Book Reviews

Norman H. Murdoch, Origins of the Salvation Army. Knoxville: Uni­versity of Tennessee Press, 1994. 241 pp. ISBN 0-87049-858-4.

Reviewed by R. David Rightmire, Asbury College, Wilmore, KY.

Norman Murdoch's Origins of the Salvation Army challenges tradi­tional interpretations of the Army's official denominational histories. As a response to Salvationist hagiography, this work represents a social histo­rian's revisionistic assessment of the relationship between class and reli­gion in the development of the Salvation Army. Murdoch brings a unique perspective to his critical analysis of the successes and failures of William Booth's ministry among the poor. The author traces the lives and work of Booth and his wife, Catherine, from their beginnings as Wesleyan evange­lists in the 1850s to their inauguration in 1890 of the social scheme pre­sented in the book In Darkest England and the Way Out. The work includes appendices, a bibliographic essay, and an index.

In the opening pages of the book, Murdoch provides a helpful discus­sion of the impact of trans-Atlantic revivalism on Salvation Army origins. The Booths were especially influenced by the ministry of James Caughey, Charles Finney, and Phoebe Pahner (American holiness evangelists) in the 1840s. In effect, the Army adopted and then institutionalized revivalism's "new measures." Booth's founding of an urban mission in the East End of London (1865-79) is critically evaluated as a failure. Murdoch claims that such failure was due to "Booth's inability to reach across cultures" to the non-Protestant immigrant populations, failing "to impose an Anglo-Wes­leyan culture on East Enders" (79). The stagnation of the work in the East End is presented as the catalyst for the focus of missional activity in the out-lying provincial towns. In fact, the author discerns a pattern of accom­modation leading to failure at every stage of the Army's development.

Throughout the book, such "failure" is determined by statistical analysis and is contrasted to the so-called success of Booth, which the author deems "wishful thinking" (84). Murdoch interprets the reorganization of Booth's movement along military lines (resulting in the emergence of the Salvation Army in 1878) as an attempt to revitalize a faltering mission. The author views the military metaphor as leading to divine-right absolutism, and being justified by Booth on pragmatic grounds. Murdoch maintains that the success of the mission-turned-Army had nothing to do with the military metaphor and authoritarian rule of a general (as Booth supposed), but was the result of "women's ministry and the shift to the provinces" (100). This stage of the Army's growth is characterized by the development of post­millennial revivalistic imperialism.

The author claims that Booth's failure to gain a foothold in urban slums was somewhat obscured by the Army's success in attracting the working class in the provincial cities. The Army's phenomenal growth among the working class between 1878 and 1886 was followed by a period of stagnation, leading Booth to look for new mission fields. As a Christian imperium, the Army expanded during the 1880s beyond the boundaries of Great Britain, becoming international in scope. The explo­sive growth of the international Army, however, is said to have been miti­gated by the failure of Booth to "read the signs of the times," maintaining a centralized structure of governance amidst an age of increasing democra­tic idealism. Revivalistic failure in relation to the "heathen masses" and a growing concern for the wretched urban conditions are claimed to have led Booth to adapt his mission to social salvation. Murdoch further interprets the adding of "wholesale salvation" to the mission of individual salvation as a utilitarian means to salvage the movement in the late 1880s. Con­sciously deciding against the democratization of his movement as a way to hold on to the working class and their financial support, Booth adopted social service as a means of finding outside sources of support for his worldwide Christian imperium.

The author's claim that "social salvation replaced evangelism as the Army's mission" (147) is overstated, as is the charge that financial survival determined the Army's agenda, causing it to temper its aggressive Chris­tianity. As a reaction to Salvation Army hagiography, this author's demythologization goes beyond an assessment of institutional bias to the point of charging early Army leaders with intentional falsification. Throughout the work, Murdoch's economic, sociological, and psychologi­cal analyses of Booth's motives, actions, and spiritual commitments pro­vide a unique, if not controversial, interpretation of the historical evidence.

