Book Reviews
Extracted from Ordained Servant vol. 2, no. 2 (April 1993)
THE ELDER’S HANDBOOK and THE DEACON’S HANDBOOK by Gerard Berghoef and Lester De Koster (Grand Rapids: Christian’s Library Press, 1979 and 1980), 303 and 270 pages, respectively. $18.95. Reviewed by the Editor.
These books are of a similar size and format. They are bound in good quality hardback, and—best of all—are solid in content. An added virtue of these books comes from the fact that they are written, not by teaching elders, but by two men who are experienced ruling elders. They clearly value the rich heritage from the past history of the Christian Reformed Church in which these offices were cultivated to a very high level of effectiveness in the life of the church.
Following the outline of Acts 20:28-31, The Elder’s Handbook is divided into six sections: “Keep Watch Over Yourselves,” “Keep Watch Over the Flock,” “Chosen by The Spirit,” “Feeding the Church,” “The Elder and the Church” and “An Eye on Tomorrow.” The Deacon’s Handbook is also divided into six sections, though it does not try to follow a Bible text in doing so. Its divisions are: “Stewardship,” “The Deacon: Background,” “The Deacon: Foreground,” “Perspectives on Stewardship,” “Circles of Service” and “Blueprints and Projections.” In every one of these sections will be found much that is helpful, practical and biblical. And there is a full index of Scripture references used, as well as an excellent topical or subject index. An elder or deacon who makes use of either of these fine handbooks will have little difficulty in relocating something important.
Any elder or deacon wanting a useful and reliable guide to the work of their respective office will do well to get one of these handbooks. We highly recommend them.
THE PSALMS IN WORSHIP, edited by John McNaugher (Edmonton, AB Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, reprinted 1992), 590 pages, $15.98 US). Reviewed by the Editor.
I first came across this book some forty years ago while I was serving a small country church as a student pastor. A member of the church had inherited this book but did not value it, and was glad to get rid of it. I have always been grateful for it, and welcome this reprint.
Written by ministers of the old United Presbyterian Church of North America, around the turn of the century, it is a worthy defense of the singing of the biblical psalms in worship to the exclusion of the uninspired hymns. The majority view in most of the Reformed churches of today—including the Orthodox Presbyterian Church—is that there are other songs than the psalms that have a legitimate place in worship. But even so, can anyone deny that the singing of the psalms ought to have a place of honor—perhaps even a place of primacy—among us? Does not our Westminster Confession of Faith specify “the singing of psalms with grace in the heart” as a divinely prescribed element of worship? And does not our book of worship frequently mention the importance of the use of the psalms?
This book is good value, quite apart from the exclusive psalmody espoused by the writers, because of the wealth of information provided in it. But be warned: I wonder how anyone can read it without at least seeing the need for a much more frequent use of the biblical psalms in worship.
WORLDVIEWS IN CONFLICT: CHOOSING CHRISTIANITY IN A WORLD OF IDEAS, by Ronald H. Nash (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), 176 pages. Reviewed by the Editor.
As I read this little book I found myself giving thanks to God for Cornelius Van Til. It was Van Til who showed me, as no one else, the incompetence and inability of fallen men to do what Nash seems to think they can do. For Nash, choosing a Christian worldview is the end result of a process whereby sovereign man applies certain “reasonable” tests by which, supposedly, the best worldview can be identified. The task of the Christian is therefore to present the evidence to him convincingly. For Van Til, on the other hand (if I’ve understood him rightly), the task is to confront the natural man with the totally unwelcome truth about his fallen condition, and about the majesty and greatness of the God who is going to judge him. It is, in a word, to confront him boldly with the demand for repentance (because he is a hell-deserving sinner) and faith (because he has no resources of any account within himself, and must therefore seek them in Christ alone).
What I missed in this book was this God-honoring, man-humbling confrontation. It lacks power precisely because it lacks the offense of the gospel. Is the legacy of Cornelius Van Til prized as it ought to be among us? Sometimes I wonder. But I also wonder how anyone acquainted with his writings could read this little book without finding himself saying, as I did, “Thank God for the work of Van Til.”