History of Christianity Commons^™

Dr. C. F. W. Walther As Theologian, Francis Pieper, John Theodore Mueller

Concordia Theological Monthly

When we try to depict Dr. Walther as theologian, we must, above all, discuss his doctrine of justification, for his attitude toward this doctrine supplies the clue to his whole line of action in his life so full of controversy.

Factors In Lutheran Unity, E. George Pearce

Concordia Theological Monthly

Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem in the fourth century, advised his people that when they attended a divine service in a strange city, they ought not merely to enquire for the church or for the lord's house, because Marcionists and Manicheans and all manner of sects professed to be the Church and called their meeting places the House of the Lord; but they ought to ask: Where is the Catholic Church? The name "Catholic," used in all the early creeds and in the writings of the Fathers, came into use first to distinguish the universal Christian Church from the national Jewish …

Did Luther Teach That Christ Committed Adultery?, Arthur Carl Piepkorn

Concordia Theological Monthly

As every paster discovers, Roman Catholic ignorance - clerical hardly less than lay-of Lutheran and Luther's theology is often abysmal.

Something of a new nadir, however, was achieved by the Rev. Richard Ginder in the Roman Catholic weekly, Our Sunday Visitor, Vol.XLII, No.44, February 28, 1954, page 12, when he wrote: "Did Martin Luther believe that Jesus was God?

"In his Table Talk,' Weimar edition, ii, 107, one reads the following hair-raising blasphemy: 'Christ committed adultery first of all with the woman at the well about whom St. John tells us. Was not everybody about Him saying: "Whatever has He …

The Wycliffite And Lutheran Element In The English Reformation, Walter M. Schoedel

Bachelor of Divinity

The period which this thesis discusses is one of the most important periods in English History. The years 1300 to 1550 show to the world why the Church of England is no longer a member of the Roman Church, This thesis endeavors to show how the teachings and works of John Wycliffe in the 14th century help lay the foundation and groundwork for the real beginning of the Reformation in England in the 16th century, and how the Lutheran element from the continent fits into the scheme of events during the early years of the English Reformation. Again we have …

Luther And The Canon, Erwin Prange

Bachelor of Divinity

The questions to be answered by the thesis are the following: What is Luther's attitude toward the Scriptural canon and what is the basis of or the key to his attitude? It will not be within the scope of the thesis to define or investigate Luther's doctrine of the "word " except where it may have direct and immediate bearing upon his treatment of the canon. His doctrines of inspiration and of the Holy Spirit will also not be considered separately but only in the immediate context of his attitude toward the canon.

A History Of Lutheran Missions To Islam, Robert E. Jones

Bachelor of Divinity

The paper attempts to gather the facts of the history of Lutheran Missions to Islam. The pursuit of these facts was hindered chiefly by two things. The first is that there is a lack or written material on this phase of missions. A large part of Lutheran Mission work today touches Islam only incidentally and the records of such work generally fail to mention Islam as a separate consideration. This is especially true in areas where Muslims and other peoples live side by side but as distinct groups, as in South India and the Near East. A comprehensive history of …

Luther On War And Revolution, H. R. Klann

Concordia Theological Monthly

Secular authority, according to Luther, is in a sense the extension of patriarchal authority to the community. As such it is part of the present order of creation, by which Luther meant the conditions of human activity and existence in history. However, its constitutional form, like all other political settlements within the frame of Moral Law, was for him a matter of human expediency. For his part, Luther was content to accept the political settlement of his time.

The Significance Of Luther's Hermeneutics For The Protestant Reformation, Raymond P. Surburg

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Protestant Reformation, called by Roman Catholics the Protestant Revolt, is generally conceded to have been one of the most significant movements in the last two thousand years of world history. Historians who have treated the Reformation have interpreted it from at least four distinct points of view: the religious-political, the rationalist, the liberal-romantic, and the economic-evolutionary. A current scholar, Rosenstock-Huessy, lists the Protestant Reformation as the first of four political revolutions occurring between 1517 and 1918.

Our English Bible, E. J. Saleska

Concordia Theological Monthly

Many Biblical scholars are agreed that September 30, 1952, will go down in American church history as a red-letter day. It was the publication date of the highly publicized Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Special services commemorating the event were held in more than three thousand communities. Coupled with this was the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the first printing, in Mainz, Germany, of the famous Gutenberg Bible. In recognition of this event the United States Government placed on sale on September 30 a special commemorative three-cent stamp.

The Rise And Fall Of The Schmalkaldic League: The Treaty Of Passau, 1552, Theo. Hoyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

There are several reasons that suggest the truce of Passau as a subject for special consideration at the present time. One is, of course, the date. Since 1883 we have followed up the great outstanding events in Reformation history by church-wide celebrations, beginning with Luther's birth and ending, in 1946, with Luther's death. But several events following Luther's death were to be of immense importance to the Lutheran Church; one of them is the Schmalkaldic War, ending in the truce of Passau, 1552, and the Religious Peace of Augsburg. 1555. - Another reason: We have seen a veritable flood of …

Inside Missouri Synod, James R. Blackwood

Concordia Theological Monthly

From what other people had told me, my mental picture of a Missouri Lutheran once took shape as a sort of scaly monster belching me.

