Religion Commons^™

The Christian Answer To The Ethical Problem: A Study Of Catechism Question Number 170, Dale E. Griffin

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Reformation doctrine of justification by faith without the deeds of the Law has been frequently questioned and declared to be injurious to the moral and ethical lives of the children of God.

The Case Of Athanasius Against Arius, Samuel Labuchli

Concordia Theological Monthly

Every age must restate the events of history because in every age these events appear in a specific focus. The contemporary theological discussion concerning ontological and existential knowledge, the essence of Biblical faith, and the meaning of language in Christian theology make the controversy of the fourth century a highly modern issue. Indeed, the 20th century has to state its Christological position afresh. It cannot simply repeat the fathers between Nicaea and Constantinople. Yet it can learn a great deal from these fathers by seeking to understand, sine ira et studio, the case of Athanasius versus Arius.

The Liturgical Movement: An Appraisal, Harry W. Reimann

Concordia Theological Monthly

This paper is an attempt to call attention to some of the observable blessings of the liturgical movement among Lutherans as well as to point to what are some of the observable dangers. There is no attempt to document these observations, and therefore the study will remain a quite personal appraisal and potpourri of convictions and suggestions.

Christian Love According To 1 Cor. 13, George Klien

Concordia Theological Monthly

The cry for love is heard today particularly in connection with the union movements.

The appeal to the principle of love in the life and work of the church is certainly in order within the Christian communion. It is well that we beseech all our brethren by the mercies of God to have fervent charity among themselves, whether in correcting those who would put a "strait jacket of legalism" on the church, or in rebuking those who would license the church to appear in the daring dress of "evangelical" liberalism. The admonition to evidence love has always been needed; the …

The Place And Role Of The Law In Christian Education, Richard Labore

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

It is the purpose of this study to determine what the place and role of the Law is withing Christian educationand to point up these pertinent implications which affect the educator, the purpose, and the method of the method of the paideia Kuriou.

Theology And Love, Richard R. Caemmerer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Two customs of thought have tended to erect, if not a barrier, at least a filter between theology and Christian life.

The one is the hoary distinction between the "doctrinal" and the "practical" portions of the epistles - as though the apostles were "teaching" less strenuously when they were shaping the life and behavior of their readers than when they were discussing their faith. The other is the theologically more recent distinction between kerygma and didache and the assumption that when a preacher wants to save people, he tells them about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; when he …

Luther And Sanctification, Philip S. Watson

Concordia Theological Monthly

In a volume of sermons which he published in 1788, John Wesley took occasion to repeat a criticism of Luther that he had first made after reading his commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians many years before. "It has frequently been observed," he says, "that very few were clear in their judgment both with regard to justification and sanctification"; and he cites Luther as an example. "Who," he asks, "has wrote more ably than Martin Luther on justification by faith alone? And who was more ignorant of the doctrine of sanctification, or more confused in his conceptions of it?" …

The Seventeenth Century Dogmaticians As Philosophers, A. C. Ahlen

Concordia Theological Monthly

To assert that philosophy and theology are not identical would obviously be unnecessary in addressing myself to the present group; but to remind you that there are vast areas of common interest shared by these two disciplines is probably not superfluous. Living as we do in a time when reason is often ridiculed and up-to-the- minute theologians present highly rationalized arguments in favor of antirational views, we need to remind ourselves that philosophy is inescapable. The moment we reflect critically upon our experiences and beliefs, we begin to philosophize.

The Batak Protestant Christian Church, Jospeh Ellwanger

Concordia Theological Monthly

When the Batak Protestant Christian Church in Indonesia applied for membership in the Lutheran World Federation in 1951, one of the largest Christian church bodies in the non-West was catapulted out of relative obscurity into a limelight position on the stage of world Lutheranism. Some were quick to question the Lutheran character of the Batak Church. Chiefly they asked these questions: How can the Batak Church be Lutheran when it was founded by the Rhenish Mission Society, a combination of Lutheran and Reformed elements? And how can the Batak Church be Lutheran when it has not officially adopted the 16th-century …

A Lutheran Contribution To The Present Discussions On The Lord’S Supper, Hermann Sasse

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Lord's Supper has again become one of the main issues among the churches of Christendom as well as within individual denominations. This is the result of two movements which, though deeply rooted in the 19th century, have shaped the life of all Christendom since the beginning of this century: the Liturgical and the Ecumenical Movement. Since the deepest motive underlying both is what has been called "the awakening of the Church in the souls," future church historians may regard them as branches of one great movement which, like all great movements in the Western Church (Reformation, Pietism, Rationalism, etc.), …

Pauline Charis: A Philological, Exegetical, And Dogmatical Study (Concluded), Raymond F. Surburg

Concordia Theological Monthly

Francisco Zorell gives two definitions of grace that are not warranted by the context in which χάϱις, appears in the epistles of Paul.

