Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Adolf Stőcker: A Christian Socialist Advocate Of The "Free Folk Church.", Ronald L. Massanari

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author discusses the importance of Adolf Stoecker’s understanding of the Gospel in sociopolitical terms as it affected the "free folk church" movement in 19th-century Germany.

Readers will note but perhaps not agree with Stőcker's design for the church's social ministry. Students of 19th-century Germany will remember with distaste Stőcker's and-Semitism.

Brief Studies, Richard R. Caemmerer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Can Preaching Start a Chain Reaction?

A Review of Preaching and Worship in Contemporary Germany.

Walther's Contribution To Lutheranism, Lewis W. Spitz

Concordia Theological Monthly

Walther neither inaugurated another Reformation, nor did he supplement that of Luther. Some people in the 16th century insisted that Luther did not go far enough in reforming the church, because he refused to disturb the church by introducing changes which were not demanded by the Word of God. Luther was not an iconoclast. Neither was Walther, who had no intention of going beyond Luther, but was satisfied with being a humble disciple of the great Reformer. As such he was loyal to Luther's theology, which he gathered from Luther's writings and the Lutheran Confessions. He would also have others …

Walther's Pastoral Theology, Frederick Niedner

Concordia Theological Monthly

It is unfortunate that the pen that is writing this article should be in my hand. It would be vastly more appropriate and of greatly increased value if this could have been written by one of the men who were in the classroom of Concordia Seminary when Walther taught Pastoraltheogie. I wish it could have been done by the man who held the position of pastor in Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Charles, Mo., during the 22 years before I held the same position for 32 years, my very worthy predecessor, Dr. Julius A. Friedrich.

The Altpreussische Union. Its Status And Significance Today With Special Reference To The Ecumenical Movement, Matthias Schulz Jr., Siegfried J. Lehmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Altpreussische Union of 1817 is not only a past event of historical interest, but it also deserves to be recognized as a significant factor in its effect on the contemporary scene. It continues to be effective in the church organization known as the EKU (Evangelische Kirche der Union), which stems from this union and through it exerts a definite influence on the life of the church in Germany. Moreover, it continues to be even more effective by reason of the principles on which it was based and which by no means apply only to Germany.

The Arnoldshain Theses On The Lord's Supper, Paul M. Bretscher

Concordia Theological Monthly

We are herewith submitting a translation of the Arnoldsbainer Abendmahlsthesen, followed by some concluding observations. These theses are the net result of discussions regarding the meaning of the Lord's Supper carried on between 1947 and 1957 by a commission of Lutheran, Reformed, and Union theologians representing the Evangelical Church of Germany. These theologians formulated and approved the theses after many deliberations November 1 and 2, 1957.

A Basic History Of Lutheranism In America, Lewis W. Spitz

Concordia Theological Monthly

Abdel Ross Wentz, the author of this book, may be regarded as the dean of historians of the Lutheran Church in America. Among the significant contributions to the history of Lutheranism in this country is his Lutheran Church in America History, the precursor of the present volume. His History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland and The Beginnings of the German Element in York County, Pennsylvania, have set a pattern for other historians, demonstrating the kind of work that must be done elsewhere before a final and comprehensive history of Lutheranism can be written. The same may be said …

The Lutheran World Federation, Gilbert A. Thiele

Concordia Theological Monthly

In the years immediately after World War I, tentative attempts were made to establish contact for purposes of fellowship and understanding between European, North American, Asian, and other Lutheran bodies in the world. The first real meeting of representatives of Lutheran churches throughout the world took place in 1923 at Eisenach, Germany. Here 160 delegates from twenty-two nations met August 19-24, 1923, in order to explore and express their unity of faith and spiritual kinship. The way for this gathering and all that followed from it "was prepared by the General Evangelical Lutheran Conference, which, although at first confined to …

The Religious Peace Of Augsburg, Theodore Hoyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the Religious Peace of Augsburg, an event regarded so highly and of such importance in the history of the Lutheran Reformation that the 100th, 200th, and 300th anniversaries were celebrated throughout the Lutheran Church in the respective years. Our fathers have regarded it as a special intervention of God to save the Reformation from total collapse. In an article sketching the history of this Diet of Augsburg one of the early leaders of the Missouri Synod. F. C. D. Wyneken, calls the adoption of this peace treaty "the end of the Reformation, when, …

Brief Studies, Heinrich Rendtorff, Walter Buszin

Concordia Theological Monthly

Toward A Missionary Church

Liturgy in the Lutheran Church in Germany

Review Of "Bad Boll" Conferences, Paul M. Bretscher

Concordia Theological Monthly

"Building Theological Bridges" is the appropriate subtitle of the sainted Professor Fred. E. Mayer's The Story of Bad Boll. In this booklet, which is a lasting memorial to Dr. Mayer's synthetic and sympathetic mind, the author summarized the three theological conferences conducted by our Synod at Bad Boll, Wűrttemberg, Germany, in the summer of 1948. The readiness of officials of our Synod to "build theological bridges" connecting our Church with European Lutheran Churches was so favorably received by the participants in the first Bad Boll venture that in the opinion of our officials these conferences needed to be continued.

