Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Darkness At Noon: Mark's Passion Narrative, Robert H. Smith

Concordia Theological Monthly

The puzzle of Mark's Gospel is not how Jesus can be both human and divine, son of Mary, and Son of God. The mystery has to do rather with the cloud brooding over this Jesus as He proceeds to a lonely and forsaken death. Over all His days as over all His words and works, over His power and His weakness, over His speech and His silence, there falls the shadow of the cross. How can such a portrait be "the good news of Jesus Christ" (1:1)? How can this somber and sobering document be called a "gospel"?

Parables In The Gospel Of Thomas, William R. Schoedel

Concordia Theological Monthly

Dr. Schoedel provides important light on a burning contemporary question concerning the authority of the Scripture. He does this by studying the attitude of an important early group of Christians to the sayings of Jesus. He concludes that the Gnostic Christians who produced the Gospel of Thomas did not hesitate to edit and change the sayings of Jesus to suit their own theological viewpoints.

The Eucharist In The Life Of The Church, John S. Damm

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author proposes seven theses for doing the Eucharist in order to establish the rhythm of the church's life in the world. The paper was read in substantially its present form at the October 1970 meeting of the Institute for Liturgical Studies meeting at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.

The Orders Of Creation-Some Reflections On The History And Place Of The Term In Systematic Theology, Edward H. Schroeder

Concordia Theological Monthly

In this article, he argues that the concept associated, with the term "orders of creation" in current Missouri Synod, discussions of the ordination of women is not Lutheran but Calvinist in origin, and not a Biblical concept.

Editorial, Herbert T. Mayer

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Lutheran Confessions and Unity Among Christians

The Christian-Marxist Dialog: Spurious Or Authentic?, Ralph L. Moellering

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author offers a descriptive analysis of the Marxist-Christian encounter to date, raising the question whether or not the stage has been set for authentic dialog to occur.

The Computer With Legs And The Rough Beast Slouching -Notes On Religion In The 1970s, Martin E. Marty

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author reviews a variety of models used in religious interpretations that were popular in the sixties as a prelude to his discussion of the trends and images that theologians must discern and deal with during the cultural revolution of the seventies.

Preserve The Unity Of The Spirit, Richard R. Caemmerer Sr.

Concordia Theological Monthly

Surely there is no gift for the human race that we desire more at this hour than unity. Nations fight nations, classes stand embattled against classes, spouses and children draw apart from each other. The most deadly illness of the individual today is alienation, the sense of being alone. Would that there could be unity to draw us together!

The Gospel And The Ecumenical Movement, Robert P. Scharlemann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The first conference on "Life and Work," held in Stockholm in 1925, appealed to Christians to repent the divisions among them and to make the gospel the decisive power in all areas of life. This conference - the "Nicea of ethics," as it came to be called-was not summoned to discuss the theological or dogmatic questions which divide the churches; it was called to address the churches' task of working together in the public life. The invitation declared the world situation to be so serious that Christians could not afford to await the reunion of churches before setting "hearts and …

Theses On Ecumenical Truth And Heresy, John George Huber

Concordia Theological Monthly

Out of love and zeal for both truth and unity, the following theses are presented to my beloved colleagues in the Southern California District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod as a constructive contribution to the current debate on altar and pulpit fellowship. They do not represent an official policy, but are only a personal, unofficial opinion offered for exploratory discussion. They reflect the "hernial stance" of one who lives in the tension of obedience to Jesus Christ while simultaneously remaining a responsible member of a changing synod and a changing world.

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 …

Race And The Institutional Church (Reading Programs In Theology), Robert L. Conrad

Concordia Theological Monthly

The bewildered Christian, viewing the relatively recent and rapid progress of the American Negro, may ask: ''What more does the Negro want?" The black's reply to that question is likely to be, "What have you got?" Such a reply indicates the fact that a revolution becomes more demanding as the gap is narrowed. But the gap has been narrowed only in certain respects. The Negro has made gains in having but not in belonging. In fact, things seem worse in the latter area. In view of all this, the great mass of Christians is confused and inert.

