorganize society in such a way as to serve or protect the vested interest of a particular group in society," p. 205) and on the other hand he rejects any response to modernity which sets Christ against Culture. His suggestions regarding the church's attitude toward the modern geist are clearly patterned after Christ the transformer of culture.

Bloesch rejects as non-redemptive and non-Christian "theologies that substitute secular panaceas for the Biblical gospel" (p. 215). Rather, he appeals for a prophetic-redemptive ministry to our era by evangelical Protestants and Catholics. The evangelical witness for which Bloesch calls will hold to a view of salvation that affirms the full incarnation of God in Christ "that climactic act that signifies the culmination of the salvific process" (p. 212), and that directly relates Calvary and Pentecost to the Second Advent of Christ.

A "new evangelical alliance" must reaffirm "the objective, historical focus of salvation" which, while it does not minimize the subjective role of salvation, avoids the error of equating salvation with either liberation from economic and political oppression, the "realization of human potential," the "creative advance into novelty" (process theology), the breakthrough into meaning and freedom (existentialism) or with entering the depth dimension of existence (neo-mysticism).

Bloesch believes that the church will minister redemptively to our era only if its theology is thoroughly theocentric, and by that he means Christocentric. Such a theology, according to him, rules out a "narrow biblicism (in Protestantism)" that appeals to the Bible without "focusing attention on its center and divine content-Jesus Christ (p. 208)," and a "narrow ecclesiasticism (in Roman Catholicism)" that exempts the church from a criticism by the gospel. Furthermore, a Christocentric theology will just as adamantly oppose all forms of subjectivism that reduce "God, sin and faith" to anthropocentric, subjective states and judgments (as for example when God is viewed as "a creative force or energy," when sin is understood as "instability and alienation" rather than as revolt against God, and when faith is seen as "the creative potential within mankind," rather than as absolute dependence on and worship of God).

Such a theological commitment, Bloesch believes, will lead to a renewed commitment to evangelization of the non-Christian world, or more correctly, to "the conversion of both parties [he has discussed the present prominent dialogic mode that often characterizes communication between Christianity and other religions] in the dialogue to Jesus Christ, since he represents the negation as well as the fulfillment of all religions, including the Christian religion" (p. 214).

The "new evangelical alliance" envisioned by Bloesch would yoke "Bible-believing Christians in all branches of Christendom." It would aim at "convergence" among evangelicals-Protestant and Roman Catholic rather than at further division. Such an alliance would unite around a confession that speaks a "new word from God that stands in continuity with His past words but that calls the whole church to a fresh doctrinal stance and also to a style of life in keeping with the gospel" (p. 2163.

The two respondents to Bloesch's chapter, Peter Hocken (a Roman Catholic priest from England) and Richard Lovelace (Professor of Church History, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary3 warmly embrace Bloesch's appeal. Hocken suggests that such an alliance as is called for by Bloesch will need to give more attention (than has Bloesch3 to the work of the Holy Spirit as the One who brings the Word to life in the hearts of believers. In saying this, Hocken probably voices a suggestion that Wesleyans would make in their response to Bloesch. Both Hocken and Lovelace point out that Bloesch should have specifically named the Wesleyan tradition as a vital part of the called-for alliance.

This reviewer welcomes the appeal issued by Bloesch. Bloesch's doctrine of Biblical authority is thoroughly Christocentric and should be acceptable to Wesleyans.