Saint Boniface, Lewis W. Spitz

Concordia Theological Monthly

Twelve centuries have passed since St. Boniface on June 5, 754, died as a martyr on the banks of the Borne at Dokkum, in Friesland. Much is being made of the anniversary of his death. Roman Catholics have organized pilgrimages both to Dokkum, the place of his death, and to Fulda, where his body now rests. Protestants, too, have honored his memory with special services. Many thousands of both Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians have thus paid their respects to a great man of God and to their common Christian heritage.

Leiturgia-An Opus Magnum In The Making, Walter E. Buszin

Concordia Theological Monthly

The liturgical revival which is wending its way through the churches of Christendom today has made its influence felt also within the Lutheran Church. This movement is not chiefly a seeking after forms and ceremonies, nor is it merely a reaction against irreverent and amorphous worship practices. While excesses are to be noted within the movement, it is hardly just and fair to regard these as inevitable and essential earmarks of this liturgical revival, since revivals and movements in areas other than the liturgical likewise suffer because of the intemperate endeavors of a zealotistic minority.

In Memoriam Joh. Albrecht Bengel, Jaroslav Pelikan

Concordia Theological Monthly

November 2, 1952, is the two-hundredth anniversary of the death of Johann Albrecht Bengel, a leading figure in the history of Lutheran theology. He has exerted an influence over subsequent Biblical scholarship comparable to that of Luther and Flacius in the sixteenth century, the Buxtorfs in the seventeenth, von Hofmann in the nineteenth, and Schlatter in the twentieth. Until a generation or two ago his Gnomon Novi Testamenti was a commonplace in the libraries of the evangelical clergy; and some of the works which have come to replace it, like Dean Alford's commentary and the Expositors Greek Testament, are expansions …

The Rise And Fall Of The Schmalkaldic League: The Treaty Of Passau, 1552, Theo. Hoyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

There are several reasons that suggest the truce of Passau as a subject for special consideration at the present time. One is, of course, the date. Since 1883 we have followed up the great outstanding events in Reformation history by church-wide celebrations, beginning with Luther's birth and ending, in 1946, with Luther's death. But several events following Luther's death were to be of immense importance to the Lutheran Church; one of them is the Schmalkaldic War, ending in the truce of Passau, 1552, and the Religious Peace of Augsburg. 1555. - Another reason: We have seen a veritable flood of …

Liturgical Developments In Europe, Walter F. Buszin

Concordia Theological Monthly

Despite the many serious impediments imposed by destructive warfare and total defeat, the Germans have published perhaps more liturgical literature during the past few postwar years than the people of any other nation. This is significant already because it indicates clearly that they do not regard liturgics as an area which is rather nonessential in character. The ravages and dispossessions of war and defeat drive man to the stark realities and basic needs of life and existence. In days of scarcity and want, man craves not dessert and luxury; on the contrary, he is then perfectly satisfied and altogether happy …

A Short History Of The Lutheran Church In Great Britain, E. George Pearce

Concordia Theological Monthly

“Lutheran” is a word that many English people find hard to pronounce because it is so seldom used in this country. In few countries of Western Europe is the Lutheran Church as little known as it is in Great Britain. When recently an inquiry was made at the B. B. C. in London regarding the possibility of a Lutheran religious broadcast, the surprising reply was given: "It is the policy of the B. B. C. to broadcast only the services of those churches which are in the mainstream of the Christian tradition." How strange that the largest of all Protestant …

Evangelical Christianity In America And Its Significance For Evangelical Christianity In Germany, Fritz Hahn

Concordia Theological Monthly

The first impressions on a German visitor are disturbing and confusing, because he is here confronted by a tremendous multiplicity of churches and sects. The many divisions in Protestantism are due in part to the various historical backgrounds and to the diversity of languages formerly used in their church services. Furthermore, the tendency toward individualism and independence, particularly strong among the pioneers, was an important factor in producing many separate church bodies. That human interests, bigotry, and pharisaism contributed toward the formation of sects is not to be denied. American evangelical Christianity is in no sense of the word homogeneous.

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.

