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Kyrios Jesus, Horst Wm. Jordan

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author provides a perceptive and pastoral analysis of the key issue before the Synod.

Some Ancient Documents And Some Current Thoughts, Thomas C. Hartman

Concordia Theological Monthly

Critical scholarship has made many valuable contributions to our knowledge of the Old Testament. A series of examples illustrates this point. We need to be sure that we retain the priority of exegesis over dogmatics.

A Look At The Neb-Ot, Alfred Von Rohr Sauer, Frederick W. Danker

Concordia Theological Monthly

A reviewer of the New English Bible (NEB) is inclined to compare this text with that of the 18-year-old Revised Version (RSV) and the new Jerusalem Bible. Before he compares these three versions, he needs to note the difference in backgrounds in each case. The RSV is, of course, not a new translation, but as the name indicates, it is a revision of the old King James Version. Its purpose is to bring the Authorized Version up-to-date, modernizing words and phrases that might not be intelligible to the reader of the 20th century.

Laurentius Valla (1407-1457): Renaissance Critic And Biblical Theologian, Marvin W. Anderson

Concordia Theological Monthly

When Laurentius Valla penned those words, he was writing the fuse scientific treatise on Latin grammar since John Duns Scotus. Leonardo Bruni died in the same year Valla’s treatise appeared. The year 1444 marks the return of Renaissance scholars to a philological analysis of classical texts. This method, which Valla soon applied to Biblical study, revolutionized medieval Biblical scholarship in the century before Trent. Valla's purpose was to revitalize Catholic faith. Protestants and Catholics still owe their fresh awareness of Scripture to the labors of Valla.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, Alfred Von Rohr Sauer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Quite apart from the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the history of their discovery and the account of what has happened to them in the meantime has proved to be a subject as fascinating as some of our bestselling books of fiction. The Qumran scrolls are to the 20th century what Tischendorfs discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus was to the 19th (Kraeling). Albright. called the scrolls "the greatest manuscript discovery of modem times." For Edmund Wilson the scrolls are "the most valuable manuscript find since the Renaissance."

The Jerusalem Bible: A Critical Examination, Frederick W. Danker

Concordia Theological Monthly

The contents of The Jerusalem Bible (JB) are well known to the scholarly world through the French publication of the Dominican Biblical School in Jerusalem, which in 1956 published a one-volume edition of their studies of individual books of the Bible, popularly known as La Bible de Jerusalem. Because of the concern of the British translators that this work should represent the best of contemporary scholarship, attention was paid to the original Hebrew and Greek, with accent on fidelity to the most ancient sources and conformity to the demands of modern idiom, so far as this is possible in the …

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.

Meaning And The Word In Lutheran Orthodoxy, Curtis E. Huber

Concordia Theological Monthly

"The languages (Greek and Hebrew) are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit is contained; they are the casket in which this jewel is enshrined; they are the vessel in which this wine is held; they are the larder in which this food is stored ….”

A Study Of Ecclesiastes, A. F. Rainey

Concordia Theological Monthly

Among the books of the Bible Qoheleth has the distinction of being the most distrusted by the pious but best liked by the skeptic. It is disturbing to acknowledge that a sacred book has pleased the agnostic or the pessimist more than it has edified the saint. The range of opinion regarding origin and purpose of the book is vast. Indeed, to recount and evaluate even the major theories would require a separate study. The following is an attempt to present only one interpretation of Qoheleth and his world.

Fathers, Brethren, And Distant Relatives: The Family Of Theological Discourse, Jaroslav Pelikan

Concordia Theological Monthly

For the theologian, one Book is enough, and a thousand books are not too many. This paradox interprets the meaning and prescribes the role of the theological library. For the task of the theologian, of every theologian, is the exposition of the Sacred Scriptures. Yet to perform his task of expounding that one Book the theologian needs a great many books.

Cosmology, Ontology, And The Travail Of Biblical Language, Langdon B. Gilkey

Concordia Theological Monthly

This is a paper on the intelligibility of some of the concepts of what we commonly call "biblical theology," or sometimes "the biblical point of view," or "the biblical faith." Although my remarks relate only to the Old Testament and at some points concern only two distinguished American representatives of the "biblical viewpoint," G. E. Wright and B. Anderson, the number of scholars of both testaments whose thoughts are based on the so-called "biblical view," and so who share the difficulties outlined below, is very great indeed.

