Book Reviews

PSCF BOOK Reviews for March 1984

Table of Contents

THE ISLAM DEBATE by Josh McDowell and John Gilchrist, Here's Life Publishers, San Bernardino, California 92414. Paperback. 199 pp. (1983).
AND THE TREES CLAP THEIR HANDS: Faith Perception, and the New Physics by Virginia Stem
Owens, Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1983). Paperback. 148 pp.
DARWIN FOR BEGINNERS by Jonathan Miller, Illustrated by Borin Van Loon, Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative, London, 1982. Paperback. 176 pp. UK f2.95, CAN $6.95, US $3.95.
SCIENCE, FAITH AND REVELATION: An Approach to Christian Philosophy, edited by Robert Patterson, Mercer University Press, Macon, Ga. 1979. 371 pp.
FUNDAMENTAL THEOLOGY by Gerald O'Collins, S. J. Ramsey, N.J.: Paulist, 1981. 283 pp. $7.95 Paperback.
READINGS IN MORAL THEOLOGY, NO. 2: THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS Charles E. Curran and Richard A. McCormick, S. J., editors. New York/Ramsey N.J.: Paulist, 1980. Pp. vi + 305. $5.98 Paperback
REINCARNATION: A CHRISTIAN APPRAISAL by Mark Albrecht. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1982, 132 pp, $4.95. Paperback
GENESIS AND EARLY MAN by Arthur C. Custance, Zondervan (1975, reissued 1981). $8.95, 331 pp.
A GUIDE TO CULTS AND NEW RELIGIONS. Ronald Enroth and others, InterVarsity Press, 1983, 215 pp., $5.95, paperback.
TEACHING IN THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH, by Charles R. Foster. Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1982, $6.95, 160 pp.
CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIOLOGY edited by Stephen A. Grunlan & Milton Reiner, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982. 457 pp., n.p.
DILEMMA: A NURSE'S GUIDE FOR MAKING ETHICAL DECISIONS by Judith Allen Shelly, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois 1980, paperback, 165 pages, $4.95
THE CREATION, by Frank B. Salisbury, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book Company, 1976, xv + 314 pp., $9.95.
TWO INTO ONE: RELATING IN CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE by Joyce Huggett, Inter-Varsity Press, 1981, $3.95,128 pages.
LOST CHRISTIANITY by Jacob Needleman, New York: Bantam Books, 1982 (previously published by Doubleday, 1980), 224 pages, $3.50 pbk.
THE SUFFERING GOD by Charles Ohlrich, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 1982. 130 pages, $3.25.
THE COSMIC CODE: QUANTUM PHYSICS AS THE LANGUAGE OF NATURE by Heinz Pagels, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982, 370 pp. (with index).
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS: THE ETHICAL DILEMMA ed. Edwin R. Squiers. Mancelona, Michigan: AuSable Trails Institute of Environmental Studies, 1982. 375 pp., $6.95.

THE ISLAM DEBATE by Josh McDowell and John Gilchrist, Here's Life Publishers, San Bernardino, California 92414. Paperback. 199 pp. (1983).

This book is a publication of Campus Crusade for Christ. It consists of three main chapters: the first gives some historical background on Islam, the second reports and analyzes the teachings of Islam, and the third gives the transcript of an actual debate that occurred in August 1981 in Durban, South Africa, between josh McDowell and Ahmed Deedat, the President of the Islamic Propagation Center in Durban. The book provides valuable insights for any Christian who is encountering or expects to encounter men and women committed to Islam either personally or culturally.

The transcript of the actual debate is the strength of this book. The subject of the debate was, "Was Christ Crucified"? In a single mention, the Qur'aD says about the crucifixion,

"They said "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of God," but they killed him not, nor crucified him. but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts with no certain knowledge, but only conjecture to follow. For a surety they killed him not; Nay, God raised him up unto Himself, and God is exalted in Power, Wise...." (Surah 4; 157-158)

It is the obvious contradiction between this passage from the Qur'an and the biblical accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection that formed the background of the debate. in such a case we need to hear the strongest arguments of those who disagree with us: the debate format provides exactly that if we accept the fact that Ahmed Deedat is art experienced exponent of the accurate Islamic position.

Deedat's arguments can be briefly summarized as follows:

1. In Luke 24:36, the disciples were terrified when they saw Jesus three days after his alleged crucifixion. They thought he was a spirit because they had come to believe by hearsay that Jesus had been killed. Mark 14:50 says that all his disciples forsook him and fled; therefore what they thought about the crucifixion could come only from hearsay. But Jesus assures them that he is not "a spirit"; thereby assuring them that they are not looking at a resurrected, spiritualized body. In Luke 20:3 Jesus teaches his disciples that in the resurrection, they will be angelized; they will be spiritualized. When Jesus eats before his disciples, be assures them that he is still mortal man, not resurrected spirit.

2. John 20:1 tells how Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus to anoint him. But "anoint" means to "massage," and people massage live bodies, not dead ones. She must have seen signs of life when Jesus was being taken down from the cross.

3. Mary finds the stone rolled away and the winding sheets unwound. Physical bodies need to have stones rolled away and sheets unwound; resurrected bodies have no such needs.

4. Mary mistakes Jesus for a gardener. Why? Because be has disguised himself as a gardener out of fear of the Jews. He's afraid because he didn't really die.

5. Mary tells Jesus, whom she mistakes to be the gardener, that she has come to take him away if Jesus has been taken and laid somewhere to rest-which, of course, means to relax or to recuperate. Where would Mary take the dead body of Jesus?

6. When she recognizes Jesus and is about to embrace him, he tells her not to because he has not yet ascended to the Father, He doesn't want to be hugged because be hurts. Saying that he has not ascended means that he is not yet dead.

7. Who moved the stone? People frequently talk as if it would take 20 men to move the stone. But Matthew and Mark both say that Joseph of Arimathea put the stone in place by himself.

8. In Matthew 12:38-40 Jesus says that he will give the people no sign except the sign of the prophet Jonah. "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the belly of the earth." But Jonah went alive into the belly of the whale and came alive out of the belly of the whale. Therefore, the same must be true of Jesus. just as Jonah did not die in the whale, Jesus did not die in the tomb.

9. Some argue that the point of this account is not whether Jonah or Jesus was alive or dead, but rather the time factor. Anyone can see, however, that three days and three nights did not elapse between the events of Good Friday and the events of Easter Sunday morning.

10. Jesus' reference to Jonah as a sign of his Messiahship poetical imagery, the ultimate effect can be to cry, "Enough, would authenticate his claims only if he did not die. It was a enough!" This is particularly true when the book is being used
miracle that Jonah was in the belly of the whale and did not to make a point, but all too often the poetry leaves the reader
die. The same must be true of Jesus if his reference is to make uncertain as to what is intended factually and analytically,
his case for him. If Jesus died, then he is not Jonah, and his and what is intended metaphorically and poetically only. The
case fails. contact with the "New Physics" is peripheral and superficial,
a few ideas being used to bolster the general theme that the world is a unity, rather than being explored in any depth by themselves.

11. Throughout the entire 27 books of the New Testament, there is not a single statement made by Jesus Christ that "I was dead, and I have come back from the dead. "

12. Not only was Jesus reluctant to die, but he was preparing for a show-down with the Jews. That is why he took
swords and all 11 disciples to Gethsemane. That is why he makes an inner line of defense with Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. Finally he prays in great agony to be delivered. An angel comes to strengthen him. From that moment on God plans his rescue.

13. Pontius Pilate marveled when he was told the Jesus was dead after only three hours on the cross.

14. The Bible tells us that it is a fulfillment of prophecy that Jesus' bones were not broken. But broken bones count nothing for a dead person, only for a living person.

15. Christians are programmed through the years to prove by hook or by crook that Jesus died on the cross, for Paul has taught in I Corinthians 15:14 that his preaching and faith are worthless if Christ did not rise from the dead. Caught in this error, Christians have been taken for a ride on the cross ever since. Each person must bear his own responsibility, not push it off on someone else; this is what Islam teaches.

I leave to you the biblical answers to these charges. Or perhaps you may wish to get this book and see how Josh
McDowell answers them. It is not surprising that Campus Crusade has seen the actual transcript of this debate as a vital argument for the Christian position.

