History of Christianity Commons^™

Significant Interpretations Of Developing Structures Of The Ministry-1880-1970, Roland A. Frantz

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

A historical study of the Church's ministry soon discloses a great deal of variety in the ministerial office. As Niebuhr and Williams remind us in their historical survey of the Protestant ministry, while there are a number of aspects of ministry that are agreed upon and shared in the various historic churches, there are also divergent interpretations regarding the nature and essence of the ministerial office.

Beyond The One Hundred And Twenty-Fifth Anniversary, Oliver R. Harms

Concordia Theological Monthly

These comments form a sequel to an earlier editorial which was entitled "Why Missouri?" The issue remains the same. The future of Missouri, even as its reason for existence, depends on Missouri's readiness to be the church of the Gospel.

Of Congregational And Synodical Authority, John Constable

Concordia Theological Monthly

It is the blessing and the bane of the church in the 20th century that it is both the inheritor and the victim of its own organization. Among people who cry for the ''good old days" of simple truths, simple faith, and simple organization there is always the specter of complex reality. Gone are the days, we are told, when a member of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod could quote a father of the first, 16th or 19th century to support a proper thesis. Yet all seem to do it to underpin a modern position. Paul, Luther, and Walther are cited …

The Motive For The Christian Life According To The Epistle Of James, Paul H. Dorn

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

This study of the epistle of James arose out of a pastoral concern that members of the Christian community live their Christian discipleship. James is marked by its vigorous concern for Christians living a godly life; at the same time it raises a problem. The problem is that there is no motive immediately evident with which James encourages its readers to godly living--certainly nothing as evident as "by the mercies of God" (Rom. 12:1) or "if God so loved us" (1 John 4:11). The purpose of this study is to discover what the epistle's motive for Christian living is.

The Development Of Pentecostalism Out Of Revivalism In America: A Reaction Against The Established Churches, Paul F. Hutchinson

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Because the writer has been personally involved with neo-Pentecostals in the charismatic movement, this thesis was undertaken in an attempt to understand that movement in terms of its history. Such history cannot yet be written. At the same time, traditional Pentecostalism has had a strong influence on the charismatic movement. Apart from the fact that the charismatic movement is much less institutionalized than the older Pentecostalism, there is no essential normative difference between the two. A thorough understanding of the latter contributes material to an understanding of the former.

Műntzer's Translation And Liturgical Use Of Scripture, Joyce Irwin

Concordia Theological Monthly

If one were to adhere to the popular myth about Thomas Müntzer, one might expect few or only negative results of a study devoted to Müntzer's use of Scripture. The legend begun by Müntzer's enemies and perpetuated over the centuries is that Müntzer had little use for Scripture and relied mainly on dreams and personal inspiration for his source of divine revelation. This view receives its most extreme formulation among general historians or scholars in tangential fields who rely on secondary literature. For instance, the Germanist Paul Beckmann says: "With Müntzer the revolutionary attitude gets out of bounds because it …

An Autonomous Lutheran Church In Canada In A Time Of Rising Nationalism, Roger Ellis

Master of Divinity Thesis

While this paper is concerned with the historical development of the fellowship discussions among the three church bodies it will be presented here in a cursory fashion for itis not the main intention of this paper to be a history. The LC-C has just commissioned the writing and publishing of a book on this very subject which is now available in paperback, written by the Rev. Albert Schwermann. What this paper will try to demonstrate and say is that the United States is a foreign country, different from Canada, and that in this time of rising nationalism in Canada it …

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.

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.

The Sense Of Church History In Representative Missouri Synod Theology, David W. Lotz

Concordia Theological Monthly

Based on representative Missouri Synod writings from the late 19th century, the author describes and documents an "antihistorical bias" that has provided impediments to an appropriate appreciation of church history in Missouri Synod theology.

The Inspired Community: A Glance At Canon History, Everett R. Kalin

Concordia Theological Monthly

The leaders of the Early Church who gave us the first lists of New Testament Scriptures asserted the inspiration of these books but did not regard inspiration as the basis of their uniqueness. They saw the inspiration of the Scriptures as one aspect of a much broader activity of inspiration in the church. This article investigates the interrelationship between inspiration and canonicity and attempts tentative contemporary applications of the fathers' perspective.

The Understanding Of The Polity Regarding Ordination In The Lutheran Church In America, The Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod, And The American Lutheran Church, George C. Weinman

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

The scope of this study is to identify the positions or the three major Lutheran synods in America regarding their understanding of ordination. They are the Lutheran Church in America, The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, and The American Lutheran Church. An important part of the study is an assessment of the positions held by the antecedent synods that merged to form the present. synodical alignments.

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.

Richard Taverner (1505?--1575) And The English Reformation, James Herbert Pragman

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the life and work of Richard Taverner so that an assessment of his contribution to the English Reformation could be made.

A secondary purpose lies behind this study; actually, this secondary purpose provided the initial impetus for this study. Lutherans have been especially interested in Richard Taverner, because he translated the Augsburg Confession and its Apology into English for the first time in 1536. However, Lutherans did not really know Taverner, and historical curiosity suggested that a fuller knowledge of the man ought to be gained. The secondary purpose …

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."

History And Dogma In Christology, Walter R. Bouman

Concordia Theological Monthly

Careful examination of a recent convention resolution of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (Resolution 2-16, “To Affirm Historicity of New Testament," Denver 1969) provides a basis for the author's discussion of the way in which church bodies can best prepare doctrinal statements and of the proper role of historical investigation and dogmatic formulations in the process of framing the church's Christological confession.

