Kubo, Sakae

English

Andrews University

BOOK REVIEWS 89 apparent triumph of evil, that God promises us an open future, that God has inexhaustible initiatives by which he brings pressure upon the world, that the church with all its weaknesses is still the custodian of hope, that the individual is important because he can change things, that men are becoming more responsible for one another, that God can penetrate into the present by miraculous action. Morris views secular optimism as a serious obstacle to the possibility of hope. As a stubborn realist he realizes that there are some insoluble problems but the Christian nevertheless must practice the ethics of hope, do to others as Christ has done for him. Morris believes in the future but refuses to isoIate it from the past and the present. He insists on keeping all three in one focus and shuns mellon- tolatry. His emphasis, however, is to awaken hope in the present in what he calls the "eternity between Crucifixion and Resurrection" (p. 159). Some readers may feel that Morris has not been positive enough. His signs of hope may seem vague and indefinite. Thus this is not an inspirational book in the usual sense of the word since he consciously seeks to set aside easy optimism for a hardheaded realism which still maintains hope in an apparently hope- less time. The  reader knows there is no easy way out, that faith will be tried to the uttermost, and that love must respond to a hostiIe environment. -4s he says, "To live through the death of faith is a terrifying, numbing thing" (p. 158). In this somewhat loosely written work, we still feel the power of Morris' pen when he grasps one's attention by his skillful collocation of words and phrases. In spite of this ability the book suffers from a lack of tight organiza- tion. At  times it rambles and wanders off its subject. There is no clear logical arrangement of topics. StiIl many will be glad to have Morris strike a positive note and be con- structive after his two previous books. Andrews University SAKAE KUBO Mueller, Walter. Grnmmaticnl Aids for Stzcdents of Neul Testament Greek. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1972. 86 pp. Paperback, $2.45. This work is intended as a supplement to a standard grammar and for students who already have basic knowledge of Greek grammar or who are in the process of acquiring it. I t  is a convenient and concise summation and is put together so that the student will be able to see the relationships among different declensions and conjugations as well as the identifying marks of each form. This will help to make the learning of Greek a bit easier than the rote memorization of every form as an isolated item. This work could be very helpful as a quick review for students about to enter Intermediate Greek, as well as for those who may need to review after having completed Greek several -years ago. The  work is organized very well and the explanations are simple and clear. However, the reviewer has found that students encounter as much problem with the translation of these forms as with the forms themselves. It  would have been equally helpful if such assistance had been given. 90 SEMINARY STUDIES An obvious error on p. 20 that should be corrected in a future edition is the accusative singular form of a&p[ which should be a @ ~ a  instead of aaprcc. Andrews University SAKAE KUBO Muller, Werner E. Die Vorstellung vom Rest im Alten Testament. Edited by Horst Dietrich Preuss. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1973. 139 pp. Paperback, DM 18.00. This volume consists of a reprint and expansion of Muller's highly original dissertation on the remnant in the OT first published in 1939. The expan- sion by Preuss consists of slight expansions or clarifications in a fair number of footnotes, an "Addition" (pp. 96-126) and a "Bibliography" (pp. 127-134). Miiller's study finds its basis in Herntrich's distinction between the secular and religious spheres of the remnant idea in the OT. This distinction, which is conceived on the basis of highly problematical modern notions that are transferred onto the biblical materials, has led to conclusions which have had a determining and stifling influence on much modern scholarship in this area. The first part of Miiller's investigation concerns the political meaning of the remnant for a people (pp. 13-46) in the war annals of the Hittites, Egyptians, and Assyrians, and in the OT. This restricted investigation in ancient Near Eastern texts has led Muller to conclude that the remnant idea (1) originated out of the Assyrian method of complete annihilation of the enemy in total warfare and (2) derived in the OT, as in its surrounding cultures, from the sphere of political life and practice. Both of these con- clusions which have been adopted in standard OT scholarship cannot be maintained on account of the evidence of the remnant idea in a great variety of literature of Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Ugaritic, and Eygptian origin, and in the OT itself (see my monograph The Remnant [AUM, 5; Berrien Springs, Mich., 19721, pp. 50-134). Here is a classic example of how dangerous and misleading a restricted and narrow focus on a subject may turn out to be. The remnant idea is not restricted to a particular genre but appears in epic, prophecy, prayer, hymn, letter, annal, etc., and occurs in connection with threats in the natural, social, and political spheres such as flood, famine, drought, plague, pestilence, rebellion, war, and natural death. Contrary to Muller's notion, the remnant idea has its origin in the life-and-death prob- lem, the securing of human existence and life, and future hope. The second part of Muller's study pursues the remnant idea in the religious thought world of the OT (pp. 47-92). Muller is correct in tracing the remnant idea to periods earlier than Amos and Elijah. He argues that in Isaiah there are several stages of development in the remnant motif. This is very ques- tionable unless one operates with unchecked principles of literary criticism (see Hasel, The Remnant, pp. 216-372). Muller touches briefly on the rem- nant in Zep, Jer, Eze, and post-exilic Judaism. Miiller's monograph raises a most serious problem of procedure and methodology. He develops the "origin" and "content" of the remnant motif on the basis of a supposedly distinguishable "secular-political" sphere, while the "development" and "history" of the remnant idea is treated nnder its 

Grammatical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek [review] / Mueller, Walter

https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1328&amp;context=auss

Grammatical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek [review] / Mueller, Walter

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