In Many, Much, Richard R. Caemmerer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Pastors of large churches have always had to suffer from well-meaning brothers who masked their sometimes subconscious envy behind a hearty "I'll bet you just wear yourself out on that big job." In addition, two movements of thought have recently bedeviled them. One is that God is dead, and perhaps the whole operation should be turned into a used-car lot. The other is that the parish is dead, that it is a shame for people to come on a Sunday and be comforted when they ought to give up all and live in tenements. In all three corrosive comments is …

Moving Toward Lutheran Unity, Oliver R. Harms

Concordia Theological Monthly

Two words in this topic seem to me very important: "moving" and "unity." They express thoughts that many persons seemingly have wanted to avoid or to ignore. There are those who say we are already at the point of unity. Others are sure we will never get there. Some flexibility in thought is required at both ends of this spectrum of opinion.

The Martyrs Of Christ -A Sketch Of The Thought Of Martin Luther On Martyrdom, Douglas C. Stange

Concordia Theological Monthly

If one wishes to discuss any contribution, rediscovery, or reformation that Luther made in the Christian church, he must recognize the great Reformer's primary concern that faith in Christ be purely preached. For Luther, the church was built on the rock that is Christ, and Christians were to preach the Savior's Evangel to all men.

Pleroma And Christology, Harold A. Merklinger

Concordia Theological Monthly

Theologically, πλήϱωμα is among St. Paul's basic concepts. This is particularly true in his epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians. In them he uses the term freighted with Christological content.

A Critique Of Theological Education In The Light Of Changing American Culture, David S. Schuller

Concordia Theological Monthly

The more critical the situation faced by a ministry, the more intense has been its criticism of conventional theological education. Where the patterns of cultural change have been least severe, the conventional shape of ministerial training has been most successful. Turning to the areas of greatest change we find the most demanding tests that can be addressed to contemporary theological education. Moreover, such areas should prove most predictive of the types of change we can look for in the future.

The Teaching Of The New Testament Concerning The Church, Bruce M. Metzger

Concordia Theological Monthly

Today the word "church" has a wide of meanings. These include: (1) the totality of Christian believers as the Church universal; (2) a local congregation, whether gathered at one place for worship or not; (3) a building used for public worship; (4) a denomination; and (5) the clerical profession. Of these five common meanings. only the first two appear in the New Testament; the others are of later development. For example, though today we speak of "the church which is located on such-and-such a street," the earliest known reference to a church building dates from the second century. During the …

America, Listen And Live! A Special Lutheran Hour Address, Oswald C. Hoffmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

It is not my purpose to comment on the political results of Mr. Khruschchev's visit to the United States. I am a firm adherent of the doctrine of two realms, limiting the spheres of church and state. It is a Biblical truth, as well as a fact of human history, that God rules in both realms, although He does so in different ways.

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 …

Kings And Priests, Richard R. Caemmerer

Concordia Theological Monthly

This review will spend little time on the excitement that greeted the first two volumes of the new translation. The reader will be impressed with the clean job of editing by Jaroslav Pelikan and the remarkably high and uniform excellence of the translations by six contributors. The introduction adequately notes the settings of the seven psalm expositions and correlates the locations in the Weimar and St. Louis editions of Luther's works. Footnotes - occasional but not too many - explain renderings of German idioms, suggest sources of Luther's quotations or indicate parallels, many of them in the two preceding volumes …

Some Observations On Current Cosmological Theories, Paul A. Zimmerman

Concordia Theological Monthly

It has been rightly said that there are fashions in science as in all other fields. This fact has been demonstrated lately by the large number of articles dealing with cosmological problems that have appeared in the last two years in both popular and scientific journals. There has been striking evidence of increased interest in cosmology, the study of the universe, and in cosmogony, the study of the origin of the universe and the world. One of the most popular programs of the British Broadcasting System in 1950 was a series of lectures on the origin of the world and …

The Doctrine Of Predestination In Romans 8:28-39, Luther Poellot

Concordia Theological Monthly

The doctrine of predestination is presented as our highest and greatest comfort in suffering. The doctrine itself is set forth in vv. 28-30, while in vv. 31-39 Paul draws the conclusions which follow in regard to the power of the Christian religion, more specifically the doctrine of predestination, to support us in the trials and afflictions which come upon those whom God has elected to salvation.

