Full Text for CTM Miscellanea 6-7 (Text)

. alBO dug er die Bchafe unterwe\5e, wle aie rechte ChrIsten BOllen oem. sondem auch daneben den Woelfen wehr., dea. aie die Schafe nlcht angreifen und mit falacher Lehre verfuehren und I rrtnm ein- fuehren. - Luther. Es ist kein Ding, daa die Leute mehr bel der Klrche behaelt denn die gute Predigt. - Apolo(Tie, Arl.!4. If the t rumpet give an uncertain BOUDd, wbo shall prepare himaelf to the hettie f 1 Cor. 4. s. Published for the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States CONCORDIA PUBLISHING H01J'SE, St. Louis, Mo. 532 Miscellanea. Miscellanea. The Common Service and the "Kyrie." It is one of the strangest phenomena in the history of liturgics that the beautiful order of service for the morning worship, properly called the Holy Communion, is so frequently abbreviated and mutilated. In spite of the fact that the service was explained in a series of articles in the Lutheran Witness a few decades and again a few years ago, and in spite of the fact that we have detailed cxplanations of the sequence and the significance of the several parts which make up this beautiful unit of art (the book by Cooper and othel's, The Oornrnon Se'l'vioe, also Kretzmann, Ohristian A1·t), a gOOf) many pastors persist in foisting inferior con- glomerations upon their people. One of the greatest sufferers in the several sections of the service is the Kyrie, which some liturgists continue to regard as a cry for forgiveness. But a glance at various passages of the Bible will show that the cry is used chiefiy as a plea for help in the sufferings which are the consequence of sin, not primarily as a cry for grace. See Matt. 9,27; 15,22; Mark 10,47.48; Luke 18,39; Matt. 17,15; Luke 16,24; 17,13. The idea of the Kyrie is that the believer, having re- ceived the assurance of the forgivencss of his sins, becomes importunate and also begs the I,ord to alleviate or eliminate the sufferings which are the result of sin. If the wide-spread divergence in the use of home-made orders of service continues, a later age will have reason to apply the name "period of liturgical confusion" to our present age. P. E. K. The Easter Sequence "Victimae Paschali." This beautiful sequence (Kehrein, Sequentiae Latinae, 81; Wacker- nagel, Das deutsohe Ki1'ohenlied, I, 130; CONCORDIA THEOL. MONTHLY, II, 265), concerning whose authorship Julian still cxprcssed doubts, has again been ascribed to Wipo the Burgundian (first half of the eleventh century). In an article in the Ame"iaan Ohuroh MvntMy fen April, 1935, William P. Sears, Jr., of New York University, definitely makes this state- ment: Wipo was a contemporary of such poets as Fulbert of Chartres, St. Peter Damian, and St, Anselm. "'fhe Viotimae Pasohali," writes Mr. Sears, "is rhythmic rather than metrical in form. It is dramatic in character and, in the early days, was connected with the Easter dramas that were performed in the Church as part of the worship of the joyous season and as early as the thirteenth century became a portion of the Officium SepuZcri." Luther made this sequence the b3,sis of one of his beautiful hymns, "Oh1-ist lag in Todesbanden." P. E. K. Records of the Busy Pastor. From a recent conference paper, which stressed the need of keeping careful and faithful records, especially in the case of pastors of large parishes, we select the following items as being worthy of study. A faithful, conscientious pastor should have- 1. A complete register of all families and of all individual members of his parish, Miscellanea. 533 2. An exact register of communicants, which at one glance will show the frequency of communions and the participation of the individual. 3. A complete register of souls, which should certainly include all bap- tized members of the parish and may also have a special section devoted to children attending the Sunday-school who are not yet baptized, also to mission prospects with whom work is being done. 4. Lists of all the members of the Sunday-school, of the parish-school,. of the Saturday-school, of the summer-school, etc. 5. Lists of the membership of all organizations under the auspices of the congregation. 6. A record of all visits, whether these were pastoral visits, sick-calls,. or mission-calls. 7. A register of all sermons and addresses, with text, time, and other notes. 8. A record of all official acts performed in his capacity as pastor (bap- tisms, confirmations, marriages, funerals, etc.). In addition, many pastors have found it advisable and valuable to keep a record of the rcttendance at all services, of all activities which take plrcce under the auspices of the various church organizations and which properly come under his supervision, also a file for the summaries of all meetings that are held Ullder the auspices of the congregation. This can be done with a fair degree of ease if the secretaries of all societies are furnished with large cards prepared for that purpose and are in- structed to send in the gist of the transactions within a day or two after meetings are held (the various young people's societies, guilds, ladies' aids, men's clubs, etc.). Since the