Editorial, Gilbert Amadeus Thiele

Concordia Theological Monthly

Martin Luther at Worms: A Tribute and a Reminder

The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod And World War I-A Study Of The Loyalty Problem During World War I And Theodore Conrad Graebner's Attempt To Solve It, Walter Steinbach

Master of Divinity Thesis

This paper deals with troubles experienced by the Missouri Synod in general, but its answer to the major problems are based almost exclusively on the writings of Professor Theodore Conrad Graebner. Professor Graebner was on the faculty at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1914 he assumed the role as co-editor of the Lutheran Witness, the official English periodical of the Missouri Synod. Professor Graebner was probably the most important leader of the Missouri Synod who attempted to prove its loyalty during this time. He also became the advisor, for many pastors who did not know what to do …

The Loehe Colonies In Michigan, Ronald Goodsman

Bachelor of Divinity

The purpose of this paper is to describe the beginnings of the colonies which Loehe and Craemer founded in the Saginaw Valley in Michigan. The paper does not propose to give an exhaustive account of the history involved, as that is beyond its scope and beyond the limitations of the author. Rather, the purpose of the paper is to give a general overview of some of the reasons behind the founding of the Saginaw Valley colonies and a very brief sketch of their earliest beginnings.

Twentieth-Century Lutheran Attitudes Toward War, Daniel Parsch

Bachelor of Divinity

This paper is an attempt to show the attitudes and ideas of leading Lutherans on the matter of war and the participation in war. The Lutheran Church has been, in the past, and remains an important part of the whole Christian witness. Therefore, the ideas of prominent men in this body are important for study in order to more fully understand the position which the whole Lutheran Church has taken in regard to this problem. In order to limit the scope of such a study, the paper will deal mainly with 20th Century attitudes. Likewise, the main Lutheran bodies to …

Michael Praetorius Creuzbergensis-The Man, The Musician, The Theologian: An Introduction, David Susan

Master of Divinity Thesis

One particular focus of this paper will be Praetorius' theology of music, woven of the thread of coneio et cantio, sermon and song, that runs through the prefaces and dedicatory letters to many of his works.

The overall purpose of this paper is to make available in English an introduction to the music and thought of Praetorius, since most of the primary sources and much of the secondary literature are not translated. Material quoted in the text from German and Latin sources has been translated into English, and a translation of one important primary source, his Funeral Sermon, is appended …

A Study Of Matthew 3:13-17 -- The Baptism Of Jesus, Werner Boos

Bachelor of Divinity

The fact that Jesus came to John the Baptist in order to be baptized by him fascinates and puzzles many Christians. The event evokes many significant questions: What was the exact nature of the baptism administered by John the Baptist? Why did Jesus submit himself to such a baptism? What significance did the baptismal event hold for Jesus' subsequent ministry? What did it mean to the evangelists and to their original audiences? How did it influence the Christian sacrament of baptism? These and similar questions prompt the present study--a study which takes as its exegetical point of departure the most …

J. S. Bach: New Light On His Faith, Christoph Trautmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author relates the history of the Calov Bible that Johann Sebastian Bach had acquired at age 48 (now in the Concordia Seminary Library, St. Louis) and indicates the significance of the numerous marginal annotations Bach inscribed in that Bible. The article is taken from Musik und, Kirche, vol. 39, no. 4 (1969), with the permission of the Bȁrenreiter-Verlag, Karl Vőtterle KG. The translation was provided by Hilton Oswald, editor at Concordia Publishing House.

The Curse Of Canaan And The American Negro, L. Richard Bradley

Concordia Theological Monthly

This survey of past interpretations of Gen. 9:25-27 supplies a helpful perspective from which to understand how the notion of white supremacy and Negro slavery in America were persistently justified on the basis of "the curse of Canaan." The article grew out of a course in black history which the author recently taught while a student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Springfield, Ill.

Documentation -Statements Adopted By The Faculty Of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo., Unknown

Concordia Theological Monthly

Because announcements about criticisms leveled against the faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, could lead members of the Synod to doubt the faithfulness of the faculty to its confessional commitment and in order to reassure the members of the Synod concerning the confessional position of the faculty, the undersigned members of the faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, make this declaration

Close Communion, Stephen Bartelt

Master of Divinity Thesis

The scope of-this study, rather, is to see where the Lutheran church has stood on the practice, as well as its reasons for standing where it has. Within these limits, furthermore, no claim is laid to the comprehensiveness of the treatment. The material presented is selective. The excursion into the practice of the early church was included for two reasons. First, the study Eucharist and Church Fellowship in the First Four Centuries by Werner Elert indicates that the practice of closed communion was maintained in the early church for some of the same reasons it was practiced among Lutherans. Secondly, …

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.

What's Going On Here?, Donald L. Jerke

Concordia Theological Monthly

There's a cartoon around which shows a perplexed father driving home from the local high school PTA meeting with his wife; he says, "Twenty years ago I was told I wasn't as smart as my father. … Today rm told I'm not as smart as my teen-ager …. Where did we go wrong?"

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.

Movements In The Church Of England As Reflected In English Prose Fiction Of The Eighteenth Century, William H. Traugott

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

The eighteenth century, known as the Age of Reason in England, saw the effect of intellectual pursuits in the Church of England. Yet, prose fiction presented Anglicanism in an overtly active, working form rather than in a rational system of theologically-oriented statements about Christian teachings. The didacticism of the century's fiction was conducive to reflecting such an image. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate this prose fiction in terms of movements within the Church.