Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

The Origins Of The Object-Subject Antithesis In Lutheran Dogmatics. A Study In Terminology, Jaroslav Pelikan

Concordia Theological Monthly

One of the tasks with which both Christian preaching and Christian dogmatics are confronted is the attempt to express Biblical testimony in non-Biblical terminology. Such an attempt is as difficult as it is necessary. In order to perform its responsibility, the proclamation of the Christian message in preaching must resort to ways of speaking that are not found in the Scriptures. Similarly, theologians have always found it necessary to collect into one expression what is said in several different parts of the Scriptures. But the difficulty in any such expression is that a word taken over from extra-Christian sources may …

De Opere Spiritus Sancti, L. B. Buchheimer

Concordia Theological Monthly

Article 5 of the Magna Charta of our Church bears the superscription "Of the Office of the Ministry." Specifically treated in Article XIV, it is here spoken of only in an incidental way, viz., as the office which is charged with administering the means of grace. Melanchthon wants to teach how faith is obtained, and that is through the operation of the Holy Spirit.

The Effect Of The Trend Toward Religious Schools On Public Schools, Clarence Peters

Concordia Theological Monthly

Before investigating the topic before us, it may be well for us to inquire· into the reason why some churches maintain their own schools. The reason is not that they do not appreciate the public school or the advantages which these tax-supported schools have brought to the people of America.

An Examination Of Osiander's Imago Dei In Its Relation To Justification, Ralph Frederick Fischer

Bachelor of Divinity

The purpose of this paper is to solve the problem - Does Osiander teach Justification as a process which makes man righteous., or does he teach Justification as a forensic act?

Union Theses, Adopted By Breslau Synod And Saxon Free Church, L. W. Spitz, F. E. Mayer

Concordia Theological Monthly

There is an inseparable union between the two bases of the Reformation, in fact, of the true Church of Christ, viz., between the doctrine that lost and condemned mankind can be saved solely by the grace of God for Christ's sake through faith (sola gratia, sola fide) and the principle that all teaching must be according to the Holy Scriptures (sola Scriptura). There can be no Christian proclamation without the proper distinction between Law and Gospel.

With Reference To The Formula Of Absolution, W. G. Polack

Concordia Theological Monthly

There is some discussion in various parts of Synod regarding our formula of absolution.

Let us say at the outset that the wording of any such formula belongs in the field of things indifferent, so long as the doctrine of the Office of the Keys is maintained. For that reason we can and do have more than one formula, namely, the Declaration of Grace, p. 6, The Lutheran Hymnal, and the Absolution, p. 16 and p. 48, The Lutheran Hymnal.

Is Doctrinal Unity A Luxury?, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

Some time ago this view was expressed in the Christian Century: “In a world like ours, nothing seems to me to be less important than agreement about our theology. . . . Struggling to get such an agreement is a luxury which, perhaps, we can return to when the times are less desperate." (See Conc. Theo. MONTHLY, 1945, p. 569.) Unity in doctrine is here called a luxury; it may be a good thing for the Church to have, but the Church can get along very well without it. Her health does not require it.

Rome's Doctrine Of Justification, A J. Schauer

Bachelor of Divinity

This brings us to the queston: Is the Roman Catholic or The Lutheran teaching the true Biblical doctrine of justification as it was once proclaimed by Jesus and His apostles? Or have both church bodies veered from divine truth? To answer these questions objectively is the main purpose of this thesis.

Haec Dixit Dominus Ii, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

Men are asserting that Luther had no right to say of his teaching: "Haec dixit Dominus." All that he could say was that according to his interpretation of Scripture He said so and so; and as his opponents said the same, the matter is left in doubt; no man can be divinely sure of his doctrine.

Lutheran Sola Fide Vs Roman Catholic Ex Opere Operato Of The Basis Of The Confessions, John G. Deterding

Bachelor of Divinity

Opposed to the sola fide is the doctrine of ex opere operato, i.e., that the sacraments mechanically confer grace upon all who receive them. Faith is not necessary to receive this grace, but the mere outward ceremony effects it mechanically for all those who do not place an obstacle in the way.

The Impact Of The Church On The State In Lutheran And Calvinistic Theology, Roland Lemke

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

In a study and comparison of Lutheran and Calvinistic theology one finds a considerable difference in points of emphasis. Calvinism especially stresses the sovereignty of God, and this special emphasis colors its entire system of theology. In Lutheran theology, on the other hand, one finds the grace of God through Christ striking a more dominant note.

Martin Chemnitz And His Locus De Sacra Scriptura Against Roman Errors, Arthur Bernard Lossner

Bachelor of Divinity

This paper bas been written with the intention of giving credit to whom it is due. The value of the work of Chemnitz will be shown in an account of his life and in an analysis of the first locus of his most important work, the Examen Concilii Tridentini.

Sacramentalism In The Roman Catholic Church, Jack H. Ruff

Bachelor of Divinity

In view of the current wave of Romanist propaganda, the purpose of this paper is to re-examine the sacramental system of Rome in the light of the Scriptures and history. Objective examination will show that: a) The sacraments have become the shackl.es to bind men to the Church of Rome, b) The sacramentalism or the Romanists leads to doubt or carnal security, c) The papists' system is inadequate as shown by the very practice of the Catholic Church.

