Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Liberal Theology And The Reformed Churches., F. E. Mayer

Concordia Theological Monthly

The characteristic elements of the thought world during the put 75 years may be reduced to two outstanding and significant movements: science and democracy. Man placed an almost absolute faith in the omnicompetence of science. Science became a cult. The empirical method of science was considered the only means by which truth could be discovered and judged. The "scientific" method attempted to displace revelation; it branded the Scriptural theology as metaphysics and relegated it to the museums; it tended to eliminate the idea of God from human thought and to make man self-sufficient; its astronomical and biological theories questioned the …

The Mystery Of The Trinity, N. Friedmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

"I believe with sincere faith that the Creator-Blessed be His name! - is One and that there is no other unity such as He is." These words, confessed by Jews, form the second of the thirteen articles of faith drawn up by Maimonides for the purpose of combating the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. This article of faith is the chief basis of the obstinate opposition of present-day Jewry to the Christian religion. They assert that believing in a Triune God is the same as believing in polytheism, forbidden by God in the First Commandment. It is our purpose to …

Fellowship With God, C. August Hardt

Concordia Theological Monthly

By way of introduction let me say a few words about the reasons for submitting a paper on Koinonia. It is well known that the word "fellowship" has been very much in the foreground in recent years, especially in connection with the efforts of Lutheran bodies to establish church fellowship. We, too, have had committees at work discussing doctrinal differences with a view to bringing about Scriptural unity as a basis of church and altar fellowship. Some in our midst have looked upon these negotiations with doubts and apprehensions; others, however, feel that we have not even gone far enough …

The Right And Wrong Of Private Judgment, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

"O ye theologians, what are you doing? Think ye that it is a trifling matter when the sublime Majesty forbids you to teach things that do not proceed from the mouth of the Lord and are something else than God's Word? It is not a thresher or herdsman who is here speaking" (Luther XIX: 821). When men prefer those things that originate in their own minds to those that proceed out of the mouth of the Lord, they are doing an evil thing. We shall discuss this matter under four heads.

The Social Gospel, P. E. Kretzmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

''Why bother about the social gospel?" a man recently told the present writer. ''The social gospel is dead and buried. No one concerns himself about it any more. It has been superseded by the theology of Karl Barth in its various forms, by the religious philosophy of Kierkegaard, by the neo-orthodoxy of Niebuhr and others, and by a number of other movements and developments."

Karl Barth, John Theodore Mueller

Concordia Theological Monthly

For this essay we have chosen a simple title: Karl Barth. We could not do otherwise. As yet it is too early to speak conclusively of Barth's theology and influence. That may be done fifty or perhaps a hundred years from now; all that is written on Barth during his lifetime is only provisional.

The Right And Wrong Of Private Judgment, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

Satan has brought untold woe upon the Church by inducing the Pope to deny the right of private judgment and suppress the exercise of it. And Satan brings additional woe upon the Church by inducing men to turn the God-given right of private judgment into a license to sit in judgment on Holy Scripture, to criticize and discard it. That is our second proposition: There is an exercise of private judgment which God absolutely forbids and condemns.

The Right And Wrong Of Private Judgment, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

"Ueber die Lehre zu erkennen and zu richten, kommt allen und jeden Christen zu, und zwar so, dass der verflucht ist, der solches Recht um ein Haerlein kraenkt" (Luther XIX:341). The matter of exercising private judgment is of supreme importance. (1) They commit a monstrous crime who keep God's people from dealing directly with God's Word and judging all doctrine on the basis of it. (2) Blessed is the community where the right of private judgment is recognized and practiced.

The Right And Wrong Of Private Judgment, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

In his recent book Luther and His Work the Catholic writer Joseph Clayton says: "To this day Martin Luther is praised ... for bringing the gift of private judgment in faith and morals to all believers. On the other hand, among Catholics Luther is held in abhorrence as an apostate monk who drew countless souls into heresy and whole nations into schism; the evil of whose life has lived after him." According to Luther "No one, neither pope nor bishop, has any right to dictate to the individual Christian what he shall or shall not believe. . . The notion …

Circumcision And Baptism, F. R. Zucker

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Bible does not speak very frequently on the meaning or the purpose of Holy Baptism and less frequently on the meaning and the purpose of Circumcision, and still less on the mutual relation of the two sacraments or on a comparison of Circumcision with Baptism. What little the Bible has to say on the points could be quoted in very short time. (Col. 2:17; Heb.10:1.)

