Book Reviews
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Royal and Evelyn Bauer had decided before they were married to take the Good News where Christ had not been named. As Mennonite missionaries they were sent to Madhya Pradesh, India. This was a land of strange tongues, exotic foods and bizarre customs. They had to learn to sit on a narrow mat on earthen floors made hard and smooth with a cow-dung preparation, and eat rice and curry with their fingers. The struggle to learn to speak with the natives was difficult. Their loved ones at home died and were buried before they learned of it. They carried on through frustrating and disappointing circumstances. When their little son, Stephen Allyn, was but a few months old, the mother was stricken with polio. After an intense fight for survival the family returned to this country, where they now live at Goshen, Indiana. Mrs. Bauer cannot operate her wheelchair but can use an electric typewriter with aid of a sling. Her story should shame some of us to greater faith and action, and I am sure you would be profited by reading it.
The Holy Spirit and the Holy Life. Chester K. Lehman. Herald Press. 220 pages. $3.50.
This volume contains the Conrad Grebel Lectures delivered in 1957. The author is head of the Bible Department at Eastern Mennonite College. He rejects the idea of absolute perfectionism in this life, regarding it as a goal. He distinguishes between perfectionism and maturity in Christ. He opposes the idea of a "second work of grace" but believes the gift of the Spirit in Acts 2:38 is actually a baptism of the Holy Spirit, in conjunction with water baptism. His application of I Cor. 12:13 is very interesting in this respect. Of particular worth is the chapter on "The Church's Interpretation of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Life." The distinctive views of Roman Catholics, Lutherans, the Anabaptists, John Wesley, et. al., are presented. Because we believe the work of the Holy Spirit in the ethical life of Christians is a fruitful field for research among us, we read this book with avidity.