Full Text for CTM Miscellanea 4-3 (Text)

ion Inquiry MAIER, W. A .: Archeology - the N emesis . . KBETZMANN, P. E.: Znr Ge chichte der 1 teinischen Bibel KRETZMANN, P . E. ' W here and What Is Heaven? KRETZMANN, P. E.: Propositions on the Sabbath-Sunday Question LAETSCH, THEO.: Malicious Desertion KBETZMANN P E. : Die Hallpttchr:ften Luthers in chro- nologischer Reihenfolge Dispositionen u eber die altkirchliche Epistelreihe Miscellan eu Theological Observer. - Xirchlich-Zettgeschichtliches . Book Review. - Ltteratur Page 16 1 171 176 18 4 189 195 197 205 206 212 218 233 Ein r'recliger mw 01 t alleln 10 ,vIM!, .lise) da er die Schafe unterwel;tO, wl~ de reebte Chrl ten !IOlIen seln, ondem .ucb daneben den Woellen ICeMen. du .Ie die Schafe nlcht angreifen und mit faIRCher Lehre ,'erfuebren uud Imum ein· fuebrrn. - LH hr,. r ,t keln Ding, d' die J.eutl' mehr bel der Klrcbe behaelt deon die flUte l'redigt. - dpolo, ie, Art. ~ If the trumpet g1VI' an un~'ertahl loOund, who sbalI prepare bllll8elf to the battle? 1 Cor 4 , 8. Published for t he Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other 4tates CONCORDIA PUBLISHDlG HOUSE, St. Lo Mo. [ l I 212 Miscellanea. f e~; trot if~rer UntUcgtig!eit fioIS; roorren berbienen, 11laiii niemanb ber~ Menen fann; iqre jillede gefcgeqen auiii fYurcgi, Eofjnfucgt, (§fjrgeis, batum mit Unluft, nicg± bon ~ersen. ~ie anbern finb burcg i'fjre jillieber~ geburt frei bam ®efet, bon ber @?cgulb unb ber @?trafe bet @?unbe; baiii qat [qriftuiii iqnen errooroen, ®aI. 4, 4. 5; fie finb Sl'inber beiii ~aufeiii unb tun nun in finbIicgem ®eif±, roaiii iqrem mater roofjIgefiirrt, nicgt um ficg etroa!i au berbienen - e§ geqort iqnen fcgon arre§, roa§ ber mafer qat -, fonbern auiii meoe. 2. m.29. .;s§maef unb .;sfaal fonnen nicg± in e i n e m ~aufe [eoen. ~a§ roar nicgt .;sfaafiii @?cgulb, fonbern beiii fjocgfafjrenben .;siiimaeL - ®efe~ unb (§bangeHum fdjHef3en fidj gegenfeitig auiii a[iii jilleg sum Eelien, mom. 11, 6. jillerfgeredjtigfeit lInb @faulie fiinnen nicg± neoen~ einanber oef±efjen. ~iener beiii ®ef eteiii unb Sl'inber ber ®nabe lonnen nidjt friebHdj oeif ammen roofjnen; bet [fjrif± mUf3 bem Ul1djrif±en bie jillaqtfjeit fagen, unb bet eingeoifbete ®ef e~e§fnecgf Mum± lidj bagegen aUf; unb bot .menf djen fjat .;siiimaeI immet ben mor±eif, .;sofj. 16, 2. ®ott urieiIt anber§, m. 80. ®efete§biener roerben be§ ®cfete§ Eoqn eml'fangen, ®aL 8, 10. (§§ gao nut e i n e ~ilfe fur fie, ®aL 4, 4. 5; bicfe fjalien fie beradjtet unD aUtlicrgef±of3en; batum: 9Jla±ifj.22, 11-18. - ~oet: mom. 10,4. @?ie finb Sl'inber @otte§, barum audj ®rlien, ®af. 3, 29. @?inb roit Sl'inber ber Buien? meb 246, 5. 6. 5t.~. Miscellanea. Exception has been taken by a member of this organization to a sen- tence found in the Ooncordia Oyolopedia, page 699, where the statement occurs: "They are largely anti-Trinitarians, deny Christ's deity, and are at variance with the fundamental teachings of Christianity as laid down in the Apostles' Creed." The Pacific Press Publishing Association has sent two pamphlets by Alonzo L. Baker, one of them entitled Belief and Work of Seventh-day Ad- ventists, and the other, What Do Seventh-day Adventists Believe? In order to be perfectly just in our criticism of this organization, we quote directly from the second pamphlet: - "Our theology can be summed up in two words - Christ and the Bible, Christ as the incarnate Word and the Bible as the written Word of God. In these two words we have a complete revelation of God. "We do not base our system of belief on the Bible because of an un- thinking and superstitious reverence for that Book, but because the Book displays Christ. In other words, the focal point of our faith is not a book, but a Person revealed in a book. Miscellanea. 213 "SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS BELIEVE IN- "1. The Supernatural and Plenary Authority of the Scriptures. "We believe that the Scriptures of the sixty-six books of the Old and the New Testament, when freed from possible errors of translators, copy- ists, and printers, are the very Word of God; that all the truths revealed therein are given by inspiration of God, though expressed in the words of men; that the whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for His own glory and man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture or may be deduced therefrom; that the Scriptures are therefore the only infallible and authoritative rule of faith and life; that the rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself. "2. God and the Trinity of the Godhead. "We believe that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; that God is all- good, all-loving, all-merciful, all-just, all-wise, all-powerful, infinite, and eternal, everywhere present through His Spirit. "3. The Substitutionary Death of Jesus Christ. "We believe that God, who is rich in mercy, 'so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son' to