Book Reviews

JASA Book Reviews for December 1983

Table of Contents
THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE: A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT THE CHANGLNG FACE OF PSYCHOLOGY by Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 1982, 151 pp., $5.95, paperback.
CHURCH GROWTH AND THE WHOLE GOSPEL: A BIBLICAL MANDATE by C. Peter Wagner, Harper and Row, 1981, 208 pages, $13.50.
SCIENCE AND CONSCIENCE by Milton R. Wessel, Columbia University Press, 1980, 293 + xxi pp., $15.95.
KEN PIKE: SCHOLAR AND CHRISTIAN; by Eunice V. Pike. Summer Insfitute of Linguistics (1981) vi + 268 pages, $4.95 paper.
THE MASKS OF MELANCHOLY by John White, 1982, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 256 pages, $ 12.75.
CREATION, SCIENCE, AND THEOLOGY: ESSAYS IN RESPONSE TO KARL BARTH by W. A. Whitehouse, ed. by Ann Loades (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981), xxiv + 247 pp., $10.95.
THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF THE BIOLOGICAL WORLD by Edmund Jack Ambrose. Halsted Press (John Wiley and Sons), New York. 1982. (ISBN 0470-275146.)$22.95.
CONFESSING CHRIST AS LORD: THE URBANA '81 COMPENDIUM by John W. Alexander, ed. Downers Grove, Ill., Inter-Varsity Press, 1982, 269 pages, $5.95.
EVOLUTION OR CREATION? by Arthur C. Custance, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1976. 330 pages, $8.95
TEMPTATION: HELP FOR STRUGGLING CHRISTIANS by Charles Durham. Downers Grove, Inter-Varsity Press, 1982, 166 pages, $4.95.
BETWEEN SCIENCE AND VALUES by Loren R. Graham, Columbia University Press, New York, 1981.
Care of Mind, Care of Spirit by Gerald G. May, Harpers, San Fransisco, 1982. 175 pp. $11.95.

THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE: A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT THE CHANGLNG FACE OF PSYCHOLOGY by Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 1982, 151 pp., $5.95, paperback.

Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen sounds a clear clarion call for a new approach to the study of human beings. This book presents a well-reasoned case for the need for a psychology in which human distinctives are paramount and methods used are appropriate to those distinctives.

She notes, in tracing the development of modern psychology, that psychology has been strongly influenced by the natural science and secularism of the eighteenth century. In her view the natural-science model has serious inadequacies which center about two foci: lack of dependable knowledge resulting from application of these methods to humans, and ethical considerations.

Psychology has adopted not only the natural-science model but also its criteria for scientific method: reductionism, emphasis on the experimental method, explanations rooted in prior experimental conditions, operationism, a penchant for quantification, and objectivity in the sense of viewing research subjects as objects to be manipulated. In her view these six criteria together make up positivism, the dominant current approach to psychology. She analyzes a well-known

research study from her specialty, social psychology, as an example of the positivist approach. Her analysis shows that the careful application of each of the six criteria does not lead to the lawful, exceptionless results that one might expect from such a competent application of the natural-scientific method.

Concerning ethical issues she points out that human subjects in experiments are treated as if they are passive responders to environmental pressures, but the experimenter is viewed as a purposive, reflexive being. In addition, she notes the problems in deceiving subjects-problems that never arise in the work of the physicist. She points out the longrange difficulties of the escalating "cat-and-mouse" game of more and more elaborate deceptions in the search for naive research subjects.

In her view the application of positivist methods in psychology, especially the experimental method, has contributed greatly to the fragmentation that exists in psychology today. She concludes that vigorous application of the positivist, natural-science approach has not led to the sound, lawful knowledge of human beings which that approach once promised. It is her contention, furthermore, that Christians in psychology have done very little to protest or counteract this positivist trend.

One of the many strengths of this book is its caref ul proposals for remedying the lamentable situation she describes. Van Leeuwen believes that the time is ripe for a period of "extraordinary science" as described by Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. She makes extensive use of the "routes to resolution" of differences in positivistic and Christian viewpoints in psychology proposed by Stephen Evans in Preserving the Person: A Look at the Human Sciences. She notes that the Compatabilists, the Capitulators, and the Territorialists all have inadequate means of resolution. She believes those who are "Humanizers of Science" have a more promising approach. The Perspectivalists, whom she sees as representing the most common type of resolution, have an intermediate place in her thinking-neither fully adequate nor fully inadequate. She clearly opts for a "human science revolution."

The human-science psychology that she proposes has many similarities to modern "third-force" psychologies, but with a significant difference. Although she shares with the humanists an emphasis on reflexivity, meaning, and wholeness, her proposed human science would hold "control beliefs" markedly different from most humanists. Prime examples would be that persons are created in the image of God and are also products of humanity's Fall. She also holds a less exalted view of the purity of human rationality, and takes into account the creatureliness of persons. Her human science would avoid cloaking non-biblical concepts, such as pantheism, in a religious vocabulary, and would see man's search for meaning as a fulfillable search for truth rather than only a significant process.

