CHRISTIAN REUNION: HISTORIC DIVISIONS RECONSIDERED

JOHN S. WHALE

The Christian Church is still separated not chiefly by the non-theo-logical factors but, in the words of Dr. Whale, by those theological issues which are notorious for their continuing power to separale Christians into rival camps the nature of the church, and the nature of the Sacrament which is the focus of its worship and life"

In the first section of this study, Dr. Whale "tempers ecumenical en-thusiasm" with a refreshing and concise historical survey in which he examines the tension at the heart of Western Christendom which led to the break at the Reformation.

The main theme of the second section is Christological, and in it the author boldly faces the issues raised by the "real presence" and by "what we say and do at altar and Lord's Table." This theme has a power ful pertinence for our own time, when easy tolerance and vague gen eralities may too lightly pass over the questions which are at the heart of the Church.

In the third section Dr. Whale takes a sharp and honest look at the contemporary situation, in which the passion of past controversies is being stilled by a new ecumenism. He wonders whether the "acids of modernity" now eroding the traditional Christian structures may not prove to be the healing medicine.

Under Dr. Whale's brilliant handling, the great contentions of Chris tendom come alive. His irenical stance, historical scholarship and shrewd judgments will delight his readers.