John W. Krummel, ed. A Biographical Dictionary of Methodist Mis­sionaries to Japan: 1873-1993 (n.p.: Kyo Bun Kwan, 1996). Pps. xiii, 342. ISBN: 4-7642-4019-X.

Reviewed by David Bundy, Christian Theological Seminary, Indi­anapolis, IN.

The first Methodist Episcopal missionaries arrived in Japan during 1873. Since that time, the Methodist Churches (Methodist Episcopal, United Methodist, Free Methodist, Wesleyan Methodist, Wesleyan) and the daughter churches of the Holiness and Pentecostal movements have played important roles in the development of Christianity within the con­text of Japan. A definitive history of this phenomenon has not yet been written, but the first step has been taken by the Christianity and Culture Research Center of the Research Institute of Aoyama Gakuin University.

The present bilingual English-Japanese dictionary provides thorough documentation on missionaries from churches that are part of the World Methodist Council or their predecessor denominations. The effort was made to locate biographical information on the present denominations as well as the predecessor denominations. Missionaries from these denomi­nations who served either as "self-supporting" missionaries or on assign­ment with an ecumenical agency (WCTU, YMCA, YWCA) were included, as were visiting faculty who went to Japan under the aegis of the Japanese Methodist churches or the various mission boards. Thus, for example, Myrtle Anderson served at Osaka Christian College under the aegis of the Free Methodist Mission Board from 1951-1959 and returned to Japan (1962-1968) as a "self-supporting" missionary. She served as Professor of English at Kyoritsu Women's University.

The importance of this volume for Wesleyan/Holiness mission his­tory can hardly be exaggerated. Individuals who work on two continents (and in two unrelated languages) are very difficult to document. Few scholars have the language skills or the financial resources to examine all of the available information. The method of presentation of the data is clear and concise. For each person, actuarial dates are provided, names of parents (including the family name of the mother when available), educa­tional experience, denominational connections, and other relevant min­istry status, including conference membership and dates of arrival in and departure from Japan. This is followed by a brief narrative of the ministry of the individual. These succinct paragraphs average about 50 words, with some up to as many as 150. The same text appears in Japanese. This remarkable feature of the volume makes the information available to scholars and/or families of missionaries working in either language. The data, where it can be verified, is remarkably accurate and complete. Access is facilitated through lists of abbreviations and a list of the schools and other institutions and organizations to which Methodist missionaries were assigned in Japan.

This Biographical Dictionary will provoke a number of observations and research projects. For example, one sees the significant presence of Free Methodist and Wesleyan missionaries in numbers disproportionate to the size of the denominations. Another observation is the frequent refer­ence to "self supporting" missions and to the Wesleyan/Holiness institu­tions that were influenced by the Methodist who advocated that style of mission, William Taylor. A surprise is the minimal presence of Wes­leyan/Holiness institutional references other than God's Bible School and Taylor University. Asbury College and Asbury Theological Seminary are mentioned occasionally. The overwhelming impression is of the diversity of the Methodist tradition as encountered by Japan. For example, the edu­cational backgrounds of missionaries (and presumably their theological commitments) include Union Theological Seminary, Boston University, Southern Methodist University, Los Angeles Pacific College (now part of Azusa), Greenville College, God's Bible School, Harvard, and many state universities. One wonders what definitions of "Methodist" the Japanese churches may entertain.

One issue that arises is that of completeness. That claim (preface, p. ii) is dangerous to make! For example, it could be argued that Charles and Lettie Cowman and the E. A. Kilbournes should have been included in the dictionary because they were the first persons ordained and commis­sioned by the Pilgrim Holiness Church-which would merge with the Wesleyan Methodist Church to form the Wesleyan Church. That they would later found the independent interdenominational Wesleyan/Holi­ness Oriental Missionary Society (today OMS, Inc.) might bring all of the mssionaries of that organization in Japan into the orbit of the Biographi­cal Dictionary. As well, it appears that several Free Methodist short-term (VISA) missionaries were not included.

