Full Text for CTM Book Review 2-8 (Text)

ber fauff begeuft, f>o j oIt es bod) jio fel)n, unb tnete red)t, bas nad) fauft bes l110rilein "tauffe" man bas finb obber \)g lid) en, ber taujft tnitt, gcmt lj\)ne\)n \)nf> tnafjer fendt unb taufft unb tnibbet etaufl 3uglje, ban aud) anatne\)ffeU, \)n 5i)eutf d)et: ~ungen, bas tnortlein "tauff" ~er tum1Jt bon bem tnOtt "Hejfe", bas man Heff \Jns tnafjer fen~ det, tnas man tauffet. 5i)as fobert aud) bie bebeutung ber tauff, ban fie liebeut, bas bet aIte menfd) unb junblid)e ge1Jurt bon fle\Jfc!) unb lilut loll gant erfeujft tnetben burd) bie gnab gob tis. tnie tnit fliiten tnetben. 5i)rumb jolt' man bet lie~ beutung gnug tlJun unb e\)n ted)ts uoltommens te\)ef)en geben. (lffieimarer ~usgulie, II,727.) Book Review. - £itetatut. (!';iu bcr aIte Iffienfd) unb ftinblid)e ®eburt bon t\'feild) unb mlut foil gana erfauft tnerben burd) bie ®nabe ®ottes j tuie tntr lJiiren tnerben. 5i)arum lollte man bet mebeutung genugtun unb ein ted)t bolltommenes {leid)en ge~ lien. (6t. £ouijet ~us, gabe, X, 2112.) 635 @in ~ml!nn bpI! bern liei- ligen, ~od)\tllirbigcl! !Salra. mcnt bcr ~aufe. A. mom 9lamen unb aUEe, ten moll3ug ber ~aufe (bom ,,{leid)en" ber ~aufe). 1. 5i)er ~egriff bes ~au, fens fd)lieflt ben ®eban, ten bes (l;intaud)ens in fid). (l;tftens. 5i)idaufe !:)eifit aUf gtied)ifd) baptismos, aUf lateinifd) mersio; bas bebeutet, bat man ettnas gana ins Iffiaffer taucf)t, fo ba13 eil tinct i!:)m aUf am~ menge!:)±. 91un ift es 3 111 at an bie!en ,orten nid)t me!:)r ~taud), bie ~inber gana in bas ~auftnaffet au berfen!en unb cin3u~ taud)en, f onbern man be, giejit fie nut nod) mit bet &"danb aus bem~aufl11affer. ~HJet es follte bod) fo fein unb es tntire red)t, bafl man, tniees bas lffiiirHein ,,~aufell befagt, bas SHnll (b3tn. jeben, ber getauft tnitb) gan3 ins Iffiaff er !:)ineinf enffe unb daud)te, um es bann tniebet l:)et, aus3u3ieljen. 5i)enn stnei~ feUDs !ommt aud) in ber beutf d)en 61Jrad)e bas mliittlein "~aufel/ bon bem Iffiort ,,:tiefe" l:)eT, tneH man tief ins Iffiaffet lenti, tnas man tauft. 5i)as etforbert aud) bie ~ebeu~ tung bet :taufe; benn fie bebeuiet, tnie tnir l:)iiren tnerben, bafl ber aftc Iffienfd) unb bie ftinblid)e ®e{lutt bon t\'leifd) unb ~lut gans erfauft tnerben foll burd) bie ®nabe ®ob tes. 5i)arum foll man ber ~ebeutung entf1Jred)enb lJanbeln unb ein red)tes, bofifommenes {leid)en ba~ ftir geben. (G£'altner ~us~ gabe, I, 351.) Iffian edennt auf ben erften mUd: 5i)ie Iffieimaret ~u5gabe Dietet £utl:)ers Iffiorie gana genau, tnie er fie gefd)rieben l:)at, !a13t fief) aber eben besljalb bon cinem UngetiOten nid)t leid)t unb glatt lefen; bie 6t. £ouifet ~usgabe bietet aud) £utl:)ers mlotte gana genau, abet in l:)eutiget 6d)teibtneif e unb :;'Snter1Junftion i bie G£'altner ~u5gabe lieft fid) glatt unb fd)iin unb ift iebermann berfttinblid), ba fie einae!ne mlorte tinbert unb bie 6at!onftmftion bereinfad)t. ~net barf man tnirflid) fo mit l3utl:)er umgel:)en? Unb tneld)e I)Jliigfict)feiten entftel)en, tnenn bet meatbeitet nun einmal bom £utl:)erte!;t fid) nod) fteier mad)t unb babel, bielleid)t 636 Book Review. -~- mtcratur. o~ne e§i aU wollen, eigene lJiuffajfungen unb ®ebanten eintriigt1 Unb luitb ntd)t oft getabe bie unnael)a~m{id)e ~tctft unb ®ue!)t ber I5prael)e £ut~ers bedoren" ge~en 7 ~n bet ~inleitung lefen wtr, ba~ jtd) ber oetannte £utl)erfotfel)er lJ}rof. ~manuer &;litfe!) in ®iitttngen (eoen iett nae!) stuotngen berfett) nie!)t mit bet mel)anblung bes £utl)erbeutfe!) in biefer lJiusgaue einberftanben edfiiren ronnte, ouwol)l er fonft mit feinem roetibollen ffiat gebient ~at. ~e!) bermute, ba~ er euen basf due mebenfen ~at, uber bas ie!) nie!)t I)inwegfommen fann, wenn iel) aue!), nae!)bem ie!) cine ffiei~e \Jon I5teUen in biefer neuen lJiusgaue ge1efen I)aue, fagen mu~, ba~ jte witHie!) jtd) fe!)iin unb leid)t fefen, was namentIid) fur fold)e