Von der Weisheit des Glaubens

The transition from the 19th to the 20th century may be described as an era of significant spiritual and intellectual progress. Within this context, the conviction emerged that the source and goal of the world can be explained in a purely natural manner - a shift in thought that was also accompanied by the erosion of the bibilcal view of the universe world as divine creation. Among the most significant Christian apologists of this era was Frederick Bettex (1837-1915), whose influential published writings appeared in successive editions, and strengthened the conviction of several generations of Christians in the abiding significance and truth of the biblical texts. The premium quality of his work laid in not simply countering rationalist arguments, but in also attempting to deploy the Bible as the foundation for a Christian worldview. According to Bettex, the "mystical worldview" of the Bible is more capable of explaining the dates set forth by unprejudiced natural scientists thanthe lifeless rationalism of atheistic interpreters of the world. The volume at hand, after a biographical scetch, gives a comprehensive overview of the different aspects of Bettex's discussions with Darwinism, positivism, and biblical criticism, which draws upon the full corpus of his published works. The author places Bettex in the history of Protestant apologetics and locates his work in relationship to the revival movements and to Protestant fundamentalism. This study thereby makes an important contribution to research in the history of the relationship between religion and science. It also contributes to our understanding of the specific contribution of conservative Protestantism to this important discussion.

Dr. Christoph Raedel ist Dozent für Evangelische Theologie am CVJM-Kolleg in Kassel. Christoph Raedel is Professor of Christian Theology at the YMCA-College in Kassel (Germany), a training institution for leadership, renewal and mission.