the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Gehenna, hell, is described as everlasting

punishment, everlasting fire, the fire that shall never be quenched, everlasting
flames, eternal fire, etc. That awful word appears 12 times in the New
Testament: 11 of those references come from the lips of our Saviour .. . Those
who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord cannot escape the clear, unambiguous
language with which he warns of the awful truth of eternal punishment. No
universalism, no annihilationism, no probation in the hereafter satisfies his
word. The awful stark destiny of man is this: the soul that rebels against God
and chooses to remain unrepentant throughout this life will separate himself
from the kingdom of God' (p 45).
May God enable us to preach faithfully and zealously His glorious gospel
which alone is able to save men and women from everlasting punishment.
Details of Journals
Themelios (TSF) and Christian Arena
38 De Montfort Street, Leicester LEl 7GP
Evangelical Quarterly, Evangelical Review of Theology and
Theological News (World Evangelical Fellowship)
Paternoster Press, 3 Mount Radford Crescent, Exeter EX2 4JW
Christianity Today
MasterPlan Publishing, Thames House, 63-67 Kingston Road, New MaIden,
Surrey KT3 3PB

New Dictionary of Theology

The Editor
An article reviewing tbe New Dictionary of Tbeology
Editors: Sinclair 8 Ferguson and David F Wrigbt
Consulting Editor: J I Packer
IVP, pp 738, 1988, £17.95

