Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 123:492 (Oct 1966)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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BSac 123:492 (Oct 66) p. 358

Book Reviews

Unger’s Bible Handbook. By Merrill F. Unger. Chicago: Moody Press, 1966. 960 pp. $4.95.

Here is a vast and tightly packed treasure house of information which is necessary for any and all students of the Bible. Scholarly and yet not too technical for the layman, this tool will prove itself to be a useful guide to understanding the Word of God.

Each book of the Bible is considered individually with an introduction in which features such as the setting and nature of the book are discussed, with an overall outline, and with a chapter-by-chapter analysis of its content. In addition, archeological information is provided as well as historical backgrounds. Maps and illustrations abound.

In the section covering the inter-Testamental period Unger surveys Jewish history, the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, Jewish institutions and other essentials to an understanding of the New Testament.

After surveying each book and chapter of the New Testament, the author concludes his volume with articles on the transmission of the text, canonization, and a survey of church history.

The immediate and large acceptance of this book by the Christian public is a good indication of the need which it so capably fills. Written from a conservative and premillennial viewpoint, Unger’s Bible Handbook is a must for all serious students of the Bible.

S. D. Toussaint

What About Tongue-Speaking? By Anthony A. Hoekema. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966. 161 pp. $3.50.

The Professor of Systematic Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary has presented in this book a reasoned and thorough discussion of the current phenomenon of speaking in tongues. The history of the movement is well summarized and the Pentecostal case is accurately presented. Such matters as devotional tongues, temporary gifts, and the occurrences in Acts are included in the discussion. The author’s conclusion is twofold: the contemporary upsurge is almost totally psychological, but it ought to alert Christians to the need of true Spirit infilling.

The author makes a good case for excluding the concept of devotional, private tongues. His argument for the existence of temporary gifts is based more on quoting others than on Biblical exegesis. The book could be strengthened considerably at this

BSac 123:492 (Oct 66) p. 359

point. His exposition of the filling of the Spirit is unusually clear, but one could wish that he were equally specific concerning the baptizing work of the Spirit. Like most writers on this subject, he is reluctant to ascribe many instances of tongues ...

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