Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Brunner And Luther On Scriptural Authority, H. Armin Moellering

Concordia Theological Monthly

In its struggle with Roman Catholicism the Reformation made its appeal from tradition and an authoritatively interpreting Church to the Scriptures. This basic approach of the Reformers is obvious and universally recognized. Some writers, nonetheless, have failed to note the complete cleavage between Romanism and the Reformers at this point. Emil Brunner sees clearly that whatever the token deference of Rome to the authority of Scripture may be, in point of fact Rome forsakes Scripture and rests her authority in the interpretive and teaching office of the Church. Rome operates with "die massgebende Autoritaet der kirchlichen Schriftauslegung."

John's Gospel In Current Literature, Walter G. Heyne

Concordia Theological Monthly

Who wrote the Fourth Gospel? For centuries there had been almost unanimous agreement on this point. Tradition, based on very ancient authorities, as well as the book itself all seemed to agree that it was the work of John, the Beloved Disciple, son of Zebedee. But about the turn of the eighteenth century, students of the Bible were shaken by voices which dared to question this supposedly impregnable claim. In England a man by the name of Evanson ( ca. 1790) attributed the Gospel to some Platonic philosopher of the second century. Six years later a German named Eckermann took …

Religious Beliefs And Practices At Irelya, New Guinea, As Reported By Natives, Willard Bruce

Concordia Theological Monthly

Among the world's islands New Guinea is second in size only to Greenland. With 312,000 square miles, it is roughly equal to the combined areas of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. In two features of its physical geography it is unique. No other of the larger islands has such a great proportion of mountainous country; and no area of like size anywhere else in the world has such high rainfalls. No one knows how many people inhabit New Guinea, but the Australian Commonwealth Office of Education estimates that in the eastern half alone there are at least 1,050,000 …

A Critique Of Contemporary Lutheran Preaching, Erdman W. Frenk

Concordia Theological Monthly

Preaching, i.e., the public proclamation of the Word of God, is the chief function of the Christian ministry. It is duty number one on a pastor's functional docket. It is his first and foremost responsibility. It was this in the early Church. It became this again through the Reformation. It must be this in the Church of our day. At the top of any list cataloguing the duties of a pastor in the order of their importance, preaching must stand first. If there is one field in which the pastor will seek to excel, it is in preaching.

Reconciliation And Justification, Adolf Koeberle

Concordia Theological Monthly

Only he can understand the concept "reconciliation" who has experienced the implications of the separation between God and man and between man and God. He who ignores this mysterium iniquitatis and refuses to see the wide chasm between the holy God and the guilty creature cannot comprehend the glory of the concept "atonement," but on the contrary will in a rebellious spirit be offended at it.

The Buddhist Concept Of Death, Paul Heerboth

Concordia Theological Monthly

The manifest turmoil and unrest of these latter days-atheistic Communism, idolatrous materialism, Iron Curtain barbarism, A-bomb fears, and now the "H" - are but a coarser outburst, a more inflamed symptom, of the fundamental problem of all centuries - "How can man in sin overcome his separation from God?” "How can man conquer death which without Christ makes this separation from God forever painful and forever permanent?" All mankind - also those who call themselves Buddhists - face this inescapable problem - the problem of death. Like all mankind, so also the Buddhists, though in a more comprehensive and attractive …

The Pastor And Synod's Handbook, Arnold H. Grumm

Concordia Theological Monthly

"What a dreary and technical subject for an occasion like this, some might say, ''The Pastor and Synod's Handbook." Why not ''The Pastor and His Bible," or "The Pastor and His Sermon," or something else that has living value? What compelling interest can the Handbook of Synod have for a graduate of Concordia Seminary who, call in hand, is ready to enter the active ministry?

The Sacerdotai Office Of Christ According To The Letter To The Hebrews, George Stoeckhardt

Concordia Theological Monthly

By His one sacrifice Christ has obtained an eternal salvation, which requires nothing to supplement it. By His sacrifice our sins are expiated once and for all, and our iniquity is atoned. In the very center of our Christian faith stands this Jesus Christ, who on the great Day of Atonement of the New Testament died and shed His blood for us. But even though Christ sacrificed Himself only once, even though the real work of redemption and reconciliation is completed, yet Christ has not relinquished His high-priestly office. The Epistle to the Hebrews throughout directs our attention to the …

The Sacerdotai Office Of Christ According To The Letter To The Hebrews, George Stoeckhardt

Concordia Theological Monthly

The sacerdotal office of Christ reaches into the very heart and soul of our Christian faith. Christ's sacrifice, blood, and death alone provide for us true comfort in life and death. The doctrine of the sacerdotal sacrifice of Christ is the great truth with which Christian preachers arc constantly operating. Luther once remarked that a Christian preacher plays constantly on this one string. From it he may, of course, elicit a great variety of tunes and sounds. It is not necessary always to say the same things in the same words. Looking into the Scriptures, we find one and the …

