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Postliberal Approaches To The Theology Of Religions: Presentation, Assessment, And Critical Appropriation, Joel Okamoto

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

This study focuses on the third type—the postliberal approaches to the theology of religions. In undertaking this, I have two basic purposes. One is to examine these postliberal approaches. This examination will include a description and analysis of selected postliberal proposals concerning issues and concerns in the theology of religions. The second is to assess these proposals on key issues and appropriate certain insights from the postliberal approach for the purpose of developing a Lutheran theology of religions.

While few proposals in the theology of religions have been characterized as “postliberal," there are considerable differences among them. Therefore I shall …

The Bestowal Of The Benefits Of The Real Presence The Early Eucharistic Works Of Martin Chemnitz As A Contribution Toward The Formula Of Concord Article Vii, Brynjulf Hoaas

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

Our thesis is that in Chemnitz' doctrine of the Lord’s Supper the benefits of the Lord's Supper are inherently the benefits of the Real Presence. The beneficial use of the sacramentis, therefore, connected with the "substance," that is, both the giving of the benefits and the receiving of them --faith and "the discerning of the body" -- are tied up with the Real Presence. This indicates that the two parts are closely connected, and their separation has negative consequences for both parts. A major purpose of our research will be to examine more in detail what he confesses of this …

Current Models In Roman, Lutheran, And Reformed Prolegomena: Exposition, Analysis, And Programmatic Assessment, David Lumpp

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The marketplace is currently experiencing no shortage of systematic theologies. At both the popular and academic levels, volumes are published at a rate exceeding the ability of any one scholar to digest or evaluate. The methodological pluralism alluded to above is now a cacophony. Yesterday’s mentors are challenged by process theology, theologies of hope, and seemingly infinite manifestations of liberation theology--to name only several of the most obvious.

With this history and the above cautions in mind, this essay will explore the definition, guiding motif, and methodology of three major contemporary theologians: Bernard Lonergan, Helmut Thielicke, and Edward Farley, representing …

The Hermeneutics Of Liberation Theology: A Lutheran Confessional Response To The Theological Methodology Of Leonardo Boff, Jacob Preus

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

Therefore, it is the basic thesis of this study that a theological critique of and response to liberation theology can be done properly only on the basis of its methodology, for it is the theological method of liberation theology and not its theological or political results which serves as its unifying force. Emilio A. Nunez C. says it simply: "Fundamentally, what distinguishes the theology of liberation most from other theologies is its methods"? It is the method, and the hermeneutical presuppositions which accompany it, that shape this diverse and conflicting movement into a unified whole. It is not an oversimplification …

Millennialism In American Lutheranism In Light Of Augsburg Confession, Article Xvii, Francis Monseth

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The history of Lutheranism witnesses to the existence of opposing interpretations of Article XVII of the Augsburg Confession. Many Lutherans, on the basis of the article, deny the confessional validity of any type of literalistic or futuristic millennium. Others, however, contend that the article is speaking to an immediate situation peculiar to the confessors' moment in history. On this score, they believe that the issue of millennialism or "chiliasm" in its subtle variety is an “open question" as far as the Lutheran confessions are concerned. There have been serious, earnest students on each side of this issue. American Lutheranism has …

The Historical-Critical Method- Dividing Wall Between Moderates And Conservatives In The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Controversy, Jose Fuliga

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

There are, without question, theological and non-theological differences between the Moderates and Conservatives which are not directly related to the former's use of historical criticism. The role politics has played in the controversy cannot be denied. The differences regarding the practice of unionism, ecumenism, close communion, church polity, and even Synodical policies toward foreign missions have been controverted issues. But the focus of this study will be confined to verifying whether the use of historical criticism is indeed the dividing wall, between Moderates and Conservatives. This research shall furthermore probe if the Moderates' hermeneutical presupposition -- the Law-Gospel reductionism restrains …

The Preservation And Restoration Of Creation With A Special Reference To Romans 8:18-23, Robert Neff

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The topic dealt with in this dissertation is "The Preservation and Restoration of Creation." In dealing with this topic there is "A Special Reference to Rom. 8:18-23" since this passage, if any, is the "sedes doctrinae" of such a topic. To deal with this passage of Scripture in connection with the "Restoration of Creation" is not at all exotic or peripheral to the Gospel message. R. C. H. Lenski sees the teaching of this pericope as "the final result of justification by faith as it is depicted by Paul. This is the great consolation section ofRomans."1If the human body is …

The Doctrine Of The Church In The Writings Of Dr. C. F. W. Walther, John Martin Drickamer

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The doctrine of the church has been a matter of theological controversy for the Missouri Synod through much of its history. The difficulties predate the origin of the Synod itself, and they continue in different forms into the last quarter of the twentieth century. In terms of both theological statement and practical application, no individual was more important for the Missouri Synod during its first third of a century of existence than C. F. W. Walther. As eminent an historian as Sydney E. Ahlstrom has even said that Walther was "probably the most influential figure in nineteenth-century Lutheranism in America. …

