C!tnurnrbia UJ4rnlngiral !Ioutl}ly Continuing LEHRE UNO WEHRE MAGAZIN FUER E v.-LuTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY -T{-IEOLOGICAL M ONTHLY Vol.XVD May, 1946 No.5 CONTENTS ~ The Missouri Synod and English Work. H. B. Hemmeter __________ 321 The Revised Standard Version of the New Testament. W. Arndt 333 p4G and Textual Criticism. Elmer Moeller ______________ _ __ 340 Outlines on the Standard Epistle Lessons ___ ________ 351 ' Miscellanea __ .__ ___________________ __ .. __ 368 Theological Observer __ __ ______ _ .. _ ____ _______ ________ _ 315 Book Review _____ _ __ _______________ ____ _ _________ _________ 395 E1n Prediger murm nicht alleln wei- den, also dass er die Schate unter- weise. wie sie rechte Christen sollen seln. sondern auch daneben den Woel- fen wehren, dass sle die Schafe nicht angl'eifen und mit f alscher Lehre ver- fuehren und Irrtum elnfuehren. LutheT Es ist I[ein Ding. daB die Leute mehr bel del' Klrche behaelt denn die gute Predigt. - Apologie , Art. 24 If the trumpet give an unceI'tain sound. who shall prepare himself to the battle? -1 COT. 14:8 Published by the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States CONCORDIA PUBLISHING BOUSE, St. ~ouis 18, Mo . • mna: Of u. B. A. Concordia Theological Monthly Vol. XVII MAY, 1946 No.5 The Missouri Synod and English Work By H. B. HEMMETER (Written at the Request of Synod's Centennial Committee) The Missouri Synod, which is about to celebrate its cen- tennial in 1947, has been known in the past largely as a German-speaking body. Its interest and its activity in Lu- theran church work in the English language are not so gen- erally known or understood. The fact is that both the Saxon and the Franconian founders from the very beginning were interested in, and anxious to do, service in the language of their new homeland. Already before the organization of Synod in 1847 the Saxons in 1838 established their Concordia Academy in Altenburg, Missouri, enrolling at the very start one who was preparing to preach the Gospel in the English language and another to preach to the Indians. The Fran- conian fathers almost simultaneously with their German work began their mission among the Indians. Moreover, one of the very founders of Synod, Pastor Brohm, is known to have preached in English to the English-speaking people in Perry County, Missouri, in Synod's earliest days. The question then arises as to how it came about that the Missouri Synod during the first fifty years of its existence engaged so predominantly in German work. The answer, of course, lies clearly on the surface for all those who are con- versant with the conditions which confronted the Synod at that time. During those years the energies of the body were 21 322 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND ENGLISH WORK pre-empted by the great need for German preaching among the German settlers in the East and West, especially among those who were coming to this country during that time and who settled in the Middle West, the Northwest, and in Canada in continuously growing numbers. It was a matter of doing the work which lay closest at their door and for which the Synod was best fitted. Their preoccupation and self-exhausting work among the Germans during these first fifty years of Synod's existence did not, however, change Synod's attitude toward English missionary work. There may have been individuals who by reason of local experience or interests, or for other reasons, lacked adequate vision in this matter, just as is generally the case in larger bodies of men on matters of policy. But whatever may have been the reaction of one or the other here and there, Synod as such and its leaders furnish no justification for a claim of lack of interest in the English cause. This fact is evident in Synod's official attitude during the first fifty years of its history toward the then largely English Tennessee Synod. That synod by that time had gone through its transi- tion from German to English and had preserved its conserva- tive confessional character. In spite of Missouri's absorbing work, often quite exhausting, meeting the demands of German people demanding spiritual attention, Dr. C. F. W. Walther, Missouri's great leader, and others with him found time to show their good will and to lend their influence to those staunch contenders for the faith in the great Southeast. Note the following records gleaned from the minutes of the Ten~ nessee Synod as contained in Henkel's History of that body. In its 28th session in 1848 that Synod resolved: "That we rejoice to learn that some of our German Lu- theran brethren in the West have formed themselves into a synod, called 'The German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States,' and that they are publish- ing a German. paper, styled Der L'Utheraner, which is devoted to the promulgation and defense of the primitive doctrines and usages of the Lutheran Church; to which paper we would call the attention of our German brethren." (Henkel's History, etc., pp. 119-120.) In 1853, only a few years after the organization of The Missouri Synod, official relations between Tennessee and Mis- THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND ENGLISH WORK 323 souri had been established. According to Henkel's History, page 137, the records of Tennessee read: "No. 10 is a letter from Rev. A. Biewend, a member of the Missouri Synod, in which he informs us that he was appointed a delegate to this body, but that, owing to intervening cir- cumstances, he was prevented from attending. He also ex- presses the hope and desire that a more intimate acquaintance may be formed between these two bodies." "Your committee would recommend the following for adoption: - "Resolved, 1. That we duly appreciate the kind regard of the Missouri Synod and that we also desire a more in- timate acquaintance with them and that we appoint Rev. J. R. Moser a delegate to the next session of that SynO(V' Letters from the Revs. Theo. Brohm and A. Hoyer, both of the Missouri Synod, were received and printed in full in the minutes. Compare Henkel, pp.139-140. In 1854 the Tennessee Synod minutes record: "The Rev. Theodore Brohm of the Missouri Synod being present, the following preamble and resolutions were unan- imously adopted: - "WHEREAS, The Rev. Theodore Brohm of the city of New York, delegate of the Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, has appeared amongst us and we are assured from personal interviews with him as well as from other sources of information that the synod which he represents adheres strictly to the doctrines of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as exhibited in her confessional standards and are zealously and actively engaged in promoting the interest of the Re- deemer's kingdom; be it therefore "Resolved, 1. That we are highly gratified to see Brother Brohm in our midst. "Resolved, 2. That we fully and cheerfully reciprocate the kind and fraternal feelings expressed and manifested to- wards us by the Missouri