The Christian And Government, A. M. Rehwinkel

Concordia Theological Monthly

The form of government under which we live is a democracy. "Democracy" means rule by the people. It means that sovereignty in a democracy is vested in the people, and "sovereignty" means supreme power. We, the people of the United States, are the sovereigns of this nation. The Government officials in Washington, in our State capitals, and in the seats of our municipal governments are our agents and delegates bound to respect the will of the people. But this also means that the people are responsible for the attitude and actions of their government. Every privilege has a corresponding responsibility, …

The New Creation In Christ, Walter Bartling

Concordia Theological Monthly

All modern studies of the ἐν χοιστψ̄ formula take as their starting point the fascinating dissertation of Adolf Deissmann, which appeared in 1892. It is hardly possible to overestimate the influence this book has had upon research in Pauline theology. Deissmann's basic conclusion, that the ἐν of the formula has throughout a local significance, rests, no doubt, upon a proper grammatical insight and has received but slight modification by later scholars.

The Christian And Government, A. M. Rehwinkel

Concordia Theological Monthly

Government is not above the Moral I.aw, but subject to it. In fact, government exists for the maintenance of the moral order. "For he is the minister of God to thee for good; but if thou do that which is evil, be afraid" (Rom.13:4). Governments cannot abrogate the Moral Law nor any of the Commandments of the Decalog. The legislation and administration of law must be in harmony with the Moral Law. Governments are responsible to God. "For he is a minister of God."

The Relationship Of Faith And Knowledge In The Lutheran Confessions, Jaroslav Pelikan

Concordia Theological Monthly

The proper understanding of the nature of faith is a matter of central importance in Christian theology. For this reason the Christian Church has sought for terminology by which to describe faith in a manner that will do justice to all the affirmations of Holy Scripture concerning it. The origin and development of some of this terminology was the topic of a recent essay in the pages of this journal. There it was indicated that the distinction between the believing (knowing) subject and the believed (known) object was intended to safeguard an integral element in the Christian definition of faith …

The Christian And Government, A. M. Rehwinkel

Concordia Theological Monthly

Good government is one of the most precious temporal gifts God gives to a people, while a vicious, corrupt. and incompetent government may become the greatest curse. Every citizen is therefore vitally interested in the establishment and maintenance of good government. The Christian, however, as a citizen in "two realms" has an even greater stake in good government than the non-Christian. According to 1 Tim. 2:1-4 good government is necessary not only for the individual's physical and temporal well-being, but also-and this primarily -for the carrying out of God's gracious purposes concerning the eternal welfare of all men.

Neo-Thomism, Paul M. Bretscher

Concordia Theological Monthly

When Pope John XXII canonized Thomas Aquinas ( 1225 to 1274) in 1323, he declared "doctrina eius non potuit esse sine miraculo" and that Thomas had done more to enlighten the Church with his gifts than all other teachers of the Church before his day. In 1279 and 1286 the Dominican Order chose Thomas Aquinas for its Doctor. In 1346 Clement VI enjoined on this Order to adhere strictly to the doctrines of St. Thomas. In 1368 Urban V instructed the university of Toulouse "to follow the teaching of the sainted Thomas as the true doctrine and to make every …

The Dogma Of Mary's Assumption. A Symptom Of Antichristian Theology, F. E. Mayer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Many Americans view with alarm the increasing pressure which Rome is exerting on American political life. It is of course, no secret that by means of a carefully designed program of lay indoctrination the Roman hierarchy is attempting to direct the ideologies not only of its own members but also of those outside its own communion. Leading Protestants have charged that Rome has definite political aspirations, and serious tensions have arisen between Protestants and Romanists as a result of conflicting political and social ideologies. However, we are dismayed when leading Protestants direct their attacks against Rome exclusively on the ground …

Brief Studies, F. W. Gingrich, Martin H. Franzmann, F. E. Mayer

Concordia Theological Monthly

A New Greek-English Lexicon of The New Testament

Thou Art Mad

The Witnesses of Christ's Resurrection

Luther's Concept Of The Atonement Before 1517, Lewis W. Spitz

Concordia Theological Monthly

Recent years have seen a delightfully refreshing interest in Luther's writings. One might almost speak of a Luther renaissance. Luther scholarship in Sweden immediately comes to one's mind. But other countries as well have made their contributions, and other religious groups besides the Lutheran. We may think of such men as Werner Elert and Erich Seeberg in Germany, Philip S. Warson in England, and Roland H. Bainton in America. This number could easily be multiplied.

The Origins Of The Object-Subject Antithesis In Lutheran Dogmatics. A Study In Terminology, Jaroslav Pelikan

Concordia Theological Monthly

One of the tasks with which both Christian preaching and Christian dogmatics are confronted is the attempt to express Biblical testimony in non-Biblical terminology. Such an attempt is as difficult as it is necessary. In order to perform its responsibility, the proclamation of the Christian message in preaching must resort to ways of speaking that are not found in the Scriptures. Similarly, theologians have always found it necessary to collect into one expression what is said in several different parts of the Scriptures. But the difficulty in any such expression is that a word taken over from extra-Christian sources may …

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.