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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Justification And Anthropology, Wenzel Lohff
Justification And Anthropology, Wenzel Lohff
Concordia Theological Monthly
The author suggests that contemporary difficulties with respect to understanding the article of justification arise in large measure from the fact that justification has been separated from its anthropological rootage. At the same time, Dr. Lohff argues that the doctrine of justification offers great help to modern man, who often feels trapped in his very humanness. Furthermore, justification, when proclaimed properly, makes Christian unity possible. He describes justification briefly as the right and unequivocal determination of a human practice: to always live anew the life of faith in the Gospel.
The Just Shall Live By Faith, Otto W. Heick
The Just Shall Live By Faith, Otto W. Heick
Concordia Theological Monthly
When did Luther reach the reformation insight into the doctrine of Justification? The author reviews the literature on the question, and brings to the attention of American readers the work of Uuras Saarnivaara, which has received little scholarly attention since its publication.
Campus Ministry And The University In The Mutual Task Of Liberation, Wayne Saffen
Campus Ministry And The University In The Mutual Task Of Liberation, Wayne Saffen
Concordia Theological Monthly
The author is Lutheran campus pastor at the University of Chicago. He delivered this address at the dedication of a striking ecumenical center for worship and religious services on the Edwardsville campus of Southern Illinois University on Oct. 18, 1971. In the address he challenged both the church and the university to become agents of God's program of setting people free.
Law-Gospel Reductionism In The History Of The Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod, Edward H. Schroeder
Law-Gospel Reductionism In The History Of The Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod, Edward H. Schroeder
Concordia Theological Monthly
This essay proposes to trace a segment of the history of hermeneutics in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod insofar as the distinction between Law and Gospel plays a role in that history. The study is important because in recent years one school of thought in the Synod has stated that some pastors and teachers are confusing the proper relationship between the two by practicing what these critics call "Gospel reductionism." This criticism seems to have been launched in the Synod in two conference papers that John Warwick Montgomery delivered to eight different audiences in the spring and fall of 1966.
The Reformation As A Youth Movement, John W. Constable
The Reformation As A Youth Movement, John W. Constable
Concordia Theological Monthly
The parallels between then, the period of the Reformation, and now are striking: changing social patterns brought on by a growing money economy, a movement that grew out of the university experience of the reformers, a period of more time for thought, young people that were beginning to criticize the society in which they found themselves, and an establishment against which many were directing their darts of opposition.
A Consideration Of The Meaning Of Prayer In The Life Of Martin Luther, Deanna Marie Carr
A Consideration Of The Meaning Of Prayer In The Life Of Martin Luther, Deanna Marie Carr
Concordia Theological Monthly
The author considers the meaning of prayer for Luther’s religious life and shows how during the 16th-century Reformation Luther "renewed" the wholesome traditions that had surrounded prayer in the prior history of the Christian church.
Christian Humanism And The Reformation: Erasmus And Melanchthon, Carl S. Meyer
Christian Humanism And The Reformation: Erasmus And Melanchthon, Carl S. Meyer
Concordia Theological Monthly
A closer examination of the relationship between Erasmus and Melanchthon - contemporaries who were both Christian humanists and ecclesiastical reformers, though they never met each other face to face - illuminates several significant aspects of the complex interrelationship between Christian humanism and the Reformation.
Erasmus-Luther: One Theology, One Method, Two Results, Gottfried G. Krodel
Erasmus-Luther: One Theology, One Method, Two Results, Gottfried G. Krodel
Concordia Theological Monthly
Luther and Erasmus were both biblical humanists, both affirmed the grace of God as central, but each constructed a different theological system. Erasmus always regarded theology as a descriptive task, best advanced by continuous disputations. Luther saw the Gospel as the crystal-clear center of Scripture, the saving knowledge revealed by God. Because of this conviction, Luther viewed theology as the task of making assertions, of boldly confessing one's faith.