Synod. "Resolved, 3. That we will endeavor to cultivate a more intimate acquaintance and a closer union with the Missouri Synod. "Resolved, 4. That for this purpose Rev. Socrates Henkel be appointed a delegate from this body to the Eastern division 324 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND ENGLISH WORK [District] of the Missouri Synod to be held in Baltimore and that Rev. J. R. Moser be appointed our delegate to the Western division [District] of said synod at its next session." (Henkel's History, etc., p. 141.) The close connection of this fraternal exchange of mem- bers of the two synods culminated in the forming of the English Conference of Missouri, in 1872, at which the Revs. Polycarp C. Henkel and Jonathan R. Moser, both Tennessean pastors, were present, joining in with Dr. C. F. W. Walther and the Rev. Ch. S. Kleppisch of Missouri. This Conference in 1889 became the English Synod of Missouri. Connected with and in harmony with this official relation between Missouri and Tennessee, many printed items in Mis- souri publications might be recorded. Outstanding among them we find an essay of the Rev. F. W. Foehlinger, printed by resolution of Synod in Lehre und Wehre (Vo1. XI, No. 8, pp. 236 fl.) in the August number of 1865, by resolution of Synod. We may therefore consider this essay as a state- ment of synodical position. This essay advocates vigorous provision of English preaching within our own circles for the purpose of conserving the spiritual interests of the Anglicizing youth of our Church. The essay treats the matter very ex- tensively, meeting all arguments to the contrary, and so breathes the spirit of the missionary founders of our Synod, following also the principles, laid down by Synod in 1857, to be observed when English congregations are to be organized out of German congregations. Here are parts of the essay r eproduced: THE ESTABLISHING OF EV. LUTHERAN CONGREGATIONS AMONG OUR ENGLISH-SPEAKING DESCENDANTS I "Since, if we reason on the basis of former experience, it is very possible that our German descendants will pass over to the English language, therefore it is undoubtedly the sacred duty of the Lutheran Church to give care to this end that the pure doctrine of the Ev. Lutheran Church be pre- served in the English language for our descendants." In this essay reference is made to the experience of the past century, during which thousands of Germans came to this THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND ENGLISH WORK 325 country, whose descendants became English and so were lost to the pure Word and the Sacraments of the Lutheran Church. So it was with the Swedes in New Jersey. Even those im- migrants who came to this country on account of their faith, like the Salzburgers, who under their leaders, learned and faithful preachers, settled in Georgia, were in their descend- ants estranged from the Lutheran Church because they found no church which had the pure doctrine in the English language. So it will be also with our descendants; and it will be found a vain effort to keep them with the German language. The argument that the Gospel cannot be preached as powerfully and as fruitfully in the English as in the German language, it is stated, cannot be meant seriously, since the Gospel in the beginning was not preached in the German language. Since, moreover, the Apostles on the first Pente- cost proclaimed the wonderful works of God in divers tongues, which they had not before learned in the ordinary human ways, thereby the Lord has indicated that He would gather to Himself His Church by means of the Holy Ghost, who Him- self has created also the languages and given utterance, out of all tongues and nations by means of the Gospel, as also the commission of the Lord to His disciples in Matt. 28: 19 states. Moreover, if this claim were true, then one might also draw the conclusion that since the Holy Ghost on the first Pentecost did not preach in the German language, conse- quently also the Gospel could not be preached as well in the German language as, for instance, in the Greek language. However, this conclusion does not hold. Then the essayist cites quotations from Luther, which are ever worthy of repeating. From Walch, X, 270: "I do not at all hold with those who devote themselves completely to one language and look down upon all others. For I would like to raise such youth and people who also in foreign lands might be useful to Christ and converse with the people; so that it may not be with us as it was with the Waldensians in Bohemia, who have bound their faith so much into their own language. The Holy Spirit did not do thus in the beginning, He did not wait until all the world should come to Jerusalem and had learnt to know Hebrew, but He gave all tongues to the office of preaching, so that the Apostles were able to speak 326 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND ENGLISH WORK wherever they went. This example I will rather follow, that one exercise the youth in many tongues: who knows how God in time may use them. For this purpose also the schools are established." Again: in Luther's commentary on Genesis, W., I 1042: "When we therefore look through the history of all nations and times, then we find that from this dissimilarity and variety of languages many kinds of revolutions, wars, and changes in the customs and in religion have risen, and in addition thereto manifold ideas and notions. Therefore God by means of a new miracle desired to turn aside and to do away with such great plague and calamity." Then the essay continues: II "For the accomplishing of this aim, the preservation of the pure doctrine for the future, it is first of all necessary that the English language be fostered at our theological insti- tutions, with especial diligence under one professor, and that the graduating students become capable to preach in the English language with the necessary facility, and to establish and to defend the pure doctrine of the Lutheran Church over against the numberless heterodox churches and so-called Lu- therans of all kinds by means of word and script. ill "In preparation of this purpose it is certainly proper for the present that those younger preachers who are already conversant with the English language master the language as much as possible, in order to preach according to need to the now oncoming English youth, to give catechetical instruction and so in this way to build them up, so to say, alongside of the mother church, into a pure English Lutheran congregation. IV "Of indisputable necessity for the future, then, there is the translation of pure Lutheran literature, the dogmatic and catechetical as well as the recreational, besides Lutheran Church hymns. v "Desirable also is the founding of an Ev. Lutheran Church paper in the English language." THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND ENGLISH WORK 327 The foregoing shows that our fathers were awake to the needs of English preaching. Dr. C. F. W. Walther, at the time the editor of Lehre un