Luther's Apologetics, Siegbert Becker

Concordia Theological Monthly

The renewed interest in the construction of a Christian apologetic which is stirring in Protestantism ought also to stimulate Lutherans to take a fresh look at the possibilities of defending the Christian faith before an unbelieving world. As Protestantism shortens its lines in an attempt to strengthen its position, it behooves a Lutheran theologian to come to a clear understanding of the nature and the place of apologetics in the Christian witness.

The Significance Of Luther's Term Pure Passive As Quoted In Article Ii Of The Formula Of Concord, Robert D. Preus

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Lutheran doctrine of conversion, standing as it does between Calvinism and synergism, is always a difficult position to maintain and defend; for it is built on a paradox, a paradox of exclusive divine action and complete human participation. Faith is at the same time passive and active: passive in that man, blind and dead spiritually, in coming to faith only suffers God to work this change in his heart, active in that man himself believes and is in no way coerced in this nor divested of any of his faculties.

Christian Growth And The Word Of God, Mark Steege

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The relation of the two concepts, Christian growth and the Word of God, will be one of the chief concerns of this study; but almost equal to it in importance will be the proper understanding of a number of the factors involved: (a) God's revelation of His holy will rewarding Christian growth; (b) Man's nature before and after conversion with special reference to his relation to God; (c) The possibility of Christian growth, indicating God's approach to man in His Word; (d) The responsibility for Christian growth as indicated in the Word; (e) The ideal Christian life, as described in …

Are We Preaching A Gospel Free From Law?, Everard Hinrichs

Concordia Theological Monthly

Let us state the question which heads this paper more specifically: When we speak of the Gospel (grace, forgiveness of sin, Cross of Christ, Christ Crucified), is it permissible to mix elements of the Law into this concept? One would like to view this question as rhetorical, having for its answer the strongest possible negative. In view of its subject matter, however, one is left with a sense of that kind of interrogative which anticipates a negative answer yet searches deeply for whatever reason may motivate it.

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

Concordia Theological Monthly

We shall begin the final installment of this article with the judgment that one of the truths about justification that St. Paul holds is that justification is complete before there is such a thing as faith. This fact of Paul's teaching has been known, particularly in the theological literature of "Missouri Lutherans," as objective justification. The term is not a good one, chiefly for the reason that the counterpart to it, subjective justification, if it means anything, should mean a justification that goes on in the believer, a thing which no "Missourian" ever held.

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

Concordia Theological Monthly

The LXX does not afford us much help as we try to understand what St. Paul means by faith, except in one respect, which will be clear later. There is, of course, in the Old Testament the apostle's great example of faith, the patriarch Abraham. The Psalms, moreover, are replete with expressions which are the accents of faith. As Stewart has well said, "The thing itself can be traced everywhere from Genesis to Malachi," and the same writer quite correctly points to Heb. 11 and its many examples of faith drawn from the Old Testament. But the term itself is …

6. The Church In The Economic Sphere, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section III: The Medieval Church

Since the Church in the Middle Ages claimed to teach "in all its fulness every doctrine that men ought to be brought to know," it was obligated to enunciate and propagate a set of definite principles for guiding medieval men as, in one way or another, they engaged in making a living. The Church did, in fact; enter the Middle Ages with a set of general presuppositions regarding economic activity, a legacy from its first five hundred years of existence. The way in which it sought to apply these presuppositions during the succeeding thousand years is a good example of …

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

Concordia Theological Monthly

In one of his justly famous Gesammelte Aufsaetze entitled Die Rechtfertigungslehre im Lichte der Geschichte des Protestantis1mus Karl Holl quotes the scholar Lagarde as declaring that justification as a doctrine was dead-this was in 1873 - and that no one lived by it any longer. The far more pressing task, moderns tell us, is to show to modern man that there is a God. Whether there is a God at all is the problem he has to face, not something about God, say, that God justifies. To this criticism of the very raison d’ȇtre of this study we should reply …

Suggested Principles For A Hermeneutics Of The Lutheran Symbols, Arthur Carl Piepkorn

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Symbols have various intended uses. They can serve as a legal club, in order to enforce conformity with their teaching by a clergyman or instructor who has solemnly committed himself to teach and practice according to them, under pain of dismissal for having obtained money or other emoluments under false pretenses. But this is certainly an opus alienum. Their proper office includes serving as a norm of teaching and of administering Sacraments, to which an individual solemnly and voluntarily committed to them strives conscientiously to conform; as a Symbol, that is, an identification among Lutherans, since they are the …