me" beutung I)aoen fann, bie £utf)er nod) nie gelefen (lauen. lJioer man fann jte!) fel)nell in \)utf)er f)ineinlefen, unb wie faft jeber lJ}aftor ein griiteres englife!)es mliirteruue!) uejttt unb georaue!)t, fo gef)iirt aud) ein orbentfiel)es beutfe!)es ®iirier" oue!) in eine lJ}famrsbioliotl,Jet. ®it uemeden 3um l5el)lu~, ba~ biefe lJiusgaoe aUf fee!)s manbe uereel)net ift, unb nae!)bem manb I "ben mannertriiger bes (;\;ban" geliums" geurae!)t f)at, follen bie folgenben manbe unter biefen @ejte!)tspunften \)utl)erfel)e l5e!)tiften btingen: manb II: ,,:Det maf)nuree!)er el)tifUiel)er \)eoens" orbnung"; manb III: ,,:Det ,seuge aUf ber ~an3el"; manb IV unb V: "Sl)er :Dol" tor ber &;leHigen l5d)rift"; manD VI: ,,:Der ffieformator tm ~ampf um ~bangelium unb ~irel)e.u \). jJ u tor i n g e r. Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly. Vol. IV, No.2, July, 1931. 64 pages, 6X9. Subscription, $2.00 a year. We take great pleasure a.gain to call attention to this periodical, the official organ of the Concordia Historical Institute, of which Prof. W. G. Polack, 800 De Mun Ave., St. Louis, Mo., is editor-in-chief. The purpose of this periodical is to offer contributions bearing on the history of the Lutheran Church, particularly of the synods composing the Synodical Conference. The present issue offers the following articles: Our First Col- lege at Milwaukee; Two Interesting Visitors in St. Paul, Minn., during August, 1856; Early Lutherans and Lutheran Churches i;;' America; Hein- rich Wunder, D. D.; The Lutheran Church in Nova Scotia. Subscriptions should be sent to Mr. Theo. Eckhart, 3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, Mo., while literary contributions should be mailed to the editor-in-chief. There are many interesting incidents in the long history of our Church which should be brought to the attention of the Church before they are alto- gether forgotten. Let pastors and laymen take an active interest in the splendid work carried on oJ the Historical Institute. TH. LAETSCH. The Spirit of Protestantism. By H. E. KiTk, D. D., LL. D., Minister of the Franklin Street Presbyterian Church and Professor of Bib- lical Literature in Goucher College, Baltimore; Sometime Mod- erator of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (1928); Summer Preacher in the Westminster Chapel, London (1922-27); Annual Lecturer on Historical Christianity at Princeton University (since 1923), etc. Cokesbury Press, Nashville, Tenn. 233 pages, 5%X7%,. Cloth. Price, $2.00. There are various reasons why we believe this volume of lectures will appeal to the Lutheran reader. In the first place, it is the literary product of a scholar who is widely known for his great learning, his consummate Book Review. - £itetatut. 637 skill in lecturing, and his loyal adherence to Fundamentalism, also, we may add, for his intense earnestness and evident sincerity. Again, its contents are the "Cole Lectures for 1930," delivered annually since 1903 before the faculty and student-body of the Religious School of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. Apologetic and controversial in character, these lectures enter profoundly into the spirit of the subject and evince a keen analysis of the present situation in theology and religion, point- ing out at the same time the only effective cure of the abysmal chaos which prevails because modern theology has rejected both the Bible and the Christ of the Bible. Lastly, these lectures were held in commemo- ration of the great protest of 1529 and the still greater confession at Augsburg of 1530. All these factors cooperate in arresting one's atten- tion from the start. The first five lectures in the book are introductory; the culmination is reached in the last lecture, "The Choice before Us: Altar or Pulpit 1" in which the author really discusses and analyzes his