Another issue is the limitation of coverage to denominations related to the World Methodist Council. As seen above in the example of the Ori­ental Missionary Society, there are a number of ambiguous cases. Among these, the more problematic are the Salvation Army, Church of the Nazarene, and the Japan Evangelistic Band. Each of these have propa­gated traditional Methodist themes as articulated within the Wesleyan/ Holiness tradition. Each can trace its beginnings back to Methodist con­texts.

These questions are not raised to cast aspersions on the work accom­plished in the production of the Biographical Dictionary. Instead, they are only indicative of work to be done as one seeks to define the nature of Methodist influence in the definition of contemporary global Christianity. The present volume will long continue to be a standard resource for those interested in Methodist and/or Wesleyan/Holiness mission as well as for those interested in the transference of religious ideas from one culture to another.

Stephen L. Longenecker. 1994. Piety and Tolerance: Pennsylvania German Religions, 1700-1850. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press. The sixth volume in the Pietist and Wesleyan Studies monograph series edited by David Bundy and J. Steven O'Malley.

Reviewed by Andrew Tickle, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia.

In this ground-breaking monograph, Stephen Longenecker has brought his outstanding skills as an historian to bear on a long neglected topic. Assuming that the religious beliefs of an individual or group have an impact on their personal and social lives, Longenecker focuses his attention on the shared theological beliefs of those Germans who settled southeastern Pennsylvania. By so doing he shows that these Germans made a far greater impact on American civilization than previously thought. Moreover, by shifting attention to the impact of the middle colonies on the American situation, Longenecker joins the ranks of those historians who wish to broaden the perspective of early American colo­nial history beyond the borders of Puritan New England.

In the preface of Piety and Tolerance, Longenecker sets forth his pri­mary thesis: "If what marks American democracy is respect for the rights of all, then perhaps a more diverse area, such as the middle colonies, prompted the tradition of tolerance. Piety and Tolerance, therefore, looks to early Pennsylvania Germans to determine the influence of German Protestantism, particularly Pietism, in promoting understanding and coop­eration"(xiii). In other words, Longenecker wants to argue that inherent in their shared pietistic theology was an egalitarianism that prompted a spirit of toleration and at times led to cooperation among the diverse German religious groups inhabiting southeastern colonial Pennsylvania. Thus, by choosing a path long neglected by contemporary historians, Longenecker believes that he has located one if not the source of the ultimate American value, toleration.

The chapters of Piety and Tolerance can be divided into three dis­tinct groups. The first section recounts two factors that gave rise to the egalitarian and tolerant attitudes prevalent in colonial Pennsylvania. In the first chapter, Longenecker describes the theological concepts of spiritual rebirth through faith in Jesus Christ and the universal freedom to exercise such faith. These two concepts, he argues, are the heart of Pietism and inherent in these concepts is a propensity to produce an egalitarian cli­mate. According to Longenecker, it is this shared emphasis on the unlim­ited availability of salvation for all persons which helped these diverse German groups to form cooperative relationships. Moreover, he argues that certain of these immigrant religious groups, i.e., the Brethren, expe­rienced a reversal of their socio-economic status. In Europe these groups were in the minority and had suffered at the hands of Catholics as well as other Protestants. Upon arrival in Pennsylvania, the minority groups found themselves in the majority and in possession of more freedom. This reversal promoted a greater atmosphere of tolerance.