This book is highly recommended for those seeking a scholarly Christian foundation for a psychology that acknowledges a biblical concept of man, yet does not reject those solid contributions that natural-science psychology has made, and can continue to make if applied appropriately. The book has an index and extensive chapter end-notes.

Reviewed by Forrest E. Ladd, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Bethany Nazarene College, Bethany, OK.

CHURCH GROWTH AND THE WHOLE GOSPEL: A BIBLICAL MANDATE by C. Peter Wagner, Harper and Row, 1981, 208 pages, $13.50.

When the most articulate proponent of Church Growth writes about the whole gospel, the reader expects a book that deals with many issues. This book is no disappointment on this count. It is amazing that a relatively small volume can deal in such detail with so many issues.

Wagner has changed in his thinking during the last decade. He has taken seriously the major critics of the Church Growth Movement. He explains, with a minimum of defensiveness, historical antecedents of the weak points in his former theology, and gives due credit to those who have helped him grow.

He begins with a discussion of the Kingdom of God as normative for mission. He adopts the position he calls "holistic mission," which includes both the evangelistic and the cultural mandate. But he rejects "holistic evangelism," which gives equal status to evangelism and social concerns. He insists on the priority of evangelism, and argues that social concerns are best advanced when priority is given to evangelism. To give social issues equal or superior status is to weaken both evangelism and impact on society.

Many criticisms of the Church Growth movement are included, and give occasion for Wagner's explanations. His treatment of differences is fair and respectful. He deals seriously with other points of view, and states clearly the Church Growth position.

Wagner thinks analytically, so the book is full of fine distinctions and deductions. He includes several charts that help to distinguish one position or approach from another. Whether or not one agrees with his positions, his writing is vivid, clear and stimulating.

Adopting the position that dealing with all kinds of social issues is a necessity for believers, Wagner differentiates social service from social action. He then contends that different structures are required for these different aspects of social issues. Service, which counts on congregational consensus, should be a function of the local church, and will contribute to its growth. But social action is likely to be more controversial, and will lead to church decline unless carried out by a voluntary organization of those committed to it.

This book is a landmark in Church Growth literature, and is an important contribution to missiological literature. Wagner's openness and candidness in dealing with such an array of criticisms and issues, and the substance of his answers, make it a valuable resource for Christians seeking for guidance in carrying out the evangelistic and cultural mandates of Scripture.

Reviewed by Joseph M. Martin, Professor of Missions, Edward Lane Bible Institute, Patrocinio, M.G., Brasil, S.A.

SCIENCE AND CONSCIENCE by Milton R. Wessel, Columbia University Press, 1980, 293 + xxi pp., $15.95.

According to the dust jacket, Wessel is a lawyer who has had considerable experience in settling "complex public interest disputes." The theme of his book is that "socioscientific disputes" should be settled in a different way than they usually are now, namely in long legal and/or political battles. Examples of socioscientific disputes include SALT, the ozone question, laetrile, the IBM and Bell cases, and auto safety.

Wessel's method of solution is "the rule of reason," aided by "scientific consensus-finding conference." He describes how these tools have been used in two particular disputes he has been involved in concerning coal policy and 2,4,5,T ("Agent Orange"). Wessel states his belief:

Wessel also believes that one of the problems is that the legal profession has more of a vested interest in perpetuating disputes than in solving them, which will surprise few, and that the likely saviors of modem society are going to have to be responsible corporate managers, which surprised me, at least. He believes that it is in their ulitimate best interests to be candid and cooperative with all segments of the public, and to instruct their legal staff to aim for quick, reasonable solutions, rather than being (as so often happens) deceptive and dilatory, and instructing their legal staffs to be the same. The author devotes 48 pages to an appendix outlining how corporate legal aff airs should be handled.

Wessel's main message to scientists is that they do not help anyone by being advocates- They should be dispassionate, unbiased, and fully informative. He cites some horror stories, and an exemplary case or two.

As Wessel himself recognizes, the book's main weakness is that it is difficult to find an intended audience. He finally states that the book is for everyone concerned with socioscientific disputes. That, of course, means all of us. That there is no subdiscipline devoted to these public policy monsters is not Wessel's fault. Perhaps, like his book, they have no intended audience, other than all of us, All of us have a stake in solving them, and the book is a step in the proper direction.

Reviewed by Martin LaBar, Visiting Profenor, Bryan College, Tennessee

KEN PIKE: SCHOLAR AND CHRISTIAN; by Eunice V. Pike. Summer hisfitute of Linguistics (1981) vi + 268 pages, $4.95 paper.

