Religion 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.

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.

The Theology Of Acts, Robert H. Smith

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author argues that Luke-Acts must be read as a single work in two volumes, whose author is a brilliant theologian. Acts 28:17-31 provides a window through which the reader can begin to penetrate and to ponder the theological message of Luke-Acts.

Some Considerations Of The Doctrine Of Faith, With Special Reference To Its Relation To Prayer, Robert S. Clyde

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Mission: Life, John S. Damm

Concordia Theological Monthly

It has become almost a truism to say that we are currently living in a time of crisis. The word "crisis" is now rather easily applied to a wide range of social, economic, political, educational, environmental, and technological phenomena that make up much of the context of contemporary life. This pervasive sense of crisis certainly has not left untouched the realm of Christian education.

The Christian Mission, A Look Into The Future, R. Pierce Beaver

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author argues on the basis of a lifetime of experience that the mission of the church demands a return to the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and to a reaffirmation of the principle of voluntarism, as distinct from bureaucratic mission strategy.

The Primitive Baptists Of North America, Arthur Carl Piepkorn

Concordia Theological Monthly

By the beginning of the 1820s a strict "particularism" had been reigning without a serious challenge among the Baptists of the American South for nearly two generations. In the course of the next 15 years their associations and churches felt the full divisive force of the Baptist version of the "new measures" issue - mission societies, tract societies, Sunday schools, religious fairs and festivals to raise funds for the church's work, temperance societies, and theological seminaries.

Scripture, Confession, Justification, Carl S. Meyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

From the very outset of the immigration movement which became part of the Missouri Synod, there was a strong confessional stance. The "Brief Outline of the Emigration Code," in its first paragraph, contained a confession of faith. Those who signed the code said that they had accepted "the tenets of the Lutheran faith, as contained in God's Word of the Old and New Testaments, and set forth and confessed in the Symbolical Writings of the Lutheran Church."

Existence And Process: A Study Of The Theology Of Schubert Ogden, Robert W. Paul

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author examines the conceptions of existentialism and process philosophy by which Schubert Ogden formulates his understanding of Christian theology and expresses his apologetic interests.

First Faith, Then Reason, John Philpp Koehler

Concordia Theological Monthly

John Philipp Koehler (1859-1951) was a professor of church history at the theological seminary of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod at Wauwatosa, Wis., from 1900 to 1930. This essay, translated by Philemon Hensel, was first delivered in German to a conference of pastors and professors in the early 1920s. It is here reprinted with permission from Faith-Life, XLI (May/ June 1968), 15-18.

The Binding Nature Of Synodical Resolutions For A Pastor Or Professor Of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Arthur C. Repp

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author. argues that the principle that puts synodical resolutions of a doctrinal nature on a par with the Lutheran Symbols is unacceptable because it is unLutheran, unconstitutional, contrary to the advisory nature of the Synod, and too broad to be meaningful and valid.

Secularization Theology, Charismatic Renewal, And Luther's Theology Of The Cross, Theodore Jungkuntz

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author constructs a theology of charismatic renewal with reference to the Lutheran confessional writings and to Luther's theology of the cross.

The Interior Warfare, Harry N. Huxhold

Concordia Theological Monthly

In a recent bulletin of the Academy of · Religion and Mental Health a psychiatrist quotes a Harvard junior, "Many students turn into themselves and become preoccupied with their own thoughts and emotions to the point of obsession.'' We should not be surprised. Your generation has been more sensitive to the nature of man and his interior struggle than most generations. The era of Freudian psychology and existential philosophy has exposed the depths of man's psyche to the point of nausea. It was not too long ago that we greeted the Freudian view of man as the clinical evidence of …

Spiritual Formation For Ministry, Eugene I. Van Antwerp

Concordia Theological Monthly

Dimiui Shostakovich has described his Fifth Symphony (D Major, Opus 47), composed just 30 years ago, as "the assertion of personality. It is man with all his emotions and experiences that I saw as the focus of design in this work."

The Computer With Legs And The Rough Beast Slouching -Notes On Religion In The 1970s, Martin E. Marty

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author reviews a variety of models used in religious interpretations that were popular in the sixties as a prelude to his discussion of the trends and images that theologians must discern and deal with during the cultural revolution of the seventies.

Preserve The Unity Of The Spirit, Richard R. Caemmerer Sr.

Concordia Theological Monthly

Surely there is no gift for the human race that we desire more at this hour than unity. Nations fight nations, classes stand embattled against classes, spouses and children draw apart from each other. The most deadly illness of the individual today is alienation, the sense of being alone. Would that there could be unity to draw us together!

Companions Of The Augustana, E. George Pearce

Concordia Theological Monthly

How many of us Lutherans have wished at one time or another that our church might be called by another name? As an introductory thought, I should like you to consider the title of this essay, "Companions of the Augustana," as a possible alternative.

Rudolf Bultmann Revisited, Otto W. Heick

Concordia Theological Monthly

Early in the fifties the writer asked the late Paul Althaus of Erlangen whether in his opinion World War II ushered in a new epoch in the history of theology, as had been the case with the first World War. His answer was no. The emphasis in theology, he felt, had remained unchanged. Seen from the vantage point of the mid-sixties, we know that Althaus was wrong. Gradually through the fifties interest in neoorthodoxy declined. Karl Barth no longer dominated the theological scene. The name of Rudolf Bultmann began to claim primary attention. The historical problems of the New Testament …

The Church's Responsibility In International Affairs, Richard Jungkuntz

Concordia Theological Monthly

The nature of the church's responsibility in this area of concern (as in all others) can be rightly understood only when it is seen in keeping with the nature of the church itself.