be the Savior of sinners; that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, voluntarily took on Himself human flesh, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, yet without sin, so that He is both God and man and the only perfect Mediator between God and man, by whom alone we come to the Father; that by a life of perfect obedience and by His sacrificial death He satisfied divine justice and made provision for atonement for the sins of men; that the salvation thus provided is freely offered to all men and is sufficient for all, but becomes efficacious only in those who believe in Jesus Christ; that Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, where He, as our Mediator and High Priest, makes continual intercession for us in the sanc- tuary, in 'the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man'; that in the final day of accounting He will formally blot out [?] the sins of men, and they will be remembered no more forever .... "8. The Second Coming of Christ. "We believe that the truth of the second coming of Christ constitutes one of the cardinal doctrines of the Scriptures; that the numerous 'last day' prophecies clearly tell us the second coming is imminent and will oc- cur in this generation; that it will be universal, visible, and literal; that Christ at His appearing will abruptly end the reign of sin and establish His eternal kingdom of righteousness and peace. "9. The Millennium. "We believe that between the end of the Christian, or Gospel, age and the beginning of the new earth state there will be a thousand-year period oalled the millennium; that the second coming of Christ, the first resur- rection, - the resurrection of the righteous dead, - the binding of Satan, and the translation of the righteous to heaven will mark the beginning of this period; that during this time the wicked will be dead on this earth, Satan and his angels will be confined here in solitude, and the righteous will be in heaven with Christ, sitting in confirmatory judgment on the 214 Miscellanea. wicked; that the descent of the New Jerusalem from heaven to this earth with Christ and the righteous, the second resurrection, - the resurrection of the wicked, - the loosing of Satan, the Executive Judgment, the anni- hilation of sin and sinners, and the purification of this world by fire will mark its close. "10. The Mortality of Man. "We believe that God alone has immortality; that man may have im- mortality only as a gift from God through Christ; that upon conversion the Christian receives eternal life by faith in the promises of God; that immortality will be conferred upon the righteons at the second coming of Christ and the first resurrection. "11. The Unconscious State of the Dead. "We believe that, when a man dies, he enters a state of silence, inac- tivity, and entire unconsciousness; that he remains 'asleep,' altogether obUvious to the passing of time or events, until the first resurrection if he is accounted righteous, or until the second resurrection if he is numbered among the wicked. [Psychopannychism.] "12. The Punishment of Silmers. "We believe that 'the wages of sin is death'; that the punishment meted out to sinners ~will be eternal death, total extinotion by fire, after they are adjudged guilty before the judgment bar of Goel. "13_ The Judgment. "We believe that the work of the Judgment is divided into two phases, which may be called the Investigative and the Executive; that the Inves- tigative Judgment is now in progress and will end at the close of the pro- bation of sinners; that the Executive Judgment will come at the close of the millennium, when sinners will be punished by death in the lake of fire. "14. The Earth Renewed. "We believe that after the millennium this present evil earth will be renovated by fire, the same fire that destroys sin and sinners, and restored to its Edenic state; that the earth, thus made new, will then become the eternal home of the redeemed. "16. The Seventh-day Sabbath. "We believe that the seventh-day Sabbath was instituted at the end of the creation of the world in six literal days; that it is a memorial of creation and a sign of re-creation, or redemption; that it is a vital part of the Moral Law, the Ten Commandments; that it is essentially a spiri- tual institution; that God intended it to be observed in all ages by all men; that Christ and His apostles always, both before and after the cru- cifixion, observed the seventh-day Sabbath, and therefore it is the rest-day of all Christians. "17. Sunday as a PS6udorest-day. "vVe believe that the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, was dedicated by ancient paganism to the worship of the sun; that as the Christian Church fell away from the true doctrine in the early centuries, the seventh-day Sabbath was gradually displaced by the pagan [?] holiday, Sunday, which, with other pagan institutions, was eventually incorporated Miscellanea. 