Science
in Christian PerspectiveScience
in Christian Perspective
Table of Contents
A CHRISTIAN INTRODUCTION
TO RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD
by Dr
Johannes G. Vos; Grand Rapids, Mich.
Baker Book House,
1965. 79pp., $1.50 paperback.
MAN IN COMMUNITY
A Study of St. Paul's Application of Old Testament and Early Jewish Conceptions of Human
Solidarity, by Russell Philip Shedd; Grand Rapids,
Mich. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1964. 209 pp., $1.95 paperback.
This short book is a consistently Christian and mission oriented handbook to some major religions of the world. Designed for personal reference and study group purposes, the statements on Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Shi~to, Mohammedanism, and Judaism are brief and supported by study helps.
This guide is based on Prof. Vos' course in comparative religions at Geneva College where he is Chairman of the Department of Biblical Literature. It also reflects his experience as a missionary to Manchuria and China.
The reader is cautioned to maintain an objective approach to world religions. It is necessary to discern the truth in world religions so that their worth may be properly balanced against Christianity. For a missionary to approach other religious systems with a less tolerant view is to jeopardize his ministry. Hence, we are reminded that "True scholarship and sound thinking should always be on guard against too-simple answers to difficult questions and too-simple solutions to baffling problems". Surely such advice always remains fresh.
The book steers a very narrow course through rough
waters. It is precisely the kind of direction needed by
mission, Sunday school, and youth study groups. As
an introduction to the anthropological perspective for
the layman, it is useful and lucid.
Reviewed by Russell Heddendorf, Assistant Professor
of Sociology, Geneva College, Beaver Falls, Penna.
MAN IN COMMUNITY
A Study of St. Paul's Application of Old Testament and Early Jewish Conceptions of Human
Solidarity, by Russell Philip Shedd; Grand Rapids,
Mich. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1964. 209 pp., $1.95 paperback.
This is a most deceptive book. With an innocuous title, and an unassuming paperback form, it appears to be anything but the scholarly and erudite work it is. With this note of caution, may the reader anticipate a challenging experience.
Born of missionary parents, Dr. Shedd received his education at Wheaton College, Faith Seminary and the University of Edinburgh. Man in Community is a modified form of the Ph.D. dissertation he wrote at Edinburgh.
While raising the question of human solidarity, Shedd provides a thoroughly biblical conception of ecumenism and the nature of a religious community. The work supplies a highly integrated argument beginning with the Old Testament view of community in Part I and linking this with the Pauline conception in Part II. To travel with Shedd on the path he outlines, one should be conversant with Hebrew, Greek, and reformed theology. Lacking such tools, as was the case with this reviewer, one feels somewhat cheated. Nevertheless, the organization is precise, the style lucid, the thesis clear, and the tightly structured presentation illuminating.
Shedd stresses the organic nature of the Israelite society. Centered in the family, it extends to other generations providing a temporal dimension to the community. Unity was of great importance to the Israelites and took the form of a "corporate personality".
Nevertheless, the community was not exclusive and provision was made for its extension beyond the organic bounds of the tribes. As a contract, the convenant was the main instrument providing for the inclusion of others into the community. By this means, the world view of the Israelites which accepted the unity of all humans because of their common creation and sin could be justified.
Beginning with creation, Shedd proceeds to show that Pauline theology carries these concepts of the unity of mankind into the New Testament. Paul uses the corporate personality of the group to extend the principle of solidarity to include the doctrine of redemption. Through Christ, the solidarity of men is completed and finds its expression in the church as the final expression of community. Faith and Baptism are likened to the means used to initiate aliens into the covenant of the Israelites. The cycle is complete, and the community, based on the nature of the church (New Israel), is inextricably entwined with the principles of ecumenism, based on the nature of man (New Humanity).
,This book is reminiscent of two classics in the sociology of religion, Robertson-Smith's The Religion of the Semites, and Durkheim's The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. While all of these books stress the organic nature of the religious community, Shedd goes beyond the scope of Robertson-Smith, acknowledging his debt as he proceeds, and avoids the easy conclusions of Durkeim, with whom he was probably not familiar. What is unique to Shedd is a humanistic bent which provides a useful balance to a totally organic position. Man is not simply a member of a religious community; he is in the same dependent, depraved condition as all other men.
Unfortunately, the theological frame of reference employed here weakens the sociolgical utility of the book. Nevertheless, its value to the evangelical Christian should be clear. In a day when ecumenism is all but a closed case, Shedd's definition stands as a useful and significant contribution to conservative position. Too often ignored, however, is the notion of the church as a community of believers. The relevance of such a concept in our society is not completely clear, but the need for identification with community is emphatic. This book should provide much illumination on this topic. Certainly, a more biblical and profound statement will not be forthcoming in the near future.
Reviewed by Russell Heddendorf. Assistant Professor of Sociology, Geneva College, Beaver Falls, Penna.