Memorandum Concerning The Church Situation In Germany, Martin Kiunke

Concordia Theological Monthly

The VELKD hopes to become the long-desired corpus Lutheranorum... Rudolph Rocholl (superintendent in Goettingen, Kirchenrat in Breslau, and president of the Prussian Lutheran Free Church) saw the disastrous influence of unionism more clearly than others and shortly after 1900 appealed to the Lutheran provincial churches to form a corpus Lutheranorum on a clearly defined confessional basis. His appeal was left unheeded.

Memorandum Concerning The Church Situation In Germany, Martin Kiunke

Concordia Theological Monthly

Since the collapse of 1945 the church situation in Germany is horribly confused, for the political chaos seriously affected the church conditions. But even before the political collapse a number of trends developed in the Protestant churches which brought havoc to the churches. This disorder was accentuated by the political collapse to such a degree that conditions never were so confused in German church history as at present.

Foreword, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

As in the distance the summits of 1947 become faintly visible, there are two topics which we should like to discuss with our readers, one dark and distressing, the other a cause for joy and gratitude - the physical and spiritual misery that grips the world, and the centennial of the Missouri Synod.

The Formative Years Of Doctor Luther, E. G. Schwiebert

Concordia Theological Monthly

There can be no doubt that many of Martin Luther's contemporaries realized that he was one of the great men of history. Almost twenty years before he died, his friends began to collect the Reformer's letters and writings, while at different times twelve table companions recorded his conversations with the dinner guests. The three funeral addresses delivered at the time of Luther's death in 1546 testify to this same conviction. Since he had died in his native Eisleben, a service was first held there in the Andreas-Kirche, on which occasion Jonas, who had accompanied Luther on the journey from Wittenberg, …

Luther: A Blessing To The English, W. Dallmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

John Skelton, poet-laureate of Oxford, Cambridge, and Loavain, whom Erasmus called "a light and ornament of British literature" and poet-laureate Southey also praised fabulously, was the most popular and audacious writer of his day. Tutor to Henry VIII, he scored the wicked courtiers. Cleric, he castigated the clergy. "Bestial and untaught men," not able to read or spell their own names, they appoint as priests, preferring habitual drunkards that lead disorderly lives to worthy candidates.

Luther: A Blessing To The English, W. Dallmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Papacy excepted, the empire was the highest honor to which any potentate could aspire. Though little better than an empty title, though scarcely more than the shadow of a great name, destined speedily to become more visionary than ever, its ancient traditions made a deep impression on the romantic heart of the Middle Ages. Its half sacred, half secular dignity, shrouded by a mysterious and unsubstantial grandeur; its position as the military headship and supremacy of Christendom; its imperial bishops and regal princes; its sacred knights and Teutonic brotherhoods; its haunted forests and weird mountains; had all combined to …

Antichristian Teaching Of Rosicrucianism, J. T. Mueller

Concordia Theological Monthly

Among the many "cunningly devised fables" (cf. 2 Pet.1: 18) which false prophets are spreading with unholy assiduity to injure the kingdom of Christ, those of modern Rosicrucianism easily rank among the first, both in insidiousness and in perniciousness.

Foreword, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

When this initial number of the 1939 volume of the CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY reaches the reader, it will almost be a century since the Saxon Pilgrim Fathers of the Missouri Synod arrived at their destination - St. Louis. The political, economic, and religious situation which they left behind and that into which they came were about as distressing and bewildering as the one in which we are placed one hundred years later.

Medieval Religious Pageantry And Its Modern Revival, P. E. Kretzmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

As every student of the modern drama has learned from the careful research work of Chambers, Creizenach, and particularly of Prof. Karl Young, this form of art had its origin in the liturgy of the medieval Church. During the period from the tenth to the fourteenth century, when many of the gorgeous cathedrals of France, Germany, and England-Notre Dame, and Amiens, and Reims, and Strassburg, and Cologne, and Lincoln, and York, and Westminster were erected, the minds of the people of these and other countries were intensely religious.

An Anniversary We Forgot, Theo. Hoyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

August 9, 1534, died in Rome Jacopo de Vio do Gaeta. More of us will recognize him when it is stated that he changed his baptismal name Jacob or James to Thomas when, in 1484, he entered the Dominican Order, fifteen years old, and that later as cardinal be was known by a derivative of the name of his native city, Cajetan. Even in Roman Catholic circles this anniversary was remembered only "among the more erudite of the European reviews" for his "treatises and commentaries, that are the delight of experts in Thomistic lore," as the Commonweal points out.

A Defense Of Luther Against Edgar A. Mowrer, Theo. Buenger

Concordia Theological Monthly

Mowrer does not write very much about the relation of Hitlerism to Church and religion; still he does permit himself a digression on Luther. which is one of the most unfounded and bitter attacks on the Reformer that has come to my attention. It is such a gross misrepresentation of historical truth that it brought doubts into my mind as to the reliability of Mowrer in other matters.