8. The Gothic Cathedral, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section III: The Medieval Church

The Gothic cathedral, like the Summa of Aquinas, the University of Paris, and the Christendom of Innocent III, stands as one of the major expressions of the spirit of the High Middle Ages. The word "Gothic," coined by the Renaissance as a term of disparagement, has come recently to have more favorable and appreciative connotations. Such a reevaluation may be due not only to the better perspective that a longer period of time offers us, but also to a deeper understanding of the cultural role of artistic and spiritual symbolism. The artistic expression of the Middle Ages found its supreme …

7. The Two Swords In Theory And Practice, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section III: The Medieval Church

The claims to universality advanced by the medieval Church brought it into close relationship with an ancient human institution: the state. Especially after the fourth century, when it was first recognized and then given status as the only legal religious body, it was necessary for the Church to formulate a set of poliyical principles, comparable to those for economic activity, which could then be applied to the many and continuing relations between church and state. The general outline of these principles was completed by 500 and was transmitted to the Middle Ages. [excerpt]

5. The Church And Heresy, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section III: The Medieval Church

In the centuries which followed its recognition by the Roman Empire, the Church had gradually developed a body of doctrine by which to interpret its faith and answer its critics. Once that doctrine was firmly established, those Christians who held contrary beliefs could be branded as heretics. In spite of this, the Western Church was never completely without its critics: Arians, Donatists, and many others. As soon as one doctrine was approved, questions were raised about some other aspect of the faith. The very interpretation of life which the Church offered, with its division into the secular and heavenly levels, …

Religion As The Integrating Principle In Education, Eugene F. Klug

Concordia Theological Monthly

D’ye think," asked Mr. Hennessey, "the college has much to do with the progress of the world?" - "D'ye think," parried Mr. Dooley, "it's the mill that makes the water run?" The stream of life in this old world goes steadily on, whether we have colleges or not. But the fact is, in spite of Mr. Dooley's skeptical cynicism, that the world would hardly be the same without them. These centers of human learning have played a major role in harnessing and developing the raw material of this world man, his mind, and his physical environment. Today especially these academic …

Christ Frees And Unites: The Third Lutheran World Federation Assembly, Hanns Lilje

Concordia Theological Monthly

The third assembly of the Lutheran World Federation, held in Minneapolis, August 15-25, 1957, sends Christian greetings to all Lutheran congregations in the world. Our hearts are filled with gratitude and joy. We are grateful to God for the rich blessings which He granted us throughout these days. It is with joy and affection that we think of the fellowship with so many brethren and sisters from all over the world.

The Nature Of The Unity We Seek A Missouri Synod Lutheran View, Martin H. Franzmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

"The nature of the unity we seek" has the obviousness of a platitude. Like most platitudes, it is more easily stated (by those who hold it) and more readily caricatured (by those who reject it) than it is appreciated, appropriated, and lived. It is worth while, therefore, to spell out this platitude, in order that both we and those with whom we seek unity may be made aware of its basic simplicity and of its practical complexity and difficulty.

Truth In The Inward Parts: A Sermon For Three Speakers On Justification By Faith, Richard Luecke

Concordia Theological Monthly

The sermon seeks to address the Gospel, understood as "justification by faith through grace," to a particular yet current and popular campus attitude or pose. It speaks to the concern for "truthfulness," or for personal integrity and freedom, where all traditional statements are in question, and shows the "point of contact" - and the "point of conflict"! - between Christ and that. It does not attempt to treat the other side of the coin, namely, the concern for the '"truth of statement" in the Scriptures and then in the Confession and in theology - also essential emphases of the Reformation.

Visitation Evangelism In American Churches (Concluded), A. Karl Boehmke

Concordia Theological Monthly

In keeping with the proposition that it is impossible for any one evangelism method to apply perfectly to any and all circumstances, consideration is now given to points of strength and weakness in the basic visitation procedure. What was this evangelism technique capable of contributing to the work of the church and the ongoing program of the kingdom of Christ? What may have been expected of the plan but should not have been required?

Contrition (Concluded), Theodore Engelder, Erwin Lueker

Concordia Theological Monthly

Is the intention to abstain from sin and to live for God a part of the contrition which precedes faith?

Many Lutheran compends answer this question in the affirmative. Luthardt states: 'The process of conversion, wrought by God within man, begins with the self-judgment of repentance, which consists of a change of attitude, manifested in the acknowledgment of sin, sorrow for sin, and the earnest intention to break with sin and live to God"

Contrition (Concluded), Theodore Engelder, Herbert J. Bouman, Erwin Lueker

Concordia Theological Monthly

Does repentance follow faith? Such a question seems strange to Lutherans. We teach: "Now, repentance consists properly of these two parts: One is contrition, that is, terrors smiting the conscience through the knowledge of sin; the other is faith, which is born of the Gospel" (AC XII). Faith is "the chief part of repentance" (Ap XII 58, German Text). No, repentance, the essential characteristic of which is faith, cannot follow faith. Calvin and his adherents, however, teach that repentance follows faith.