The second section of chapters examines the various German reli­gious groups which settled in southeastern colonial Pennsylvania. Begin­ning with those he deems the "Radical Pietists," Longenecker explores those religious groups which stood furthest outside the religious main­stream. They were characterized by their mystical tendencies, nonconfor­mity, and anti-establishment views. In the chronology of immigration, the Anabaptists, among whom he includes the Amish, Mennonites, Mora­vians, and the Dunkers (who would later be known as Brethren) were the next to arrive. Longenecker highlights the religious and communal prac­tices of these Anabaptist groups which best reflect their egalitarian spirit as well as those beliefs and practices which hindered it. He devotes the next chapter to probing the involvement of some of these groups in the revivals of the mid-1700s. Longenecker makes the point that the pietistic strains of the churches of these Germans - Lutherans and Reformed - ­became more obvious during this period of revivalism. He also addresses the failed unification efforts of the Moravian leader Count von Zinzen­dorf. The final chapter in this segment examines the campmeeting revivals of the late eighteenth century. These new revivals and revivalists provoked many troubling questions among these German religious groups about various revival practices and particular theological beliefs; how­ever, the revivals also promoted many practices which were indicative of a spirit of ecumenism and cooperation among these same Germans.

In the final chapters of Piety and Tolerance Longenecker addresses the influence that Pietism's egalitarian view of salvation had on these Germans as they confronted the issue of slavery. He argues that all groups with Pietistic tendencies believed that spiritual freedom was avail­able to all - black and white. Nevertheless, they disagreed over the earthly status of those in bondage and were split over the alternatives of colonization, continued bondage, or complete freedom.

All of its reviewers to date have extolled Piety and Tolerance as an important ground-breaking contribution to the long neglected study of early Pennsylvania German Religion, Their criticisms have been minimal. John Frantz sees two problems with the work. First, he says the author "exaggerates the degree of cooperation that prevailed in the colony. Much of the evidence he presents constitutes exceptions to the rule" (John B. Frantz. The William and Mary Quarterly 53, Jan. 1996, 217). Secondly, Frantz maintains that the subtitle is misleading in that it hints at a much more comprehensive study than the book really provides. Frantz points to the neglect of the Lutheran and Reformed churches "whose members con­stituted the majority of the Pennsylvania Germans" and rightly points out that Roman Catholics receive virtually no attention (217). Paul E. Doutr ch criticizes the work for its lack of "probing analysis" concerning the effects of change on the various groups. Doutrich observes that Lon­genecker "often suggests ways that various German Protestant groups evolved, but rarely does he offer a completely satisfying explanation about the causes or consequences of change" (Paul E. Doutrich, Journal of Church and State, 38:1, 1996, 188).

The strongest critique of Piety and Tolerance pertains to its mono­lithic view of Pietism. Leonard Riforgiato makes the case in his biogra­phy of Henry Melchoir Muhlenburg that "Pietism ... was a many-sided religious phenomenon and while Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg can with justification be considered a pietist, it is difficult to assign him to any one branch of the movement" (Leonard R. Riforgiato, Missionary of Modera­tion: Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg and the Lutheran Church in English America, Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1980, 33). Continuing this line of argument, Riforgiato states that Longenecker "also assumes, erroneously, that all German American sects embraced the same variety of Pietism . . ," (Leonard Riforgiato, Church History, 65:1, 1996, 124­-125).

During a public discussion of his work, Longenecker made several comments regarding the reviews of his work. He contended that most of the reviewers of Piety and Tolerance were biased toward their particular denominational affiliation. Furthermore, he stated that most denomina­tional scholars have an aversion to the Pietistic strains within their denomination's history-an aversion that Longenecker also attributed to most of his reviewers. He describes Pietism as a "live" issue in most denominations, carrying with it a negative connotation. He cited as an example the Mennonite historian Beulah Stauffer Hostetler's review in which she states that Longenecker's treatment "becomes murky when he also regards Mennonites and other staid denominations as Pietist. While Pietist emphases no doubt pervaded all of the groups to some extent, it was precisely the resistance of these major groups to the strongly pietistic emphasis of the Pennsylvania German revival that resulted in members of their denominations leaving to form new religious groupings. . ." (Beulah Stauffer Hostetler, Mennonite Quarterly Review, 69, October, 1995, 543­-545).