The Theology Of Synagog Architecture (As Reflected In The Excavation Reports), Martin H. Scharlemann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The origins of the synagog are lost in the obscurity of the past. There seem to be adequate reasons for believing that this religious institution did not exist in pre-Exilic times. Whether, however, the synagog came into being during the dark years of the Babylonian Captivity, or whether it dates back only to the early centuries after the return of the Jews to Palestine, is a matter of uncertainty. The oldest dated evidence we have for the existence of a synagog was found in Egypt in 1902 and consists of a marble slab which records the dedication of such a …

Why The Kuriou In 1 Peter 1:25?, Martin H. Scharlemann

Concordia Theological Monthly

In our day there is nothing sensational in the remark that the authors of our New Testament documents often quote the Septuagint version rather than the Hebrew text in their use of the Old Testament. In fact, as long ago as 1782 Randolph came to the conclusion that 119 of the 239 actual quotations from the Old Testament occurring in the New were taken from the Septuagint. This was almost 50 years before Doepke's Hermeneutik der neutestamentlichen Schriftsteller ( 1829) clearly demonstrated the extensive methodological agreements between New Testament authors and rabbinic writers, thereby laying the groundwork for our contemporary …

Aids To Bible Study: The Septuagint-Its History, Frederick W. Danker

Concordia Theological Monthly

"Gentlemen, have you a Septuagint?" Ferdinand Hitzig, eminent Biblical critic and Hebraist, used to say to his class. "If not, sell all you have, and buy a Septuagint." Current Biblical studies reflect the accuracy of his judgment. This and the next installment are therefore dedicated to the task of helping the Septuagint come alive for Biblical students who may be neglecting its contributions to the total theological picture, for clergymen who have forgotten its interpretive possibilities, and for all who have just begun to see how new things can be brought out of old.

Justification By Faith In Modern Theology (Continued), Henry P. Hamann Jr.

Concordia Theological Monthly

In accordance with the writer's convictions concerning the source of St. Paul's teachings mentioned in the previous article we begin the investigation of the present topic with the questions: What might Paul be expected to mean by words like "righteous" (δίχαιοζ), "righteousness" (διχαιοςύνη) , "justify" (διχαιοῦν) on the basis of his knowledge of the Old Testament? What effect would the use of these terms and related ones in Aramaic by the rabbis be expected to have on his own usage?

Luther Speaks English, Lewis W. Spitz

Concordia Theological Monthly

On Reformation Day, 1955, the first volume of the great American edition of Luther's works was presented to the public. When complete with its fifty-five volumes, it will be by far the largest English edition, a truly outstanding monument of Luther scholarship and a major contribution to the mighty Luther renaissance in our century.

Lntertestamental Studies 1946-1955, Raymond F. Surburg

Concordia Theological Monthly

Modern Biblical studies stress the importance of an acquaintance with the era between the Testaments as a necessary aid in understanding the New Testament. It is the time span from the Medo-Persian to the Roman period. Between these two epochs is the Grecian period. During these four centuries the seat of world empire moved from the East to the West, from Asia to Europe. These years witnessed the rise of cities with Greek names in Palestine and gave us the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek. It was in the Grecian period that the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes arose …

Brief Studies, Walter H. Koenig

Concordia Theological Monthly

Luther As a Student of Hebrew

The Almah Translation In Isaiah 7:14, Alfred Von Rohr Sauer

Concordia Theological Monthly

The almah translation in Is. 7:14 is not merely a question of Hebrew philology; it also has very important theological implications. To arrive at a satisfactory interpretation of this passage, it is necessary not only to define the term almah, but also to be very clear in regard to the nature and scope of Hebrew prophecy. The exegete who regards the Hebrew prophet the merely as an interpreter of history, as a seer who reads a prediction of the future in the events of the present and the past, will translate almah in one way. The exegete, on the other …

Thinking Clearly On The Rsv, Arthur Katt

Concordia Theological Monthly

Every new translation of the Holy Bible has met with opposition. "Whenever a translation is made, the question of its authority as over against the authority of the original or of earlier translations naturally arises." This was the experience of St. Jerome back in the 4th and 5th centuries, when he produced the Vulgate. "At first his translation was met with antagonism, and it was even declared to be heretical." This was true particularly also of our beloved, time-honored King James Version. It took nearly half a century for it to find general acceptance, and quite a bit of the …

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, George V. Schick

Concordia Theological Monthly

In the fall of 1952 Thomas Nelson and Sons placed on the market the Revised Standard Version of the complete Holy Bible. The New Testament section remains substantially the same as the one which already appeared in 1946, but a few changes of a lesser import were given room when this text was issued in combination with the Old Testament translation. The latter, however, is new and represents the results of years of intensive research by the Revision Committee.

