The Church Militant

Pessimists about the present worth of the Church got a forthright answer last week. It came from tall, vigorous Dr. Henry Pitney Van Dusen of Manhattan's Union Theological Seminary. In a small but fact-crammed book called What IS the Church Doing? (Scribner; $1), he found the Church accomplishing great things under the Nazi heel, in missions and in church unity movements.

Dr. Van Dusen's most ardent pages concern the heroic German Churchmen, Niemoeller, Faulhaber and Von Galen, who have defied the Nazis in the name of Christ. Humor has been among their weapons. When Von Galen preached in Muenster Cathedral against Nazi doctrines on the family and education, a Brown Shirt cried out that no celibate should talk about such matters. Cried the Bishop to his heckler: "Never will I tolerate any reflection on our beloved Fuehrer!"

Dr. Van Dusen lays great emphasis on the missionary achievement in China. In the land where 450,000,000 people fight poverty, natural catastrophe and the Jap, only 1% are Christians. Yet Who's Who in China shows that one out of every six Chinese leaders is a Christian; one out of every two has been educated in Christian schools or colleges. "Perhaps more than any other influence," says Van Dusen, "Christianity is responsible for the extraordinary character of China's resistance. . . ."

Dr. Van Dusen finds an encouraging record in the long struggle for Church unity. In a shattering world, churches have come closer together. From 1927-41, there were 96 attempts made towards unity, of which 21 succeeded.

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