Beza And Melanchthon On Political Obligation, Eugene Linse

Concordia Theological Monthly

Martin Luther and John Calvin thought of themselves not as philosophers or politicians, but first and last as theologians and students of the Word of God. Accordingly, we should not expect to find them presenting a comprehensive political philosophy or even a general theory of politics, for they did not see this as the task to which they were called. Whatever each had to say about political ideology or practice tended to be largely theoretical and the consequence of first principles rooted and grounded on theology. Of necessity both spoke of matters pertaining to the nature and function of politics, …

Erasmus On The Study Of Scriptures, Carl S. Meyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Erasmus (1469-1536) was the editor of the first published Greek New Testament printed from movable type (1516). He translated the books of the New Testament into Latin and also paraphrased them (except Revelation) in that language. He published the notes of Lorenzo Valla (1406-1457) on the New Testament. He must likewise be accounted as one of the important theologians of the first half of the 16th century as well as an earnest advocate of the study of Scriptures.

Theological Education: Crisis And Renewal, Arthur Carl Piepkorn

Concordia Theological Monthly

In the course of the confessional revival in the Church of the Augsburg Confession during the 19th and 20th centuries, Lutheran theologians interpreted the statements of the Symbolical Books about the sacred ministry in three typical ways.

The Mission On Which We Are Sent, Paul E. Jacobs

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Affirmations on the Mission of the Church which The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod adopted at the Detroit convention in 1965 are part of the evidence of the ongoing struggle of one part of the church to understand what and why the church is in the world. The struggle has not been easy nor has it been without conflict. The affirmations call us to see the church's mission in terms of people rather than church structures. They compel us to wrestle with the standards of comfort and convenience by which we continually serve ourselves. They plead with us to …

The Gospel And The Mission Task Of The Church, Roland B. Miller

Concordia Theological Monthly

Here we seem to be on safe ground. If the gospel and the mission task of the church do not belong together, what does? The gospel reveals a God whose very nature is missionary, and it constitutes the people of God whose very esse is missio. The gospel's good news, absolutely good and absolutely news, creates the mission and determines its nature, extent, and urgency. The gospel and mission go hand in hand. What could be more obvious than this?

The Gospel And Its Freedom Today: A Foreword, Carl S. Meyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

The proclamation of the gospel with its message of freedom in Christ Jesus is the compelling drive of the churchman's life. To say that the unifying principle of his life's work is the furtherance of the gospel is to say that he is conscious of the basic specification of his task. But it is saying more than that. It postulates a commitment, a conscious program, and the ability to carry out the task. It permeates the churchman's being and total personality, his dealings with his fellow servants, and his conscious evaluation of them and of self.

The Gospel Promise To Abraham, Norman C. Nagel

Concordia Theological Monthly

"How were the people in the Old Testament saved?" That question is raised by students of the Scriptures in many contexts. The wary teacher usually responds by asking for a definition of the word "saved." A related question is posed this way: ''What is the nature of the gospel in the Old Testament?" Such queries open the door to a flood of concerns about the relationship between the Testaments. That flood will not abate in the wake of this brief article. The ravens and doves of biblical theology will hardly be satisfied with anything less than a preservation of past …

The Gospel And The Theological Task, John H. Tietjen

Concordia Theological Monthly

"I'm no theologian, but …. " You have heard the statement many times. After a learned presentation by a theological professor at a pastoral conference a parish pastor rises to add his wisdom to the discussion and begins with those words, most often to take exception to something the professor has said. A delegate to a church convention utters them to convince his fellow delegates of the practical, down-to-earth advice he is about to offer, usually stated in very specific theological terms in spite of his introduction.

The Gospel And Life In Preaching, Andrew M. Weyermann

Concordia Theological Monthly

With a twinkle in his eye and skepticism in his voice a clergyman asked recently, "What, in your opinion, is a good sermon?" One almost despairs of giving an answer. There are so many styles of preaching and so many different kinds of people listening that it appears hopeless to try to give a definition of good preaching which would hold true for everyone in every situation. Even the so-called experts often do not agree. Every seminary has its tales of students who submit the same sermon to two homiletics professors and receive contradictory criticisms from them. The faithful often …

The Gospel And The Urban Crisis, Arthur R. Simon

Concordia Theological Monthly

The urban crisis compels us to reexamine the gospel. It gives the lie to our arrogant supposition that we proclaim the gospel in all its truth and purity. It shows that what we have passed along as pure gospel is really the gospel shaped by cultural accretions. Furthermore, the urban crisis prompts us to confess that the gospel is not believed and understood faithfully when it is viewed as a message detached from its worldly surroundings, because the gospel encompasses a way of life that comprehends in one seamless robe the words that express the good news as well as …

The Gospel And Political Structures, Jobst Schoene

Concordia Theological Monthly

The situation which suggests this theme is unique in more than one respect. Hardly ever in the history of theology has there been such intensive and impassioned questioning and contention concerning the relations between the gospel and political structures as today. That this is true also of the discussion within the Lutheran churches becomes evident the moment one investigates the problems posed by the concepts "gospel'' and "political structures." The rapid change of the political structures all over the world renders the answers from the Lutheran tradition, which have only too often been identified with the statements of Scripture and …