RING OF TRUTH

The author of this little book is an English clergyman who, apparently, has had all he can take of the current trend toward demythologizing the Bible. He is fed up with being told there was no Crib, no Star in the East, no miracles, no Resurrection; and he sets out to testify to the historicity and reliability of the gospel narratives. Unfortunately, all he really does is testify to his own belief in the historicity and reliability of the New Testament. Although Phillips does indeed demonstrate an expert's knowledge of the Bible, he is not so well grounded in the science of diplomacy as he would have to be to carry off his rebuttal; that is, he is less concerned with the value of the gospels as authentic, integral, and veracious historical documents than with the need to set at ease the minds of the faithful made unquiet by the scholarly reservations of some ""well-fed, prosperous, popular professor of theology."" Ring of Truth, therefore, will share the fate of all such polemics: it will convince only those who already believe in the literal truth of the gospel stories, and it will confirm in their suspicions those who lean toward a more liberal interpretation. Granting the best intentions of the author, his most articulate emotionalism cannot do otherwise than injure the cause that he wishes to promote.