Journal: Grace Journal
Volume: GJ 05:1 (Winter 1964)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

GJ 5:1 (Wtr 64) p. 44

Book Reviews

Sermons for the Junior Congregation. By George W. Bowman III. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1962. 118 pp. $1.95.

Among pastors a modern trend is to preach an additional sermon for the younger members of the morning worship hour, or to hold a Junior Church service simultaneously with that hour. Out of his ministry, the author has selected thirty-five short and pithy sermons for juniors. These sermons could be employed by pastor or teacher for almost any junior program. Minister of Faith Baptist Church at South Boston, Virginia, Pastor Bowman does not claim originality for each thought in his book. Some of the illustrations are well known to the average reader, but with these a new application of spiritual truth is made. While it is not necessary to use objects with the sermon, the author recommends the employment of such to produce a more effective message. The content of the sermons is interesting and the titles are catchy. In his Foreword, Pastor Bowman gives several helpful suggestions on the preparation and delivery of sermons to juniors. This work is a part of the “Minister’s Handbook Series” by Baker Book House.

The reviewer suggests a listing of Scripture references with the sermon titles of the Contents to make this a more valuable tool. If evangelism is a desired goal of the user, then, he must add salvation scriptures and thoughts to most of these sermons.

James H. Gabhart
Union Gospel Church
Waterloo, Iowa

The Word of God According to St. Augustine. By A. D. R. Polman. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., 242 pp., $5.00.

The chief value of this book will be for serious students of Augustine’s thought. The author quotes heavily from Augustine and may be taken as an authoritative statement. Augustine was probably the greatest mind between the apostles and the reformers, and the book cannot help revealing more of his thought than only his bibliology.

The book shows Augustine’s view of the Word of God. Those who digest its thick prose will find a complete statement of his acceptance of the divine self-revelation. An incidental value of the book, however, may have lain outside the author’s intentions.

The book reveals clearly how Augustine can be considered the father of both the Catholic and the Protestant traditions: he knew the Bible as few men ever have, yet the book shows his easy disregard for the literal statements of Scripture. It was this disregard, this figurative interpretation, that enabled him to confuse the church with the kingdom. From the many quotations the reader may gauge for himself how far Augustine submitted to the New Testament and how far he stood in judgment over it.

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