Religion Commons^™

Notes On The Inerrancy Of Scripture, Robert Preus

Concordia Theological Monthly

This study is o1fered as an approach to the problem of the inerrancy of Scripture as it concerns the Lutheran Church today. The attempt is to present a position that agrees with Scripture's testimony concerning itself and with the historic position of the Christian church. At the same time the attempt is made to be timely and to take into account contemporary issues raised by modern Biblical theology.

Aspects Of Change In The Postapostolic Church, Carl Volz

Concordia Theological Monthly

A question sometimes posed by aides of dogmatic development within the church is this, “Would St. Peter have understood the technical Christological terms employed by the Nicene Creed or the Chalcedonian Formula?" Assuming that the answer is no, the questioner proceeds to insist that the development of dogma therefore represents a change, if not a deterioration of the pristine Gospel. Adolph von Harnack's well-known "fall of the church" theory is based on the assumption of a radical discontinuity between the kerygma of the Beatitudes and the dogma of later centuries. Somewhere and somehow, to use Chesterton's phrase, "the puppy became …

Tertullian And The Early Christian View Of Tradition, Robert L. Wilken

Concordia Theological Monthly

The term tradition enters the Christian vocabulary in apostolic times. From earliest days it has ranked in importance with such words as grace, hope, love, justification, redemption, salvation, Scripture. Already in the writings of Paul it occurs at key points and reveals a great deal about how Paul conceived of the Christian faith, its origin and transmission.

Luther's Exegetical Principle Of The Analogy Of Faith, Otto Hof

Concordia Theological Monthly

It was clear to Martin Luther that what was at issue in his discussion with his opponents, with Rome on the one hand and with the enthusiasts on the other, was not so much the question of principle regarding the importance and relevance of the Bible-in whatever way and however qualifiedly its authority was on all sides theoretically acknowledged and practically brought to bear in controversy through argumentation by means of Bible passages - as rather the question concerning the correct interpretation of the Holy Scripture.

The Concept Of Doubt In The New Testament, Charles Lentner

Master of Divinity Thesis

The purpose of this research paper is to present the New Testament concept of doubt. Such a study necessitates a detailed examination of the various words that directly or indirectly mean or refer to doubt. By the word "doubt" is not meant an intellectual inquiry in search fora greater understanding—every Christian must do this to grow in the knowledge of his faith. Rather, by "doubt" is meant a wavering between faith and unbelief wherein one’s reason and personal desires try to be autonomous. Some Greek words can be translated directly into the word “doubt." If only these words were studied, …

Scripture, Tradition, And Authority In The Life Of The Early Church, Herbert T. Mayer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Among the many theological topics being discussed in the church today, none is potentially more helpful - and more complex- than the related topics of Scripture, tradition, and authority. What role does each of these basic concepts play in the work in the parish? In the ecumenical movement? How do they relate to each other?

The Church In Tension - In Teaching The Truth, Richard Jungkuntz

Concordia Theological Monthly

When we talk about the church in tension, it is likely that each of us has in mind a particular concept based on his own experience of the church's life. We may conceive of tension as basically a matter of conflict causing strain and weakness, or we may see it more as the interplay of isometric forces developing strength and balance. We may regard tension as good or as bad. We may think of it as being inherent in the nature of things, even as a gift of God; or we may think of it as a product entirely of …

The Martyrs Of Christ -A Sketch Of The Thought Of Martin Luther On Martyrdom, Douglas C. Stange

Concordia Theological Monthly

If one wishes to discuss any contribution, rediscovery, or reformation that Luther made in the Christian church, he must recognize the great Reformer's primary concern that faith in Christ be purely preached. For Luther, the church was built on the rock that is Christ, and Christians were to preach the Savior's Evangel to all men.

Basic Considerations In Understanding The Goal Of Faith In The Sermons Of John Donne, Carlton Riemer

Master of Divinity Thesis

This study comprises an examination of a specific aspect of the art of preaching and a particular preacher who practiced the art of preaching with an unusual amount of success. The preacher is John Donne, an Anglican homiletician of the 17thCentury. He was chosen as a valid object for study in the general field of homiletics because his sermons are receiving renewed attention and analysis in the 20th Century. Contemporary homileticians and theologians are able to study Donne’s sermons because all of his 160 extant sermons have been published in a ten volume edition prepared by George R. Potter and …

The Continuing Significance Of Luther's Prefaces To The New Testament, Werner Georg Kuemmel

Concordia Theological Monthly

When Martin Luther published his first translation of the New Testament into the German language in 1522, he did not publish the Biblical texts alone. He provided his readers with some help by prefaces to the whole New Testament and to the individual books. These prefaces were reprinted in all the following editions of the New Testament and of the whole Bible until the 17th century, but Luther took one of them out and changed the text of a few of them in later editions.

