BASIC SOURCES OF THE JUDAEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION.
By FredBerthold Jr. '45, Allan Carlsten, KlausPenzel, and James Ross. Englewood Cliffs,N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1962. 444 pp.$10.60.
This anthology of basic readings in the Judeo-Christian tradition grew out of the experiences of four men teaching one of Dartmouth's most interesting academic offerings, the introductory course in Religion. It was a bold venture to select documents representative of 3000 years in time and of centra! ideas covering the whole of Western culture. Of the four teachers, only one remains on the faculty, but the book is being used with satisfaction here and elsewhere.
The material is presented in four main sections,, each carrying its own brief but excellent introduction, and each of the authors quoted is carefully characterized as to his time and his importance:
1. James F. Ross, now at Drew University, Madison, N. J., handles The Biblical Period, some 2000 years down to about 200 A.D., containing passages from both the Old and New Testaments, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Talmud.
2. Allan Carlsten, now at the Presbyterian College in St. Petersburg, Fla., deals with the emergence of the Church, the early Church Fathers, and the creeds and Councils, and then the medieval era down to the end of the Council of Trent in 1563.
3. Klaus Penzel, at "Union Theological Seminary, N. Y., considers the break-down of the monolithic medieval Church and key figures in the Protestant Reformation, primarily Luther and Calvin, but also Hooker, Roger Williams, John Wesley, and others—from 1517 (the date of Luther's 95 theses) into the 19th century.
4. Fred Berthold Jr., Dean of the Tucker Foundation, attempts to bring into some order the chaos of modern thought, citing influential spokesmen for Judaism, in its present variety, for Roman Catholicism both European and American, and for splintered Protestantism.
Each of the four sections ends with a list of authorities on the period, recommended for fuller study.
This is a fine, well-made book; its format, organization, the type and paper used are aIl pleasing. The chief problems, of any such work are recognized in the preface, namely, tne problem of selection and that of space imitation. Obviously, some readers will disagree on the choices made - too much of this, not enough of that. For example, this reviewer regrets that in the Old Testament the history-and-law passages outweigh those on the Prophetic Movement by twenty-seven Pages to four - it looks, like poor balance. No book of this sort can become "a best seller" - it is too solid for that; but it is invaluable for any serious study of and perspective on the whole of Western civilization.
One recent alumnus, a successful and rather skeptical lawyer, scanning the book and reading some important selections, said in effect: "It's a wonderful job! I wish it didn't cost so much, because every thoughtful Dartmouth man would profit by reading it."