Reviewed by Richard H. Bube, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305.

AND THE TREES CLAP THEIR HANDS: Faith Perception, and the New Physics by Virginia Stem
Owens, Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1983). Paperback. 148 pp.

I suspect that few readers will respond without emotion to this book by Virginia Owens, who is introduced to the reader via the book's back cover only as "the author of several books, including The Total Image (Eerdmans, 1980)." Seldom have I felt basic agreement with an author and at the same time been so infuriated by parts of a text: perhaps that should be considered as an essentially positive comment.

I believe that if the author and I were walking in the woods, we would find ourselves kindred spirits in great agreement. When we reflect on the unity of the human being as opposed to the imposed dichotomy of body and spirit, or when we experience the Creator in the created stuff of the world, in the very matter of existence, or when we share in a wholistic Hebraic view of the world without some of the reductions introduced by Greek thought, we certainly share a common commitment and perspective. And such material takes up a major portion of this book.

On the other hand, it is never clear that this is really a Christian book at all, and some of the poetic statements leave one in considerable ambiguity. She says that "everything is related to everything else" (p. vii), that science "denies the permeation of matter with meaning," (p. viii), that "matter is at some level sentient, informed with knowledge," (p. ix), that 1. mind is matter," (p. xi). She seems to be developing a kind of poetic natural theology when she writes, "all the vital information for a comprehension of the cosmos proper to our species, is there before our very eyes." (p. 18)

And what does the author mean when she says,

Am I looking at the pond or is it looking at me? (p. 55)

The heart of a shrew ... beats up to 800 times a minute. Such creatures experience more in an hour than we do in a day. (p. 55)

For in the subatomic world, the billiard balls all seem to know simultaneously their parts in the game, their steps in the dance.... intelligence is passed around.... the particles gyre in concert ... this is telepathy on what we have come to think of as an inorganic, dead, deaf-and-dumb level. The universe is dancing. (p. 57)

My fear of asking too little is greater, I find, than my fear of my own immorality ... I want Life itself. One must be willing to risk immorality as a spy, to sin, as Luther advised, boldly. (p. 68)

Who knows but what the clay does not itself demand a hand to shape it. We may push and prod protons into waves or particles, but they also push back. They make their own demands on the situation of which we are a part. (p. 94)

If individual particles are not significant, then neither are individual people. (p. 96)

Those who place their faith in what they call "objective truth" ignore the fact that they create the objects, the phenomena, out of undifferentiated being through their own consciousness. (P. 111)

There are no such things, no objects, without a consciousness to conceive them as such. (p. 113)

Perhaps our molecules, if nothing else, struggle to push us in the right direction. (p. 116)

We know truth when we find it because it is already within us. All creation is internally consistent, true to the nature of the one who made it, not really ex nihilo, but out of himself. (p. 118)

There is much more information zinging around the world than we are ordinarily aware of, and it makes use of channels no cyberneticist has yet discovered. (p. 121)

I am really only a river of dissolute stones. (p. 126)

What was once a sparrow becomes a thumb, and a lily turns into a tooth. (p. 128)

Not loving things comes very near to despising God. There is only one fountain filled with blood, the world's blood, from which flows all the life there is. (p. 131)

We have a word, "technology," which is another name for predicting' which is another name for control, which is another name for distrust. (p. 134)

The book closes with a bibliography of twelve volumes, from which the author draws heavily in her thinking primarily from Bohm and Bell. Although her writing is reminiscent of Teilhard, he does not appear in her bibliography, and although she cites Polanyi in the text, neither does he.

Perhaps the greatest weakness of the book, however, is the adoption of a particular response to modern scientific findings to draw metaphysical and philosophical conclusions without being apparently aware that the situation is much more complex and many faceted than that. She seems to suppose that science must tell us the nature of reality, rather than just giving us human descriptions of that reality. Historic fluctuations in these descriptions take on metaphysical significance for the author:

Science has seemed unable to commit itself to either a universe of continuous reality or one of disparate, colliding bits. it is still stuck in the middle, unable to choose between particles and waves, and impotent to create a new image of physical reality for us. (p. 32)

She finds physicists guilty of "abandonment of actuality" when they provide statistical descriptions of radioactive decay, and complains that when they apply their mathematical models to a single atom, "the mathematics is not equal to the test." (p. 34) She expects too much of science and is disappointed when scientists are willing to settle for descriptions of reality rather than reality itself, forgetting that this is the very nature of the scientific enterprise. The seekers after "hidden variables" like David Bohm are to her the true prophets of science, and she treats as settled what is far from settled in the interpretation and development of quantum mechanics. She jumps from the possibility of a "unified field theory" (even in its present non-existence) to the conclusion that this means that the "universe is one flesh, existing as an undivided whole. " (p. - 80) She misses the fact that the demonstration of such a unified field theory would merely show that we have a description with enough generality to include within it all the phenomena of which we are aware at this time, and not that we have some fundamental breakthrough in our understanding of reality. To realize historically that both electricity and light can be described by electromagnetic theory does not mean that therefore electrons and light are the same. There is one creation, to be sure, but Christians have always known that since we believe in one Creator.

The author would have us believe that the success of Einstein's efforts to connect gravitational and electric fields in one coherent set of equations would unambiguously give us a .1 picture of the universe as a pulsating single organism." (p. 82) In a sense this is the ultimate reductionism. The realization that all matter is made up of the same group of atoms does not therefore make all matter identical. Missing completely from the author's exposition is the role of structure in matter, of emergent properties as the result of a hierarchy of structures, of the intrinsic difference between the whole and the parts-realizations, it is true, that arise more readily perhaps from a study of biology than from physics. Absent also is the realization that scientific descriptions of necessity must provide us with either a deterministic description (which raises the problem of human freedom and responsibility) or a chance (probabilistic) description (which raises the problem of meaning and significance). The acceptance of either of these scientific descriptions as an ultimate basis for philosophy or metaphysics leads only to an anti-biblical position. We have not made some major breakthrough if we substitute a deterministic scientific description for a statistical scientific description; we have merely traded one philosophical dilemma for another.

As an introspective and subjective summary of a sensitive person's reaction to the world around her, tied tenuously to some thoughts under debate in the philosophy of physics, this book can provide warm moments and luminous descriptions. As an informed assessment of the relationship between faith, perception and the Dew physics, it contributes little.

Reviewed by Richard H. Bube, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305.

DARWIN FOR BEGINNERS by Jonathan Miller, Illustrated by Borin Van Loon, Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative, London, 1982. Paperback. 176 pp. UK f2.95, CAN $6.95, US $3.95.

In that memorable phrase of the English evolutionist Monty Python, the aim of neomarxist historiography is to produce "something completely different." This entertaining introduction to Darwinism wins a prize for differentriess in the literature on evolution. The reviewer of this book in Creationl-Evolution, X (Fall 1982), p. 40, pronounced it " very informative" and praised its "remarkable clarity and attention to detail." Darwin for Beginners deserves a second more critical look, if only because it is such a popular, witty work, addressed to a wide audience, and designed especially to appeal to the recently evolved.

1982 marked a full century since Charles Darwin was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey. To cash in on public interest, as well as to honor a great naturalist, certain publishers in that year brought out Darwin books as part of ongoing biographical projects. Wilma George wrote her Darwin for the Fontana "Modern Masters" series, for example, while Jonathan Howard's Darwin was added to the list of "Past Masters" published by Oxford. Not to be left behind, the London-based Writers and Readers collective, ranking Darwin alongside Marx, Einstein, and Jesus, decided to produce one more small book about a large subject. Written by non-historians, all of these centenary Darwins re-tell the old, old story of the Beagle, the argument of the Origin of Species, and various pre-and-post-Darwinian controversies. They also tend to repeat the standard myths dear to the hagiographer's heart. Thus, Bishop Samuel Wilberforce gets re-bashed by Thomas Henry (the righteous "Bulldog") Huxley, religion (especially natural theology) gets badmouthed, and Darwin emerges as the positivist archetype of the ideologically-pure scientist.

