Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Situationism And Law In Christian Ethics, Paul Jersild

Concordia Theological Monthly

Our purpose in these pages is to focus on the question of law in Christian ethics and consider in what sense we can speak of the "law of God." This question is raised in a quite critical manner in situation ethics, and for that reason we shall discuss the subject in relation to this approach, and particularly in relation to the work of Joseph Fletcher. Our concern is to present a theological basis for the law-a basis that is notably lacking in situation ethics - and seek to clarify the relationship between love and law in the Christian understanding.

Legalism In An Evangelical Church, J. P. Koehler

Concordia Theological Monthly

The essay that follows developed from a remark that the author made at one of the larger intersynodical conferences. The remark was to the effect that there is much legalism rampant in our circles, that the result is stagnation and retrogression in all areas of church life, and that for this reason sincere and general repentance is necessary before we may anticipate a turn for the better. The expression "legalism in our circles" was not generally understood. It was intended to describe one aspect of all our activity in thought, speech, and endeavor, based on a comprehensive observation of life …

The Place Of The Family In The Church's Educational Ministry, Oscar E. Feucht

Concordia Theological Monthly

Parents are the child's most potent teachers. They provide the all-important environment. Good manners, good English, love of good books and music, life's ideals, in fact, the whole outlook on the world are developed largely in the home. And so are dislikes and prejudices, religious views as well as political views, habits of going to church, of receiving Holy Communion, of prayer and reading the Bible. The paths which adult feet travel find their origin in childhood, and one way is as likely to be traveled as another, if started upon in the preschool days.

Theology And Love, Richard R. Caemmerer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Two customs of thought have tended to erect, if not a barrier, at least a filter between theology and Christian life.

The one is the hoary distinction between the "doctrinal" and the "practical" portions of the epistles - as though the apostles were "teaching" less strenuously when they were shaping the life and behavior of their readers than when they were discussing their faith. The other is the theologically more recent distinction between kerygma and didache and the assumption that when a preacher wants to save people, he tells them about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; when he …

Contrition (Concluded), Theodore Engelder, Herbert J. Bouman, Erwin Lueker

Concordia Theological Monthly

Does repentance follow faith? Such a question seems strange to Lutherans. We teach: "Now, repentance consists properly of these two parts: One is contrition, that is, terrors smiting the conscience through the knowledge of sin; the other is faith, which is born of the Gospel" (AC XII). Faith is "the chief part of repentance" (Ap XII 58, German Text). No, repentance, the essential characteristic of which is faith, cannot follow faith. Calvin and his adherents, however, teach that repentance follows faith.

The Relationship Of The Church To The National Culture In America, Ernest B. Koenker

Concordia Theological Monthly

As one considers the cultural complex of America today, there are a number of questions which might present themselves to the Christian living under the Word. What are the values which underlie our national culture, and is there any sense in which these are being absolutized today in some kind of Messianism? Can one say that the Christian churches in America, or the Lutheran Church, have profoundly shaped our culture, or have the churches themselves been thoroughly shaped by the culture? In view of the loss or muffling of a dynamic Christian witness in many of the American denominations, what …