Were The Reformers Mission-Minded?., Thomas Coates
Were The Reformers Mission-Minded?., Thomas Coates
Concordia Theological Monthly
The subject "The Reformation and Missions" might well suggest a very short paper indeed. Both theologically and practically, the Reformation period is notable chiefly for its lack of missionary emphasis.
The Gospel In The Medieval Church, Carl A. Volz
The Gospel In The Medieval Church, Carl A. Volz
Concordia Theological Monthly
A curious phenomenon of Protestant and Lutheran historiography since the 17th century has been a studied neglect of the millennium labeled by Renaissance scholars as the "Middle Ages." One reason for this indifference lies in the popular notion that the Reformation was preceded by a thousand years of sub-Christian superstition during which the strong Pauline accent of justification by grace through faith on account of Christ was almost totally ignored. By coloring these centuries dark, the reformers tend to stand in bolder relief as heroic men of God who appeared to correct long-standing abuses in the church. The more sharply …
The Gospel And The Smalcald Articles, Walter R. Bouman
The Gospel And The Smalcald Articles, Walter R. Bouman
Concordia Theological Monthly
The Smalcald Articles (hereafter abbreviated as S. A.) provide us with an excellent focus for the problems and possibilities which the 16-century confessional documents pose for 20th-century Lutheranism. The fact of our historical distance from the 16th century confronts us with the most obvious problems.
Biblical Humanism And Roman Catholic Reform: (1501-1542) Contarini, Pole, And Giberti, Marvin W. Anderson
Biblical Humanism And Roman Catholic Reform: (1501-1542) Contarini, Pole, And Giberti, Marvin W. Anderson
Concordia Theological Monthly
Reginald Pole deserves careful attention by students of the Reformation period. Pole delivered one and shared in a second of three confessions which assumed Roman Catholic guilt for the splintering of Christendom. Adrian VI excoriated the Curia in his Instructio of Jan. 3, 1523, read to the Diet of Nuremberg by Francesco Chieregati.
The Church Hymn And Its Way Into Music, William Mudde
The Church Hymn And Its Way Into Music, William Mudde
Concordia Theological Monthly
When the thunderstorm of the Reformation appeared on the heaven of the life of the church, it looked as if it would destroy the harvest of European music. With its protest against the Mass as an opus operatum, the Reformation also opposed the artificial music that accompanied the Mass. As formulated in the Motu Proprio of Pius X, the music shrouded the Mass in beautiful garments of sanctity and Roman Catholic universality. What substitute did the Reformation offer? Surely not something that one could actually call "art," but rather sacred folksong. Tolerated only as an evil in the Roman Catholic …
Moving Toward Lutheran Unity, Oliver R. Harms
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.
Living With The Brothers In The Lord, Arthur Carl Piepkorn
Living With The Brothers In The Lord, Arthur Carl Piepkorn
Concordia Theological Monthly
Nov. 11, 1967-today-is the 49th anniversary of the armistice that initiated the end of the war between the Central Powers and the Allied Powers. It is also the 484th anniversary of the baptism of Martin Luther. On this day I as a Lutheran "brother in the Lord" am greatly pleased to have been asked to address this Roman Catholic diocesan Institute on Ecumenism. The fact that this day is both the anniversary of an armistice and the anniversary of a baptism is not, I hope, without its symbolic significance.
Some Thoughts On The Church In The Lutheran Symbols, Herbert J. Bouman
Some Thoughts On The Church In The Lutheran Symbols, Herbert J. Bouman
Concordia Theological Monthly
Near the end of 1536 Martin Luther wrote that "a seven-year-old child knows what the church is" (SA III XII). In our time great ecumenical gatherings expend incalculable amounts of time and effort in wrestling with the doctrine of the church, and first-rate theologians in all churches provide the printing presses with an unabating flow of materials in discussion of the problems and implications of ecclesiology.