The Historical Jesus, The Kerygmatic Christ, And The Eschatological Community, John H. Elliott

Concordia Theological Monthly

We are about to discuss a subject that is quite difficult - if not impossible - to treat in completely detached or neutral fashion. For this is a subject which forces a man, every man, to take a position and to make a decision. The earnestness of this decision is to be found in the fact that this is not merely a subject for academic disputation. It is a question of theology and faith. The subject historically has been treated in terms of a question, or a "riddle," as one English scholar has called it. The question or riddle is …

The "Jesus Of History" And The "Christ Of Faith": In Relation To Matthew's View Of Time-Reactions To A New Approach, Jack Kingsbury

Concordia Theological Monthly

The expression "Jesus of History - Christ of Faith" is a relatively recent idiom, the roots of which can be traced back to a lecture delivered in 1892 by the German systematician Martin Kahler, who entitled his address “The So-Called Historical Jesus and the Historic, Biblical Christ." In the last decade this idiom has come to specify a particular problem that has engaged the interest of New Testament scholars with great intensity. The problem is given with the fact that Jesus died about A. D. 30 but that all of the written materials we possess about Jesus were set down …

The Braunschweig Theses On The Teaching And Mission Of The Church, Paul M. Bretscher (Translator)`

Concordia Theological Monthly

In an accelerating tempo, theologically and doctrinally false teachings are infiltrating the life and proclamation of the These teachings claim that since they derive from a so-called "existential interpretation" of Biblical passages, they are the only way in which the proclamation of the Gospel can be made relevant and do justice to man's current understanding of the present world.

Theological Discussion And The Responsibility Of The Church, Richard L. Jeske

Concordia Theological Monthly

One is easily reminded of the often heard lament during seminary days, ''Why should I have to study about 'Q'? All I want to be is a simple parish pastor!" Sometimes this "simple parish pastor'" who has avoided hard theological work at the seminary emerges as the most vigorous critic of contemporary theology shortly after his graduation.

The Place Of The Family In The Church's Educational Ministry, Oscar E. Feucht

Concordia Theological Monthly

Parents are the child's most potent teachers. They provide the all-important environment. Good manners, good English, love of good books and music, life's ideals, in fact, the whole outlook on the world are developed largely in the home. And so are dislikes and prejudices, religious views as well as political views, habits of going to church, of receiving Holy Communion, of prayer and reading the Bible. The paths which adult feet travel find their origin in childhood, and one way is as likely to be traveled as another, if started upon in the preschool days.

Salvation By Grace: The Heart Of Job's Theology, Alfred Von Rohr Sauer

Concordia Theological Monthly

God desires that anyone who fears Him and serves Him should do that gratis, for nothing. Serving God for nothing, fearing God for nothing-that is the theme that runs through the Book of Job. In the prologue (Chs. 1-2) the author states that Job was a man who feared God and eschewed evil. The lord also told Satan in the prologue that His servant Job was a man who feared God and shunned wickedness. So Job was considered a pious, God-fearing man; there was no question about that, even Satan conceded that point. The question, however, was this: What was …

The Unity Of The Church And Her Worship, Walter E. Buszin

Concordia Theological Monthly

To possess a good understanding of the worship of the church one must possess as well an understanding of the doctrine of the church. Both, the church and her worship, are unique; each shares significant characteristics of the other. Both are creations of the Holy Spirit; both are spiritual in their very essence. The church can neither thrive nor exist without worship. Christian worship, on the other hand, is inconceivable without the church. The church is not only the locus operandi of all true Christian worship; it is also the agency of the Holy Spirit and as such prompts the …

The Use Of The Exodus In Interpreting History, Elaine Marie Prevallet

Concordia Theological Monthly

Our study takes the complex of traditions grouped around the exodus as its point of departure. We shall consider the use made of this event at four stages in Israel's history and attempt to determine two factors: (1) whether the prophetic interpretation of the exodus event at a given period in Israel's history has been shaped by the historical situation and (2) whether the exodus event is used to interpret the historical situation. Finally, we may be able to draw some conclusions relative both to the Israelite view and use of history.

