424 - Protestantism

Protestantism
Edited by Hugh T. Kerr
Woodbury, N.Y., Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1979. 311 pp. $4.95.

This is a collection of essays on Protestantism, selected, edited, and introduced by the editor of THEOLOGY TODAY. The book is intended to be used as a text for teachers and students who want to understand Protestantism not as one person sees it but-befitting the subject-as many from within the diverse family view it.

But beyond its use as a textbook, it is a very broad selection of those essays all of us have wished we had in such compact and inexpensive a form. The table of contents sets our mental salivary glands going; there seems no better way to indicate the scope of the book than to summarize the treasury that is here.

The book is in four parts: definitions and distinctions; history and development; the spectrum of belief; current problems and issues. It concludes with an epilogue (Peter Berger's much quoted address to the Consultation on Church Union, "Religion in a Revolutionary Society") and a bibliography. The articles all seem to have been written between 1922 (Fosdick's landmark sermon, "Shall Fundamentalists Win?") and 1975 (The Berger essay and the Hartford Declaration). The historical essays, of course, trace our earlier roots.

What is Protestantism? It is a reform, always-reforming movement with piety (John Mackay), with the radical reformation (Roland Bainton's essay to complement Robert McAfee Brown's description of our classic roots), placing primacy on the Bible (Martin Marty), but always to be viewed as a social institution (H. R. Niebuhr).

How did we develop in this country? Winthrop Hudson, Perry Miller, W. W. Sweet (just mentioning their names tells you what they are writing about) are our guides here. We have a running encounter with the culture (Handy). Charles Sheldon's In His Steps is part of our picture and it is analyzed by James Smylie. But this has also been the ecumenical era; here the reliable Samuel Cavert is the interpreter.

What do we believe? Fosdick and Billy Graham are back to back. Niebuhr and Tillich come front and center. Then three contemporary creeds are excerpted but not emasculated: The United Church of Christ's short statement (1975), the United Presbyterian Confession of 1967, the COCU creedal affirmation in its Plan of Union (1970).

What are we up to now? Where are we going? James McCord introduces this section, which includes Martin Luther King Jr., James H. Cone, Sheila Collins, Letty Russell, the Chicago Declaration of the evangelicals, Dean Kelley's paper on church growth, the charismatic

425 - Protestantism

movement, and the Hartford Declaration. Then Berger ties it all together.

The question is whether the book is adequate and fair, Adequate- will the student and reader have a comprehensive yet specific view of Protestantism? Fair-has the editor been open to various viewpoints, or is his process of selection one-sided?

Considering that there are less than 300 pages of essays on small pages (but with pleasant type face), the book is quite adequate for its purpose. Scholars would want a whole library to do what Kerr does in a few pages. Some questions might be raised: What about the relation of Protestantism to Roman Catholicism, Judaism, and world religions? Has Vatican II, for example, affected Protestantism's self-understanding? This is touched on in various essays, but it might have had special treatment. Or the Third World liberation movements: the subject is not ignored, but it is not developed extensively. It may be that the time parameter (1975 as the cut-off point) prevented the editor here. And it is also true that there may be too much fluidity right now in these areas to permit definition. One feels also that hermeneutics and biblical authority are emerging issues. In raising these questions I may be simply describing the outline for the next book on the subject; certainly Kerr's selections do raise the questions.

Is it fair? The editor has seen the Protestant world through the glasses of THEOLOGY TODAY (but not exclusively.) Essays he has edited over the years naturally find their place in this book. Would the editor of Religion in Life have produced a different view of Protestantism? It's hard to say. Perhaps a Methodist would find the book too Presbyterian. I don't know what an Episcopalian (if he wanted to be in the book at all) would say about it. But maybe Albert Outler should have been in here some place!

These questions are not meant to downgrade the book. Any two or three of the essays justify having it in your library and studying it with excitement. It is a balanced, thoughtful, stimulating introduction to our branch of the People of God.

George Laird Hunt
Editor, The Presbyterian Outlook
Richmond, Virginia