theme, "The Spirit of Protestantism." The introductory lectures treat the following sub- jects: "The Conflict of Religion with Secularism" (the earthly, unbe- lieving, irreligious, materialistic philosophy of to-day); "The Collapse of the Secular Program" ("The secular rival of religion ... is now found i.nadequate, and man is beginning to search for some resource beyond nature," p. 85); "The Spiritual Susceptibility in the Modern World" ("I discern on time's horizon ... a new spiritual sensibility, which beyond reasonable doubt indicates that the modern man is getting ready to re- consider religion as the only solution of his important problems," p. 92) ; "The Place of Jesus Christ in His Own Religion" ("Instead of boldly preaching salvation in the name of ,Tesus, we go about trying to prove that religion is true," p. 143; "Paul has stated the truth with convincing potency: 'God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.' That was the burden of apostolic preaching," p. 149; "This redemptive appeal is the only one that reaches the depths of human necessity," p. 160) ; "Aspects of the Coming Reformation" ("I believe in the future of our Reformed faith not only because it effectively purged the idolatrous ele- ments from the Church of the Middle Ages, but also because it is more needed now as the chief opponent of the debasing and soul-chilling secu- larism which has grown out of the very forces that occasioned the Refor- mation," p. 176) . After thus preparing the way for a proper discussion of the main issue, the author, in his last lecture, "The Choice before Us: Altar or Pulpit?" takes up his subject, "The Spirit of Protestantism," and ana- lyzes it thoroughly with a view to finding the essence of the Protestant heritage to which the present Church must adhere. The spirit of Protes- tantism he defines as "the conviction that the deed of God which gives a foundation for communion is in preaching the Gospel of salvation to mankind" (p. 216). "Protestantism," he says, "is the expression of the New Testament conception of Christianity. Everything that savors of ecclesiasticism, ritualism, sacerdotal ministries, gradations of clergy, everything, in fact, that subordinates the essential message, the good news of God, is alien to Protestantism, as indeed it is foreign to the 638 Book Review. - l3iterntm:. New Testament, the charter of our faith and practise. The message carries with it the great truths of an open Bible, a divine Lord, an aton- ing Savior, salvation by faith, a holy life by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and good works in the name of Jesus. This is the essence of our Protestant faith. We have the best reasons for holding it, and the essen- tial expression of it is, and must always be, the preaching of the Word" (p. 221 ff.). In the foregoing we have endeavored to present the main subjects which the book discusses, together with the author's guiding principles and his chief replies to the questions which each suggests. There is much to commend in the volume, much that is gratifying also to the Lutheran theologian. Nevertheless the book also presents glaring faults. Its prin- cipal shortcoming is perhaps its indefiniteness, both in diction and sub- stance. Extolling Christ, the author does not tell us who that Christ is; speaking of Christ's redemptive work, he fails to point out just wherein it consisted; arguing for acceptance of the Gospel, he does not define the "good news of God." Thus we find also in this volume the chief fault of modern Fundamentalism, which so moves in the vague realm of gen- eralities that after all one is in doubt whether an author has the full truth or not. What is needed to-day, when in theology the traditional words and expressions are so cleverly juggled, is more than a vague gen- eral statement - the Christian confessor must "come down