I find myself in agreement with the reviewers of Piety and Tolerance. Longenecker has made an important contribution to the study of German religion in colonial Pennsylvania. He effectively uses original sources to support his primary thesis and he does so in a readable narra­tive style. Moreover, he does not ignore those issues and situations that are contrary to his thesis. However, there are problems that have escaped the attention of the previous reviewers. As one progresses through this work it becomes apparent that it is more about cooperative efforts of clergy and church leaders than a discussion of the laity's attitudes toward other members of various groups. Longenecker does not make this differ­entiation. Initially, from the title and preface, one would have the impres­sion that the intent of this work is to address both groups; that is to say, it is to be a comprehensive work. With the current historical interest in pop­ular religion, Longenecker's analysis could have only benefited from such considerations.

Another problem is the mysterious appearance and disappearance of certain groups in the course of the narrative. The Radical Pietists drop completely out of the picture without explanation. At least two topics are introduced with little or no explanation. Although Longenecker does dis­cuss the cooperative efforts of Methodists with some of these German groups, he provides no discussion, with the exception of Whitefeld, of how or why Methodists came to be in this area of Pennsylvania, nor does he discuss how Methodism initially came into contact with these commu­nities. He assumes that the reader will already be acquainted with the pietistic nature of Methodism.

Finally, by committing only five pages to a formal discussion of the history and theology of Pietism, Longenecker gives too little attention to the concept which provides the framework for his work. He argues strongly for the case that the theology of Pietism promoted the egalitarian attitude of these colonists and hence led to their tolerant attitudes. The older works of Lucy Bittinger (German Religious Life in Colonial Times, 1906) and Julius Fredrich Sachse (The German Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania, 1895) do a better job of introducing their readers to the German Pietistic tradition. Such a discussion may have averted Rifor­giato's accurate criticism that Longenecker's presentation of Pietism is monolithic. Since German Pietism is the fulcrum of his argument, it deserved far more attention.

However, Piety and Tolerance is an important contribution to Amer­ican religious history and to the Wesleyan/Holiness tradition. It provides much needed background and insight into those immigrant German reli­gious groups which had a vital part in shaping the history of this tradition.

Emilio J. M. de Carvalho, OuAo os passos de milhares: Etapas do Metodismo em Angola (2nd ed.; Luanda: Igreja Metodista Unida em Angola, 1994). 200 pps.

Reviewed by David Bundy, Christian Theological Seminary, Indi­anapolis, IN. .

The interaction of the Wesleyan/Holiness traditions in the United States and the Methodist churches that developed as a result of mission activity that self-consciously identified itself as Wesleyan/Holiness has been little studied. The volume of Bishop Emilio de Carvalho is an impor­tant contribution to that area of mission history. The focus of this study is on the developments in Angola, beginning with the work of William Tay­lor and continuing nearly to the present. The World Christian Encyclope­dia (Nairobi: Oxford University Press, 1982) identified the Igreja Metodista Unida as the second largest non-Catholic church in Angola with about 70,000 members. Since that time there has been an upsurge in both the Pentecostal churches and the African independent churches, but the Methodists remain a significant part of the religious landscape of the coun­try. De Carvalho argues that the character of the Angolan Methodist church was formed by the role of the Wesleyan/Holiness missionaries who served as part of the Methodist Episcopal Mission Board during the initial period of the Taylor-inspired missionaries in Angola beginning in 1885.

After a brief survey of the development of mission organizations within Great Britain (pps. 7-24), de Carvalho traces the efforts of Protestant missionaries to establish a presence in Angola. Special attention is given (pps. 25-30) to the treaties in Europe which forced the Catholic Portuguese colonial administration in Angola to allow European Protestant missions access to the population. What de Carvalho does not note is that the Ameri­can missions were not explicitly included in the treaties. Therefore, William Taylor personally went to Lisbon, secured an audience with the King and obtained permission to develop a "self-supporting" mission in Angola which conformed to the criteria established in the European treaties. For that reason, Taylor's work in Angola was developed on a slightly different basis than in other areas of the world. It was focused more on developing farming and light industry, with less insistence on conformity to local cul­tural norms than, for example, in other areas of Africa, Latin America, India. Taylor's career and mission theory, see D. Bundy, "Bishop William Taylor and Methodist Mission: A Study in Nineteenth Century Social History," Methodist History 27:4(1989), 197-210 and 28,1(1989), 2:21; and idem, "William Taylor, 1821-1902: Entrepreneurial Maverick for the Indigenous Church," in Mission Legacies, ed. G. Anderson, et al. (Ameri­can Society of Missiology Series, 19, Maryknoll: Orbis, 1994), 461-468.