Ken Pike is an outstanding linguistic scholar, a dedicated missionary, and one of the prime movers in the Summer Institute of Linguistics and related activities. This book is an intimate (not scholarly) biography written by his sister. Pike is a significant figure, and the "k contains a good deal of interesting and useful information. The presentation suffers at times from failure to distinguish anecdotes from more significant decisions and events, from uneven writing style, and even from surprisingly erroneous typography. Nevertheless, it is a worthwhile book for those interested in linguistics, or in translation as a missionary activity.

Reviewed by David T. Barnard, Director of Computing Services and Associate Professor of Computing and Information Science, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

THE MASKS OF MELANCHOLY by John White, 1982, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 256 pages, $12.75.

Enthusiasts of John White's earlier books such as The Golden Cow and People in Prayer will not be disappointed by this, his latest work. In The Masks of Melancholy the Christian psychiatrist explores the subject of depression in the hope of alleviating the unnecessary "pain and shame" associated with this condition. The shame attached to depression is all too prevalent in the church today because of our ignorance of depressive illness and our unwillingness to help or accept those who suffer from it. As in his other books, the author's writing is refreshingly free from evangelical clich6s as he describes his relationship with God in real, everyday language. Unlike his other books, this volume is not easy reading, but it is well worth the effort and by the end of the 256th page, the reader will have a greatly enlightened and more sympathetic approach to those with depressive illnesses. Although the book is full of technical jargon and psychoanalytical concepts, the author holds the reader's attention and supplies an extensive glossary to fill any gaps in knowledge.

Depression, as described here, is not just the "blues" we all experience from time to time. It is an illness that can be classified as primary, secondary, bipolar or unipolar depression, each with specific characteristics. Whatever the type, melancholy wears different masks ranging from tiredness, weakness or lack of concentration to fear of people and changes in sleep and appetite patterns. The author makes us aware of these and depression's camouflage symptoms such as phobias, obsessions and compulsions, emphasizing our responsibility as Christians in a caring community to unmask the symptoms and guide the person back to "normality."

In the first of the four sections in his book Dr. White discusses the relationship between disease and sin. Although appreciating that all sickness is ultimately a consequence of humanity's fall and that some sicknesses such as syphilis are due to specific sins, he does not accept that those who experience depressive illness are being punished by God. Added to the symptoms of depression experienced by the non-Christian, the Christian is often overcome by fellings of guilt. White points out the folly of these feelings and gives poignant examples of depression experienced by both biblical characters and well known contemporary Christians alike.

In the second section, entitled "Science and the Masks," some very perceptive comments are made with regard to the relationship between Christianity and science. If science "discovers" something that strengthens our favorite interpretations of Scripture, we accept it. However if science produces a theory that threatens Scripture, it becomes the enemy. White suggests that this is due to our overrespect for science and our overestimation of its power both to undermine and build our faith. We should appreciate its limitations and understand that it can neither "discover" God nor confirm His Word. Nevertheless with science as our tool we can begin to understand the nature of our minds and personalities and strive to lessen the distortions that can occur.

In his final section, White broaches that subject-unmentionable in Christian circles-suicide. He writes pragmatically, explaining how to assess the seriousness of the suicidal person's intentions and suggesting ways in which we can help such a person. He writes with a deep understanding and compassion that I am sure most of us lack.

My only reservation about White's book is that he covers the topic of depression from too many angles. He attempts to write not only as a psychiatrist but also as a counsellor, physiologist and philosopher. For example, in the third section he skims over such complex concepts as Kant's understanding of cognitive therapy in three pages and his chapters on the physiology of the electrical impulse and the physical therapies available for straightening bent minds are given only sufficient space to confuse the lay person while remaining too elementary to benefit the more informed reader. Nevertheless, I believe that this is a much needed book in the church today for clergy and laity alike, helping us to fulfill our responsibility to God by caring knowledgeably for those of His Body who suffer in this way.

Reviewed by Sheena Lewis, Clinical Research Fellow, Physiology Departnwnt, The Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland.

CREATION, SCIENCE, AND THEOLOGY: ESSAYS IN RESPONSE TO KARL BARTH by W. A. Whitehouse, ed. by Ann Loades (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981), xxiv + 247 pp., $10.95.

Creation, Science, and Theology is a collection of essays, reviews, and addresses given by British theologian W. A. Whitehouse over a wide range of subjects. The primary organizing concept is the theological perspective of Karl Barth, which Whitehouse is at pains to elaborate and clarify. Subject matter discussed include Barth's views on creation, man, providence, and ethics; human rights, eschatology, and the natural sciences; and the Christian in the university. Throughout, the author upholds a theological perspective that seeks to create a synthesis between truth as it is encountered in the Christian context (in the Person of Jesus Christ and in the Church) and truth as it is set forward in the secular community. Whitehouse maintains that, in the pursuit of reliable truth, it is necessary for us to "look for correspondences of some kind" between the Christian and the nonChristian spheres (p. 194).