Natural Theology In David Hollaz, Jaroslav Pelikan Jr

Concordia Theological Monthly

Christianity is a religion of supernatural revelation: to this "give all the Prophets witness." It is an assertion of the fact that the true meaning of God lies beyond the ken of the unaided human mind. Indeed, the Christian faith is so bold as to assert that "he that loveth not - and only a Christian is capable of ἀγάπη, true love - knoweth not God, for God is Love" (1 John 4:8).

Original Sin In Arminian Theology And Its Antitheses, Harlan C. Wendler

Bachelor of Divinity

The study or this doctrine of original sin in Arminian theology and its antitheses shall be our theme, since it is beneficial for understanding the religious thinking of modern man.

The Hades Gospel, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Gospel of a second probation, of salvation in Hades, of the possibility of conversion after death, is very popular today. Most of the modern theologians, liberals and conservatives, have become its heralds. It has found its way into the Reformed churches. It has found its way into the Lutheran Church.

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.

Justification In Article Iii Of The Formula Of Concord, John Meyer

Bachelor of Divinity

The doctrine of justification is the article by which the Church stands or falls. It is, therefore, almost impossible to overstress its importance or to understress the danger of error in this most fundamental of all teachings. And so studying an error in the doctrine of justification is profitable for understanding and appreciating the true doctrine of Scripture in other points as well.

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, …

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

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 …

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 …

Henry Melchior Muehlenberg, W. G. Polack

Concordia Theological Monthly

Dr. E. A. W. Krauss, in his Lebensbilder, calls Heinrich Melchior Muehlenberg the patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America. Dr. A. L. Graebner, in his Geschichte der lutherischen Kirche in Amerika, declares that he was the "greatest man whom God bestowed upon the American Lutheran Church of the 18th century" Dr. G. Fritschel, in his Geschichte der lutherischen Kirche in Amerika, writes of Muehlenberg: "So eng war er mit all lhren Interessen verbunden, so hervorragend erscheint er in allen ihren Teilen von Neu-Schottland (Nova Scotia) bis Georgia, dasz die Geschichte der Kirche seit seiner Landung 1742 bis zu seinem …

Luther: A Blessing To The English, W. Dallmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

John Skelton, poet-laureate of Oxford, Cambridge, and Loavain, whom Erasmus called "a light and ornament of British literature" and poet-laureate Southey also praised fabulously, was the most popular and audacious writer of his day. Tutor to Henry VIII, he scored the wicked courtiers. Cleric, he castigated the clergy. "Bestial and untaught men," not able to read or spell their own names, they appoint as priests, preferring habitual drunkards that lead disorderly lives to worthy candidates.

Verbal Inspiration- A Stumbling-Block To The Jews And Foolishness To The Greeks, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

The moderns are bound to make the "sure Word" of Scripture (2 Pet. 1:19) unreliable. They have been telling the anxious Christian that the "mechanical, verbal theory" of inspiration is all wrong; that according to their dynamical canon the words in which the saving truth is revealed are purely human; that nobody knows whether the words of John 3:16 correctly express the divine thought. But they are not yet through with the dismayed Christian. Lest he still be disposed to base his trust on John 3:16 and similar passages of Holy Writ, they now tell him: Forget all about John …

Verbal Inspiration- A Stumbling-Block To The Jews And Foolishness To The Greeks, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

The moderns have many more objections against Verbal Inspiration. To three of these they attach special importance. They denounce Verbal Inspiration as "a mechanical theory of inspiration"; they abhor it as "resulting in an atomistic conception of the Scriptures"; they abominate it as establishing "the legalistic authority of the letter." -The old evil Foe means deadly woe. The appeasers have up till now been telling us that nothing is lost if the Church gives up half of the Bible, seeing that they are willing to let her retain the important half, the Gospel message; if only the saving truths be …

Luther: A Blessing To The English, W. Dallmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The First English Lutherans and the First English Lutheran Theological Seminary

''Martin Luther" is written over the page with the names of Gardiner, Cranmer, Thirlby, and Bilney, the degree list of Cambridge in 1521.

A committee was sent to London to have Luther's books examined and to get an order from Cardinal Wolsey to burn them - Drs. Humfrey; Robert Ridley, uncle of the martyr; John Watson, praised by Erasmus; and Henry Bullock, a pupil of Erasmus, ''most learned Bovillus," now professor of Greek and vice-chancellor.

The books were burned on Market Hill about the Easter term, and the grand …

Verbal Inspiration- A Stumbling-Block To The Jews And Foolishness To The Greeks, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

The second objection to Verbal Inspiration is based on the so-called unethical portions of the Bible. The mistakes of the Bible are to the moderns a small matter compared with the ethical blemishes they see in the Bible. These alleged immoralities and indecencies scandalize them beyond expression. That is what arouses their most violent protest. The moderns, both conservatives and liberals, join with the unbelievers and infidels in loudly protesting that the Bible as it stands contains much that outrages their moral sensibilities. What the present age needs is an expurgated Bible; and since Verbal Inspiration stands for an unexpurgated …