to brass tacks." Nothing else will do. Dr. Kirk, as he himself says with much emphasis, is a Calvinist. As such, we know, the real spirit of Protestantism, the essence of which finds its expression in the Lutheran slogans Bola Soriptura, Bola gratia, Bola fide, the spirit of Luther and of the Augsburg Confession, with its insistence on Scripture as the only source and norm of faith and on justification by grace, through faith in Christ, as the only way to salvation, is thoroughly uncongenial to him. He disavows the "Protes- tant principle as held by Luther" and writes: "The Protestant principle as held by Luther differed from that of Zwingli and Calvin; whereas the protest of Luther was aimed at Jewish elements in the old faith and his principle was that of justification by faith, the protest of Zwingli and Calvin went deeper and aimed at the pagan elements in the old faith and made the conception of divine sovereignty in salvation the funda- mental principle of the Reformed faith. And this latter, beyond ques- tion, is the essential theological principle of the Reformed churches throughout the world to-day" (p. 172) . By "the spirit of Protestantism" Dr. Kirk then means the spirit of Zwingli and Calvin, and the rational- istic spirit of Zwingli and Calvin means unionism, and unionism fears to probe the doctrines to the core lest there be trouble in the camp of the Church. And so, while there is Fundamentalism, there is indefinite- ness, and there are generalities, which are not found in the New Testa- ment, nor in the ancient Christian creeds, nor in the Augsburg Confession, nor in the true spirit of Protestantism, which gave to the world Witten- berg, and Worms, and Augsburg, and Marburg. But it is just this true spirit of Protestantism which alone is the "opponent of the debasing and soul-chilling secularism which has grown out of the very forces that occasioned the Reformation." J. T. MUELLER. Book Review. - mtetatut. 639 :l)nl5 lI5nffion15U3itntib liei s;?einridj I5djiii.! nnb feine ftilgefdjidjtlidjen Wtnnb= lngen. SOtud unb met lag bon ~. !Betie!§mann in @.Iiltet~lo~. 218 @5eiten 6%X9%, in Sleintuanb mU SOedel. unb lRildentUel gebunben. !j.\rei!l: M.Il. ~g ift eine mufifgefef)ief)tnef)e unb aiemlief) teef)nifef)e @5ef)tift, bie un~ ~iet 1Jotliegt, bie abet folef)e, bie tiefer in bie grofle .Riref)enmufif ber lut~etifef)en .Riref)e einbringen tuoUen, fe~r intereffieren bilrfte. SOenn Sjeinrief) @5ef)il~ ift einer bet ,groflen !meiftet - saeculi sui musicus excellentissimus tuutbe bon i~m ge. fagt -, ber gleief) naef) ~. @5. !Baef) aU nennen ift, bon bem er fief) aber auef) tief unterfef)eibe±, tuie benn auef) ber !mann, ber in neueret ,8eU um bie !ffiilrbigung beiber !meifter fief) ~oef)berbient gemaef)t ~at, ber befannte ~~eolog {'rriebrief) @5.pitta, lifted ettuag ~umoriftif ef) ber lI!Baef).unb.@5ef)il~.@5.pUtall genantit Illirb. SOag muef) 3erfiiUt nad) einer ~inlettung (@5. 5-15) in gtuei groflere ~eile: 1. ,8ur @.Ie. fd)ief)te bet ~~oral.paffion bot @5ef)il~ (@5. 16-75) unb 2. SOie @5ologefiinge in ben !j.\affionen bon Sjeinrief) @5ef)il~ (@5. 76-216). ~in !namenberaeief)ni!l, bag bier. 3e~n merroeife aUf ~usfil~rungen ilber Slut~er unb elf aUf Slut~ed {'rteunb unb mUfilalifef)en !Berater ~o~ann !ffiart~er, unb atuar ilfter~ me~rfettige, ent~iilt, ief)Ueflt bag fd)one !Buef). Sl. if il r b r i n g e r. This New Education. By Herman Harrell Horne. The Abingdon Press, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago. 280 pages, 51JtX7%. Price, $2.00. Doctor Horne, professor of the Philosophy of Education at New York University, has published a number of books in his field, notably: Christ in Man-makingj Jesus-Our Standard. His viewpoint is not that of one who sees in Christ, first and foremost, the Redeemer and Substitute of man- kind in the work of vicarious atonement. But in this new