Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 123:491 (Jul 1966)
Article: Book Notices
Author: Anonymous

BSac 123:491 (Jul 66) p. 275

Book Notices

By What Authority? By Bruce Shelley. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965. 166 pp. $1.95.

This discussion of the standards of truth in the early church is written by a theological conservative who is professor of church

BSac 123:491 (Jul 66) p. 276

history at Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado. Considered seriatim, the early church fathers and their contributions to the question of authority in Biblical theology is discussed with special attention to the concept of “the rule of faith.” Although written primarily for those who do not have immediate access to the early fathers, all students of church history and Christian doctrine will find this a helpful manual, summarizing the theology of the early fathers especially in the area of authority. In summarizing the conclusions of the early church, the author concedes that Christ is the supreme authority and that Christ is pre-eminently presented in the Bible. Ultimately the evidence in the early centuries supports the idea that the authority of Christian truth is the authority of the Bible.

J. F.Walvoord

Man’s Nature And His Communities. By Reinhold Niebuhr. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1965. 125 pp. $3.95.

As one of America’s foremost neo-orthodox theologians, Niebuhr has dedicated his life to the consideration of man in his social and political life. This work written in his old age is a resume and reevaluation of his social philosophy. In it he edges further from the Christian to the secular and from the supernatural to the natural. Long critical of orthodox Christianity’s preoccupation with the theological in contrast to the social issues, the author offers no solution to human depravity and social inequity except to deplore the shortcomings of both tribe and religion. Biblical remedies for man’s plight are almost completely ignored.

J. F. Walvoord

Primer On Roman Catholicism For Protestants. By Stanley I. Stuber. New York: Association Press, 1965. 276 pp.

In clear and concise form, Dr. Stuber of the Association Press presents Roman Catholic and Protestant views on a dozen crucial doctrines and practices. It is done in an anti-emotional, factual way. This is a revision of an earlier manual on the subject and for Christians who know little of Rome. It is one of the best, if not the best, on the subject. In days when we have a flood of publications and articles stressing a few things in common between Catholics and Protestants, it is refreshing, and Scriptural, to know the things which divide. Items covered are apostolic succession, Counter Reformation, Am...