Four chapters (pps. 31-80) focus on William Taylor and the "self­supporting" mission which functioned in relative independence from the Methodist Episcopal Mission Board. Initial travel and capital funds were channeled through the Transit and Building Fund Society. The results of mission were organized as local autonomous Methodist churches and were designed not to be dependent on the Methodist Episcopal Mission Board in New York for funds, governance, or spiritual advice. The first of these chapters (pps. 31-39) describes the life and mission of Taylor. The second (pps. 41-49) describes briefly Taylor's relationship with two European missionaries to Angola who worked under and/or with the Taylor mission­aries. These were William Summers and Heli Chatelain. In addition to the information provided by de Carvalho, it should be noted that Chatelain arranged for the publication of the exploits and theories of William Taylor in French-language mission journals, thereby giving Taylor another lin­guistic audience and complicating the study of the influence of Taylor.

The next chapter (pps. 51-76) traces the Taylor expedition to Angola from its January 1885 departure from New York with 44 persons, includ­ing Taylor's son Ross and wife. The hardships experienced by the group because of climate and disease are recounted. Few of the enterprises were able to achieve a "self-supporting" level of income. In addition to these difficulties mentioned by de Carvalho, there were problems with language learning. The groups of missionaries were too large and their discipline by Taylor into a large class meeting did not give the missionaries time or isolation to learn either the African or Portuguese languages. The children learned most quickly and initially served as translators for the adults, but their life expectancy was so short that few grew into the role of adult mis­sionary. The Mead family met in these pages would eventually be in Los Angeles in 1906, participate in the Pentecostal revival, and contributed to the analysis of glossolalia by claiming to recognize African languages. The death rate was very high. Photographs of gravestones of several of this group provide a poignant counterpoint to the text.

Despite the difficulties, churches and various enterprises were begun in Dondo, Nhangue-a-Pepe, Pungo Andongo, Malange, and the capital Luanda. In a chapter which evaluates the Taylor mission theory and prac­tice as applied to Angola, de Carvalho acknowledges the problems encountered and admits the success was less than anticipated. However; he counters the critics of Taylor and the sympathizers with Taylor's antag­onists on the Methodist Episcopal Mission Board. Without the sacrificial work of the Taylor missionaries, there would probably have been no Methodist church in Angola. He asks (p. 80), "where was the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church?"

From 1885 to 1896, either Taylor or one of the self-supporting mis­sionaries served as chair of the (Angola) District Conference of the Annual Conference of Liberia. Beginning in 1897, with the retirement of Taylor, Taylor's successor, Bishop Hartzell, brought the churches under the control of the Mission Board in New York by making the churches part of the new Missionary Conference of the Congo. This was changed in 1902 to the Mis­sionary Conference of West Africa. In 1920, the Angolan churches were organized as the Missionary Conference of Angola. Taylor missionary H. C. Withey could serve as secretary to the Conference, but the visiting bish­ops and New York were clearly in control. It was not until 1950 that an Angolan Methodist was entrusted with the secretary's position and not until 1970 with the election of Bishop de Carvalho that someone from the church in Angola was again chair of the Annual Conference. The focus of the chapters which trace the history between Taylor and ecclesiastical inde­pendence (pps. 83-137) focus on the administrative, educational and evan­gelistic efforts of the church. There is frequent reference to Taylor in these sections and the subsequent events are evaluated in light of Taylor's vision. The chapter which narrates the development of the Annual Conference (since 1948) (pps: 141-192) contains important excursuses on the relation­ship to global Methodism, the roles of Black American Methodist mission­aries, mission work in Sao Tome, ecumenical relationships, theological education, and other ministries. The final chapter (pps. 195-200) briefly describes aspects of the present realities in the various regions of Angola.