But I have changed my mind in the last five years, since I have set out in my first charge, a Presbyterian minister in the thick of Missouri Lutherans. One day early in my pastorate I wanted to look up a reference in a certain volume of theology. The public library of nearby St. Louis did not have a copy of the book. What about Concordia Seminary? Perhaps the Lutherans would let me use their …

The Russian Eastern Church And Protestantism, Herbert Haljabold

Concordia Theological Monthly

The contacts between the Lutheran and the Eastern Church reach back to Luther. Benz points out that the Symbolical Books in several instances support their demand for a reformation of doctrine and cultus by an appeal to the authorities of the Greek Church during the first five centuries. He shows that during the dispute at Leipzig, Luther appealed to the Greek Church to corroborate his thesis that the supremacy of the Papacy was not recognized in the Old Church, but was developed after the age of Constantine and in opposition to the Eastern Church.

Martin Luther The Formative Years, Erwin A. Gerken

Bachelor of Divinity

As one thinks of this great Reformer, this man of God, theologian, Bible translator, catechist, hymnist, bold champion of the freedom of the conscience, founder of the Lutheran Church, leader of the Reformation which carried Christendom back to the Bible - one hesitates to attempt to write a thesis on his formative years. Yet it is so arresting and inspiring, that in joy, yet with all humility, I shall attempt in the following pages to describe this man and trace his development in thought and life which led to the posting of the Ninety-five Theses on October 31, 1517.

Luther's Doctrine Of Justification According To The Holl-Walther Controversy, Robert Hoeferkamp

Bachelor of Divinity

In the following chapters the course of this controversy will be traced, an investigation of certain critical quotations From Luther will be carried out, and some definite conclusions as to the chief arena of disagreement will be reached. In order to achieve the proper historical perspective, we shall trace in this first chapter the doctrine of justification in the· sixteenth century as set forth by Luther, Melanchthon, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Osiander, and the Formula of Concord.

The Lotthers: Forgotten Printers Of The Reformation, W. G. Tillmanns

Concordia Theological Monthly

The name Lotther is so similar to that of our Reformer that it must arouse the curiosity of the reader when he finds this name recorded in Luther's correspondence. Yet most Luther biographies do not even mention this name, and those that do pass it over lightly. Thus the family which has rendered outstanding service to the cause of the Reformation is today all but forgotten.

A Short History Of The Lutheran Church In Great Britain, E. George Pearce

Concordia Theological Monthly

“Lutheran” is a word that many English people find hard to pronounce because it is so seldom used in this country. In few countries of Western Europe is the Lutheran Church as little known as it is in Great Britain. When recently an inquiry was made at the B. B. C. in London regarding the possibility of a Lutheran religious broadcast, the surprising reply was given: "It is the policy of the B. B. C. to broadcast only the services of those churches which are in the mainstream of the Christian tradition." How strange that the largest of all Protestant …

Luther And Calvin On The State And Heretics, Henry W. Reimann Jr

Bachelor of Divinity

In history it is equally important to trace the background of any person, event, or movement. The revelations of the scholarship devoted to the study of the young Luther are evidences of this. The problem of this paper also has a background. That background is the Middle Ages. Both Luther and Calvin were to some extent products of the Middle Ages.

The Defensor Pacis Of Marsilius Of Padua And Its Relation To The Reformation, August Bernthal

Bachelor of Divinity

Any event in history that is linked in either a small or large way to the Reformation demands investigation. In examining the causes and the background of the Protestant uprising in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; historians usually make mention of the Defensor Pacis written by Marsilius of Padua in 1624. Some make much of it. Others ignore it. Yet the Defensor Pacis, directed as it is against Pope John XXII, remains the most daring and the most independent ecclesiastic-politica1 work of the entire medieval period. Whether this document in any way influences the Reformation this thesis will endeavor to …

The Origin And History Of Indulgences Up To The Time Of The German Reformation With Emphasis On Luther's Attitude Toward Them, Orval M. Oswald

Bachelor of Divinity

This thesis is being written with the hope of giving a clear and accurate account of the origin and development of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Indulgence up to the time of the German Reformation, with particular emphasis on the effect it had on the people and Luther’s reasons for opposing it. Entire volumes have been written on the history of indulgences alone, and countless pages on their relationship to Luther' and the Reformation. It is an impossibility to consider all the material written on this subject in a thesis of this sort, but the author feels that he …

Notes On The Consensus Tigurinus Of 1549, John Theodore Mueller

Concordia Theological Monthly

In the latter part of May, 1549, there was adopted at Zurich, Switzerland, a Calvinistic covenant of the greatest importance - the so-called Zurich Agreement or Consensus Tigurinus, so named after the Latin designation of Zurich and its environs.