The first section (of three) amounts to a celebration of the theological works of Karl Barth. Whitehouse applauds Barth's insistence that revelation, if it is to be meaningful, must be found both in encounter with Jesus and by reflection on the world around us. The scriptural record is merely a "witness" to greater truths. Creation is real and partakes of the essence of the Creator, and is itself revelatory in nature. But this conclusion leads Barth and Whitehouse to universalism:

To be a creature means to be destined to this, to be affirmed by God, chosen and accepted. To be a creature means to be in the manner of Israel, of the kind that God in His Son has not been ashamed to make His own (p. 15)

Thus, to be human is to belong to God by grace, to enjoy a fellowship with God that is wholly dependent upon Him (p. 22). This comes to men "by nature" (p. 25) and not because of any special differentiation among men on the part of God. All men are God's; all belong to Him by virtue of their having been made in His image (p. 26).

Of particular interest for our consideration, and most to the point of the book's title, are Whitehouse's two essays on theology and the natural sciences. In these, two of the better works in the collection, the author attempts to elaborate bow the synthesis between Christian and secular truth may be hammered out.

Theologians and scientists occupy separate "territories," and it is primarily in the area of "frontier relationships" that we can determine whether conflict or synthesis will result (p. 171). Science has "improved our stock of explanations" (p. 174). Yet science has evolved out of a theological context, to which it is indebted but which it has, due to its everexpanding scope, unfortunately managed to obscure. Natural processes have come to be explained more "in terms of autonomies" than in terms of "cosmic personality" (p. 176).

But we must learn to see theology and science "as complementary and not as competing authorities" (p. 178). This we can beiin to do by freely acknowledging the pre-scientific or metaphysical assumptions underlying modern science (p. 179). Such a stance creates a genuine context in which theologians and scientists can begin to make mutual contributions to the synthesis of a new understanding of truth.

Although this book is very interesting, from the evangelical perspective of this reviewer there are some problems. These all derive from the author's view of Scripture. In his insistence that revelation is primarily an event or an encounter, he is forced to relegate the Bible to the status of being a mere witness to revelation. It is not itself propositional truth about God, but it may effect encounter with Him. As such it is simply one of a number of such revelational agents, each of which needs to be introduced into the process of synthesizing truth for our day.

This theological mistake causes the author to have an incorrect understanding of the Person and work of Christ. His atonement is a fulfillment of the covenantal promises of God, yet not (as Whitehouse indicates) for all men indiscriminately, but only for those who believe.

Finally, the author is rather starry-eyed when it comes to discussing the process of finding a common ground between theology and science. He fails to understand the teaching of the Bible about the natural hostility of secular man to the knowledge of God. He is also not entirely accurate in suggesting that all scientists have in common room in their cosmologies for some form of "cosmic personality." This certainly is not true of such popularizers of modern science as Carl Sagan nor of those scientists who subscribe to the Humanist Manifesto".

Reviewed by T. M. Moore, Sr. Vice-President, Evangelism Explosion, 730 W. McNab Rd., Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33W9.

THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF THE BIOLOGICAL WORLD by Edmund Jack Ambrose. Halsted Press (John Wiley and Sons), New York. 1982. (ISBN 0470-275146.)$22.95.

E. J. Ambrose, Emeritus Professor of Cell Biology at the University of London, has conducted extensive research in the biology of cancer cells, cell biology, and microbiology of leprosy, and has authored and coauthored numerous technical books and articles in these areas. In the present work, Ambrose seeks to unify the diverse areas of biological science. In doing so, he explores the theme expressed in the title of the book, The Nature and Origin of the Biological World.

The book includes three sections: Part I is an "Introduction to Modern Biology," Part 2 examines the "Nature of the Biological World," and Part 3 discusses "Origins."

The first section of the book begins with a discussion of the functioning of science and the scientific method. The author, a practicing scientist, obviously understands and appreciates the processes of modem science. Yet, he also is willing to accept other sources of information. He states:

But we must recognize that there are ways of acquiring knowledge other than those obtained b% the scientific method of successive approximations, ever approaching closer and closer to reality. As scientists we must respect these other approaches to the acquisition of knowledge (Pg. 9).

The remainder of the first section explores some areas of the chemistry of life and molecular biology. Chapter 3, "Order out of Chaos," is a brief, yet lucid discussion of life at the molecular level.

In Part 2 the author explores in brief summary fashion the complexity and diversity of living things. Beginning with the energy activities of the cell, the author moves to the area of developmental biology. The author here utilizes one of the numerous analogies that seem to bring the reader in touch with an often abstract or complex subject:

A symphony is a musical composition performed by a large number of instrumentalists who must adhere exactly to the score, perfect timing and harmony being maintained between all instruments. For this reason one may refer to the development of organisms from a single fertilised ovum as a living symphony (Pg. 49).