This book is a remarkable achievement. It is probably not the last word on either Taylor's work in Angola or the history of Methodism in Angola, but it will be the essential starting point for all additional work. It is hoped that the correspondence and other documents on Angola preserved in the Methodist Center Archives at Drew University will be used in subse­quent volumes. These would add significant texture to the narrative and help clarify the role of the Methodist Episcopal Mission Board and the Mis­sionary Bishops in the development of the Methodist Church in Angola. It would be hoped that an extensive index might be appended to a subsequent edition to facilitate access to this magnificent detail-laden tome.

Richard B. Hays. 1996. The Moral Vision of the New Testament. A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics. Harper: San Fran­cisco. 508 pp. ISBN 0-06-063796-X. Paperback.

Reviewed by John E. Stanley, Messiah College, Grantham, PA.

"Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renew­ing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12:2, AA). This text summa­rizes the task of New Testament ethics, according to Richard Hays, Profes­sor of New Testament at Duke University Divinity School. Hays believes the church has been compromised by its commitment to nationalism, vio­lence, and idolatry. The academy needs a comprehensive New Testament ethics which combines the descriptive, synthetic, hermeneutical, and prag­matic tasks. Hays' goal is to reform the church by showing how the church can read Scripture and how Scripture can shape the life of the church.

Because of the diversity of its witnesses, the New Testament is nei­ther a cookie cutter for producing identical communities nor a rule book prescribing behavior. Instead, the church must engage in critical study which restates the diverse canonical texts while seeking a synthesis of the New Testament's ethical witnesses. The hermeneutical task of relating the text to the current situation requires an act of Spirit-led imagination. Prag­matically, New Testament ethics is unfinished unless the text addresses contemporary moral dilemmas facing the church.

After describing the moral visions of Paul, the later Pauline tradi­tion, Mark, Matthew, Luke-Acts, the Gospel and Epistles of John, and Revelation, Hays synthesizes these diverse ethical voices into the three focal images of community, cross, and new creation. The church is said to be God's counter-cultural community of discipleship and constantly should ask, "What should we do?" The cross stands as the paradigm for faithfulness to God in this world. The new creation, based on the unique act of God in the resurrection, represents the eschatological thrust of liv­ing in the power of the resurrection amid a not-yet-redeemed world. These three images are Hays' canon within the canon, his lens that focuses the reading of the canonical texts. The hermeneutical strategies of Reinhold Niebuhr, Karl Barth, John Howard Yoder, Stanley Hauerwas, and Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza are evaluated before the author states his own hermeneutical method-which stresses moral judgment as metaphor-making.

A strength of The Moral Vision of the New Testament is how Hays executes the pragmatic task by addressing the five issues of violence in defense of justice, divorce and remarriage, homosexuality, anti-Judaism and ethnic conflict, and abortion. He chose these five issues because the New Testament speaks to these five questions in decreasing amounts of speci­ficity. The New Testament categorically rejects the use of violence. Hays claims, ".there is not a syllable in the Pauline letters that can be cited in sup­port of Christians employing violence" (331). Regarding divorce, New Tes­tament texts share a common perspective but allow for pastoral modifica­tions in specific contexts. The New Testament clearly opposes homosexuality, but that opposition needs to be weighed against other moral arguments. Regarding anti-Judaism, the New Testament contains texts which disagree and are in tension with each other. There are no New Testa­ment texts that address the question of abortion directly. Thus, these five topics enable Hays to show how to use the New Testament whose voice on these matters ranges from a thundering unison to diversity to silence. Hays explains his deep personal involvement in each of these issues. For instance, the chapter on abortion emerged when close Christian friends in their forties became pregnant and learned that their baby would be born with Down's syndrome. Bill and Jennifer asked Hays how the New Testa­ment could provide guidance for their decision on whether or not to termi­nate the pregnancy. Hays' personal conclusions are not always predictable.

