Evening star., 1947-12-07

than humble as he deals with the
usually complicated and frequently
explosive nature of human affairs"
Essays on Religion
And Politics
Charles P. Taft, first layman to
attain the presidency of the Federal
Council of Churches of Christ in
America, chose colloquial title,
why Am for the Church" (Farrar,
Strauss, for series of II essays on
religion and politics. He makes
many choices in his text, too-be-
tween the statism and the envious
materialism of Marx, on the one
hand, and the Christian love for
God and neighbor and emphasis on
personality as the basis for modern
democracy on the other" for exam
pie. The Red Prussian of "Das
Kapital,' he afdrms, denied that
spiritual influences were any
thing but cloaks for the realities of
economic strife" But Mr.. Taft asks:
will you base your life on the
theory that every man has his
price?" The answer is: I'VE lay
men need desperately q Christian
evangel, expressed in modern terms,
adapted to modern methods"
Toward Certainty" by the Rev.
DR.. Robert n. Gearhart, jr., secre-
tary and campus pastor of the Lu-
theran Student-Work Committee of
Philadelphia Association Press), is
a direct reaction to the challenge
of the atomic age. The author sum-
marizes the dilemma of living gen.
erations, then declares: "You and
are the same people we we're be-
fore the bomb fell on Hiroshima;
the physical world about us, too, is
unchanged; God likewise is not diff
ferent; every problem and every
privilege of life is still with us; but
if we are to know any tomor-
row a task lies before us that calls
for something different from what
most of us have known in the past
- = You and I must join the crowd
and in it practice what we believe"
Evidence of Divine Power
In Civilizations Annals
God in History by DR.. Sher-
wood Eddy Association Press is
a quest for evidence of divine power
in the annals of civilization-and a
finding of 1t. The meaning of hu-
man experience, as this veteran
spiritual explorer views the whole,
vast picture of the races annals, is
conducive to faith and hope in
application. "A conscious effort of
men to align themselves with God"
Is the primary demand of the cur
rent age. The past foretells the
future. Even though man is not
yet perfect" DIR. Eddy submits,
there Is surely advance from the
amoeba to Einstein and from the
primitive savage to Shake
speare, Beethoven and Rembrandt" !"
Thomas Drier, professional lit
erary craftsman, brought together
1.-The Religion of Vagabond"
(Harper) as a reflection of "the good
in all religions" He meant to as
sist "those unresponsive to conven-
tional religious Beliefs" and he has
succeeded measurably by using the
language which is natural to him as
a businessman, plus the vision of
a mystic with pragmatic instincts.
Twenty-Five sermons preached by
the Rev. DR.. Harry Emerson Fos-
dick, minister emeritus of the Riv-
erside Church In New York, are
assembled in his 21st book, ION
Being Fit to Live With" (Harper).
The entire series is illumined by
the world in flames, but the blaze
does not consume their message OF
spiritual glory. DR.. Fosdick, in his
sunset days, is a convinced opti-
mist. Not the lowest but the high
est persists" he proclaims.
Lectures on Applied
Christianity
The Rev DR.. Russell j. Clinchy
minister in the First Church OF
Christ in Hartford since he left
Washington in 1888, also is opti-
mistic in his convictions. Faith
and Freedom" (Macmillan) is 8
compilation of the Enoch Pond lee
lures on applied christianity de-
ivered at Bangor Theological Sem
mary in January, 1916. DR.. Clinchy
still is liberal but, more impor-
tant, he is a philosopher committed
to '"the redemptive love of God.
Toward a Better World" wins
tom Is the result of the request
of the Joint Commission on SOcia
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