In the remainder of this section, the author discusses the diversity of form in the living world. Beginning with simple organisms, such as the bacterial cell, he surveys some major plant and animal groups.

In the final chapter, "Creative Intelligence," the author explores the role and identity of this "factor X. " He states:

I now suggest that our factor X, being the input of new information, required the operation of Creative Intelligence, and I hope to show that the operation of creative intelligence leads to a minimum number of universals to explain both the origin and basic nature of living organisms (Pg. 141).

In the final pages the author equates the "factor X" with the Creator, the God of the Bible. To support the inclusion of this creator into the scientific study of life the author cites four main areas: (1) the complexity of life even at the lowest levels, (2) the great diversity of living forms, (3) the increased complexity from simple to advanced forms, and (4) consciousness, intelligence, and creativity in humans.

The following statements by the author summarize the thesis of this book:

It looks as though the advances in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, which have been made in recent years and are summarized in this book, have brought us to the stage where a creative view of the origin of life and species no longer needs to be defended against evolutionary arguments. It is the reductionist evolutionist who is now in retreat (Pg. 144).

But I hope that I have been able to show in this book ... that to invoke the operation of Creative Intelligence to explain the origin of life and the panorama of life as we find it today, is a sound scientific explanation (Pg. 146).

This book obviously results from a lifetime of research and contemplation of the living world. The author does not present any new information, although perhaps he does present different ways of looking at the information. The book can best be appreciated as stating a commitment, at a time when such commitments are often unpopular and generally controversial.

Reviewed by Dr. Phillip Eichman, Department of Biology, Columbia Christian College, Portland, Oregon 97220.

CONFESSING CHRIST AS LORD: THE URBANA '81 COMPENDIUM by John W. Alexander, ed. Downers Grove, Ill., Inter-Varsity Press, 1982, 269 pages, $5.95.

Confessing Christ as Lord is edifying. It strengthened me. It made me rejoice. It brought tears to my eyes. It presents, even on paper over a year later, the warmth and thrill of a Convention (which, by the way, I did not attend).

A compendium is usually uneven, with some parts stronger than others. This one is not different. But, as a whole, it reflects forcefully many of the most important issues in missions today. It deals with social justice and structural changes, as well as Bible translation. It deals with world peace, human rights, and sexism, as well as knowing God's will and the power of the Holy Spirit. It presents the ecstasy of victory, and the quiet peace of perseverance in suffering.

Some of the speakers are well known to evangelicals: Billy Graham, Helen Roseveare, David Howard, Samuel Escobar. Some of them are less well known. They come from urban and rural areas in Asia, Latin America, Africa, Europe, and North America.

A few quotes illustrate something of the contents. "Many witnesses start by being servants, and are pushed by the logic of their call into being prophets" (Samuel Escobar). "If your witness reflects nothing of God's concern for the oppressed and needy and suffering people of this world, there will be little authenticity to your testimony" (Rebecca Manley Pippert). "God hears the cries and the hurting of the hopeless in the city.... The only power to save the city is God's redemptive power. And He uses human instruments" (George D. McKinney). There are a total of seventeen speakers, whose messages are in the compendium.

Confessing Christ as Lord had an impact on me. I have found myself quoting it in conversations, sermons, and classes. it is not an easy book to read. It prods Christians to commitment and involvement. it will do you good.

This book contains five, independent, previously published essays on the general topic of the nature and origin of man. In the first essay "The Preparation of the Earth for Man," Custance argues for his version of creation: the "gap" theory, i.e., that an original creation (Gen 1: 1) was destroyed by some catastrophe and that the Genesis creation account (Gen 1:2-2:3) refers to a re-creation over six 24-hour days. The emphasis in his arguments is on evidence that the earth was prepared as a place for man. The second essay, "Primitive Monotheism and the Origin of Polytheism," proposes that the history of religion progresses from an early monotheism to a derived polytheism, rather than the reverse process as an evolutionary interpretation of religious history suggests. In the third essay, "Convergence and the Origin of Man," Custance points out the difficulty of using structural similarities to trace descent since evolution can be convergent as well as divergent, and since some structural features are due to behavior, environment, and disease, as well as heredity. The fourth essay, "The Survival of the Unfit," examines the 1. survival of the fittest" interpretation of natural selection, and concludes that "survival of the fittest" is a tautology, and that there are many examples where animals do not seem to be locked in a struggle for survival. In the fifth and final essay, "Is Man an Animal?", Custance examines the question "What is man?" and concludes that man was "made for God. "

The author is rather verbose. For example, a whole series of quotations is often used to support a point when one or two would suffice. The result is that reading the book requires a certain amount of dedication. On the other hand, the text is usually clear and understandable.