book his pe- culiar viewpoints do not come to the front quite as strongly as elsewhere, except in the last part of the book, where he gives as the final aim of edu- cation "the upbuilding of humanity in the image of Divinity as revealed in Christ Jesus." The author's viewpoint throughout this section is that of present-worldliness, or the social gospel. But the first chapters of the book contain much useful information on the old education as well as on the new, or progressive, education. All the latest movements are briefly, but adequately defined. If one wishes to be informed on the present status of pedagogy and on the philosophy of education, including that of Dewey, this book will give excellent service. P. E. KRETZMANN. The Geological Ages Hoax. A Plea for Logic in Theoretical Geology. By George MoCready Prioe. Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, Chicago, London, Edinburgh. 126 pages, 5X71Jt. Price, $1.25. Order from Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. Every searcher for the truth ought to be very grateful for this latest book by Doctor Price, whose earlier books, for instance, The New Geology and Q. E. D., brought such excellent information. The present book is not a learned dissertation, but a splendid summary of the fundamental argu- ments against the vagaries of theoretical geology, with its "onion-skin theory" and other hypotheses. The author himself states: "This book is devoted to just one idea.' It is a criticism of the claims of geologists that they are able to differentiate the fossils into groups, or sets, which have definite time-values of world significance" (p. 7). The promise of the 640 Book Review. - \literatur. preface is carried out in the body of the book in a most cOllvincing way> the headings of some of the chapters reading: Which Are the Oldest Fos- sils 1 Missing Ages; Skipping Many Ages; Reversing the Ages; Some Ice-age Nonsense. The book will be of great value to everyone who wishes to orientate himself on the present status of the difficulties concerned. P. E. KRETZ MANN. G:ingegangene ~iidjCt. ;I)arUllt fiitdjten wir ltlt~ nidjt. D. We art i n % f) 0 m. ~. ~et±ersmanlt, @literslof). 106 ESeiten. M. 2. (\)eredjt nun ~clfig alt~ (\)uancu. St ~ e ct f) au S. 133 ESeHen. Si'atto~ niert: M.2.40; gebunben: M.3.50. lRcne ~irdjlidje ,3cltfdjrift. S)etausgegeben bon ~. ~etgbolt, %f). ,(laf)n nnb anbern. ~eidJett, 13eiNig. ~af)rgang 42, .l;ieft 1. iJ'. lBeit: ,(lum neuen ~af)t; lR. ~elte: ~ie gegenmattige 13age bet %f)eo!o\1ie; S'~. ~rutlJ: ffilel)tbeutige .I;i~rten~ morte; %f). !illotfcf)fe: ffilattl)aus ~nerian; ~. ~cr(JboH: ,(leHfcl)riften~lRunbfcf)au. - .l;ieft 2. ~ . .l;ieber: ffilal,; ESdJelers ~ljanomenologie bet @ottesetfenntniS; .I;i. lBor~ mal)l: ~He~fdJe, ~urctl)arbt unb ber .l;iiftotismus; iJ'. ~el)le: Si'af~at EStoiSf)agen; ~. ~er\1bolt: ,(leitfcf)tiften~\Runbfcf)au. - S'deft 3. Si'. ~ornl)aufet: ~ie Si'reu3es~ abnal)me unb bas ~egrabniS ~~fu; Ill. \Romer: \Rationale unb irtationale ffilo~ mente in ber ESe61talfrage; %1J. SIIIotfd)te: ffilattl)ausffi1etian (EScf)lut); ~. ~erg~ bolt: ,(leitfd)rif±en~\Runbfd)au. - ~~eft 4. ~ . .l;ielier: ~)la!: EScf)elers ~rtenntniStf)eorie bet \Religion; ,It @raber: ~l)rifmdJer ffiloniSmus in !illeltanfcf)auung unb 13ebens~ flif)tUng; Si'. @rot: S'Jofeas ~influt auf ~eremias IllnfdJauungen; ~. ~er(JboIt: ,(leitf dJtiften~\Runbf cf)au. ::t~eorogie bet (\)cgeultJllri. .l;ietausgegeben bon Si'. ~etf), D. ~lierf)arb uub aubern. ~eid)ett, 13el~3i(J. ~af)rgang 25. ftverfid)ten liber ~euetfcf)einungen in ber tf)eologifcf)en 13iteraiur. .l;ieft l.lR. @tli~macf)er: Si'itcf)engefcf)id)te, Illltertum unb ffiHttelafter. 34 ESeiten. - .l;ief± 2 . .I;i. ~reut: Si'ircf)engefcf)icf)te, \Reformation viS @egentoart. 27 ESeHen. - &"deft 3. .I;i. ~reut: ~f)tifmcf)e Si'unf±. 20 ESeiten. - .l;ieft 4. .I;i.!ill. EScf)omcrus: