Book Reviews A Cry of Need and of Joy Confessing The Faith in a New Millennium (Volume One) Edited by Richard E. Burnett (Lenoir, N.C.; Reformation Press) 138 Pages; $16,95 Reviewed by Craig M. Kibler February 2003

In February 2002, hundreds of Presbyterians belonging to the Confessing Church Movement gathered in Atlanta for a celebration that they called “the most thoughtful, most inspiring, most encouraging, most ‘God-glorifying’ event that they had ever experienced.” Those faithful witnesses emphasized peace, unity and reconciliation through loyalty to the Triune God, obedience to his Word and the forgiveness of their sins. Their views of the celebration stood in stark contrast to those of denominational officials, who characterized the event as “divisive” or “schismatic” and based on judgmental defiance. The people gathered to celebrate the one constant in modern life – Jesus Christ, as revealed in Scripture – and they confessed their faith in the One alone who is the way, the truth and the life, as Richard E. Burnett says, “not because we want to say more than what the Bible says, but because we do not want to say less. There have been many times when the Church has been tempted to say less than what the Bible says. There have been many times when she has slept when she should have remained awake, many times when she has been silent when she should have spoken.” The plenary addresses contained in this volume celebrate a time when the people did not want to say less, did not want to sleep, did not want to remain silent. It was a time of confession, as Karl Barth tells us, a time that occurs when “the faith of the Christian community is confronted and questioned either from within or without by the phenomena of unbelief, superstition and heresy.” It occurs, he says, after a period of “continuous confrontation and questioning” – much like the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been experiencing.

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