Harnack's Theological Positions, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

The inclusion of Adolf Harnack in this series of articles on epoch-making modern theological leaders who promoted error requires an explanation. Strictly speaking, he was not the founder of a school of theology. He did not teach a system of doctrine of his own. In him we are dealing with a church historian, and not with a dogmatician. Still, when the persons to be treated in this series were listed, it was felt that Harnack's name would have to be included because in the period extending from about 1895 to 1920 he was the most frequently mentioned theologian of Germany, …

Ritschl's Theology, F. E. Mayer

Concordia Theological Monthly

"Ritschlianism is the most highly developed form, that theological empiricism has yet taken." This is the claim of the former dean of the Methodist Boston University School of Theology, Professor Knudson. The majority of liberal theologians hail Ritschl as their champion, because the empirical method is the formal principle, the principium cognoscenti, of American liberal theology. Three German theologians are largely responsible for the wide acceptance of the empirical method in modern theology: Schleiennacher, Ritschl, Troeltsch. Schleiermacher is the father of the modern empirical method in theology.

Ansprache Dr. F. Pfotenhauers, F. Pfotenhauer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Ansprache Dr. F. Pfotenhauers ( Dr. F. Pfotenhauers Speech)

Schleiermacher, His Theology And Influence., John Theodore Mueller

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Editorial Committee of this periodical has planned a series of articles on leading theologians of modern times who in a preeminent way have influenced and molded theological thought. These essays are to supply the necessary background of the theology current in our time, are to be practical rather than scientific, and are to present the various theological systems in such a way that even the reader unacquainted with technical literature will gain a clear picture of their traits and significance. This objective imposes a limitation on the essayists compelling them to remain within a narrow scope; but this limitation …

The Meaning Of Augustinte's "De Civitate Dei" For Our Day, Carl S. Meyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

An examination of Augustine's De Civitate Dei and its meaning for our day, therefore, needs no apology. During the Middle Ages, indeed, the treatise by St. Augustine had far greater meaning than it has now, for the world of today has been secularized by forces which the fourth and fifth as well as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries did not know. But even for us many of the principles supported by Augustine must enter into our Weltanachauung if we are to appraise the forces and movements around us aright. The twentieth century cannot shrug its shoulders and say, ''Why be …

Outlines On The Old Standard Gospel Lessons, John Theodore Mueller

Concordia Theological Monthly

Outlines on the Old Standard Gospel Lessons

Outlines On The Old Standard Gospel Lessons, Theo. Laetsch

Concordia Theological Monthly

Outlines on the Old Standard Gospel Lessons

The Anselmic View Of The Atonement, Thomas Coates

Concordia Theological Monthly

The doctrine of the atonement has always been one of the cardinal tenets of the Christian faith- a tenet of such central importance that with it the Christian religion can be said to stand or fall it was to effect the atonement for man's sin and to reconcile the creature and the Creator that the Son of God assumed the human nature. This has been the conviction of all those who have stood within the historic Christian tradition - from the days of the Apostles onward.

The study of the doctrine of the atonement, accordingly, represents one of the most …

The Spiritual, Not The Social Gospel In The Church, John Theodore Mueller

Concordia Theological Monthly

Our country today finds itself confronted with a serious race relations problem. It is only one of the many social and economic questions facing us at this time, but, no doubt, every one who has carefully studied the race problem will admit that it is one of major importance and therefore should not be ignored by those whose business it is to study it. As citizens of our country it vitally concerns us all, and it is in view of this fact that the Missionary Board (upon the writer's suggestion) has decided to take up its study as a part …

Sermon Study On Eph. 6:1-9, Th. Laetsch

Concordia Theological Monthly

Sermon Study on Ephesians 6:1-9

MετάΝοια, E. W. Koehler

Concordia Theological Monthly

None of these translations expresses adequately the basic meaning of the Greek terms. Repentance, like the Latin poenitentia, has a strong connotation of sorrow, German Reue. And the German word Busse carries with it the idea of making amends by paying or suffering a penalty. Sich bessern is an inevitable result of μετανοεῑν, but this idea is not contained in the original concept of the verb.