The New Hermeneutic And Preaching, Richard R. Caemmerer

Concordia Theological Monthly

The first unit in this series discussed the implications for Christian preaching of current studies in the philosophy and theology of language, studies which are usually identified by some such term as linguistic analysis and connected with names like Ian Ramsey and Frederick Ferré As we now turn to the contemporary study of the Sacred Scriptures, we do not make a clean break with the preceding discussion. The Biblical studies reveal the dominant question: What is the language of faith? The purpose of this review, however, is not to analyze the field of Biblical studies in general but to assess …

Current Contributions To Christian Preaching, Richard R. Caemmerer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Preaching works with words. God can work on the human heart in other ways. He is able to raise up children to Abraham out of stones (Matt. 3:9). He can speak in the innermost heart without benefit of vocabulary. But when we speak of preaching, we talk about talk. We claim to see God in action by means of human language addressed by human speakers to human beings.

The Relationship Between Dogmatics And Ethics In The Thought Of Elert, Barth, And Troeltsch, Edward H. Schroeder

Concordia Theological Monthly

A concern for dogmatics and a concern for ethics do not always go together. The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, for example, has always had a strong dogmatic tradition, but has in general been uninterested in what is commonly called ethics. But this is the opposite of the situation in many other American denominations. To put the problem into a broader perspective, what is the relationship between dogmatics and ethics? A helpful approach is to study the distinctive answers given by Werner Elert, Karl Barth, and Ernst Troeltsch, which prove to be distinctive not only because their personal theological convictions …

Theology And Moden Literature-Survey, Donald L. Deffner

Concordia Theological Monthly

In Randall Stewart's American Literature and Christian Doctrine, the author unabashedly abandons "the so-highly-prized, the so-strenuously-inculcated academic neutrality" (p. viii) and pleads for a creatively critical evaluation of modern literature by Christian theologians. According to Stewart, the Christian critic must charge contemporary literature "to give an answer for the faith" that is in it. In the same spirit, John Killinger insists he must "ask hard questions of the creative arts… that the critic [the theologian] must judge, or it has nothing at all to say." (Sec John Killinger, The Failure of Theology in Modem Literature, pp. 15, 16)

Brief Studies, Concordia Faculty

Concordia Theological Monthly

Justification by Faith

Living Toward One Another With The Word Of God, Harry G. Coiner

Concordia Theological Monthly

Many forces are at work in our society today which combine to make personal interest an abiding motivation. The pleasing art of being social has assumed the doubtful coloration of the slick professional impersonality. People seem to become "involved" with people only "in a role" and not in a personal and meaningful way, not so their "heart feels it;” as we say. The drive for individualism is bred into us from our American heritage, and we have become a breed of people skilled in the devices of keeping away from people while living with them and working with them and …

An Analysis Of The Pauline Concept Of Faith In The Light The Old Testament, William James Stuart

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Creation Account Of Genesis: Guidelines For An Interpretation, Walter R. Roehrs

Concordia Theological Monthly

This paper addresses itself to the problem of how to read correctly what two books have to say on the same subject matter.

In both of them God speaks to us of what He has done. Since He does not contradict Himself, what He says in one book must be found to be in accord with what He proclaims in the other.

The two books of God are Holy Scripture and the book of nature. Both have something to say to us about the topic of creation.

The Biblical Basis Of Mission, Roland E. Miller

Concordia Theological Monthly

"The Biblical Basis of Mission" is a subject that no individual Christian dare avoid. Rather than being a matter for which he cannot "find time," it is one that must frequently be in his thoughts. This, after all, is the subject that in many ways determines the entire pattern of the Christians' life.

The Self-Understanding Of The Church, Martin L. Kretmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The theme of the 1965 convention of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod will be the words of our lord to His disciples when He appeared to them on the evening of the day of his resurrection: "As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you." Special attention will be given to the latter phrase in devotions and essays, and the whole convention proceedings will center in the concept that the church, the body of all who believe in Jesus Christ and accept Him as their lord and Savior, is sent into the world on His mission, to …

Resetting Our Sights In Christian Education, Randolph Crump Miller

Concordia Theological Monthly

Christian education means telling the story of God's mighty acts in such a way that the listener participates in the dialog and comes into an engagement with God in his daily life. He is reborn daily with Christ, and therefore he sees the meaning of life in a new way as he lives in community as a Christian in the world.

The Mission Of The Churches To Higher Education, Wayne Saffen

Concordia Theological Monthly

It is perhaps significant that we consider the churches as having a mission to the university and college. This is an admission that on the secular campus the churches are outside looking in. They do not occupy the seat of power or even possess the persuasive ability to determine educational aims, philosophy, curriculum.