Qtnurnr~tu
mqrnlngiral flnntlJly
Continuing
LEHRE UND WEHRE
M GJlZlN F UER EV.-LUTH. HOMILETIK
THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLy-T HEOLOGICAL MONTHLY
Vol. XIV December, 1943
CONTENTS
The Reunion of ChristendoDl. i h Enr older
OUJlilcs 011 thE Old Standard G ,pel I ;sons
Theological OhslPfver
Book \ ill v
No . 12
P.\ge
817
852
865
882
Em Prcd1ger mU8!l nieh' ..nt- 'n wei-
den, also c 3l. !l' die SchJe cntc:-
weI!! • wi si~ l"Jl e Christen ~ lien
zein, ondL."'l ; ch w.neben den Woel-
fen wehnm. _ die Schafe nleht
angre1fen und IIh falscher Lehrc ver-
fu",hren und lrrtum e1r.luellr;m,
E 1st kdn Ding, das die Leute
mehr be' II Airche behaell denn
die gut !'r· - Apolog{l' Art. '
Zluther
U the trumpet give III Wlcertaln
lund, vho shall prep .. " jilin!.: l! to
L:II. !..U tle? -1 Cor. 11.'8
Published {or the
E". Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio. nn Other States
CON( ORDIA PUBlJSHlNG HOUSE, St. Lo
PU~ r.q u
882 Book Review
Book Review
All books reviewed in this periodical may be procured from or through Con-
cordia Publishing House, 3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis 18, Mo.
Lutheran Confessional Theology. A Presentation of the Doctrines of
the Augsburg Confession and the Formula of Concord. By C. H.
Little, D. D., S. T. D., Professor in the Evangelical Lutheran Semi-
nary of Canada [U. L. C.], Waterloo, Ontario. Concordia Publishing
House. 185 pages, 5x71J2. Price, $1.25.
It would be a good thing if people were somewhat better acquainted
with the confessions of the Lutheran Church. Some years ago Professor
W. W. Rockwell of Union Theological Seminary asked the Lutherans to
invite the other Protestant churches to study the Augsburg Confession
with them. He said: "Why should not you Lutherans now take the
initiative? ... Why cannot Protestantism agree on its oldest creed, the
Augsburg Confession?" Such an invitation "will set the world talking
about the Lutheran claims. . . . If Lutherans are to win over the rest
of American Protestants to their point of view, they must do so not by
denying Lutheran principles, but by their vigorous application." The
full understanding of the Lutheran confessions would also bring the
Lutheran Synods of America and the world together. If all Lutheran
bodies were imbued with the two basic principles of Lutheranism-
sola Scriptum and sola gratia-Lutheran union would be very near.
And Dr. Little's exposition of the Augsburg Confession and the Formula
of Concord puts men under the influence of these principles. Every page
makes it evident that the Lutheran confessions know nothing but Scrip-
ture; the Christian Church may teach nothing that is contrary to
Scripture and is sure of its teaching because it is taken from Scripture.
Our book also brings home to us that the Lutheran confessions know
nothing but the sola gratia; man can do nothing towards effecting
his salvation, and his salvation is due solely to unmerited grace. We read,
for instance, on page 98: "The freedom of the natural will is . . .
a freedom of choice between various kinds of evil." And on page 100:
"This condemnation includes, of course, also synergism, which teaches
that a person can assist in his conversion, in other words, that a person
can convert himself with the assistance of the Holy Spirit." Page 145:
"'The Holy Scriptures ascribe conversion, faith in Christ, regeneration,
renewal, and all that belongs to their efficacious beginning and com-
pletion, not to the human powers of the natural free will, neither
entirely, nor half, nor in any, even the least or most inconsiderable,
part, but in solidum, that is, entirely, solely, to the divine working and
the Holy Ghost.''' And page 175 f.: "Why is one individual hardened,
blinded, and given over to a reprobate mind, while another who is in
the same guilt is . converted? These and similar questions we cannot
harmonize, . . . we are not commanded to harmonize them. (Rom. 9: 20.
Cf. also Rom. 1l: 33-36.) . .. If any man is saved, he is saved only
because of God's predestination and election. If any man is lost, he is
Book Review 883
lost solely and alone by his obstinate resistance of God's grace:'-
The individual Lutheran, too, pastor and layman, will find the study
of our book immensely profitable. We want to be sure of our teaching;
we want to be sure that God's Word teaches these things; we want
to be sure that the doctrine of saving grace is the Scripture doctrine.
Then take up this book in which, as ill. the confessions themselves,
"each doctrinal statement is fortified by Scripture passages that prove
the doctrine to be the very teaching of. Scripture itself" (Preface).
A supplementary section sets forth the doctrines of the Antichrist
and of the inspiration of the Scriptures as taught in the Lutheran con-
fessions. We i'eaci: "'This teaching shows forcefully that the Pope
is the very Antichrist. . . . Scripture with its entire voice exclaims that
these errOl'S are a "teaching of demons" and of Antichrist.''' - The
closing paragraph of the treatise reads: "From the above citation it is
evident that. our confessions teach the plenary, or verbal, inspiration of
the Scriptures and Lltterly discountenance the Arminian view that the
Scriptures are inspired only in those things that are essential to salva-
tion - a doctrine that would throw everything into confusion and would
necessitate an infallible pope or other authority to determine just what
Scriptures are to be received as inspired. It is quite certain that our
confessions furnish no ground for holding that the Scriptures are inspired
only in spots, and that they teach emphatically that the Scriptures do
not merely contain, but actually are the Word of God, the living Word
that abideth forever." TH. ENGELDER
Spurgeon's Sermons on the Second Coming. By David Otis Fuller, D. D.
Published by Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids. 147
pages, 7%X5%. Price, $1.25.