Editorial, Herbert T. Mayer
Editorial, Herbert T. Mayer
Concordia Theological Monthly
We salute the new year of God's grace with three articles that deal with time and history. Marvin W. Anderson has addressed himself to a historical question about the origins of the Lutheran Reformation with reference to philological reforms associated with the name of Lorenzo Valla. David W. Lotz looks at the understanding of history associated especially with the name of Rudolf Bultmann. Oscar Cullmann speaks to the whole question of the historical character of the Gospels and the message the church offers to the world in this day.
New Testament Studies, Past And Present, Edgar Krentz
New Testament Studies, Past And Present, Edgar Krentz
Concordia Theological Monthly
The pastor who picks up a recent New Testament introduction or theology, a study of the Synoptic Gospels or Acts, or a history of New Testament times may well feel that for him the study of the New Testament has become an arcane and esoteric discipline. The questions asked about the Redaktionsgeschichte of a Gospel, the surprising frequency with which the term gnosis or Gnosticism appears in current literature, or the discussion in many circles of "incipient catholicism" may well lead him to suspect that the whole discipline has now changed.
The Posting Of Luther’S Theses - Legend Or Fact?, Franz Lau
The Posting Of Luther’S Theses - Legend Or Fact?, Franz Lau
Concordia Theological Monthly
Less than 10 years ago a discussion began over the posting of Luther's Ninety-five Theses, some doubting that it actually took place on the traditional day of October 31, 1517, some going so far as to contend that the posting never happened and is only a legend. Ten years ago, in the summer of 1957 at the Lutheran World Federation Meeting in Minneapolis, I was one of those who saw a young Sunday school teacher, impersonating Luther, on a float in a parade vigorously nail a copy of the Ninety-five Theses on a stage door depicting the one of Wittenberg. …
Editorial, Gilbert A. Thiele
Editorial, Gilbert A. Thiele
Concordia Theological Monthly
In this issue of the CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY our authors demonstrate insight into the events and persons that animated the century of the Reformation in Europe, including Britain, the centuries since then, and into our needs today.
The Treasure Of The Church, Walter R. Bouman
The Treasure Of The Church, Walter R. Bouman
Concordia Theological Monthly
If being on the cover of Time magazine is the status symbol of our age, then Martin Luther has it made. The issue of March 24, 1967, carried his picture, painted by Time cover artist Lucas Cranach the Elder. There's not much left in the status department, except perhaps being named "Man of the Year" or being belatedly canonized. The latter has been seriously suggested, but the former won't happen. This is 1967, not 1517. Religion could hardly be called decisive in national or international affairs. A protest against the sale of indulgences would be meaningless. Poor Tetzel couldn't give …
A Marxist De-Lutheranization Of The German Reformation, Douglas C. Stange
A Marxist De-Lutheranization Of The German Reformation, Douglas C. Stange
Concordia Theological Monthly
In 1947, when the rebuilding of a Europe ravaged by world war had only begun, a classical study of Thomas Müntzer appeared in Russia by the eminent historian, Moisei Mendelevich Smirin, entitled Nordnaja reformazija T. Mjunzera I welikaja krestjanskaja wojna. Five years later it was translated into German, and in 1956 it was enlarged and rcvised. Smirin's effort earncd him not only the Stalin prize, second class, but also acceptance as the "orthodox voice" in the confirmation of the Müntzer legend. Friedrich Engels in 1850 had baptized Münrzer's role in the German Reformation in the pure mainstream of Marxist history. …
Luther Against Erasmus, James I. Packer
Luther Against Erasmus, James I. Packer
Concordia Theological Monthly
On Sept. 6, 1524, Desiderius Erasmus, the foremost literary man of his day, sat in his study writing a letter to a distinguished friend and patron, Henry VIII, King of England. In the course of his letter came the words: ''The die is cast. The little book on free-will has seen the light of day." He was referring to his Diatribe seu collatio de libero arbitrio ("Discussion or Conference Concerning Free Will"), which had been published at Basel five days earlier. He wrote more truly than he knew. The die was now cast indeed. A Rubicon had been crossed, and …
Hoyer On History, Herbert T. Mayer
Hoyer On History, Herbert T. Mayer
Concordia Theological Monthly
The remarks in this article are primarily based upon the course in church history as he taught it in 1942 and on his two-semester elective in the history of the Lutheran Reformation. Since he was, above all, a student of Luther, it is in this area that his influence upon Lutheran clergymen has been most profound.