It is disappointing to see mindlessly literalistic "creationism" equated with orthodox Christianity, as it is by Miller. It is tiresome to see once again "natural theology" equated with simpleminded antievolutionary arguments from design. It is surprising to learn that for "all" nineteenth-century believers, evolution was an "inconceivable" heresy. It is frustrating to be told that criticisms of Darwin's theory were not, at the time, scientifically legitimate but blindly religious. Wilberforce is once more, and wrongly, portrayed as a "stupid" and .. scientifically illiterate" churchman who denounced Darwin as the "Antichrist" and his theory as "blasphemy" (pp. 127, 173). All these hoary misconceptions are depressingly common. However, Miller and Van Loon's comic-book Darwin is different in some respects. It is fun to read-lighthearted. irreverent, and even (p. 134) downright cheeky taking a cue' from radical historian Robert Young, it also includes some canny comments about the relations of the natural and political orders (pp. 25, 49). Yet, despite its humor, the book has a serious educational intention, which is why it is worth pointing out some of the mistakes with which this book is loaded.

I am not talking about questions of interpretation. According to Miller, the rise of geological uniformitarianism "made biological evolution inevitable" (p. 29). This unattributed claim is Huxley's and I think he was wrong. But there is some room for argument. What vitiates the value of this romp through Darwinian wonderland is the careless editing which allowed so many errors of fact to mar the text. Granted, some of these are insignificant. still, students and general readers should be aware of the errata.

Consider personal names:Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck's is given incorrectly (p. 41), which is perhaps forgivable, but surely co-discoverer of natural selection Alf red Russel Wallace deserves better (p. 123 and back cover). And Catholic biologist St. George Mivart's initial is "J" (for Jackson), not -H- (p. 130). Books fare no better than people: Robert Chambers' Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation is mistitled two different ways (pp. 43, 116); further, it was first published in 1844, not 1845 (p. 31). The design arguments of William Paley-who was an archdeacon, not a bishop-were presented in his Natural Theology of 1802, not in Evidence [sic] of Christianity (p. 18). John F. W. Herschel's Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy (1831) is misnamed (p. 60). Darwin's "Essay of 1844" was 230, not 250 pages in length (p. 115). And the familiar story that all the copies of the first printing of the Origin (1859) were sold on the first day is

apocryphal (p. 5). 1,250 copies were printed, but 1,500 were subscribed for by booksellers at John Murray's November 22nd sale; the Origin was available to the public from the 24th. For those who love trivia there are other mistakes to be found. The Beagle voyage lasted four years and ten months, not five years (p. 66). The ship set sail from Devonport not on December 10th, but December 27th, 1837.

Perhaps excusable in a primer, Miller generally skirts the problem of "social Darwinism" and evolutionary ethics. He also ignores the late nineteenth-century and early twentiethcentury resurgence of natural theology, neo-Lamarckism, orthogenesis, and theistic evolution. After Darwin's demise, Miller turns his attention to the story of genetics and the establishment of the neo-Darwinian synthesis. Among the many chuckling readers of Darwin for Beginners, the advocates of "punctuated equilibria" will be especially pleased to discover that evidence for their interpretation of the fossil record is "now overwhelming" (p. 133).

Reviewed by Paul Taylor, Institute for The History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, University of Toronto, Canada

SCIENCE, FAITH AND REVELATION: An Approach to Christian Philosophy, edited by Robert Patterson, Mercer University Press, Macon, Ga. 1979. 371 pp.

Science, Faith, and Revelation is a series of 19 essays, loosely incorporating the thoughts and philosophy of Eric Charles Rust. The essays are written for the purpose of honoring Rust by various scholars, his colleagues and former students.

In the first chapter, a concise and interesting biography of Rust is presented. The remaining text is divided into four sections: faith and transcendence, faith and the historic process, faith and the biblical revelation, and faith and the natural order.

The chapters within each section are varied and seem to be an eclectic collection of essays rather than a related set of papers supporting a central thesis. Science, Faith, and Revelation is a misleading title for this work; perhaps Theology, Faith and Revelation would be more fitting. The reader will be disappointed if he or she expects the science-faith question to be addressed in a systematic fashion, though the question is addressed sporadically throughout the text.

Section four, Science and the Natural Order, comes closest to dealing with the relationship between science and faith. Indeed, several papers in this section are thought-provoking and relevant to the topic. William Pollard addresses the ideas of chance and purpose in creation. Robert Baird describes the relationship between metaphysics and science in the works of Leibniz and Locke:

Locke believed that man could have intuitive knowledge of his own existence, demonstrative knowledge of God's existence, and sensory knowledge of the existence of finite beings, but scientific knowledge was beyond his capacity.

This relationship between metaphysics and science is summarized most succinctly by Leibniz in his claim that "these two kingdoms everywhere interpenetrate without confusing or disturbing each other's laws.

Though not directly addressing the science-faith question throughout, there are pertinent and interesting essays in the text. Patterson has done a good job in selecting a varied group of papers which incorporate the thoughts of Rust and I believe that many who read the book will be prompted to learn more of Eric Charles Rust.

FUNDAMENTAL THEOLOGY by Gerald O'Collins, S. J. Ramsey, N.J.: faulist, 1981. 283 pp. $7.95 Paperback.

"Fundamental theology" in the Roman Catholic theological tradition essentially parallels the Protestant notion "prologomena" ("introduction" to systematic theology), in which methodology and sources for the theological task are outlined. In this work, O'Collins, professor of fundamental theology at the Gregorian University in Rome, articulates the task of this enterprise, which he sees as twofold:

(a) methodically reflecting on the source of theological knowledge in the divine revelation recorded in tradition and Scripture, and (b) calling attention to the way human experience is open to receive that revelation. (p. 22)

According to O'Collins a valid fundamental theology ought to entail a reflection on the human experience of the "divine self-communication," a thesis which in turn introduces the three major concepts explored in the book-revelation, tradition, and inspiration. Each of these is dealt with by looking at its meaning, the surrounding questions needing clarification, and the direction in which the answers to these lie. Although speaking within the Roman Catholic setting, the author consciously interacts with major Protestant thinkers in order to appeal to the wider Christian community.

Chapters one and two lay the groundwork, the first dealing with the task of theology and the second probing the nature of human experience, which is crucial because of the foundational role which experience plays in Catholic fundamental theology in general. Chapter three articulates the core thesis, which is the most important contribution of the book: rather than "revelation" or "salvation," "divine self-communication" is the basic way of understanding God's program, for it encompasses the other two and more adequately expresses humanity's religious experience.

Arising out of this thesis is the author's distinction between "foundational revelation" (the experience of Israel and the apostles), which is related to the direct experience of Christ who is the full self-communication of God, and "derived revelation" (the experience of subsequent believers). Bound up with the former is the notion of inspiration, which refers to God's presence in the biblical writings. Tradition is related to the latter, and is significant as transmission and contemporization of foundational revelation and not as a body of propositional truths.

O'Collins is to be complimented on a well-organized work which seeks to incorporate the positions articulated by Vatican 11. Evangelicals will be impressed with his stress on faith as "a personal relationship with Jesus Christ" (esp. p. 146) and his attempt to reinterpret tradition in dynamic, rather than propositional terms, as had been the case in the Counterreformation. Of added interest is his desire to speak of inerrancy in the context of being-in-truth, rather than scientific accuracy. Conservative Protestants will, however, remain skeptical of several distinctly Catholic motifs-the attempt to ground theology in human experience, an inclusivistic attitude toward world religions, and, of course, the attempt to incorporate the magisterium and church tradition into prologomena.

Reviewed by Stanley Grenz, Associate Professor of Theology, North Ameriran Baptist Seminary, 1321 W. 22nd Street, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57105

READINGS IN MORAL THEOLOGY, NO. 2: THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS Charles E. Curran and Richard A. McCormick, S. J., editors. New York/Ramsey N.J.: Paulist, 1980. Pp. vi + 305. $5.98 Paperback

As the title indicates, this book is the second in a series which deals with foundational issues of moral theology in current debate. As with volume one, which was subtitled, "Moral Norms and Catholic Tradition," the second volume approaches the subject matter from a largely, although not exclusively, Roman Catholic perspective, and this because, in the words of the editors, "The discussion has taken place primarily in Roman Catholic circles" due to "the very nature of the Roman Catholic theological tradition."