Luther's Endorsement Of The "Confessio Bohemica.", Jaroslav Pelikan Jr.

Concordia Theological Monthly

As a result of the research that has been carried on in the past half century on the theology of the Reformation. we are now in an advantageous position for a historical and theological evaluation of the faith of the Reformers. What began as purely historical investigation has become instead a recovery of Reformation insights that had been lost in the intervening centuries. For this reason contemporary theological scholarship has been compelled to buttress its systematic presentations with historical material and to make its historical study relevant by drawing theological conclusions from it.

Luther's Negotiations With The Hussites, Jaroslav Pelikan Jr.

Concordia Theological Monthly

As a result of contemporary efforts to bring about union within and between the existing Protestant communions, considerable attention is being devoted to the history of similar efforts in the past. The period of the Reformation remains a most fruitful source for a consideration of that history. For the Lutheran Church this means that an examination of the attitude and activity of Martin Luther in this problem is an important step in the determination of the distinctively Lutheran position in the matter.

Luther's Attitude Toward John Hus, Jaroslav Pelikan Jr.

Concordia Theological Monthly

The history of the development of Protestantism in Eastern Europe is an area of church history to which comparatively little attention has been devoted. Because Protestantism is now relatively weak in the lands east of the Iron Curtain, many students of church history are inclined to forget that at one time the churches of the Reformation had millions of adherents in these lands which are now dominated by Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Soviet Communism.

St. Paul's Usus Practicus Of Holy Baptism, John Theodore Mueller

Concordia Theological Monthly

It may safely be said that the average Lutheran Christian does not think of his Baptism often enough and that the average Lutheran pastor does not remind his parishioners often enough of the great value and importance of Holy Baptism. There are, of course, exceptions, but these only establish the rule. If this appears as a rather severe indictment, let the reader bear in mind that due grateful appreciation of the meaning and blessing of Holy Baptism involves a most weighty point in Christian sanctification in which we never become perfect and that, because of our perverse Old Adam, we …

Girolamo Savonarola, 1452-1498, W. G. Polack

Concordia Theological Monthly

On May 23 this year, 450 years will have passed since the martyrdom at Florence, Italy, of Girolamo Savonarola, last of the great medieval friars and last of the so-called forerunners of the Reformation. Columbus had discovered America six years before. Martin Luther, 15 years old, was attending the school of the Brethren of the Common Life at Magdeburg when Savonarola died. Thirty years later Luther published Savonarola's exposition of Psalm 51-an exposition written while he was awaiting execution - as an example of evangelical doctrine and Christian piety. To understand the background of the martyrdom of the Monk of …

Lund, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

During the first week of July all eyes were focused on the little town of Lund, Sweden, entertaining the World Convention of Lutherans. It is a town that is entitled to honorable mention in its own rights. Pleasantly situated in the maritime plain of southwestern Sweden and twenty miles distant from the port of Malmoe, it is the seat of one of the two Swedish universities and can justly claim to be an important center of scholarship and learning.

The Melanchthonian Blight, Richard Craemerer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Luther's Reformation was a movement of truly spiritual vitality. He restored to light some of the most powerful impulses of the Christian religion - salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the royal priesthood of all believers, the divinity of the Christian calling. Somewhere around 1525, however, this vitality seems to wane. The German princes begin to dominate in the Lutheran movement, and they retain most of the pagan characteristics of their contemporaries. Theologians expend their best efforts in many decades of acrimonious controversy. The German people lag behind their neighbors in cultural and political progress, almost succumb to …

The Struggle For Religious Liberty In New England, Richard Meyer

Bachelor of Divinity

The purpose of the paper is to set forth the various forces at work in the struggle for religious liberty in New England and to show how that liberty was obtained.

Henry The Eighth's Divorce And Luther, William Dallmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

“Luther gave the green light to divorce." - Rev. John Toomy in the Jesuit America of August 14, 1943.

“Luther teaches any man who is tired of his wife may leave her for any reason whatsoever, and, forthwith, the marriage is dissolved and both are free to marry again." - Right Reverend Monsignor Patrick O'Hare, D. D., LL. D., in Facts About Luther, p. 333. Pustet, 1916.

It is a rehash of stale stuff. Four hundred years ago, on May 19, 1536, Eustace Chapuys, Kaiser Karl's ambassador to London, wrote Karl's minister Granvelle: “Many think that the Concubine [Anne Boleyn] …

Mozley's Tribute To Luther, W. Dallmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

James B. Mozley was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford by Gladstone. In January, 1848, he reviewed the enemy Audin's Luther, the neutral Michelet's Luther, and the friendly archdeacon Hare's “Vindication of Luther," printed in Essays, Volume I. These works seem to be the sources of his knowledge of Luther. An Anglo-Catholic, who “has everything but the Pope," he is far from friendly to Luther.