p'1stor will not be present at all the meetings and yet carries the final rcspnnsibility, an arrangement of this type has proved very valuable. P. E. K. The Swan Song of the "Theological Magazine." From the final issue of the 'l'heologiaal Magazine of the EvangeUcal Synod of North America we glean the following statements. In an article entitled Der Be7cenntnispl1,'ag1'l1ph der neuen KiTche, by Dr. G. Fr. Schuetze, we are told: "Wir nehmen nicht den Standpunkt eines Flacius oder Ams- dod ein, sondern vielmehr clen MelanehthullB. . .. Wt!nn wir die histori- schen Bekenntnisse der veiden Kirchen als Lehrgrundlage anerkennen und annehmen, so hat das ja einen gewissen negativen, begrenzenden Wert, indem es aIle antirefnrmatorischen und ultrareformatorischen Lehren aus- schliesst. Abel' wir geraten aus del' Scylla in die Charybdis, da sich viele del' historischen Bekenntnisse kontradiktorisch gegenueberstehen. . .. Rine Verpfiiehtung auf aile historischen Bekenntnisse ist ohne-sit venia vC1-bo - theologische Akrobatenkunststueckchen unmoeglich. Zudem wolle man bedenken, dass viele del' Bekenntnisse eben we iter nichts sind als histo- ,.ische Dokumente·, die abel' heute keine p1"ak(;ische Bedeutung mehr haben. . . . Unsere Zeit ist, wenn man so sagen dad, bekenntnismuede." Here surely are many self-accusations. In the editorials we find the following statements: "We believe in Bible criticism, in progressive revelation, in new viewpoints, and in the union of kindred denominations and the liberal interpretation of their confessions. . .. The Lutherans of the stricter type 534 Miscellanea. still believe in the literal inspiration of the Bible. Everything that is in the Old or ~ ew Testament (sic!) is to be understood just as it reads. Jonah was actually in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, and the prophet spent that time in prayer and meditation. Joshua said in the sight of Israel, 'Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon!' .And the sun hasted not to go down about a whole day. To understand this as a literal, bare faet strains belief, but the Lu- therans take reason captive and let faith triumph. Such an attitude in the twentieth century is doubtless a handicap in a number of ways. Still an uncompromising spirit has its great compensations, and the Lutherans have grown and prospered beyond anything that either the Evangelicals or the Reformed can boast of. Nevertheless, for us it is impossible to apply the methods of criticism to all other literature and traditions and refuse to do it in the case of the Bible. . .. In our childhood - perhaps much later - we read the story of the temptation (Gen. 3) and took it in a literal sense. It was a real serpent and a real apple [? J-tree. We wondered how a serpent could speak; but then we were used to animals speakhlg from the fables of the child world." There is much more of the same kind. And we wonder how a man who still desires to be known as a Bible theologian can write thus. P. E. K. Stammt her imenfdj bon einem affcniifjnHdjclt (S)efdjij~f ao? :;'5n "i)'otfcfjungen unb 5'ottfcfjtitte" bom 1. mUito 1936 fcfjtdOt ~tof. Dr. llna!; m5eften~ofet~metIin: "llneine in ben letten bietaefjn :;'5.a~ten an~ gefterrten betgleicfjenb~motp~ologifcfjen Untetfucfjungen bet l1.1icfjtigften SfotjJet~ gegenben bet m5iroeItiete, oefonbet£l bet @5iiugetiete, unb be£l llnenfcfjen, bie ielj foeoen mit ber Untetfucfjung lioer bie 5'ormfJUbung bon @e~irn unb @Scfjabef aogefcfjloffen ~aoe, ~aoen immet me~r ttiftige Uniedagen fur b i e Un~ar±lJatfei± bet SDatl1.1in~.x:>aecfelfcfjen 5t~eorie bet U 0 ft a m m u n g b e £l IDe e n f cfj e n b 0 m U f fen oeigeoracfjt. :;'5m @egen~ fat tlU biefet ~eorie ~aoe icfj tleigen fiinnen, bat bet IDeenfcfj in ber IDee~r~ aa~l fetner forperIicfjen IDeerfmale, 3. m . .5anb, i)'ut, )Beaen, m5irlieIfi+ltf~, @ScfjilbeI, @e~irnanlage unb cinigm inneren Organen, primitib geoIieben ift un!) in geraber, eigener Binie auf ben aHgemeinen @runb±\JjJu£l ber @5iiuge~ Here, aoer nicf)t aUf irgenbeine 'lJej1immte ~ierform, in£loef.onbere nicfji aUf bie Uffen, tlUtlicfgefii~rt l1.1etben fann. . .. @50 ~alJen l1.1ir ein ~ierfacfje£l, l1.1a£l !)ie IDeenicfj)UerDung, bie 5trennung beB liJcenfcfjen bom ~ier, oebing±e: 1. ba£l afiibe \lCufricf)ten bc£l Stiirper£l, 2. bie fofortige biiIlige mefrehmg ber .'gaub, 3. ben @rl1.1erlJ ber GjJracge unb 4. ba£l mel1Ja~ten dner finbIicfjen liHbfamen @e~irnfotm. . .. Uuf @runb feine£l @5ptacfj~ unb- SDenfbermogen£l unb m5erfaeuggeoraucfj£l unb bet bamU aufammen~iingenben @5cfjiipfung ber Shtrtur ... un±erfcljcibet et ficfj grunbfiitIicfj bon aUen 5tieren, fo bat man ifjm cine ® 0 nbc r f I a f f e: WI en f cfj, 3ubiUigen t11ltt. Uucfj au£l ber mei~e b'er ~rimaten ift er au en±fernen; er ift getDiff ermaten ba£l U llnb 0 ber @5iiugeHerl1.1elt." m5it otaucfjen cine berartige meftiitigung nicgt, um bie m5a~r~eit ber @5cfjtift ilU oetDeifen - unb bet ~etfaffet gIaubt nicfjt au ben oibIifcfjen @5cfjopfung£loericfjt -, aoer e£l ift in±erefjant, 3ll erfa~ren, bat cine nlicfj±erne llnterfucfjung gIeicfjfam aUt meftiitigung be£l @5cfjopfltng£l~ oericgt£l bienen mul3. ~. @i. Sl!.