Curran and McCormick, ethics professors at the Catholic University of America and Georgetown University respectively, outline a fourfold criterion for selection of articles for inclusion: contribution to the debate, presentation of all sides, international representation, and discussion among the authors-a criterion which is readily visible in the book. Of special merit is the level of interchange among many of the authors presented. The views of Joseph Fuchs (Gregorian University, Rome), whose seminal article dealing with Christian ethics as "intentionality" begins the book, are treated repeatedly in subsequent articles. The editors were less successful, however, with international representation, as they themselves readily admit (only American and European articles are included, with the U.S.A., Germany, and Italy dominating), this due largely to the lack of articles on the subject published elsewhere, especially in the third world.

The volume's subtitle indicates its major thrust, for each article in some way interacts with some facet of the central question of "specificity --Is Christian ethics or Christian morality unique vis-a-vis philosophical ethics, human morality or natural law? And if so, in what way, and where does this uniqueness lie? Subthemes include various doctrines of systematic theology which affect or are affected by the theologian/ethicist's response to the central issue, such as Christology (the place of Christ in ethics), anthropology (Christian ethics and "humanness"), and soteriology (universalism).

Although each article has a special contribution to make to the whole, two articles in addition to that of Fuchs stand out as especially noteworthy. Dionigi Tettamanzi (Milan) provides an important introduction to the central issue by delineating the contemporary context in which the question has arisen and by succinctly summarizing several major responses (including those of some contributors to the volume), before offering his own critical evalution. The second article to be mentioned is that of John Macquarrie (Oxford). Its inclusion is noteworthy in that it consists of a strong call for a positive evaluation of natural law, in part as a safeguard against moral subjectivity-this call, issued by a Protestant in a volume in which Roman Catholics are struggling with the uniqueness of Christian ethics and the whole question of natural law!

The book closes with this general evaluation by the Florentine ethicist, Enrico Chiavacci:

It is unacceptable that eleven years after the Second Vatican Council ... Catholic moral theologians should still be looking with suspicion on the contributions of non-Catholic or even non-Christian moralists.

Perhaps his words constitute a fitting ending to a volume in which leading Catholic thinkers seek to answer the question concerning the distinctiveness of Christian ethics.

Reviewed by Stanley Grenz, North American Baptist Seminary Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

REINCARNATION: A CHRISTIAN APPRAISAL by Mark Albrecht. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1982, 132 pp, $4.95. Paperback

As the West rejects the Christian world-view, new ideas grip the minds and imaginations of those yearning for some understanding of cosmic justice and meaning. How can seemingly meaningless suffering be squared with a meaningful world? What world-view insures proper moral rewards and punishments for all of humanity? Will we live again?

The answer for many is the ancient one of Karma: the cosmic law of cause and effect that sets in motion the cycles of rebirth or reincarnation. "What you reap, so shall you sow" from one life to another.

Mark Albrecht, formerly of Spiritual Counterfeits Project, faces this challenge head-on and gives the best Christian treatment of the issue in print for the general reader. Maintaining that many trust in reincarnation uncritically, he refutes the idea as illogical, unjust, and unnecessary.

First Albrecht indicts the West for adjusting the Eastern view of reincarnation to suit its own predilections. No longer is it viewed as pessimistic and fatalistic ("the wheel of suffering") or as something to be escaped, but as a positive evolutionary possibility. This, Albrecht argues, is unfaithful to its origin in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Next, the reincarnationist mind-set is unraveled as occultic and gnostic: 1. All is one (monism); 2. man is divine (pantheism); 3. life's purpose is to experience one's divinity; 4. mystical techniques (yoga, meditation, etc.) lead to this realization. Karmic advancement is a process of selfsalvation.

After giving a short history of reincarnation teachings from antiquity to the present, Albrecht soundly refutes the notion that Christianity is compatible with it. He properly interprets scriptures falsely used to support reincarnation and argues that early church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Origin, and Jerome did not teach it, modern wishful thinking to the contrary.

In dealing with supposed cases of "past life recall," the author offers compelling counter-explanations. Supposed memories from previous lives may be explained naturally as intentional or unintentional fraud, as hidden memories from this life (cryptoamnesia), or as the result of genetic memory or the collective unconscious. Demonic intervention is a supernatural explanation. Evidence that "scientifically" validates reincarnation is honestly faced and interpreted both logically and Christianly.

The book concludes with the moral, philosophical, and theological case against reincarnation. Far from establishing cosmic justice and hope, reincarnation fails miserably in light of the grace shown in Christ. Furthermore, how can future punishments and rewards be morally just if the one reincarnated can not always remember why or for what he is being punished or rewarded? The Eastern teaching also brings into question just what or who is reincarnated, for the individual soul is abolished at death. Also, is it bad karma to inflict karmic vengence on another who deserves the punishment? Was Hitler simply carrying out his Karmic destiny and duty?

Albrecht then criticizes the monistic basis of reincarnation for not providing a transcendent or wholly good God. A useful chart comparing Christianity and the Gnostic-Pantheistic view of reincarnation is provided.

This book is a well-argued and well-documented apologetic gem; it shines by internally critiquing reincarnationist ideas rather than shouting them down or merely condemning them. It then shows the supremacy of the Christian revelation standing strong and firm apart from the rubble of reincarnation. if, as Albrecht reports, 23 per cent of the U.S. population believes in this ancient error, Christians had better take it seriously.

Reviewed by Douglas Groothuis, staff member of Christian Alternatives-a Christian educational ministry in Eugene, Oregon.

GENESIS AND EARLY MAN by Arthur C. Custance, Zondervan (1975, reissued 1981). $8.95, 331 pp.

The creation /evolution debate rages on but this reissue of Custance's writings from the 1960's (one chapter from the early 1970's) does little to clarify the debate in the 1980's. The arguments in this book seem as old as the fossils being vilified.

Most references cited by Custance-probably 80% or more-are from before 1960. For this reason nothing is said about Australopithecus afarensis, the continuing detailed work on Peking Man, phylogenies being developed from biochemical data, punctuated equilibrium, or recent archaeological treasures such as Ebla. During the time Custance was writing, the controversial work of the Leaky family was in the news and the early results regarding the language ability of a chimpanzee named Washoe were being published. And since Custance's book was first issued, fashions within science have changed. The ape-dolt image of Neanderthal man, so unappealing to Custance, has been replaced with one that recognizes their humanity. Genesis and Early Man is the kind of book that should not have been reissued without an extensive update to reflect these new currents in scientific thought.

Although now a dated book, Genesis and Early Man has a worthy objective-to interpret factual knowledge of science in a manner harmonious with the biblical picture of early man. Custance believes the Genesis account of man's origins to be literally correct, and for good reason. If, as he says, "we abandon the concept of a truly historical Adam and Eve ... we undermine the logical basis of the plan of salvation because that plan involves an undoing by a Second Adam of what the First Adam did" (p. 7). However, in order to bring about the desired harmony between science and Genesis, Custance purposely ignores the question of time and chronology. In reference primarily to C- 14 dating he says: "the whole question of chronology [in archaeology] is still in a state of flux and the techniques of establishing the time frame are by no means yet entirely dependable" (p. 8) and so neither is considered. If one ignores chronology, anthropology and archaeology are open for major reinterpretations in a manner that "makes wonderful sense" (p. 53). One can hold that fossil men are no more than 4000 to 5000 years old and that variations in the skeletal remains are simply the result of harsh environment. Ignoring chronology also allows for a radically different view of primitive cultures-they are the product of "devolution." Custance asserts that following the Noahic flood the Near East very rapidly became the cradle of civilization from which people moved out in waves across the continents. As distance between these various human populations and the Near East center increased, their cultures and technology degenerated or devalued in the face of harsh environment. Acceptance of these views proposed in Genesis and Early Man rests squarely on being able to discard all accumulated dating evidence. Although some creationist schools find this assumption acceptable, it is clearly not the view of many Christian scientists and certainly is antithetical to secular scientists who routinely employ available dating techniques.

A further flaw in the book, which as a student of the biological sciences I find especially appalling, is the author's imprecise understanding of the evolutionary mechanism. He says: "Somewhere there had to be a first man and a first woman who were of the species Homo sapiens." Otherwise we must "assume that a [human] baby was born to some primate family... Are we to imagine that the ape-family is going to make a supreme effort to keep this new man-child alive? (pp. 128-9) It is a familiar argument-which came first "the chicken-or-the-egg" or in this case the human adult or human baby. Arguments of this kind, based upon sudden large mutational changes, were largely discarded by evolutionary biologists after the 1930's.