Luther: A Blessing To The English, W. Dallmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Reformed Abraham Scultetus says in his Annals: "Students from all nations came to Wittenberg to hear Luther and Melanchthon. As they came in sight of the town, they returned thanks to God with clasped hands, for from Wittenberg, as hitherto from Jerusalem, the light of evangelical truth had spread to the uttermost parts of the earth." And so the historian Green calls Wittenberg "the little town which had suddenly become the sacred city of the Reformation."

Luther: A Blessing To The English, W. Dallmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

From a small number at the time of William the Conqueror the monasteries had grown to about 1,200 at the Reformation, when they owned from one half to two thirds of the land.

As early as 1410 Parliament demanded their ending; Henry V suppressed over a hundred of them. Popes permitted bishops to suppress some and with the proceeds to build colleges. Henry VII used the monasteries of Mottisford and Luffield to build the chantry and hospital of Windsor.

The Meaning Of The Formula Of Baptism, E. W. Koehler

Concordia Theological Monthly

The formula of Baptism is definitely fixed. Christ, who instituted Baptism, tells us that we should baptize "εις τὸ ο͂νομα τοῡ πατὁζ χαι το̄υ νιο̄υ χαι το̄u άψιου πνεύmatoζ,” Matt. 28:19, thereby distinguishing His Baptism from all others that in His days were to be found among both Jews and Gentiles. We have neither reason nor authority to change the wording of this formula. For further Information on this point we refer to Walther, Pastorale, pp.110-118, and to Pieper, Christliche Dogmatik, Vol. III, pp. 302 to 308.

The Social Ethic Of Martin Luther, Carl Walter Berner

Concordia Theological Monthly

In the present effort to trace the fierce currents of Europe's political ground swells to their source, many writers wish to discover the first rising of the tide in the thought channels of Martin Luther's ideas on religion, politics, and social problems, away back in the sixteenth century. Able thinkers, like McGovern, who have sent their searching gaze into the dim years of history in the hope of discovering the precursors, either men or ideologies, of the present world-wide eruption, have held to a theory of history in which men like Luther are given a lion's share in the responsibility …

Luther: A Blessing To The English, W. Dallmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

On the Fourth Sunday in Advent, December 24, 1525, Hugh Latimer preached in the Augustinian chapel, and so Prior Barnes preached in St. Edward's Church and used Luther's sermon on Philippians 4:4.

He denounced the observance of holy days, the temporal possessions and the secular jurisdiction of the Church, the extravagance of Wolsey. The only apostle followed by the bishops was Judas; the only prophet Balaam. Holy orders, church hallowings, and pardons were sold "as openly as a cow and an ass." Paul taught no bishop should be bishop of more than one city. He did not pray to Our …

Die Taufe Johannis Des Taeufers In Ihrem Verhaeltnis Zu Christi Taufe, M. Leimer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Die Taufe Johannis des Taeufers in ihrem Verhaeltnis zu Christi Taufe (The baptism of John the Baptist in relation to Christ's baptism)

Toward A Lutheran Philosophy Of Education, Paul Bretscher

Concordia Theological Monthly

Were we asked: How did modern education arrive at its present status? we would reply that the answer to this query is not difficult to give, at least it is not difficult to register pertinent observations.

Luther: A Blessing To The English, W. Dallmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

In 1529 Latimer at Cambridge in his two famous Sermons on the Card urged the universal reading of the Bible. He was opposed by prior John Buckenham in a sermon on Christmas Dice.

On April 3 the Catholics were threatened with Luther and bis followers.

Toward A Lutheran Philosophy Of Education, Paul Bretscher

Concordia Theological Monthly

This is not the first attempt in our circles to approach the subject of "a Lutheran philosophy of education." Every committee of Synod which was charged with the task to examine and, by helpful suggestions, to improve our program of higher education has, with varying degrees of comprehensiveness, articulated our philosophy of education. Especially is this true of the work done by Synod's recent "Curriculum Committees," which laid down guiding objectives of education in their reports on our junior colleges, theological seminaries, and teachers colleges, and called attention to the peculiar place of our system of higher education in the …