Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 137:547 (Jul 1980)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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BSac 137:547 (Jul 80) p. 278

Book Reviews

The Bible in the Balance. By Harold Lindsell. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979. 384 pp. $9.95.

This sequel to the author’s earlier book, The Battle for The Bible, which appeared in 1976, goes one step further than his earlier book. He reviews the response to his earlier volume, answers his critics, and then deals in detail with the Southern Baptist Convention, Fuller Theological Seminary, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and the historical-critical method which he describes as “the Bible’s deadly enemy.” In his concluding chapter on “Prospects for the Future” he paints a dark picture and feels that Richard Quebedeaux’s analysis (in his book The Worldly Evangelicals) is right in that evangelicalism has moved extensively in the direction of liberalism and that many schools and institutions which once were sound in the faith are no longer adherents to orthodoxy.

Lindsell feels that the conditions are far worse than the average layman realizes. He states, “Apart from a great awakening, there is little hope that the mainline denominations will return to the orthodoxy of their founding fathers” (p. 344). He goes on to say, “I do not see the mainline theological seminaries reversing their patterns” (p. 344). On the other hand he sees a number of institutions which continue to adhere to the inerrancy of the Scriptures. He gives a long list which includes Dallas Theological Seminary. Accordingly he sees the hope of the future in churches and institutions which continue to stand without apology and equivocation for the doctrine of inerrancy.

In this book Lindsell says what needs to be said. Critics will quibble on some of his facts and conclusions but the main thrust of his volume is clearly in line with the overall movement in evangelicalism today. Those who adhere to orthodoxy should be grateful for the tremendous contribution that Lindsell has made in his analysis and word of warning on the state of contemporary evangelicalism.

J. F. Walvoord

BSac 137:547 (Jul 80) p. 279

Essentials of Evangelical Theology. Vol. 2. By Donald G. Bloesch. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979. 315 pp. $14.95.

Volume 1 of Essentials of Evangelical Theology dealt with the doctrines of God, authority, and salvation and was reviewed in this journal (April-June 1979, p. 181). This second volume gives attention to life, ministry, and hope. The book is addressed to Christians “who are seeking to think through their faith in the light of new advances in biblical and theological scholarship as well as in the face of new challenges from a secularized culture” (p. xi).

In his introduction...

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