When discussing the theory of evolution, Custance constantly picks up what he considers to be evidence against it. However, there is very little about what alternative theory he would argue for. His approach is almost entirely negative. The entire essay on convergence is a good example. Custance argues that since evolution can be convergent as well as divergent, tracing descent by identifying structural similarities becomes difficult. What this has to do with the topic of the book "Creation or Evolution5" is never made clear.

Custance usually presents scientific modes of explanations and theological modes of explanation as mutually exclusive alternatives (e.g., p. 177, "Fitness ... could be evidence of the hand of God; or it could be evidence of some natural law. . ."). He seems unwilling to consider the possibility that scientific and theological explanations could be complementary ways of looking at the world rather than mutually exclusive alternatives. This attitude permeates the book, since the author's perception of the hand of God at work is taken as somehow eliminating the need for a natural explanation.

A more appropriate title for the book would be "A Critique of Evolutionary Thinking.' since creation is not really considered in much detail except as the alternative left after evolution is dispensed with. As a critique of some problems of evolutionary theory, the book is quite useful; but as a positive presentation of creation this book is much less successful. It will give insights to the diligent student in those areas covered by the several essays, but does not give the broad coverage of the issues that one might expect in a book of this title.

Reviewed by Steven B. Scadding. Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada NIG 2WI.

TEMPTATION: HELP FOR STRUGGLING CHRISTIANS by Charles 

. Downers Grove, Inter-Varsity Press, 1982, 166 pages, $4.95.

Charles Durham's book is intended to give hope and practical help to those facing temptation. He believes all of us are tempted, but recognizes degrees of intensity in temptation, due to factors like tiredness, illness, family background and genetics. After discussing the external and internal sources of temptation, he goes into the major section of his work, "Solutions."

In the eleven chapters of this section, he presents such solutions as renewing of the mind, knowing God and the enemy, and focusing on the source of power rather than the force of the temptation. He also deals with practical aspects of building up barriers to temptation, by general spiritual growth and Christian service. He has helpful chapters on the purpose of temptation ("to bring the scum of the heart to the surface, so the great Refiner can skim it off, and thus purify the heart," p. 133), and the relationship of psychological problems to temptation. (Christians are subject to such problems that weaken resistance to temptation.)

A final brief section brings encouragement to strugglers we lose battles, but not the war, and we move towards a time of total victory in God's presence.

Durham writes as one who has struggled with temptation and lost, but who has found God's grace adequate to keep him growing. He does not belittle the battles Christians have, but does maintain an optimistic posture. It is possible to grow, to overcome the enemy, and to receive forgiveness when the enemy has won a battle.

Durham writes simply, forcefully and clearly. He expects his book to be useful and effective, and this reviewer agrees with his assessment of this meaty little volume. Unfortunately a sensationalistic cover could lead one to think the book oversimplifies the kinds of temptations to be faced, and how to face them. But don't be scared off, the contents are presented with sensitivity and balance.

Reviewed by Joseph M. Martin, Edward Lane Bible Institute, Caixa Postal 12, Patrocinio-inas Gras, 38.740 Brasil.

Graham has written a book full of insights about the way different important scientists of the past have seen the interface between science and society. He has classified his scientists into "Expansionists" and "Restrictionists." Restrictionists try to do, and write about, value-free science. Expansionists use evidence from science to support a particular side of an argument on values in society at large. Restrictionists, claims Graham, believe that science and religion not only should not but cannot conflict, because they are mutually exclusive ways of looking at the world. 

The last section's title, "What Kind of Expansionism do we Want?", gives Graham's conclusions. (1) Science and values are automatically linked because there are scientific terms that are value-laden, like "normal." (2) There are theories that lead scientists to assume that they have value. Social Darwinism is an obvious example. (3) The findings of science may shed light that makes us rethink religious or other doctrine:

Scientific descriptions of our universe-for example, the Copernican or Ptolemaic alternatives-are, in the abstract, value-free, but the new and successful Copernican variant had a very large impact on values when absorbed by European civilization at a time when the older variant was firmly interwoven with religion and culture. (p. 254) (4) The methods of science may point men in a direction having nothing directly to do with science. Elegance, rationality and order are implied in the methods of science. Their presence there may attract us toward order in society. (5) Technological advances make us re-examine our values. (6) External values have influenced science.