Public Doctrine In The Lutheran Church --Missouri Synod, Waldemar Wehmeier

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod states its doctrinal position in the second article of its constitution :

The synod, and every member of the Synod, accepts without reservation:

1. The Scriptures of .the Old and New Testament as the written word of God and the only role and norm of faith and of practice;

2. All the Symbolical Books of the evangelical Lutheran Church as a true and unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God, to wit, the three Ecumenical creeds (the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed), the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg …

The Theology Of Justus Menius, Alvin H. Horst

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The primary purpose of this dissertation, therefore, is to provide a general systematic exposition of the theology of Justus Menius. To accomplish that purpose, it will be necessary to provide an historical overview of his life and activities. Menius never published a systematic theology. His books and writings, like Luther's, were responses to specific theological and ecclesiastical problems. For Menius, these problems were occasioned primarily by the interaction between the theological movement which originated in the university and the life of the local congregations. In order to get at Menius' theology, therefore, it is necessary to have an acquaintance with …

The Origin And Meaning Of The Axiom- Nothing Has The Character Of A Sacrament Outside Of The Use, In Sixteenth-Century And Seventeenth-Century Lutheran Theology, Edward Peters

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

No one, however, has ever answered the question as to where this axiom originated, or what it means or how various Lutheran theologians have interpreted it. It is the purpose of this dissertation to try to determine where the axiom, "Nothing has the character of a Sacrament outside of the use instituted by Christ," originates and what it means to the major Lutheran theologians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries-- from the time of the Reformation until the end of the era of Lutheran Orthodoxy, approximately at the end of the seventeenth century.

Characteristics Of Southeast Asian Islam As Factors In A Theology Of The Christian Mission To Philippine Muslims, Robert Mcamis

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The Christian mission to Islam offers one of the greatest challenges which the Christian Church has ever faced. In 1962 the Lutheran Church in the Philippines, in spite of its limited manpower and resources, accepted the challenge of the Christian mission to Philippine Islam. At the initial stage of this mission it is well to analyze the problem in detail. This demands a thorough understanding of Philippine Islam. The objective of this study is a clear picture of the Muslim situation in the Philippines together with implications for the Christian mission to Philippine Islam.

Changing Theologies Of Private And Public Confession And Absolution, Fred Precht

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The contemporary liturgical-confessional revival within the Lutheran Church with its increasing emphasis on private confession and absolution has prompted this study. To this writer's knowledge there has been no previous study made within American Lutheranism on the history and development of confession and absolution with its changing theologies and practice.

Some Of The Hermeneutical Presuppositions And Part Of The Exegetical Methodology Of Georg Stoeckhardt, William Goerss

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The purpose of this paper has been to penetrate into Stoeckhardt's major exegetical works and significant sermons in order to determine what some of his hermeneutical presuppositions were and how they affected his exegetical methodology.

The Old Testament Locus De Novissimis In Contemporary Lutheran Theological Thought, Howard Tepker

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

It is the purpose of this dissertation to present in an objective manner the various views held by leading Lutheran theologians and scholars who have written on phases of the Old Testament locus De Novissimis during the past two decades, or whose works have been republished in this period of time. This writer is aware of the mass of research that would be required if one were to undertake to offer a critical analysis of present-day scholarly thought. He will therefore assume the more modest task of presenting what might be called a composite picture of trends in contemporary Lutheran …

The Doctrine Of Infant Baptism In The German Protestant Theology Of The Nineteenth Century, David Scaer

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

This work is not written primarily to give answer to the difficulties which might arise in connection with infant baptism. This it might, do incidentally and this is certainly the author's wish. What is endeavored here is to analyze the doctrine or infant baptism as it appeared in the nineteenth century in Germany, the land of Luther. In so far as we are dealing with a limited period of time within certain defined geographical limits, our work is historically orientated. But in far as the various teachings on infant baptism are analyzed, this task belongs to that of systematic theology. …

Luther Research In America 1900-1960, Walter Tillmanns

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The objectives of this study are to present a detailed overview of the three types of Luther research in America, the Protestant, the Roman Catholic, and the Lutheran, and then to evaluate this research. A Lutheran evaluation of this research must of necessity be Lutheran, but an attempt will be made to be fair in this evaluation to all. In other words, the assumption is that there has been progress in Luther research in America and that in spite of the ups and downs, conditioned by two World Wars and religious and philosophical prejudices, there is a deeper understanding of …

The Theological Significance Of Johann Albrecht Bengel, Robert Spieler

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The position of Johann Albrecht Bengel in the history of Lutheran theology has never been defined in a detailed way for the English-speaking Church. One reason for this is the paucity of available primary sources necessary for such a project.

Justification By Faith In Modern Theology, Henry Hamann

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The study here presented the writer hopes to make part of a larger work, an examination of how far Lutheran teaching on justification agrees with the New Testament as a whole, specific attention being given all along to modern criticism on this head. (Modern signifies approximately the period from the end of the first Great War to the present day.) It is not enough to show nowadays that Lutheran teaching agrees with St. Paul. It has to be shown that it agrees with St. John, with the Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, and with the rest of the literature of …