John Colet's Significance For The English Reformation, Carl S. Meyer
John Colet's Significance For The English Reformation, Carl S. Meyer
Concordia Theological Monthly
John Colet, dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, died in 1519. Two years later Henry VIII wrote the Assertio septem sacramentorum, his polemic against Martin Luther. Although Colet's death occurred (16 Sept. 1519) 20 months before Luther's books were burned in St. Paul's Cathedral courtyard (12 May 1521), he knew of Luther and Luther's books before his end came.
Calvin's Doctrine Of Justification, Thomas Coates
Calvin's Doctrine Of Justification, Thomas Coates
Concordia Theological Monthly
Justification by faith was the great central doctrine of the Reformation, a doctrine which formed the foundation of the entire theological system of Luther and was bequeathed by him to the succeeding generations of Christendom as the great heritage of the Reformation. This doctrine, of course, did not originate with the reformers, but was restored by them to its rightful position as the pivot around which the entire Christian religion revolves - the doctrine which, in a preeminent sense, marks the great cleavage between Christianity and all heathen religions. The unique and distinctive character of Christianity, in contrast with all …
Heirs Of The Reformation In The Pulpit, Graeme M. Rosenau
Heirs Of The Reformation In The Pulpit, Graeme M. Rosenau
Concordia Theological Monthly
Being an heir of the Reformation involves far more than giving oratorical impasto in the pulpit to the slogan ''We have Luther as our Father" and engaging in unbridled ranting against Rome or Geneva. Without scorning necessary and proper polemics, the Lutheran preacher will at the same time be gratefully aware that in the very act of occupying his pulpit he is enjoying one of the richest blessings of his heritage.
Eros And Agape In The Thought Of Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola, John Warwick Montgomery
Eros And Agape In The Thought Of Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola, John Warwick Montgomery
Concordia Theological Monthly
Anders Nygren's remarkable work, Agape and Eros, whose German edition appeared in Carl Stange's monographic series, "Studies of the Apologetics Seminar," and which opposes the interpretations both of Harnack and of Scholz, received from the outset high commendation as a classic theological production. In his review of the English translation of Part Two of Agape and Eros Sydney Cave wrote: 'Dr. Nygren's fresh and suggestive study puts many an old problem in a new light and in particular shows how false were some of Harnack's brilliant generalizations on the history of early Christian thought and piety…. It is some years …
The Hymn Of The Week Plan, Ralph D. Gehrke
The Hymn Of The Week Plan, Ralph D. Gehrke
Concordia Theological Monthly
A recent development in the field of church music has been the appearance, or better, the reappearance, of the hymn-of-the-week plan, that is, the plan whereby each Sunday or festival has its own particular hymn. Such a hymn is sometimes called the de tempore hymn, that is, a hymn that fits the time, the general season and the specific day of the church year. Such a hymn is also sometimes called the Gradual hymn because the historic place for the chief hymn in the service is between Epistle and Gospel where the Gradual is sung. And such a hymn may …
Editorial Comment-Reformation -Radicality, Gilbert A. Thiele
Editorial Comment-Reformation -Radicality, Gilbert A. Thiele
Concordia Theological Monthly
The task courageously undertaken by our Anglo-Lutheran brethren and sisters in Britain generally and in England specifically to reverse almost four centuries of British church history by establishing and extending the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England (ELCE) gives rise to the informative and aggressive piece with which this 1960 Reformation issue of our journal opens.