Armageddon, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

This name was heard a good deal about forty years ago; the late Theodore Roosevelt used it in his speeches, calling his followers to join him in a holy political crusade; a decisive battle was going to be fought at Armageddon. He mentioned that the trusts, and capitalists in general, had overreached themselves and that an energetic campaign had to be waged against forces destroying the economic and political freedom which our country had been enjoying. "We stand at Armageddon," he shouted, "and battle for the lord." Evidently the term had a symbolic significance as used by him.

The Inaugural Vision Of Ezekiel, W. R. Roehrs

Concordia Theological Monthly

"Ezekiel is the strangest figure in the goodly fellowship of the prophets . . . probably no book of the Old Testament is as little read as his, and it may well be the least popular, as it is the least known of the Old Testament." This is the verdict on the Book of Ezekiel in the most recent book on the Prophets of the Old Testament. It may comfort the modern Bible student to know that it has troubled the exegetes, Jewish and Christian, through the centuries. Luther quotes Jerome as saying that the early rabbis considered its contents …

Brief Studies In The Prophets, L. Fuerbringer

Concordia Theological Monthly

In resuming these brief studies, we do so in response to repeated requests by readers of this journal in whom they had aroused interest not only to study in detail the Prophets in question, but also, on the basis of these brief studies, to preach on these Prophets before their congregations in Sunday evening and weekday services or to treat them in their Bible classes for adults.

The Term "Fear God" In The Old Testament, H. O. Keinath

Concordia Theological Monthly

The words "fear," "fearful," "fearfulness," occur rather frequently in the Bible. It would be a mistake to assume, however, that each "fear" of the King James Version is a translation of the same Hebrew word. In the Old Testament we find that no less than seventeen Hebrew words of different roots are at some time or other rendered by "fear," "fearfulness," etc., in the Authorized Version.

Beggars Before God. The First Beatitude, Martin H. Franzmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The retention of the old translation is all the more surprising in view of the fact that one of the R. S. V. translators, E. J. Goodspeed, had, in his own American Translation of 1939, offered a translation ("Blessed are those who feel their spiritual need": similar to, but clearer than, Moffatt's of 1913: "Blessed are those who feel poor in spirit"), which, while it does not convey the full intent of the original, is much truer to the Greek and clearer in English. Goodspeed has reasserted, rather than defended, his translation in his Problems of New Testament Translation (1945), …

Luther's Text-Critical Study Of 2 Samuel 23:8, Paul Peters

Concordia Theological Monthly

On the 8th of April, 1546, the Council of Trent, in its Fourth Session, passed the Decree Concerning the Edition. and the Use of the Sacred Books and declared that the "old and vulgate edition . . . be ... held as authentic" and that "it be printed in the most correct manner possible."

With this decree the Council of Trent rejected both Luther's translation of the Bible from the Hebrew and Greek original and his revision of the Vulgate. While Luther had finished translating the greater part of the Bible two decades prior to the Fourth Session of the …

Outline For A History Of The Old Testament Canon, Rudolph Gehle

Concordia Theological Monthly

There is one final question which is of importance in this study. The question is this: What Books Belong to the Canon, and How Are They Identified and Distinguished From All Others? This question will be discussed in three sections, namely: 1. The Canon of the Jews. 2. The Canon of Christ and the Apostles. 3. The Canon of the Christian Churches.

Noah's Curse And Blessing, Gen. 9:18-27, J. Ernest Shufelt

Concordia Theological Monthly

This paper has been prepared with particular reference to the modern implications of Noah's curse upon Canaan. With this purpose in mind a rather critical study of the verses noted above has been undertaken. The following notes and conclusions are the result of this study.

The Lord's Prayer, The Pastor's Prayer, G. H. Smukal

Concordia Theological Monthly

First we treat this conclusion as a doxology. It is numbered among the noteworthy rejected readings. We agree that it is a reading; we acknowledge that it is a noteworthy reading; we regret that it is a rejected noteworthy reading. Who rejected it? Griesbach, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, Wordsworth, the majority of editors. Why?