Here is a comprehensive book on New Testament ethics because he shows how to reconcile biblical authority and diversity with the claims of experience and diverse traditions. He demonstrates how to perform the descriptive, synthetic, hermeneutical, and pragmatic tasks of Christian decision making. However, I have five debates with Hays. (1) Why did he omit Hebrews from his description of a New Testament moral vision, especially since he acknowledged Hebrews as a major ethical witness (202) and claimed he was confronting the full range of canonical wit­nesses? (2) How can a New Testament ethics not address sin as a theologi­cal and ethical reality? (3) Although I concur with Hays that the New Tes­tament renounces the use of violence and calls Christians to love their enemies, the issue is more nuanced than he acknowledges. Hays rejects any just war theory and contends that "Christians have no place in the mil­itary" (400). His argument relates to his notion of the church as a counter­cultural community of discipleship. What happens when the church is not in a "Christ versus culture" typology, as in the Pastoral Epistles? Also, Paul used his Roman citizenship to appeal to Caesar for protection. Is love the only way to resist evil? Must armed force always be rejected?

(4) Twice Hays addresses the matters of wealth, poverty, and the sharing of possessions. His call to share, although a valid and necessary response for affluent Christians, ignores the systemic nature of economic disparities. He should have suggested what type of economic system the New Testament envisions or allows. Elsa Tamez' Third World reading of James would instruct Hays. As it is, Hays takes a reactive rather than pro­active approach. (5) His rejection of love and liberation, as key focal images will draw debate, especially since liberation has been a key theme in the African-American tradition. I suspect that his desire to distance himself from liberation theology may have blinded him to the centrality of liberation as a theme in John, Luke-Acts, and Paul.

Wesleyan/Holiness readers will find golden nuggets scattered throughout Hays' exegetical mine. Some of these gems need further cut­ting and polishing, but their potential worth is obvious. For instance, Hays consistently emphasizes the Holy Spirit who not only informs the church but produces sanctification as a transformation of character and of the heart. Hays' affirmation that ethics and theology are united recalls Frank Staggs' observation on the centrality of ethics in the :holiness movement. Hays highlights the New Testament's lofty vision of the church and he expects the church to act as God's new community. He affirms women and men as equal in office and opportunity in ministry and shows how 1 Tim. 2:11-15 conflicts with authentic Pauline teachings. He posits an inaugurated rather than a realized eschatology, even in the Gospel of John. In Matthew, Hays finds a community ethic of perfection. Thus, teleios in Matt. 5:48 should be translated as "perfect" rather than as "mature" to retain Matthew's intention. Love, rather than legalism, per­vades Matthew. Hays reads Acts as a book about power and calls it early Pentecostalism rather than "early Catholicism." Regarding Romans, Hays notes that Romans does not end with chapters 3 and 7 because Romans 8 promises a realizable victory and power over sin. The Wesleyan quadrilat­eral constantly informs his appropriation of the New Testament. Like some Wesleyan/Holiness groups, Hays is a primitivist who values the past as the seed of the future. He wants to recapture the centrality of Scripture for a Spirit-endowed church.

The Moral Vision of the New Testament by Richard Hays is a major work that is must reading for the church and the academy. I read and dis­cussed this work with John Stoner. Our conversations and debates enriched this review.

Edited by Michael Mattei for the
Wesley Center for Applied Theology
at Northwest Nazarene University
© Copyright 2003 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology

Text may be freely used for personal or scholarly purposes, provided the notice below the horizontal line is left intact. Any use of this material for commercial purposes of any kind is strictly forbidden without the express permission of the Wesley Center at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, ID 83686. Contact the webmaster for permission or to report errors.