Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

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 …

The Theology Of Norman Vincent Peale, William Lehmann Jr.

Concordia Theological Monthly

Norman Vincent Peale is the teacher of a method which he calls the "Art of Living." This method has had great popular appeal, not only among the laity but also among the clergy. The purpose of this study is not to evaluate the method as such, but rather to consider the question which must be asked and answered before intelligent evaluation can take place: "What is Peale's theology?"

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

Concordia Theological Monthly

In accordance with the writer's convictions concerning the source of St. Paul's teachings mentioned in the previous article we begin the investigation of the present topic with the questions: What might Paul be expected to mean by words like "righteous" (δίχαιοζ), "righteousness" (διχαιοςύνη) , "justify" (διχαιοῦν) on the basis of his knowledge of the Old Testament? What effect would the use of these terms and related ones in Aramaic by the rabbis be expected to have on his own usage?

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 …

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 …

Kings And Priests, Richard R. Caemmerer

Concordia Theological Monthly

This review will spend little time on the excitement that greeted the first two volumes of the new translation. The reader will be impressed with the clean job of editing by Jaroslav Pelikan and the remarkably high and uniform excellence of the translations by six contributors. The introduction adequately notes the settings of the seven psalm expositions and correlates the locations in the Weimar and St. Louis editions of Luther's works. Footnotes - occasional but not too many - explain renderings of German idioms, suggest sources of Luther's quotations or indicate parallels, many of them in the two preceding volumes …

The Case For Four Adverbs: Reflections On Chalcedon, Martin H. Scharlemann

Concordia Theological Monthly

For many years it has been fashionable to deprecate any and all attempts, whether past or present, at formulating Biblical truth. Theologians have belittled such efforts by pleading that propositional theology fails to capture and convey the recitatif of the kerygma; and philosophers of religion have contended that any undertaking which proposes to systematize revelation was and is foredoomed to failure because of the limitations and instability of human speech and language. As a consequence the prevailing mood in large areas of Christendom is one of pessimism toward all endeavors to work at the unity we seek by drawing up …

Imitating The Wisdom Of The Almighty: Ziegenbalg's Program Of Evangelism, Hans W. Gensichen

Concordia Theological Monthly

By a happy coincidence the quarter-millennium jubilee year of the Tranquebar Mission again brought to light a long forgotten but most valuable source on that great pioneer enterprise of Protestant world missions, permitting a unique inside look into the evangelistic principles and techniques employed by Barrholomaeus Ziegenbalg and his co-workers and thus revealing the very heart and soul of their work. It is a small volume of 352 pages, and its full title may be of interest: "Thirty-Four Conferences Between the Danish Missionaries and the Malabarian Bramans (or Heathen Priests) in the East Indies, Concerning the Truth of the Christian …

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.

A Critique Of Aulen's Christus Victor, George O. Evenson

Concordia Theological Monthly

One of the most significant theological books published in recent decades is Christus Victor by Gustaf Aulen. In it he suggests that there are three main ideas or theories of the atonement: the classic, the Latin, and the subjective-humanistic. That which makes the book both significant and controversial is the author's contention that the authentic Scriptural doctrine of the atonement is the classic idea, that Luther was an exponent of the classic idea and that therefore the orthodox Lutheran doctrine of the atonement differs markedly both from Scripture and from Luther. Aulen asserts that “the doctrine of Lutheranism became a …

A New Lexicon, Martin H. Franzmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

This is not to be a review of the new lexicon -is there such a thing as a "new" lexicon? The survey of New Testament lexicography from 1522 to 1957 given by the editors of this lexicon in their Introduction (pp. v-viii) shows how relative the term "new" is in this connection; lexicographers stand strictly in a succession. Much less is this to be a critical review. We shall have to leave critical reviews to men who are less bound up with this work, emotionally and otherwise, than we of The Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod are. It is hardly to …

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"

Friction Points In Church-State Relations In The United States, Carl S. Meyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

The encroachments of aggressive churches, especially the Roman Catholic Church, and the voraciousness of power-hungry governmental agencies are dominant trends in church-state relations in the United States. Education remains the largest single area in which conflicts arc found. Augusta, Maine, and Hartford, Conn., can bear ample testimony to this fact. However, there are other aspects of the question. The conflicts touch family relations, race relations, labor relations. Conflict arises from a desire to promote social reform, as in Ohio by the demands of pastors for antigambling legislation.