215 into the ecclesiastical law of the Roman Catholic Church and by her trans- mitted to the reformed churches; that because it is based on pagan custom and church tradition only and is nowhere countenanced in the Bible, Chris- tians are in error in observing it as the weekly rest-day. "18. The Rite of Baptism by Immersion. "We believe that the ordinance of Baptism was given to the Christian Church as a memorial of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ; that after repentance and confession on the part of the sinner his baptism is the outward sign to the world of his conversion and the beginning of a new life by faith in Jesus Christ; that because of what it signifies, the only proper mode of baptism is by immersion once in water, as the Bible teaches; that only those persons who are come to the age of accountability should be bap- tized, because only they appreciate the significance of this rite. "19. The Tithing System. "We believe it to be God's plan that the Gospel-work and -ministry should be supported by tithes and free-will offerings; that to set apart one-tenth of the net income for the advancement of God's kingdom on earth is both a Christian duty and a privilege and brings spiritual and temporal blessings to the tither. "20. The Gift of Prophecy. "We believe it is God's plan that the gift of prophecy, together with the other gifts of the Spirit, should be manifested in the Church in every age; that the 'remnant Church' especially should not come behind in this gift, but should have the spirit of prophecy in its midst for the spiritual encouragement and upbuilding of the Church. "21. Liberty of Conscience and Religion. "We believe that a man's conscience should at all times be free; that any attempt on the part of the State to dictate in the domain of religion is altogether wrong and subversive of the fundamentals of liberty; that any organic or working union of Church and State is contrary to divine principles, and such a union always imperils freedom and fosters tyranny and the persecution of dissenters. "22. The Maintenance of Bodily Health. "We believe the Scripture-teaching that the human body is designed to be the temple of the living God; that the maintenance of health is a Chris- tian duty; that the body should not be defiled with liquors, narcotics, harm- ful drugs, tobacco, or unhealthful foods. "There are some Christian people who make special effort by voice and pen to inveigh against what they term 'dangerous beliefs of Seventh- day Adventists.' Whether they are sincere and genuine in their convic- tions, we shall not question, but we shall state in brief compass a few of the things that we do not believe; and he who says that Seventh-day Ad- ventists do hold these views is ignorant of the truth in the matter or guilty of wilful misrepresentation." Our readers will readily draw the proper conclusions. We have itali- cized certain statements. P. E. K. 216 Miscellanea. The Word "Year" in the Book of Genesis. One of the strangest aberrations of unbelief is that concerning thll word year in the first stories of the Bible. On account of the great age which is ascribed to the patriarchs, especially before the Flood, but even down to the days of Abraham and Moses, some critics have thought that we must assume the years of that age to have been month-years, that is, that every month was regarded as a year. But that this theory fails in view of the plain text can easily be shown. If the word 1"1~~ in the Book of Genesis is to be understood of months, then Enoch would have been less than six years old (according to our present reckoning) when he became the father of Methuselah, Gen. 5, 21. The same would have been true of Mahalalecl, v. 15, and of other patriarchs (Enos, Cainan). .After the Flood, Shem would have been the father of Arphaxad at the youthful age of less than nine years. Abraham could hardly have spoken of himself and of his wife Sarah as being old, Gen. 17, 17; 18, 11, if he had been eight and one-third and Sarah seven and one-half years old. According to Gen. 30, Jacob would have become the father of nine sons in approximately seven months. The entire reckoning of time, of days, of months, of years in the Book of Genesis brands the strange theory as a lie. Gen. 1, 14 speaks of tho division of time as we now have it. There would be hopeless confusion with regard to such passages as Gen. G, 3 compared with ll, 10 if the sup- position of the critics were accepted. The appearances of God to Abraham, Gen. 17 and 18, with the definite promise concerning the birth of Isaac, took place when he was ninety-nine years old, and he was a hundred years old when Isaac was born unto him, according to Gen. 21, 5. See especially Gen. 17,21. Again a month-year is out of the question. The years are connected with the season of harvest, Gen. 41, 1 if. (cp. Gen. 8, 22), which again shows the folly of the month-year theory. But the most elaborate refutation of the thcory is found in Gen. 7 and 8, in the description of the Flood. Its beginning is given as in the six-hun- dredth year of Noah, in the second month, on the seventeenth day. The one hundred and fifty days, which include the forty days of rain, bring us to the seventeenth day of the seventh month, as noted in Gen. 8, 3. 