Augsburger, Daniel A.

English

Andrews University

160 SEMINARY STUDIES as the reader meditates upon these "songs of heaven" he joins the celebra- tion in heaven. Andrews University GERHARD F. HASEL Gundry, Stanley N. Loue Them In: The Proclamation Theology of D. L .  Moody. Chicago: Moody Press, 1976. 252 pp. $6.95. In the book Loue Them In, Gundry not only achieves his objective of drawing a good sketch of D. L. Moody's beliefs, but also, because of his systematic effort to place the evangelist within the streams of religious thought of his times, he provides an excellent survey of the main theolog- ical currents of the latter half of the nineteenth century. The author introduces the reader to the whole spectrum of "moodyanas" and points out some of the limitations of the material available. The book is clear and thought-provoking, and will be of great value to all who are interested in piety and theology in nineteenth-century America or in the problems of evangelism. The keystone of Moody's theology focused around what he called "the three R's in the Bible: ruin by sin, redemption by Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Ghost" (p. 88), essentially the "practical" doctrines of Christianity that an evangelist is bound to emphasize. Besides those points, Gundry also considers Moody's ecclesiology, eschatology, and attitude toward modernism. Obviously, as Gundry recognizes, we are far from any systematic theology, and this is made so much the more evident that the evangelist seldom took time to spell out any point of theology beyond the sermonic level. That consideration should make us cautious about any dogmatic conclusion, since a theologian often sounds quite differently in the pulpit from the way he expresses himself in his study. Gundry is eager to dispel certain misconceptions concerning Moody. For instance, he grapples with the evangelist's statement, "It makes no difference how you get a man to God, provided you get him there," and he defends his hero from having allowed the requirements of professional revivalism to determine his theology. This concern leads Gundry to dissociate Moody sharply from Charles G. Finney's "new measures," which systematically worked upon the listeners' wills. Gundry stresses Moody's rejection of emotionalism-"the anxious bench" (which he replaced by the inquiry room)-and of the appeal to the fear of hell fire. Rather, Moody relied upon the drawing power of the gripping account of God's love. Of special significance was Moody's premillennialism that put the emphasis on preaching the gospel rather than the postmillennialist determination to win souls in order to establish God's kingdom on earth. BOOK REVIEWS 161 It is regrettable that Gundry contrasts Moody with the Finney of legend, when he himself recognizes the need for correcting the legendary picture of Moody. As can be expected, a study of an evangelist's belief has to devote special attention to the issue of human capacity for decision. Gundry discusses Moody's Arminianism. He questions the authenticity of a state- ment commonly attributed to Moody, "Arminian up to the cross, but Calvinist beyond" (p. 143), but he recognizes clear Calvinist tones in Moody's words on assurance. Moody insisted upon a sudden conversion (much to the displeasure of the liberals and the Campbellites) and upon the capacity of all to will to accept God's gift of salvation and the divine election, a doctrine that should be preached to believers only. Obviously, Moody never resolved the tension between the indispensability of God's intervention and the importance of human decision. Gundry proves that, contrary to the conclusions of J. Alexander Findlay, perhaps the best of Moody's biographers, Moody taught sub- stitutionary atonement, not the moral-influence atonement. Gundry also sets the record straight concerning Moody's relationship with the Holiness groups and Pentecostals. Although Moody insisted on the need of regener- ation through the Holy Spirit, he never encouraged or allowed ecstatic manifestations in his meetings. The author likewise dismisses the claims of certain liberals that if Moody were still alive, he would have been on their side. The discussion of Moody's attitude toward dispensationalism is extremely interesting. Gundry shows that the influence of the Plymouth Brethren on Moody is unquestionable, but that the latter chose to emphasize the importance of being ready for the Lord's coming rather than defining exactly the mode of the return. To summarize, for Moody Christian life and Christian action were more important than theological speculation. In fact, Moody looked to the educational system he established to provide "gap men" between the theologians and the laity, because he felt that the professional theologian loses touch with the common people (p. 148). Moody had "beliefs," but one may question Gundry's thesis that he had a "theology." He was uncommittal or ambiguous on too many points. If he had a theology, it was a consensus theology with which he could reach the large numbers, and he saw little need to go far beyond that stage. As for the evidence concerning Moody's Calvinism, this reviewer has a feeling that it consisted of standard themes of Christian faith. Even the doctrine of assurance is stated in terms of Christ's heavenly intercession and care for his children, an idea that is not exclusively Calvinistic. The important thing, however, is that the book will cause the reader to do some deep thinking on the true 162 SEMINARY STUDIES role of theology in the church, and this is another reason for reading the book. Andrews University DANIEL A. AUGSBURGER Merkel, Helmut. Die Pluralitat der Evangelien als theologisches und exegetisches Problem i n  der Alten Kirche. Traditio Christiana, Band 111. Bern: Verlag Peter Lang, 1978. xxx + 172 pp. Swiss Francs 39.00. This useful volume, like its predecessors in the Traditio Christiana series, presents an industriously assembled anthology of patristic texts-in this case from Papias to Augustine-dealing with the problems presented by the existence of four gospels and differences among them. The author, a young professor of NT and patristics at Erlangen, had written his doctoral dissertation on this subject (Die Widerspriiche xwischen den Euangelien: Zhre polemische und apologetische Behandlung in  der Alten Kirche bis xu Augustin, Wissenschaf tliche Un tersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 13 [Tiibingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1971]), and this collection is doubtless a by- product of that work. Pluralitat begins with a twenty-page introduction which is sensitive, informative, and usually judicious. We may assume that it provides us with a careful resume of Merkel's dissertation. Then follow forty-one texts from sixteen patristic sources (i.e., Papias, Irenaeus, Muratorian Fragment, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Julius Africanus, Dionysius of Alexandria, Eusebius, Ambrosiaster, Apollinaris of Laodicea, Epiphanius, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Augustine). The original language and German translations are on facing pages; and in the case of Origen, the Greek is given when extant, as well as Rufinus' Latin version. Two indices, scriptural and general, complete the volume. Merkel's rich but compressed introduction well points out the main trends and types of approaches taken by the Fathers in seeking to explain away or harmonize the tensions and discrepancies between the gospel accounts. As one reads this and the texts themselves, he is again impressed how difficult it has been to advance beyond what was already proposed in the first five centuries of Christian thought. The Christian thinkers represented in this collection anticipated most, if not all, of the solutions available to conservative scholars working on Synoptic and Johannine problems even today. Merkel astonishes us, however, when at one point (p. xxiii) he seems to fault the Fathers for not using text-critical or redaction-critical explanations! 

Love them In: The Proclamation Theology of D. L. Moody [review] / by Stanley N. Gundry.

https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1506&amp;context=auss

Love them In: The Proclamation Theology of D. L. Moody [review] / by Stanley N. Gundry.

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