A Statement On Parents' Rights And The School Question, A. C. Mueller

Concordia Theological Monthly

The United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and the National Lutheran Council invited educators and theologians of the United States, Germany, and other European countries to a study conference (June 1-10 at Bad Boll, Germany) on parents' rights and the school in the modern state. This was the first of four study conferences, and when the Germans set apart the entire conference for the study of Christian education and its current problems, they indicated how vital this problem is in Germany today. The findings of this seminar were summarized in the statement which is herewith submitted.

All Christians Believe In Justification By Faith, F. Pieper, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

There is a great diversity among the Christians. Some are strong in their faith, while others are weak Christians. Some have an excellent knowledge of the Christian doctrine, others are woefully deficient in this respect (Eph. 4:13, 14; Rom. 14:1 ff.). There are orthodox Christians and heterodox Christians. (See Chap. 1 in "Saving Faith": "Orthodoxy and membership in the Christian Church are not conterminous.") But there is full accord among the Christians on the doctrine of justification. All Christians are at one in believing that God forgives their sins by grace, for Christ's sake, without any merit of their own. …

Discourse Of Luther On The Holy Trinity, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

This discourse is taken from a two-volume collection of sermons of Luther which has the title: Predigten D. Martin Luthers auf Grund von Nachschriften Georg Roerers und Anton Lauterbachs, bearbeitet von Geog Buchwald. The volumes appeared in 1925 and 1926, respectively, in the publishing house of C. Bertelsmann, Guetersloh. In the fascinating introduction Dr. Buchwald, an eminent Luther scholar, points out that the sermons of Luther published in the old editions of the Heuspostille are unsatisfactory on account of the editing process to which they were subjected. As is well known, they were not written by Luther; the notes of …

A Royal Priesthood, 1 Pet. 2:9, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

If it were not a fact with which we have been familiar since childhood days, we should be amazed to see that the Christian Church began its course without an official class of priests. The opening chapters of Acts, which report the founding of the Church, give the Apostles a prominent place in the early stages. These men served as pastors and teachers; at first the duties of almoners were incumbent on them, too. Hence the Church had leadership, but it did not have priests. The Apostles did not lay claim to such a status. In Jerusalem and Palestine in …

Verbal Inspiration- A Stumbling-Block To The Jews And Foolishness To The Greeks, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

Before examining three further objections against Verbal Inspiration, it will be well to pause a while and survey the disaster wrought by the contention of the moderns that the Bible contains a lot of (1) errors, (2) immoralities, and (3) trivialities. Amplifying previous remarks on this subject, we would here present a comprehensive view of the frightful consequences of the denial of Verbal Inspiration. The moderns do untold harm (1) to the Church and (2) to themselves.

Verbal Inspiration- A Stumbling-Block To The Jews And Foolishness To The Greeks, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

The moderns have a third grievance against the Bible as God gave it to us. They are scandalized at the many "trivialities" incorporated in it. Those portions of the Bible, they say, which treat of purely secular matters, common household affairs, petty concerns of men, and the like, do not belong to the Word of God. God's Word is too high and holy a thing to have these levicula mixed up with it. It is inconceivable that, when the Holy Ghost inspired the saving Word, He should have bothered about the marital affairs of Isaac and Rebecca. The moderns are …

The Christian's Attitude Towards His Government And On War, Louis J. Rohem

Concordia Theological Monthly

The sedes doctrinae for the doctrine of civil government is Rom.13:1-7. Literally translated: "Let every soul (pasa psyche) be subject to the superior powers." The plural, exousiai, is used, denoting not merely government in the abstract but in concreto, the persons as bearers of the divine office. In Titus 3:1 we have the same plural, "principalities and powers." Officers of the government are also designated as "Caesar," Matt. 22:21, and as "the king as supreme and governors," 1 Pet. 2:14.