Among the scientists Graham discusses to reach his conclusions are Einstein, Bohr, Eddington, Heisenberg, Bergson, Monod, Lorenz, Skinner and E. 0. Wilson. As I have indicated, I think Graham's discussion of how these and others dealt with the interactions of science and society is the greatest value of the book. Two quotes exemplify Graham's work:

Bohr ... granted a universal scope to the regularities of physics, so that they could be extended to human behavior as well as to inanimate objects (here was his contrast to Einstein), but that scope included within it a concept of contradictory and complementary aspects of truth. Therefore, to Bohr physics did not iron out the paradoxes of life and thought in accordance with some rigid plan, it explained and informed those paradoxes. Physics made the riddles of human existence plausible and tolerable. It provided a grounding fq~fr;;" of will, rather than an attack upon it. Bohr thus believed that he had found a new way out of the dilemma between mechanism and vitalism constantly posed in the dining room discussions of his youth, and this sense of discovery must explain the zest with which Bohr celebrated the apparent tensions inherent in the concept of complementarity, a concept that always discomfited Einstein. while Einstein saw complementarity as a rather hopeless muddying of his picture of simplicity in (physical) nature, Bohr saw it not only as a helpful aid in understanding atomic phenomena, but as a method of successfully coping with the most complex issues in (physical and biological) nature, (pp. 64--65, emphasis in original)

In some psychology laboratories where experiments are conducted with animals, a sign is displayed, "The animal is always right. " In other words, if the results gained from an experiment seem perplexing to the experimenter, don't argue with the animal. Skinner was engaged in an argument with his animal. The human animal displays a remarkably consistent aversion to Skinner's definition of its nature. Yet Skinner insisted that this aversion is not an innate characteristic, but instead a by-product of a supposedly transient "literature of freedom." (p. 178)

Ernan McMullin has taken Graham strongly to task in his review (Hastings Center Report 12 (Dee 1982) pp. 38-40). Anyone reading, or considering purchasing, Graham's book ought to read that review. McMullin's major criticisms that I believe to be valid, are that Graham's notion of .1 value, 11 or 11 a value, - is extremely f uzzy; that he has paid almost no attention to the work of philosophers of science, as opposed to scientists; and the distinction between restrictionism and expansionism is artificial. In spite of these criticisms, I believe that this book has a place on the shelves of libraries concerned with the interaction between science and society.

Reviewed by Martin LaBar, Visiting Professor, Bryan College, Dayton, Tennessee 37321.

The health care of the spiritual dimension of personal health has now been disciplined to a serious medical science in the recent publication of three books: For spiritual diagnosis, we have Paul Preyser's The Minister as Diagnotician; for spiritual growth theory, T. E. Dobson's How to Pray for Spiritual Growth; and now, for the health care practicediscipline of spiritual growth counseling, we have Gerald May's Care of Mind, Care of Spirit. These three books on the spiritual health care of the individual complement the evaluation of health-systems for the collective by sociologist Joseph Fichter, the "Spiritual Dimension of Health Care" (Crossroads, 1982), an empirical description that studies the motive(s), in contrast to the lack of skills and effectiveness, of traditional health care deliverers to give sufficient and competent spiritual care. The four books together provide the cornerstone foundation for a modern library on the contemporary clinical care for the spiritual dimension of the whole person by the nation's health industry. Finally, at long last, the spiritual (-existential) dimension of personal health is acquiring its appropriate health care literature.

May, a psychiatrist member of a Columbia, MD transdenominational community of intellectual Christians, in this book brings precision to the description of the intervention technology of the spiritual counselor (or "director") to facilitate an individual's unique spiritual growth. A long-term psychotherapist, May carefully draws the distinctions between the two disciplines: psychotherapy and spiritual growth counseling. In this rigor, May provides a valuable service to health care specialists, since the vast majority of psychotheological or pastoral counseling literature in the name of "integration" blurs the distinctions between spiritual counseling and mental health therapy. Further, May's work is richly informed by the Catholic mystic tradition and the spiritual disciplines of meditation; it provides excellent definitions of the concepts of "desolations" and "consolations" in response to persistent prayer and fasting. May's fine distinctions in defining "Dark night of the soul" and "Spiritual discernment" alone are well worth the purchase of the book. May is a member of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation on Mt. St. Alban in Washington, DC (20016) and represents in his work that he is deeply indebted to the influence of Shalem's director, Fr. Tilden Edwards.

May's book is a great step forward in describing the discipline of spiritual health promotion of adult spiritual development counseling within the rigor of standard health care technology. It is eminently adaptable to the practice of qualified physicians, other health care experts, and disciplined laity. How does it diff er from standard pastor counseling or medical chaplain care? First, it is very disciplined scientifically, both medically and psychiatrically; and, second, in its orientation to adult growth or wellness development, it richly employs serious spiritual disciplines, those recently so eloquently described by Richard Foster's two books: Celebration of Discipline and Freedom of Simplicity (Harpers, 1978 and 1982, respectively). Most pastors writing in the pastoral counseling literature apparently do not risk encouraging the deep utilization of such spiritual disciplines with their clients. May speaks as a deeply spiritual-disciplined and experienced counselor. The spiritual development literature needs more reporting by spiritual specialists willing to deal with in-depth-disciplines of soul growth and the resultant experience, as May does, rather than the soul-poultices plastered on the surface of deep soul hurts, needs, and potentials, like so many bandaids by so much of the modern pastoral-care literature.