Misunderstanding of evolutionary change is evident elsewhere. In the chapter entitled "the supposed evolution of the human skull" Custance argues confusingly that primitive skull features are the result of "historical factors." By historical factors Custance sometimes means the effect of the environment on the phenotypic expression of an individual, similar to the effect of low temperature on pupil development in certain butterflies (p. 215) or the effect of high temperature on the body form of white mice (p. 216). Elsewhere historical factors mean natural selection producing changes in gene frequency. This usage of historical factors is evident in the discussion of varieties and race (e.g. p. 212) and skull modifications due to diet (p. 204). Finally historical factors mean acute glandular malfunctions. In modern human populations these malfunctions are so rare that most of us never witness a single example in our lifetime. And yet Custance concludes that these alone make "any attempt to fit [fossiles of man] into a genetical series ... a waste of time" (p. 219). Of the three usages of historical factors only the first, phenological change, seems to me to be pertinent to the discussion. The second is evolution within the human population, the very idea the author hopes to disprove. Custance's third usage of historical factors, that of glandular malfunctions, has been ruled out in studies of ever-growing numbers of fossil skulls.

The dilemma of Genesis And Early Man will undoubtedly be with us for a long time to come. Hopefully a new generation of Christian scientists, committed to inerrancy and the essential doctrine of salvation by faith, will fashion a cogent synthesis of faith and science. Hopefully publishing houses like Zondervan will be willing to bravely push ahead and publish these more timely authors.

Reviewed by Paul E. Rothrock, Department of Biology, Taylor University, Upland, Indiana 46989.

A GUIDE TO CULTS AND NEW RELIGIONS. Ronald Enroth and others, InterVarsity Press, 1983, 215 pp., $5.95, paperback.

if you are outraged or confused about "the cults," or even just interested in them, this book is for you. just what is a .. cult" anyway? How do they differ? What do they teach? How can they be reached with the gospel?

This fine handbook will equip Christians to cut to the heart of spiritual error with both discernment and love. Sociologist Ron Enroth's opening chapter, "What is a Cult," sets the stage by defining cults theologically and sociologically. Laboring to give specific meaning to the ambiguous word "cult," Enroth identifies nine characteristics of cults such as authoritarian, esoteric, subjectivistic, and finds several categories of cults such as world-denying (Hare Krishna, Children of God), world-indifferent (Way International), and world-affirming (Transcendental Meditation, est). Five other conceptual categories are Eastern mystical, aberrational Christian, psychological or self-improvement, esoteric-syncretistic, and psychic-occult-astral. Having absorbed Enroth's treatment, one is less prone to commit "the generic fallacy" of labeling everything and anything a cult.

The following ten chapters deal with specific groups: The Bahai faith, Bagwan Shree Rajneesh, Eckankar, est, Hare Krishnas, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Transcendental Meditation, The Unification Church, and The Way Intemational. The various authors outline the history of the movements, their basic doctrine and practices, their internal inconsistencies, and then present the Christian alternative and challenge.

Spiritual falsity is confronted without obnoxious antagonism or callous ridicule. The authors expose cultic deceptions such as TM posing as non-religious to infiltrate public education, the founder of Eckankar's plagiarism, The Way International's intentional mistranslation of Scripture, various Mormon hoaxes, and others. They also spotlight aberrations such as guru Rajneesh's anarchistic spirituality, the Hare Krishna's idolatry, the Jehovah's Witnesses eschatological miscalculations, and more. Yet no chapter should unnecessarily offend members of these groups. The criticism is not overbearing, instead it opens the way for calm but cogent presentations of the gospel. Several chapters directly address the cultist; others instruct the Christian how to personally reach the cultist.

Reviewed by Douglas Groothuts, McKenzie Study Center, 1883 University St., Eugene, Oregon 97403

TEACHING IN THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH, by Charles R. Foster. Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1982, $6.95, 160 pp.

Charles R. Foster, professor of Christian Education at Scaritt College is concerned with continuity in transmitting Christian values. He believes that these values are being challenged in unprecedented ways, and that the church needs a new philosophy of Christian education.

The new philosophy he suggests is seeing the people of God as a community of children who need to have the community's values passed on to them. He defends this theologically, by showing that the Bible treats the whole community as God's children, without regard to the ages of the individuals. He also points out that dealing with each other as children lessens hierarchies and facilitates learning.

Foster believes that Christian teaching is vital, as contrasted to a contentless approach in which educators are given the role of facilitators or enablers. There is content to be transmitted from one generation to another, and only those committed to that content can move a new generation to adopt and retransmit the values of God's community. Foster therefore advocates teachers who incarnate what they teach-who live the values expressed in their words. Teachers must be convinced if they are to convince others.

While he advocates childlikeness, Foster is not promoting childishness. His goal is maturity which maintains the openness and confident faith of childhood, in which dependence is accepted as a matter of course. In the community of God's people, all can learn from each other. Adults learn from children while children learn from adults, in interdependence.

This book is about Christian education, but at a number of points reference is made to public education. This is useful, in showing how Christian values can permeate society. It is also at times confusing, because these values are admittedly of a minority movement, and can only be fostered in the community life of God's people. Indeed, this fact is both the theme and the need for this book!

Teaching in the Community of Faith is a challenging and helpful book. Its suggestion of a new approach to Christian education has value and should lead to healthy changes when heeded.

Reviewed by Joseph M. Martin, Professor of Missions, Eduardo Lane Bible Institute, Patrocinio, M.G., Brazil

CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIOLOGY edited by Stephen A. Grunlan & Milton Reiner, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982. 457 pp., n.p.

Christian Perspectives on Sociology is an introductory reader composed of twenty individually written chapters mainly by social science professors at Christian colleges on such topics as research methodology, socialization, economics, and sociology and the Christian. A reviewer is not likely to come up with uniformly applicable generalizations for so many authors, but he can cautiously note a few tendencies in the book as a whole. However, one generality which the editors straightaway provide for us is the authors' commitment to the lordship of Christ and the infallibility of the Bible as the divine rule for Christian faith and practice.

Evangelical Christians stand in a similar relation to sociology as blacks did to white society before the 1960's. For years sociologists have used evangelicals as whipping boys and bogeymen. Sociologists ruthlessly hunted down believers, their beliefs and institutions. They sought to destroy, if not Christians' bodies, at least their social reputation and sense of self-worth. Comte crooned his Religion of Humanity; Max Weber urged us onto "mental suicide"; Lester Ward peddled his social telepsis; and Robert Merton set up his liberal-secular social denaturing still. Sociologists who are evangelical Christians face quite a dilemma in introducing their colleagues to an audience of their fellow believers. Introducing the wicked witch of the west at a Miss America beauty pageant might be easier.

Although sociology as currently practiced has several un-Christian assumptions, the authors strongly believe that sociology, or at least its tools, is religiously and morally benign. "The discipline of sociology is in itself neutral and descriptive, not normative" (p. 20). Where sociologists have called Christians inadequate or deforming, we should entertain the possibility that the social scientists are correct before jumping to the conclusion that they are anti-Christian bigots (of p. 261).

Essentially, sociology, the authors generally agree, can provide us with the facts-the light-while the Bible provides the norms-the salt. Indeed, sociology frees us from the straitjacket of the culture found in the Bible by showing that the Bible is a culturally relative book in which are embedded sacred meanings (p. 413-414). Sociology can be our eyes and our guide for how to be a viable part of human society (p. 24), while the Bible tells us what our participation means. Of course, if in the end sociological fact conflicts with the normatively infallible Scriptures, the Scriptures win out.

The main point of conflict that the authors find between sociology and Christianity is their ideas about the person. Sociology over-determines and denies personality and choice while the Christian affirms them. Consequently, sociologists also overlook the inherent sinful nature of humans. Still, the authors find that the fitting of the Christian perspective into a sociological framework is the best way to integrate the two. So, for example, sociology defines the situation (say, "collective behaviour," i.e., a crowd, a social movement, etc.), the Biblical data is brought together in terms of the sociological definition ("collective behavior in the Bible"), and the normative implications for the Christian are brought forward (the importance of self-control during "collective behaviour").

