Journal: Grace Journal
Volume: GJ 03:2 (Spring 1962)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

---

GJ 3:2 (Spr 62) p. 45

Book Reviews

The Biblical Doctrine of Judgment. By Leon Morris. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids. 72 pp., $2.00.

Those who are acquainted with the writings of Dr. Leon Morris will once again recognize in this concise and competent study of the Biblical doctrine of Judgment the author’s ability to present in an unobtrusive and interesting style Biblical doctrine by inductive research and analysis. He does this first by examining the most important and frequently used words for judgment in the Old Testament, setting forth the root or fundamental idea in these terms with respect to man and God. Dr. Morris demonstrates, for example, how Biblical usage illustrates that the fundamental idea in mishpat, the basic Old Testament term for judgment, is that process whereby one discriminates between right and wrong and takes action as a result. “Judgment is a quality of action” and is, therefore, fundamentally dynamic, rather than a mere legal and intellectual activity carried out in academic detachment.

After an examination of the various Old Testament terms and concepts, Dr. Morris turns to the idea of judgment in the New Testament and discusses krinō as a present reality and future certainty. The weaknesses of some of the concepts of modern critical scholarship with respect to future judgment, such as the “realized eschatology” of C. H. Dodd, and R. Bultmann’s “reinterpreted eschatology,” are illustrated in this brief but scholarly study.

Hobart E. Freeman
Grace Theological Seminary

The Message of Genesis. By Ralph H. Elliott. Broadman Press, Nashville, Tenn., 1961. 209 pp., $4.50.

The Message of Genesis is an attempt to set forth a theological interpretation of Genesis from the critical viewpoint. The author, while rejecting some of the older conclusions of the Wellhausen school, nevertheless follows the documentary theory of the Pentateuch along the lines enunciated by the Scandinavian or Uppsala school of oral tradition. Mosaic authorship of Genesis is thus denied, since much of the material of Genesis is said to have been collected gradually over a period of centuries at various worship centers. The material of the Pentateuch was passed down orally over the centuries as traditions, until ultimately certain emphases became characteristic of at least four major worship centers in Israel. When all this material was finally collected and written down, these traditions become the four so-called “documents” of the Pentateuch—JEDP.

By setting forth these methodological presuppositions as the basis for his interpretation of Genesis, the author has laid the foundations for the denial of the hist...

visitor : : uid: ()