Protestants: Successful Misunderstanding

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Barth to Bultmann. The book is an appropriate valedictory, for during years in which the needle on theology's compass swung wildly from Barth to Niebuhr to Tillich to Bultmann, Van Dusen has stoutly maintained his belief in the religious wisdom of such neglected sages as Eugene William Lyman and Robert L. Calhoun. Open-minded enough to read (and learn from) the neo-orthodox theologians and the "demythologizers," Van Dusen argues that the evangelical, middle-of-the-road theology of the late 19th and early 20th centuries provided man with history's "least inadequate, most credible and cogent interpretation" of the central reality of Christianity: Christ as Lord and Savior.

Today, his profound Christian faith is modified by a radical skepticism about certain aspects of churchly life. As a lifelong ecumenicist, he deplores the persistence of narrow confessional concerns among churchmen, and regards as "a monstrous heresy" the widespread view that to be genuinely ecumenical, a person must first be a good denominationalist. "On the contrary, to be a good Methodist or Presbyterian," he argues, "one must be first a disciple of Christ's universal church." Practicing what he preaches, Presbyterian Minister Van Dusen is a communicant of St. Mary's Protestant Episcopal Church in upper Manhattan.

Van Dusen is even more disturbed by the widespread influence of German Form Critic Rudolf Bultmann and his disciples, thinks that current trends in New Testament study tend to destroy human faith in Jesus as a historical being. "If the skeptical conclusions of these scholars should finally prevail," he says, "intellectual honesty would compel me to surrender adherence to Christian Faith."

"Parochial Captivity." Theologian Van Dusen believes that during his presidency, Union lived up to its responsibilities to the nation, and even more to the world: it has graduates in 80 countries, and no U.S. institution of higher learning has a higher proportion (16%) of foreign students. Now, he argues, Union, along with all other divinity schools, faces a new challenge: helping U.S. churches escape from what he calls their "parochial captivity." Van Dusen believes that "the traditional parish structure is inappropriate to metropolitan life" and that theological seminaries must assist the ministry in discovering new ways to reach the urban masses.

A man with virtually no hobbies and a true Calvinist's concern for duty, Pit Van Dusen in retirement is not likely to let Union or U.S. churches forget that the status quo is no substitute for the Kingdom of God. "I want a chance to sit down and think, and then possibly I'll write some articles," he says: "Some of them may be a trifle astringent."