Certainly, one sees enormous growth in discipline in May himself in the description of his special discipline and in the writing itself if one reads May's most recent book after his other (Simply Sane: Crossroads, 1982). The difference is dramatic and inspiring.

For such a well-informed professional, however, May seems curiously insular in his references to others working in the area of adult spiritual development. May also seems strangely unenriched by God's biblical self -descriptions. Discussing how to know God, early in the book (p. 10-11) May leads us into the definition of two types of ecstatic-knowing of God: Kataphatic ("Sensate") and apothatic ("truth behind all sensory or intellectual representations"-" the form of knowing in the emptiness of Zen Buddhism"). This latter form May suggests is more characteristic of persons maturer in spiritual experience; the former more often is characteristic of neophyte experiencers. One senses the same prejudice in this form of description of spiritual maturity, as that seen in what some Jewish theologians describe as the "maturer concepts of God": (Buber; the post-Descartians; and the "beyond Cosmic Realities" concepts of famous medical scientist, Albert Sabin,'). We wait patiently at first for May to develop a thesis that can justify such an assertion. Unfortunately throughout the book it never comes.

Next, May appears unusually uninformed by the rich revelation of the Godhead from descriptions of over 10,000 years' experience covered in Scripture. Since "words are the stuff and texture whereby we express ourselves into existence" (Iris Murdoch), it is curious a spiritual-counselor expert would ignore biblical understandings- in his educating about the nature of the Judeo-Christian God. For example, since He is represented as the most refined description of Presence ever offered: the "Living Word," bow can one justify the eclipsing of the enormous, immanent, formative power of the enabling love and bright magnetism of the winsome Christ, by some big, bland, "beyond sensate" nothingness? Somehow to a Christian humanist like many, including myself, the enabling, loving intimacy of the latter seems far more powerful in its ability to enable the human race than " cosmic nothingness. " May needs to support his assertion about maturity using a biblical rebuttal or exegesis that is supporting. One senses most of May's experience has been modern-mystic-Catholic, very little informed by Scripture.

The second problem with May's work is even more problematic from a disciplined intellectual's point of view. (a) How does he justify completely ignoring reference to all the other major adult-human-life cycle, spiritual-moral growth work that has burgeoned in the last decade and a half? And (b) How does May justify a jump right into caring for deeply God-committed spiritual growth (serving a God with a strong similarity to the God of Catholic mystics: John of the Cross and Meister Eckhardt) while ignoring the great mass (~80%) of medical and public health-scientists' who probably have no interest in spiritual growth as it relates to any classic representation of the Judeo-Christian God, yet somehow still feel they are morally developing throughout their lives? How does May integrate the outstanding work of Greek Orthodox, Harvard Researcher, John Chirban, Ph.D., on the Orthodox mystic tradition³ or Oxford's Margaret Smith ⁴ in the feminist Muslim influence in Sufism's God-knowing? Where is James Fowler's Stages of Faith or, Iowa's David Castle (Ph.D.) and "The Spiritual Checkup," a Quaker mystic spiritual development schema?⁵ How does May deal with T. E. Dobson's inner-man spiritual growth schema' or other, more complex, integrative models⁶? Nowhere does May cite former Spinozan naturalist, L. Kohlberg's stages of homo-homo moral development' which has as its top stage a bright-light, Quaker Agape; and in which the question "Why be moral?" at each stage "is answered by religion." Or, the schema of theo-homo (spiritual) moral development newly developed by Kohlberg with the Zurich theologians? These and many other questions open widely simply because May's work is otherwise so crystal clear; it becomes painfully apparent he has not helped us at all make these resolutions and discernments in the broader context. My own view is that health care, to be totally fair to all clients, must make some kind of accommodation in spiritual profiling and resource development counseling to the "unconscious Christian" or "Unconsciously, highly-developed spiritual person."

Not a small work⁷, but rather a giant, May's book provides a classic cornerstone in the foundation of the modern health care science of adult spiritual development ("wellness") counseling. It is a must for the library of every serious scientist of human health.⁸

²Gallup, George, New York Times, 4/6/83.

⁴Smith, Margaret. The Christian Origins of Sufism, Oxford University, 1978. 

⁵Dobson, T. E. How to Pray for Spiritual Growth, Paulist Press, 1982.

⁶MeSherry, E. "Spiritual Maturation; Ideal and Actual," In Maloney, N. Ed., First Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Abingdon (in press), 1984.

⁷J. Psych. Theo. (1982) 10:282. 

⁸MeSherry, E. "The Scientific Basis of Whole Person Medicine," Journal ASA (in press) Dec., 1983.

Reviewed by Elisabeth Mesherry, M.D., Boston University School of Public Health, Health Systems-Health Promotion.