Regarding politics, at least a plurality of the authors believe that the sociological principles favoring left-wing politics are supported by left-wing political norms in the Bible. (This is fortunate for the authors since sociology has been such a part of the political left that if left-wing politics were not also seen as the Biblical norm, the discrepancy between sociological fact and Biblical valuation might be so large that this book could not have been written in its present form.) Grunlan reiterates the case against familial subordination of women (p. 61; also of p. 240). Other authors raise questions about laws against homosexual acts, drug usage and other "victimless crimes"; suggest that the church has been unfaithful in the criminal justice area because of a tendency to identify with conservative social and political viewpoints (p. 148); promote Ron Sider's very left-wing political economics (ch. 10 & other places), Christian socialism (ch. 11), and various other attacks on American capitalism (none on socialism); and worry about projected food riots in the 1980's in America (p. 348). Except for a small minority of the authors and on the abortion issue, wherever the discussion of political or social issues involves contemporary political ideologies, the side of right is found to be on the left.

Finally, since so much of sociology is taken as given, an important question then is, How well do the authors summarize sociology? They do a competent job. However, one should note that while some of the authors summarize the various theoretical approaches to a topic, others opt for a more detailed account of just one approach. Also, I was surprised that in general there is little or no mention of the newer sociologies such as etbnometbodology, existential sociology, phenomenology, structuralism, poststructuralism, neoMarxism, etc.

In sum, Christian Perspectives on Sociology gives a competent and accepting summation of the sociology which it discusses and a Christian viewpoint that tends to be "neoevangelical" in theology and politics. The authors undoubtedly believe that they are freemen tilling the fields of sociology, but others may conclude that the authors are instead close to becoming serfs bound to those fields.

Reviewed by Tony Carne*, Centerfar Biblical Analysis, Albany, California

DILEMMA: A NURSE'S GUIDE FOR MAKING ETHICAL DECISIONS by Judith Allen Shelly, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois 1980, paperback, 165 pages, $4.95

In 1980 the American Nurse's Association passed a number of resolutions calling for increased awareness of the ethical dimension of nursing practice along with specific suggestions for increasing this awareness including giving ethics greater emphasis within the nursing curriculum. These resolutions are expressive of a renewed interest in ethics within the nursing profession. Not since the 1930's has there been as much written and published on this subject. In fact the amount published in the last several years probably exceeds all that has been published since the beginning of this century. There are several explanations for this sudden interest and productivity. It is, in part, an outgrowth of the general concern in society about the ethical implications of biomedical technology. These advances in medical technology have created problems that were undreamed of several decades ago. Thus, the problems are new, the implications uncharted. Nurses, as well as other health care professionals, need to think about problems and issues their professions have never before encountered. Not only have the problems changed, but so have the nurses. They are increasingly autonomous and no longer see themselves merely as obedient instruments of a physician's will.

Shelly's rather unique contribution to this growing field of nursing ethics is perhaps not unfairly described as Christianized values clarification. Like other books that have applied values clarification to ethical issues in nursing the emphasis is placed on becoming aware of what values one holds. in secular books a "correct" decision is often measured in purely subjective terms, such as personal satisfaction and congruence with one's value system. What is distinctive about Shelly's approach is that there is added a more objective standard of how well the values and decisions reached comport with the Christian faith and biblical imperatives. This is the only book in this field which attempts to explore nursing dilemmas from the perspective of the Christian nurse.

After a number of preliminary chapters which outline a way of going about ethical dilemmas, the importance of doing so, and how to discover what the Bible says about the moral issues which may confront the nurse, she presents a series of eight case studies for analysis. The idea is to apply the recipe for ethical decision-making provided in the early chapters to each of these cases. The case studies raise such issues as participation in abortions, refusing a physician's order, deception, joining unions, whistleblowing, and evangelism on the job. The most valuable portions of the book are the collections of biblical texts and relevant readings which speak to the issue at hand from a Christian perspective.

Reflecting on the moral issues presented in this book, coming to a greater explicit awareness of what one believes about them through values clarification, and of how one's faith impacts on one's vocation, are undoubtably worthwhile. The problem with such an approach, however, is that it goes no further: the self -understanding which should be a first step becomes an end in itself. What is absent from Shelly's book (and most values clarification approaches) is any discussion of justifying positions taken to third parties, or of moral theories which may provide a way of justifying them. A Christian nurse needs to be sure of his or her own values, but also to have the ability to persuasively communicate and justify them to others. One way of doing this is by placing them in a broader context of appeals to moral theory and shared moral principles. For this second step, one must move beyond Shelly's approach.

Reviewed by Terry Pence, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky 41076.

THE CREATION, by Frank B. Salisbury, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book Company, 1976, xv + 314 pp., $9.95.

Frank B. Salisbury may be familiar to some of you as author or co-author of texts in plant physiology and botany. He first came to my attention with his article "Doubts about the modern synthetic theory of evolution," published in no less a periodical than Nature (224:342-343, 1969). A similar article was published in American Biology Teacher (33:335338, 1971). In both of these papers, Salisbury argues that there is an incredibly small probability that any particular macromolecule could have arisen from a mixture of components by chance. There are some flaws in his arguments, such as that the Nature paper does not allow for the degeneracy of the genetic code, but the basic conclusion seems to be unassailable.

In The Creation, Salisbury exposes clearly what appear to be more fundamental reasons why he questions current scientific dogma about origins. These are that such dogma conflicts with his religious beliefs. As perceptive readers will have deduced from the place and publisher of the book, Salibury is a Mormon. This is not the place, nor do I have the expertise, to mount a full-scale attack on what most readers of this journal probably consider to be a monstrous heresy. Suffice it to say that the religion of the author limits the usefulness of the book. Salisbury is writing for intelligent Mormons, and draws heavily upon Mormon writing, which he accepts as inspired. He even refers to temple rites, but does not go further, for "this cannot be considered outside the temple. . ." (p. 108)

What, then, is the usefulness of the volume? It seems to me that it is fourfold. First, it gives a Mormon view of origins, should anyone need to have a source for such. Salisbury makes clear that his is not the Mormon view, also stating that there is no official position, but he also seems to be in his religion's mainstream. Second, the book gives a sort of outsider's perspective on the flood geology vs. secular humanism controversy. Salisbury is familiar with The Genesis Flood, Evolution: The Fossils Say No!, and other such books. (But apparently not with this journal.)

Third, Salisbury does an excellent job of presenting the philosophy of science to non-scientists, and of considering the implications of that philosophy at the interface between science and religious belief. As I mentioned above, the book was written for laypersons. Chapter Two is devoted to counter-arguments commonly used against Christianity (by which I suppose he means Mormonism-in this case, no matter, the arguments are relevant to Christianity). The author notes these, and points out flaws with each. In chapter Four, he presents six arguments commonly used against the scientific enterprise (e. g., science has made mistakes, the existence of the universe cannot be explained by science) and demolishes these. Between these two is a chapter introducing the methods of science. I found these chapters, and some of the rest of the book, to be nearly as good as, say, Ramm's The Christian View of Science and Scripture.

Fourth, and last, the book is valuable because of Salisbury's insights about origins. He begins the last section of the book by asking "Can we reconcile what God has revealed and what science has discovered? The answer ... is clearly no. Certainly we cannot reconcile science and relevation in a way that will satisfy everyone. . . . God hasn't told us the whole story, and science hasn't collected all the data." (p. 219). He then discusses the major evidences for evolution in four chapters. It is clear that he wants to believe in a young earth, for example, but Salisbury is about as unbiased as anyone can be expected to be in his evaluation of the fossil record, supposed relationships, molecular similarities, and other evidences for naturalistic evolution of life. Because of this unwillingness to go off half-cocked, the weaknesses he does find are all the more convincing.

The book is not perfect, of course, even allowing for the Mormon slant. For example, Salisbury accepts the higher critical views of the documentary origins of Genesis too uncritically, and claims that the red shift is the only evidence that the universe is expanding. Nonetheless, an interesting volume by an important scientist.

Reviewed by Martin La Bar, Visiting Professor, Bryan College, Dayton, Tennessee 37321

TWO INTO ONE: RELATING IN CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE by Joyce Huggett, Inter-Varsity Press, 1981, $3.95,128 pages.