Was Luther A Nominalist?, Bengt Haegglund

Concordia Theological Monthly

The problem of the relation between Luther and the tradition which derives its name from William of Occam has in our time acquired a new interest. Certain Roman Catholic critics are inclined to ascribe the Reformer's heretical ideas to nominalist influences. According to them nominalism bears within itself a ferment of dissolution; it rejects in a radical manner the fundamental presuppositions of the whole scholastic theology. Is such a view based on an accurate representation of nominalism? This is a question which we cannot answer within the limits of the present article.

Lwf Study Document, Paul M. Bretscher

Concordia Theological Monthly

The present Study Document, which will be submitted to the delegates attending the Assembly of the LWF at Minneapolis next August, is in form and content a decided improvement over the document which appeared a year ago. A careful comparison of both compels the conclusion that the Commission on Theology was truly concerned to prepare a statement which would be solidly Scriptural and soundly confessional. For these efforts the Commission deserves the unqualified thanks of all who love the Lutheran Zion. The following observations are therefore intended only to point up some issues in the present document which, in our …

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.

Contrition, Theodore Engelder, Herbert J. Bouman

Concordia Theological Monthly

Confusion regarding the concept contrition can only confuse consciences. "Before the writings of Luther appeared, the doctrine of repentance was very much confused ... the people were able neither to comprehend the sum of the matter nor to see what things especially were required in repentance, where peace of conscience was to be sought for" (Ap XII 5). If the wrong place in the order of salvation is assigned to contrition, if it is not allowed to function in its proper sphere, if it is drawn into the doctrine of justification, or if it is made the chief factor in …

The Paradox In Perspective, Martin H. Scharlemann

Concordia Theological Monthly

Paradox" is an ancient word and an honorable one. The Greeks applied it to anything that seemed contrary to public opinion or strange and marvelous. In this latter sense the term occurs in the New Testament. It was heard on the lips of the multitude that saw the healing of the palsied man. "We have seen παοάδοξα today," they said in astonishment and awe (Luke 5:26). In Latin authors "paradox" came to mean an apparent contradiction. This is today its most common meaning in ordinary speech, although we must hasten to add that the Christian continues to feel in it …

Lutheran Education And Philosophy, Paul M. Bretscher

Concordia Theological Monthly

This study conceives of Lutheran education as an activity in which our entire church with all its homes and parishes is engaged. It has in mind all levels, all currently employed agencies, and all subject areas of modern education. To be concrete: our homes, corporate worship, schools and Sunday schools, Bible classes, Bible institutes, catechumen classes, high schools, colleges, seminaries, university, institutions for the physically handicapped. and all our other educational efforts are within the purview of this study. Furthermore, this study proceeds on the premise that Lutheran education is an inevitable outgrowth of the basic beliefs of the Lutheran …

Religion In The Public Schools, Carl S. Meyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

To the traditional three R's in education many would place as the first a fourth R - Religion. Some maintain that Religion should be taught only in the schools of the church; some say that Religion or spiritual values should be taught in the schools of the state. Others have urged that the fourth R in modern education should be Right Relations or Human Relations. The debate touches on the question of basic objectives in education and involves the question of the relationship between church and state. It embraces the questions: Do the functions of the state include the teaching …

The Baptism Of Christ With Special Reference To The Gift Of The Spirit, Herbert J. Bouman

Concordia Theological Monthly

While John the Baptist, in the country beyond Jordan near Bethany (or Bethabara), was performing his office of preparing the way for the Messiah by his preaching and baptizing unto repentance for the remission of sins, and while all the people, from all directions and all walks of life, came to John to hear him and receive his baptism, Jesus also came from Nazareth (Mark) out of Galilee (Matt.). Since His twelfth year nothing had been recorded of Him except that He grew up in Nazareth. Now, after eighteen years of silence and obscurity, when He was about 30 years …