4. Then the further exact mention of days, after the first day of the tenth month, and the intervals of seven days definitely point to the use of time approxi- mately as we reckon it to-day. Moreover, it seems that solar years are meant, and not lunar years, for the one hundred and fifty days are noted as equaling five months. So it will be best in every way to remain with the truth of the inspired account. P. E. K. "Thousand Years - One Day." We rp~.iL OJ, l'P~!!,",S: "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years .lnd a thoL~~~.~ ;, v~rs as one day," and in Ps. 90, 4: "For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday and as a watcll in the night." It is a most peculiar thing that these passages, especially the former, are con- stantly used to spread doubts concerning the length of a creation day. But in both cases the inspired writer clearly indicates that he is speaking of the eternity, of the timelessness of God, of His independence of all time- reckoning as practised by human beings. The passages have nothing to do Miscellanea. 217 with the definition of "day" in Gen. 1. According to one of the fundamental rules of hermeneutics a word must be understood in its first or primary sense unless the context clearly indicates a figurative use of the word. Now, it is clear that, if we accept the text of Gen. 1 as it reads, we are bound to think of a day of twenty-four hours. If the sun and the moon divided the time beginning with the fourth day, so that the expression "And the evening and the morning were the fourth day" refers to a day, why should we accept a. different explanation in v.5, of the first day? Cpo esp. Ex. 20,11; 31,17. Every concession made to unbelief with regard to anyone fact of Scripture is a step in the direction of doubt and unbelief. Cpo the articles Das Wort Tag, (fen.t, in Lehre und Wehre, October, 1919, and "The Length of a· Creation Day," Theol. Monthly, February, 1924. P. E. K. The Lutheran Pulpit Garment. It is a strange phenomenon that, in these days of an attempt at a restoration of ancient liturgical usages, the statement is found again and again: "The black pulpit robe was foisted upon the Lutheran Church of Germany by Calvinistic influences." A careful study of the Kilrohen- ordnungen of the sixteenth century is bound to result in other statements and conclusions. (Cp. CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY, Vol. T, 838 ff.) In addition to the testimonies there offered, the following may prove of interest to the honest searcher for the truth. The first is from Uhlhorn, (fe .• ohiohte iler deutsch-lutherischen Kirche, Vol. I, 80: "Mancherorts hielt sich auch del' Gebrauch der Messgewaender, der durch das Interim neuen Halt und neue Verbreitung gewonnen hatte, noch eine Zeitlang. So ver- ordnet noch die Kalenberger Kirchenordnung von 1569, dass die Pastoren den kirchlichen Ornat, 'als Alben, Kaseln und Messgewand', tragen sollen. Der katholische Ornat machte dann der in mittleren und hoeheren Staen- den ueblichen 'Schaube' Platz, einem faltigen, den ganzen Koerper um- schliessenden Mantel, wie auch Luther und die andern Reformatoren ihn beim Gottesdienst getragen haben." And the second passage is from Kro- ker, Katharina von Bora, 30: "In den Raeumen seines Klosters war Luther schon 1523 anstatt in der Moenchskutte in weltlicher Tracht einhergegangen, und am 9.0ktober 1524 hatte er zum erstenmal auch auf der Kanzel ohne Kutte gestanden. Er trug seitdem statt der Kapuze das Barett, das ihm als Doktor der Theologie zukam, und anstatt der Kutte, die von einem Strick zusammengehalten wurde, den weiten, langen, bis uebers Knie reichen- den Doktorrock, die sogenannte Schaube. In dem Talar der protestantischen Geistlichen hat sich dieses alte Kleidungsstueck mit geringen Veraende- rungen bis auf unsere Tage erhalten." This agrees with the exposition in Meusel (IV, 5) : "Als das Leipziger Interim sie [die katholische Kultus- kleidung] zum Gesetz machen wollte, trat eine schaerfere Opposition gegen sie hervor, 80 dass der schwarze Talar (nullmehr Ohorrook genannt) mehr und mehr allgemein wurde, ein Mittelding zwischen der damals gebraeuch- lichen Schaube der Ratsherren und Gelehrten und dem Moenchsgewand, der, noch heute allgemein gebraeuchlich, bei gleicher Grundform in den verschiedenen Landeskirchen kleinere Modifikationen im Schnitt, besonders in bezug auf die Aermel, den Faltenwurf und das Schulterstueck oder Koller, zeigt." Any first-class house dealing in academic garments knows the difference between the Lutheran pulpit gown and the Geneva, or Cal- vinistic, vestment. P. E. K.