With marriages breaking up at an alarming rate and with many other couples remaining together but being miserable, a book such as this one is welcome, since it is aimed at preventing newly married couples from succumbing to the pitfalls which afflict many marriages. Joyce Huggett, a counselor at St. Nicholas' Church in Nottingham, England, has written a clear, brief introduction to biblical principles as they relate to marriage, focusing especially upon possible areas of marital conflict.

Beginning with chapters that set forth the foundational principles of commitment, communication and dedication, Huggett tackles the problem of role relationships in marriage, sexual bliss and sexual difficulties, conflict and anger, and in-laws and finances. She concludes her book with some special counsel for those whose marriage is shaken by personal tragedy and offers some suggestions for mending a broken or, at least, tattered marriage.

The strengths of this book are numerous. The counsel given is certainly in keeping with basic biblical principles concerning marriage, and occasional reference is made to specific biblical texts for insight and guidance. There is an appropriate emphasis upon the time and energy necessary to make a marriage work ("fidelity is a time-consuming vocation") and a realistic appraisal of one's mate ("at best, your partner is no more than a wounded healer who will sometimes prop you up and who will, on occasion, require support from you.").

In comparison with its strengths, the shortcomings of the book are relatively minor. Some topics, such as the importance of communication, are not developed as extensively as one might desire. The primary flaw of the book is Huggett's tendency to move too far away from her biblical base and to slip into psychological jargon. In discussing the concept of oneness in marriage Huggett writes, "A true one-flesh relationship includes both togetherness and space." In presenting a model for communication she suggests that one spouse should gently ask, "I seem to hear you saying everything is all right. . . ." Often Huggett's points would have been made more forcefully had she laid a greater emphasis upon explicit biblical texts.

While it is not as helpful as R. C. Sproul's Discovering the Intimate Marriage or Charles Swindoll's Strike the Original Match, Two into One: Relating in Christian Marriage is a very readable book which should prove useful to many engaged or recently married couples.

Reviewed by James Bibza, Instructor in Religion and Philosophy, Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania 16127.

LOST CHRISTIANITY by Jacob Needleman, New York: Bantam Books, 1982 (previously published by Doubleday, 1980), 224 pages, $3.50 pbk.

In the face of the fragmentation of life and of widespread disillusionment with activism, spirituality and inwardness have gained the renewed interest of Western thinkers both within and outside of the Christian Church. It is within this context that Needleman's book is to be understood, a work that reflects the author's personal rediscovery of the "lost Christianity." Needleman's search was triggered by a chance meeting with a Christian monk, Father Sylvan, whose unpublished writings form the basis of the book's thesis and are extensively quoted. Much space is devoted to the narrative recounting the author's ensuing experiences with other contemporary contemplative thinkers and his discovery of the writings of the contemplative tradition.

Needleman's thesis is

... that it is precisely this intermediate, or conscious, Christianity that is being sought by the numerous Christians turning now toward Eastern teachings or responding to the challenge of the new religions by delving into the Western contemplative forms and texts that have survived over the centuries (P. 140).

As to what this "intermediate Christianity," which is the "lost Christianity," entails is disclosed slowly in the second half of the book. According to the author, the pull exerted by contemplation on Christians today is not that of the desire for an experience of God, but rather that of the discovery of one's personal existence, a depth of life that must precede the practice of life, with which it is often confused (pp. 113-115).

The lost "intermediate" is that which is between God and the animal world, that which makes humanity unique. Yet this uniqueness does not lie in mind, emotion, or the social self, nor in the "soul" as a fixed entity, as is commonly assumed. In fact Christianity's adoption of the notion that man's soul "exists in finished form within human nature" was a disaster (p. 171). Rather, the soul is developed by "the power of gathered attention:"

"Lost Christianity" is the lost or forgotten power of man to extract the pure energy of the soul from the experiences that make up his life. This possibility is distinct only in the most vivid or painful moments of our ordinary lives, but it can be discovered in all experiences if one knows how to seek it. Certain powerful experiences-such as the encounter with death or deep disappointment-are accompanied by the sensation of presence; an attention appears that is simultaneously open to a higher, freer mind ("Spirit") and to all the perceptions, sensations and emotions that constitute our ordinary self. one feels both separate and engaged in a new and entirely extraordinary way. One experiences I Am." This is the soul (in inception).

As such, the soul as an idea is a powerful symbol with the result that the search for "lost Christianity" becomes the attempt "to bring back Christianity as a guide to the search for ourselves" (p. 184).

In the Conclusion, Needleman applies his findings to the area of activism. Christianity is the religion of love, he maintains. The outworking of love toward one's neighbor consists neither in mysticism and spirituality nor in "social action and therapeutic caring," but rather in the attempt "to nurture the growth, in my neighbor, of the soul." This begins with a genuine, inner seeing of suffering that goes beyond mere emotional reaction to injustice, for even emotion belongs to the outer aspect of one's life. The lost element that must be regained is the force within oneself that can attend to both outer and inner movements (creation and return) of human nature and "can then guide the arising of this force within my neighbor in a manner suited to his understanding" (p. 217).

Needleman's book is of significance for two related emphases: the soul must be understood as a process, not as a fixed entity; any return to mysticism, contemplation, or spirituality, while important, is insufficient. Many readers, however, will wish that more space had been given to the development of the author's theses, rather than to his journey toward their discovery.

Revieewed by Stanley J. Grenz, North American Baptist Seminary, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

THE SUFFERING GOD by Charles Ohlrich, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 1982. 130 pages, $3.25.

In The Suffering God, OhIrich tackles the question of what is God like, particularly in light of the problem of suffering. If God is good, and God is all-powerful, then why does He allow pain and suffering? Clearly, traditional explanations of human suffering seem to create more problems than they resolve: e.g., that suffering is God's punishment, that suffering is a means God uses to teach us lessons, that suffering is a means God uses to test us, that suffering will be rewarded beyond the grave. Such explanations bring little comfort to the suffering. So, what kind of a God is it that we worship? Ohlrich's answer is that we worship a "suffering God." The God that we worship is one who loves us so much that he shares our pain and suffering.

Most of this book is devoted to developing the argument that the God of the Scriptures is a God who suffers for us and with us. In the Old Testament, God suffers over the sinfulness of Israel. Hosea especially, pictures God as a tender and compassionate father, who suffers when his children turn their backs on him. The "suffering servant" of Isaiah 53 reveals God as suffering on behalf of his people, bearing the sins of many and making many righteous. In the New Testament, we see God entering the world as Jesus Christ, and suffering and dying on our behalf. Throughout the Bible, God is revealed suffering for us and suffering with us. This knowledge, Ohlrich argues, makes our own suffering easier to bear.

Ohlrich does not attempt to answer the question of why God permits suffering, but rather points out that God has chosen to forgive and chosen to suffer. Faced with the scandal of human sin, God could have destroyed the world entirely. Instead in his great love, he chose to forgive through suffering. God by the act of creation so placed himself that if man sinned, it meant suffering for God. Why God should have created a world in which suffering plays so large a part is not revealed to us.

Perhaps the nature of creation is such that things just happen. All events may not have an ultimate meaning. Any meaning they have is what we ascribe to them. "Why did this happen to me?" is then the wrong question. What we need to ask is, "How am I going to respond to this?" Ohlrich's book should help those who suffer to make the right response.

This is a well written and easy to read book and should be successful in achieving the author's objective which is to provide "hope and comfort for those who hurt."

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

THE COSMIC CODE: QUANTUM PHYSICS AS THE LANGUAGE OF NATURE by Heinz Pagels, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982, 370 pp. (with index).

This book by Heinz Pagels does much to clarify some of the confusion in the realm of quantum physics. It explains the overall current state of quantum physics better and in a clearer manner than can be found in most other sources. Further, the topics are discussed as clearly as possible without resorting to the complex mathematics that is almost imperative in explaining some of the phenomena.

Pagels begins with the history of physics in the early twentieth century, particuarly the work of Einstein, his 1905 work in the photoelectric effect, and his subsequent special and general relativity. The author moves on to quantum physics and shows Einstein's inability to deal with the philosophical implications that emerged from this new physics. In a few short pages the new physicists are discussed: Heisenberg, Bohr, Dirac, Schroedinger, Pauli, and Planck. Their contributions to quantum physics are also discussed: complementarity, the uncertainty principle, the wave-particle nature of matter, etc.