Luther Expounds The Gospels, Lewis W. Spitz

Concordia Theological Monthly

Both the state of Luther scholarship and the condition of the church have changed radically since the middle of that century of light, when J. G. Hamann lamented: "What a shame for our times that the spirit of this man who founded our church lies thus under the ashes. What a power of eloquence, what a spirit for interpretation, what a prophet! How good the old wine will taste to you!" Though Theodosius Harnack a hundred years later hailed the renewed study of Luther's theology as one of the most joyous developments in theological scholarship, his own work remained the …

The Role Of The Church In The Political Order, Carl S. Meyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

"The bearing of changing Christologies and ecclesiologies on the historic relations between church and state with a view to ascertaining the viability of the present doctrine of strict separation," has been defined by George H. Williams of Harvard University as one of the vital areas in which studies and explorations will be made in the field of church history.

A Theological Appraisal Of Comparative Symbolics, Herbert J. Bouman

Concordia Theological Monthly

The religious scene in America presents a bewildering spectacle of about 250 religious groups maintaining a separate and often precarious existence. This multiplicity of denominations, sects, and sectlets, segregated not only by deep and basic doctrinal cleavage but all too often also by merely peripheral and even meaningless differences, is extremely confusing to a thoughtful observer. Even worse, the disunity of churches, all of which claim some relation to Christ and His Word, is bound to be a sore scandal. At first glance this ecclesiastical fragmentation seems to defy intelligent and intelligible analysis. A little stirring beneath the surface, however, …

The Functions Of The State, Carl S. Meyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Neither transportation for little Lutheran moppets to their parish school, nor the supplying of free textbooks to Roman Catholic elementary school children, nor the teaching in public schools by nuns garbed in the distinctive dress of their order, is really basic among the current issues in church-state relations. They may be, or they may become, vital because of basic principles involved and because of the wider ramifications of the single problem. The fundamental issues need clarification before particular problems are discussed.

Nietzsche's Final View Of Luther And The Reformation, Heinz Bluhm

Concordia Theological Monthly

Nietzsche began as an admirer of Luther and the German Reformation. The age of Luther ranked as high in his early opinion as the age of Goethe and Beethoven. From Menschliches, Allzumenschliches on, this favorable attitude toward Luther underwent a strong transformation. In the five years from 1878 to 1883, Nietzsche’s second creative period, Luther emerged as a highly questionable figure, even as a most regrettable event in the history of German and European thought and civilization. But all these severe pronouncements on Luther were only a prelude to the scathing denunciations to come in Nietzsche's post-Zarathustra writings.

The Authority Of Scripture, Norman Nagel

Concordia Theological Monthly

The way Scripture understands itself is presented elsewhere in the theses sent out by the Council. That presentation has its greatest strength in bringing Scripture into close and integral relationship with Christ. Faith's primary apprehension is Christ; the consequent apprehension is Scripture. To apprehend Christ is to be placed under Scripture. The recognition of this is the basis of how we listen to what Scripture says. Scripture has spoken Christ to us, and therefore, when Scripture speaks, we receive and accept whatever it says, for whatever it says is heard in relationship to Christ.

Rauschenbusch In Retrospect, R. L. Moellering

Concordia Theological Monthly

On the whole, it appears that American Lutheranism was oblivious to the writings of Walter Rauschenbusch. An examination of Lehre und Wehre, the theological journal of the Missouri Synod during the years of his ascendancy, failed to uncover a single reference to the "prophet of the Social Gospel." When he was mentioned in Lutheran circles, he was usually stigmatized as the villain of American Protestantism. His name was associated with all the ignominy heaped on the social gospel. He became the favorite "whipping boy" for those denouncing the trend toward Modernism. Perhaps he was not given a fair hearing. At …