Spurgeon is an evangelical preacher. This may be seen from such
passages in his sermons as these: "First, it will be wonderful that there
should be so many brought to faith in Him: men with no God and men
with many gods, men steeped in ignorance and men puffed up with carnal
wisdom, great men and poor men, all brought to believe in the one
Redeemer and praise Him for His great salvation. Will He not be
glorified in their common faith? It will magnify Him that these will
all be saved by faith, and not by their own merits. Not one among
them will boast that he was saved by his own good works, but all
of them will rejoice to have been saved by that blessedly simple way
of 'Believe and live,' saved by sovereign grace through the atoning
blood, looked to by the tearful eye of simple faith. • • . They believed
and were saved, but faith taketh no credit to itself; it is a self-denying
grace and putteth the crown upon the head of Christ, and therefore is
it written that He will be glorified in His saints, and He will also be
admired in all them that believe." (pp. 140, 141.) Spurgeon insists on
the Christian life. He says, "In these times of worldliness, impurity, self-
indulgence, and error it becomes the Christian to gather up his skirts
and keep his feet and his garments clean from the pollution which lies
all around him." (P. 39.) Spurgeon, however, is a preacher of the
Reformed type. He also is a millennialist, though he seems not to be
fanatic in preaching this doctrine; for he says: "I do not understand
884 Book Review
the visions of Daniel or Ezekiel; I find I have enough to do to teach
the simple Word such as I find in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
and the Epistles of Paul. . . . I will not divide the house tonight by
discussing whether the advent will be premillennial or postmillennial,
or anything of that; it is enough for me that He will come, and 'in such
an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man will come.' Tonight He may
appear, while here we stand; just when we think that he will not
come, the thief shall break open the house. We ought, therefore, to be
always watching." (Pp. 102, 103.)
The sermons presented in this volume have been condensed and
edited by David Otis Fuller, who is a great admirer of Spurgeon, so
much so that he says, "There's no question about it; what William
Shakespeare is to English prose, Charles Haddon Spurgeon is to the
Christian pulpit. His superb and well-nigh faultless diction, coupled
with his burning love for Christ, make for him a niche in the Gospel
ministry higher than all others since the days of the Apostle Paul."
(Preface.) This is exaggerated praise. However, because Spurgeon
was an evangelical preacher, though his sermons show no great doc-
trinal depth, and because he speaks in straightforward, simple language,
his sermons can profitably be read by preachers. J . H. C. FRITZ
The Intention of Jesus. By Joh.'1 Wick Bowman, Memorial Professor
of New Testament Literature and Exegesis, Western Theological
Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pa. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia.
263 pages, 6X8%. Price, $2.50.
In an enthusiastic foreword Prof. W. M. Horton of Oberlin College
calls this book "revolutionary." There is nothing revolutionary in it
from the point of view of the Bible Christian; but unbelieving scholar-
ship will indeed be startled to find a first-rate savant, working with
its own tools, arrive at conclusions which are the very opposite of its
own positions. The book desires to be strictly scientific; it takes nothing
for granted. Conjectures of higher critics on the origin of our four
Gospels are approved; the two-source hypothesis, holding that Mark
and a collection of sayings of Jesus, the Logia (often referred to by
the symbol Q), formed the main basis for our present Matthew and
Luke (in addition to which - so the proponents of the theory usually
hold - Matthew had a special source and Luke a special source) is
accepted. The Scriptures are treated as human documents, in which
one may expect to find errors. Placing himself thus entirely on a
naturalistic platform, the author defends the conservative position that
Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the Messiah-King of Psalm 2 and the
Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. He combats the view of Wrede and
others that Jesus never stated, either to friend or foe, that He was
the Messiah, but that the Church gradually arrived at this exalted
idea about His person and work and, assuming that He had spoken of
Himself in these terms, put the respective claim into His mouth. Wrede
thought the Gospel account of the order of Jesus, addressed to His
disciples, not to tell anybody that He was the Messiah, was only one
half of the truth, that the full truth was that He never even laid claim
to that dignity. The refutation of this blasphemous view is the chief
Book Review 885
burden of the book, running more or less through the whole discussion.
The intention of Jesus, so it is argued, was indeed to be the promised
Ruler and the great Sufferer. If that resolve did not exist in Him
before His Baptism, it certainly arose in Him when that sacred act was
performed.
Elucidating his positions, the author introduces his readers to
modern New Testament literature and acquaints them with the most
prominent productions and views. Among the recent writers who are
quoted or referred to somewhat extensively are Lietzmann, Bultmann,
F. C. Grant, Easton, Manson, J. Weiss, Montefiori (a Jewish writer),
and G. F. Moore.
In a formidable way the author opposes Harnack's view that the
significance of the teachings of Jesus is exclusively or chiefly ethical
and Shailer Mathew's advocacy of the social gospel. How little the
positions of these scholars comport with what Jesus says about Himself is
demonstrated. Valuable are the remarks which set forth that Jesus was
not the nationalistic Messiah many people desired Him to be. The
arguments showing that Jesus intended to form a fellowship of wbi,.h
He as Mediator was the center likewise deserve special mention. The
investigation of the term "Son of Man" (chap. 4) should be noted. The
author's closing sentence (p. 225) that our unique Lord produced the
Christian faith not, as some higher critics claim, the Christian faith
our Lord, must, of course, receive the hearty endorsement of all
who love the divine Gospe1. A worth-while feature of the book
is the inclusion of a summary, covering one page, for each chapter,
the summary preceding the chapter itself. The book is carefully docu~
mented. There are various details of interpretation where we cannot
agree with the author. In addition to the strictures recorded above,
our chief complaint is that several times, for instance, when he speaks
of the Virgin Birth (p. 184), his trumpet gives a very uncertain sound.
W.ARNDT
A Survey