As the author completes the first section of his book, "The Road To Quantum Reality," he then proceeds to a "Voyage Into Matter." In this section there are clear and lucid, discussions of quarks, leptons, and gluons. The four types of gluons are associated with the four forces between matter: gravitational, electromagnetic, weak, and strong. Completing this section Pagels discusses gauge field theory, unstable vacuum, and the unified field theory, relating the latter two to the origin of the universe as hypothesized in the Big Bang Theory. In a final chapter in this section the author discusses one of the more recently developing topics, proton decay.

In the physics of these topics the author gives us little problem; his explanations are clear and understandable. It is in the philosophical and even theological implications that he gives us that there is cause for concern. Interpretations of mathematical formalisms have given scientists problems that are often more difficult than the science itself. In this context

Pagels gives readers both his physics and his own personal interpretations.

The problem with Pagels' trying to convince us of his views is that be attempts to lend the certainty of his physics to his philosophical interpretations. Further, even though his physics may be well thought out, his philosophical arguments are often incomplete, and sometimes faulty, A good example of this approach to philosophical interpretation is found in Pagels' discussion of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics. A few years ago this point of view was considered only one of the viable alternatives. Pagels, however, appears to accept it as almost axiomatic.

In some of Pagels' philosophical interpretations he is merely vague and appears to want to convince readers of his viewpoint by the age-old method of "proof by intimidation." One area in which Pagels attempts this method of persuasion is found in the applications of the methods and implications of quantum physics outside that area. Pagels shows what .1 quantum weirdness" means, how quantum reality is statistical in nature, and how classical causality does not apply at the quantum level. As "real" as these implications may be at the quantum level, Pagels tries to apply the implications to the realm where we humans live. To do this he does not give us a convincing argument; rather, he almost expects us to believe him on "faith." Pagels chides Bohr for his applications of the principle of complementarity into the realm of biology (p. 94), but then does much the same thing himself. in his discussion of probability he alludes to the lack of freedom for humans in their political and creative lives. He says we are guided by the "invisible hands." (p. 115-116) Pagels wants his applications of the interpretations of quantum physics where he wants them and nowhere else, and he wants his readers to agree with him.

A second area of difficulty in Pagels' applications of quantum methods and their implications is found in his interpretation of the statistical nature of quantum physics. At the quantum level Pagels rejects causality as a central tenet of physics and turns to statistical distributions as the "new reality. " He introduces the concept of invisible hands that shape quantum reality and then seems to realize that he has introduced a new causality. He backs off from such a strong position (p. 114) but before he is through with Chapter 7, he has virtually come out four-square in favor of his new causality; he claims that, ". . . the invisible hands are touching everything in the microworld. " In essence Pagels seems to be rejecting classical determinism in favor of a new type. Further, even though he rejects the traditional JudeoChristian Jehovah in favor of the "God who plays dice," he in turn rejects that god and turns to one who has the hands that touch everything in the microworld.

One final philosophical interpretation that Pagels' book gives us is found in the concept of observer created reality. This is not the traditional concept of solipsism; it goes beyond that and introduces the observer into the whole of ontology, To quote Pagels, ". . . with quantum theory, human intention influences the structure of the physical world." (p. 94) Much of this viewpoint comes from the uncertainty principle where the position and momentum of a particle cannot be determined simultaneously. With such a condition, the observer creates the reality he wants by choosing which one he intends to measure. This is certainly a simplistic explanation of the uncertainty principle, but it suffices to show how observers are supposed to become the "creators of reality."

There are several objections to this concept of reality. The first has already been discussed briefly, i.e., there is no basis for applying quantum reality outside of the realm of quantum physics. In spite of this lack of basis, there is the constant attempt to apply any method at hand as long as it suits a purpose.

Such an "observer created reality" is in fundamental opposition to the Judeo-Christian concept of God and carries the current trend toward relativism in philosophy even further. We have already seen the demise of absolute value and absolute truth. With the implications of quantum physics presented to us as a relative ontology, we see another attempt to set aside the God-man in favor of the man-god. Under these conditions, it is imperative that the implications of the philosophical interpretations of quantum physics be more widely discussed.

Reviewed by Donald L. Grigsby, Associate Professor of Education, University of Alabama in Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS: THE ETHICAL DILEMMA ed. Edwin R. Squiers. Mancelona, Michigan: AuSable Trails Institute of Environmental Studies, 1982. 375 pp., $6.95.

Ours is a century of significant conferences, congresses, and conventions. In June, 1980, a gathering convened among the woods and lakes of northern Michigan. The task was to wrestle with the environmental problems of our age in a cross-disciplinary; Christian forum. This book, The Environmental Crisis, is the product of that forum. It provides a valuable contribution to our understanding of the most perplexing question of our age-how can man live in harmony with God, his fellow man, and nature.

Although the forum participants exhibited a wide diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds, almost all expressed concern over the attitude the church and individual Christians have toward the creation and environmental problems. Kroll (p. 184) beautifully summarized many of these ideas and the tone of the forum:

The Old Testament prophets spoke out mostly to God's people, rebuking sin and pointing toward a direction that involved obedience to the Lord. Much of the evangelical world is of no particular viewpoint on environmental issues. If the underlying materialism responsible for many of the issues is exposed, along with the issues themselves, the Spirit of the Lord is able to move His people to response.

So there is a need to deal with the sin of materialism and apathy. There is a further need to educate Christians in the ethics and complexities of the environmental crisis, an education that can occur in both our churches and Christian schools.

The first section of The Environmental Crisis attempts to work toward a Christian environmental ethic. Here the conference participants grapple with what relationship man should have with God's creation. It is evident from the scriptural studies presented that God has given man particular responsibilities toward nature. However, depending upon the scriptural and theological emphasis, our exact role may vary. For example, Walker sees man as a steward of the natural world in which man seeks to manage resources for the greatest benefit of all mankind. Wilkinson hopes that Christians will see themselves as redeemers of nature (in the sense of Rom. 8). He believes that like Christ, we should be willing to sacrifice self in our relationship with the natural world. in yet a third view, the Process view presented by Keener, the Christian is thought to be co-creator with God. Of all the discussions, I found that of Westphal to be the most provocative. He boldly argues for a form of "nature's rights." By this he means a right for nature to be itself with man by our seeking a new "subject-subject relationship" with nature in place of the present "subject-object relationship." All of the participants properly focus on the need for real progress to have "its origin in God the creator and its goal in God the perfector" (Schwartz, p. 35). Without such a focus, the resulting ethic, Yandell points out, will be inadequate, piecemeal, and utilitarian.

Many of the essays supply case studies and historical perspectives. The resources and technology section has especially insightful examples involving the tall grass prairies of our Midwest and the effect of advertising on our perception of nature. The mining of Montana coal provides a fascinating case study of the conflict between local and national interests. In another essay, Terman reveals his frustration over controlling the spread of the toxic chemical kepone in the James River of Virginia. His experience beautifully illustrates the 11 wish it would disappear" approach to environmental crises often adopted by bureaucrats and business.

I found several essays particularly helpful in my thinking about solutions to environmental problems. Adkison showed the value of systems analysis in working through problems. Phil Loy's discussion of politics and the environment clears away cobwebs regarding what government can and cannot do. Systems of government, according to Loy, are meant to be only agenda-clearing processes rather than problem-solving mechanisms and as such will have only limited success in protecting the environment.

The essays stimulate us to address many important questions. What action can we individually take as Christians and earth redeemers? What role will the church and Christian educational institutions play in the long-term working out of our environmental dilemmas? Will a new moral base be awakened? Will we begin again to see some things "as sacred and holy"? Might we eventually want to write environmental stewardship into our catechisms and creeds as suggested by Gelderloos? Can the American evangelical Christian live an alternate lifestyle amid affluence without accepting it as the norm? Can he speak clearly and forcefully from the eternal perspective exemplified by Jesus and taught us by the Holy Spirit?

Reviewed by Paul E. Rothrock, Department of Biology, Taylor University, Upland, Indiana 46989.