The appearance of a competent; theological dictionary is a rare event for it

involves a great deal of preliminary planning, supervision, work and expense
over several years. We are grateful, therefore, to IVP for their vision and
initiative in providing us with this theological dictionary which now
complements their New Bible Commentary and the New Bible Dictionary.
All the contributions are concise, although varying in length, but they usually
provide a competent, comp~hensive outline of a subject/person from both an
32
historical and biblical perspective. Contributors also offer a critique or, more
frequently, suggest areas and ways in which evangelicals have criticised a
particular theology or responded to a problem. An excellent reference system
is adopted in the Dictionary and the bibliographies appended to the articles are
worth their weight in gold although I have one complaint. Many of the
bibliographies do not mention books published later than 1982 which means
that some significant, influential publications of more recent years are not
included. I appreciate some of the publishing problems involved and that the
articles were written, probably, 3/4 years ago and that contributors may not
have had the necessary time to read or refer to later publications. However, a
final updating of bibliographies immediately prior to printing would have
enhanced their value considerably!
This Dictionary is reasonably priced. Compared with A New Dictionary of
Christian Theology edited by Alan Richardson and published in 1969, then
again in 1983, by SCM at £19.50, the IVP Dictionary is a bargain at £17.95 and
has 738 pages compared with 613 in the other. By contrast, Marshall and
Pickering's Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (edited by WaIter A Elwell)
published in 1984 has as many as 1204 pages but is priced at £24.95. The choice
for pastors and others will be between the latter and the IVP Dictionary and,
because of the lower price, IVP may win. However, I am impressed by the
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology and, apart from the bibliographies, it is
often more thorough and, on issues like immortality, hell etc, more orthodox
than the IVP New Dictionary of Theology. I will return to this comparison
again shortly but I would caution readers against ignoring the Evangelical
Dictionary of Theology.
The IVP New Dictionary of Theology is quite comprehensive in the subjects
and people it covers. Its aim is 'to provide the enquiring reader with a basic
introduction to the world of theology - its themes, both majestic and minor,
its famous formulations and its important historical moments, its
distinguished - and notorious - exponents, past as well as present, its
sources, disciplines and styles, its technical vocabulary, its ebb and flow in
movements, schools and traditions, and its interaction with other currents of
thought and religion' (p vii). This aim is admirably fulfilled in many of the
contributions; subjects like ASIAN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY will promote
a greater understanding and appreciation of the problems faced by our Asian
brethren. Black Theology is also handled well and is informative.
Controversial theological subjects are also handled such as FREE WILL and
the EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT. The latter subject is handled better in
the IVP Dictionary than in the EDT andis certainly more reformed. G L Bray
also provides a good outline of New Testament, Classical and Modern
CHRISTOLOGY and is well worth reading. Professor Clowney writes well on
THE CHURCH but he accepts uncritically the distinction between the
'invisible' and 'visible' church (p 141). Donald Macleod's section on
CHURCH GOVERNMENT is useful though some would quarrel with his
opening statement that 'it is debatable whether the New Testament presents us
with one, final, uniform pattern of church government to serve as a norm for
33
all ages' (p 143). Nor does Professor Macleod appreciate or indicate the
different nuances of the term 'independency' when he talks of 'an increasing
number of independent churches .. .' (p 146).
The doctrine of the VIRGIN BIRTH is handled well (pp 708-710).
Commenting on the paucity of NT passages (Matt 1:18-25, Luke 1:26-38)
relating directly to the subject, a fact which is used sometimes by critics, Tony
Lane observes: ' ... the virgin birth is almost the only point in common between
the two infancy narratives, a clear indication that it is based on an earlier,
common tradition. It should also be noted that, in view of the gospel record,
the alternative to the virgin birth is not a normal birth within wedlock ... but an
illegitimate birth .. .' (p 709).
Similarly, there is a helpful article on the ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT and a
necessary reminder that ecumenism is not restricted to the WorId Council of
Churches (eg ARCIC and other denominational discussions/mergers, etc).
The main criticisms by evangelicals of the WCC are summarised: 'The
imprecision of its language ... ; its abuse of biblical terms and concepts (starkly
exemplified in Uppsala's use of "Behold, I make all things new", Rev 21 :5,
but frequently seen in the use of "peace", "salvation", "life", etc); its quest
for consensus rather than truth, made inevitable by taking the Churches'
standpoints rather than the Bible as its basis ... ; the subtle pervasiveness of
universalist assumptions, tending to embrace other faiths in the pursuit of
world community and so soft-pedal evangelism as liable to interfere with inter-
religious dialogue ... : political one-sidedness, with Marxist social analysis to
the fore and the neglect of personal, as distinct from social, ethics; the
justification of violent revolution in some forms of liberation theology; and
excessive deference to feminism' (p 220).
Concerning EVANGELICAL THEOLOGY, the Dictionary tells us that 'from
the middle of the 20th century, a revitalisation has been taking place within
evangelical theology. British scholars have contributed a serious and scholarly
exegetical approach; Americans have been hard at work in areas of systematic
theology and its adjunct disciplines such as apologetics and ethics; the Dutch
and the Mennonites have been developing theologies of social action from
significantly diverse starting points, and the Pentecostal/Charismatic
movement has been enunciating a theology of the Holy Spirit. .. ' (p 240). There
are exceptionally good contributions, for example, on LIBERATION
THEOLOGY and PREDESTINATION. The conclusion at the end of the
latter entry is correct but sad; 'the contemporary evangelical church has
become largely Arminian often as a result of anti-doctrinal bias rather than
careful theological reflection'. The contributor, Professor W R Godfrey,
however, adds that 'The historical Augustinian doctrine of predestination
remains biblically and theologically compelling' (p 530). Although useful and
compelling reading, FEMINIST THEOLOGY was one of the longest
contributions in the dictionary and only just beaten for length by the sections
on GOD, JESUS and the HOLY SPIRIT! I felt that some entries were
disproportionately long compared with other more important subjects. For
example, the first contribution in the Dictionary is by Tony Lane on PETER
34
 ABELARD (1079-1142) and is given well over double the space of the second
entry on Abortion which is of greater contemporary relevance to us. This may
be explained solely in terms of the contributors themselves and their discretion
but sometimes the difference is glaring.
There are more serious criticisms, however, which I would want to make. On
the APOSTLES, we are given a good, biblical assessment of their office,
qualifications and work, but it does not refer at all to the Restorationists' view
that there is a third class of apostles. This is a serious omission and reduces the
value of some otherwise good material. I also found Dr Packer's brief
treatment of BAPTISM IN THE SPIRIT disappointing, and the item on the
FALL was predictably lacking in conviction concerning its historicity (pp
249-250) while the WRATH OF GOD item was defective with no clear
reference to the holy character of God and its relation to other attributes (p
732). BIBLE TRANSLATIONS, too, seems to have avoided one or two of the
basic questions hotly disputed today while the BAPTIST THEOLOGY
contribution was too brief and far from being comprehensive or satisfying.
The author omits some Baptist distinctives (eg, Church-State attitude) and
does not take account of the revival of Reformed Baptist theology over the last
decade or two.
Allow me one other criticism. Conditional Immortality, I am sad to say, is
assumed and openly advocated in some of the relevant contributions. Dealing
with DEATH, M J Harris is unnecessarily brief but also vague at certain
points. He clearly assumes conditional immortality then, in his contribution
on IMMORTALITY, he openly acknowledges where his sympathies lie,
concluding 'that the Scripture teaches conditional immortality'. Harris's
statement of his position is certainly forthright and he does not do justice to
the orthodox position. Stephen Travis of St John's College, Nottingham,
writes on ESCHATOLOGY and, while he is a conditionalist, his treatment of
the subject is reasonably fair. His personal view, however, does come across in
this section. Harris writes, too, on the RESURRECTION, GENERAL and on
the INTERMEDIATE STATE. On the latter subject, Harris rejects
universalism and 'soul-sleep' and brings several biblical arguments to bear
against it, insisting that all believers at death enjoy 'conscious communion
with Christ' (p 339).
At this point, the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Marshall's Pickering) is
more satisfying and orthodox when it deals with subjects such as death,
immortality, eschatology, resurrection and hell, etc. I was personally
encouraged and refreshed by re-reading these sections in EDT after seeing in
NDT the position of conditional immortality assumed and left unchallenged.
Will the IVP provide an opportunity in the future for a competent and biblical
presentation in print of the orthodox, traditionalist doctrines of immortality
and everlasting punishment? I hope so.
Despite these criticisms, the New Dictionary of Theology is going to be a
useful tool for pastors and for those eager to obtain a better grasp of theology
in general. Over 630 articles are included by 210 international contributors and
there is a full cross-reference system, too, which is most useful.
35