Proud to be a Protestant! The Essence of the Protestant Faith, by Timothy J E Cross, published by B McCall Barbour, paperback, 93 pages, £3.50, available from the Free Presbyterian Bookroom.
This little book provides a simple statement of a number of doctrines which are fundamental to Protestantism – what the author calls “some of the essentials of true Protestantism”. The writer of the foreword makes a valid point: “One of the greatest tragedies to befall the true Church of Jesus Christ is the abandonment by many believers of the term Protestant when publicly declaring their faith. They are ashamed of their Protestantism, being fearful of appearing bigoted, negative and intransigent in the eyes of those who have embraced the ecumenical and charismatic spirit of the age.” Presumably the title is intended to be the opposite of: “ashamed to be a Protestant”, but some of us would hesitate to use the word proud in a positive way; in the Bible it is always the opposite of humble.
Chapter headings include: “Protestantism’s realistic view of the human condition”, “The centrality of the cross to the Protestant faith” and “Justification by faith: a cardinal Protestant truth”. Readers should note that the book is intended as a brief, positive exposition of Protestant doctrine; with very few exceptions does it attempt to rebut error. Dr Cross points to the duty of believers seeking assurance, which, as he says, “is far removed from presumption”. On the other hand, it would have been useful to draw attention to the great danger, especially in today’s religious environment, of sinners presuming that they have been converted when they are not.
The author is to be commended for his attempt to portray Protestantism for what it is – the expression of what Scripture actually teaches.
On the Reliability of the Old Testament, by Kenneth A Kitchen, published by Eerdmans, hardback, 662 pages, $34.30.
The author, an emeritus professor of Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, needs no introduction to anyone familiar with the field of biblical archaeology. Over the past 40 years he has published several interesting books on biblical history and the ancient Near East, each of which solidly defends the narratives of Scripture as sound history, in opposition to the theories of the higher critics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
In another of his books, The Bible in its World: The Bible and Archaeology Today (IVP, 1977), he writes, “Biblical studies have long been hindered by the persistence of long-outdated philosophical and literary theories and by the wholly inadequate use of first-hand sources in appreciating the earlier periods of the Old Testament story in particular”. In this book he makes relentless use of the archaeological discoveries of the last 150 years to demolish the theories of those who challenge the historical accuracy of the Old Testament. He dismisses the grand theories of Julius Wellhausen as flights of fancy created in a cultural vacuum that bear no reference to the facts of the ancient world. Instead he shows that the Old Testament, far from being “pious fiction”, is supported by a firm foundation in historical fact.
Professor Kitchen takes the reader on an interesting tour of the history of the cradle of civilisation. He moves seamlessly from the exile to the Kings, to Exodus and the covenants and back to the Patriarchs. With a flowing style, he explains the history and interrelations of these periods. He does not start with creation – although he does comment on other creation narratives in the Ancient East – as he views this as beyond his area of expertise.
Robert Dick Wilson of Princeton Seminary in his article “Historical Accuracy of the Old Testament” (reprinted in Truth Unchanged Unchanging, The Bible League, 1984) makes the following observation, “What we need in the Church today are more men that are able to follow the critics up to their lair, and slaughter them in their den. It makes me sad to hear these old ministers of the gospel and Christians lament all the time about the attacks being made here and there upon the Bible, and they never do one thing to train the men to fight their battles for them, and you know perfectly well that you cannot defend the Old Testament Scriptures unless you have made the preparation.” The efforts of Professor Kitchen are worthy of our attention as they provide a valuable set of corroboratory evidence in favour of the historicity of the Old Testament and an interesting tour of the wider history of the period.
A R Middleton