Baptism is the visible word of God’s grace to his church. In it God speaks and points his church to his promises. However, there are different views on the meaning of baptism. In this article the views of the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches are examined.

What is the Lutheran two-kingdoms doctrine? The author examines how this doctrine was formulated in early twentieth century Lutheranism.

In this paper, the author gives a historical overview of how present positions on the inspiration of Scripture developed since the Reformation. Different confessional positions from a Lutheran, Reformed, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Baptist tradition are noted.

A History of the Church in Africa by Bengt Sundkler and Christopher Steed is reviewed. In 1900 the Christian population of Africa was estimated at 4 million out of a total of 118 million people. Roman Catholics were estimated at 1 million, Protestants at 1 million and Coptic-Orthodox at 2 million. This picture has changed radically. Today Christians amount to some 351 million out of 770 million.