(!tnurnr~iu UJqrnlngirul flnutlJly Continuing LEHRE UND VVEHRE MAGAZIN FUER EV.-LuTH. HOMILETlK THEOLOGICAL QU A.RTERL Y -THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vo1. IV May, 1933 No.5 CONTENTS FUERBRINGER, L.: Die pel'soenliche Weisheit Got tes ... . l'aa:e 321 I GRAEBNER, THEODORE: Buchmanism ... . . . .... . 329V'i WOHLFEIL, L. T.: What is Meant by ".All Fulness." Col. 1, 19? 339 HEERBOTH. L. Aug.: Exodus 6, 3 h. W as God Kll O W ll to the Plltriarchs as Jehovnh~ ... . ... . . . . . . . . .. . 345 KRETZMANN, P. E.: Das Commll Iohanneum. 1 Joh. 5.7 349 XRETZMANN. P. E.: Die H nuptschriften L uthers in cbro- nologischer Reihenfolge .................. ...... ...... 354 FRITZ, J. H. C.: The Theme of the Sermon. . . . . . . . . .. . ... 355 Dispositionen ueber die altkirchliche Epistelreihe . . '" . . 361 Miscellanea. . . ... .......................... . .. .. . ....... 369 Theologicnl Observer. - Kirchlich-Zeitgeschichtliches ..... , 374 Book Review. - Literatur 389 £ 111 .Prf'di~er mU<:: 3 n icht allt!in welden.. r .. b t hE'in Din;.:. dQ.'· die L1..Ut4~ meh r 11 It ..1;1' t'r li ll Schafe wlI c""wpi,t'>. wit: 1ft'! del' Ki rehe Iwlt.wIt d l III tl il ~\lt, it! r. ,t'ht e Ch~ j- t t>n oIleli ·jll , somiern Pn . 1i:.{t. - .Jpo(f)!1ip . .. 4rt . ~~ . !'Oil· Ilil S C,' I;lte niC!itt .mgl~it '].I UIld ll1it I I t ll< I r 1111V· t Kh t ,I Tl unc·,rhin llmd. t~h('t.(>r L ·hr- ll'rfuehrlln und l rrtllll! eill· wilt) ,.:h:.Jl\ ph.'pan,' hilll ... elf tr) the battle;- til( hr,,". - -1 If 1 Cor. l~. S. Published for the Ev. Luth. Syn od of liIi.:i80tlri, Ohio, alld Ol-her States CONC ORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE, St. Louis. M o. I The Theme of the Sermoll. 355 QutlJet molltc ben ~tttum griinbIidJ miberiegen. 9Jlan mirb ben gau3en ~lllenb~ mal)[sftreit am lleften berftel)en, menn man biefe ISdJriit genau ftubicrt. Sl)et I5cf)lub bet rSC[Jrift ift etn j\tt3e~r abet umfaljenbes ?SdenntniS Qutf)crs bon ben ~aufltftiiden bet d)tiftIicf)en xsel)re, bas mit ffiecf)t bes ofteren sitiert mirb. ~m mnfdJlub an bas m\lofto[itum ftif)rt 53ntf)er ruq aus, mas er glaulit, motant et lellen unb ftet6en mill. (1St. 530uifer musga6e xx, 894-1105.) 1528. lI\)3cticf)t an dnen Guten i\'teunb bon beiber ®eftaH bes Salraments, anf bes ?SifclJofs on 9Jleiben ~}lunbat." - Seine mbticf)t, bieje ISdJrift 3n berfaffen, gall S3nt\iel' fdJon am 26. m\lril funb, nnb fie jcl)eint etma G'nbe ~uni ansGegangen 3n fein. l5ie etfdJien in®ittennel'g bei :;soje\ll) ~[ng, bet fie im niicf)ften ~al)t aud) miebel' anflegte. S3ntl)el's mngtifi aUf bie romifdJe ~rde!)te, jonbetficf) im erften stetI biefer mbl)anblnng, ift jel)l' fdJatf nnb iarfaftifcf), mie menn er fdJteibt: 113um anbem, fo f)aoe idJ bgf)er mit meinem l5d)teiben fdJon all3nbief nnb ftade S3utfJetifdJe gonad)t, bab id) 11lof)1 muji unflJiirenj es miicl)tcu fonft bie ?papiften allaugar lutl)erijcl) merben." ,,®eil benn bel' ?p afl if ten ~Irt ift, mit eitel S3tigen nm[3u]gef)en, unb aUe i1)1' l5\licl eitel faljcl)e .I)eud)e!et unb :tttigete1 ift, io mill idJ fie 1)infort il)rem mbgott laffen, nad)bem fie bDc!) nidJts anberes mollen, bab fie Iiigen unb tttigen, biS fie mtibe merben." Sl)et 3meite stet! bet I5dJtift ift tin ?Se~ benren, "mas man bon ben ,{jeremnnien insgemcin unb injonber~ett bon 9JlitteI~ bingen l)aften joll", unb bet brUte stdl~anbeft "iIlon ber e i n en @ejtalt bes l5aftaments". (St. 130uifet 'Z(usgaue XIX. 1344-1395.'1 m n mer fun g. ~ie ;tiitigfeit 53utf)cts miif)tenb Dicjes ~alJwl anf bem ®enid ber \)3ibe!frberjetung unb ber I5dJtiftauslegnng mat nicllt gering, benn et l)at nicl)t nut dne ~lns!egung ber 3el)n ®ebote anf ben 9Jlatft gebtad)±, fonbem audJ snorlefungen tiber ben erften ?Sdef an stimotl)eum beenbigt jDmie bie ~iebet~ rift bet s.prot11)ctcn (bejonbn" ~cfaias) unb cine neue i\i)crjetung bes ?PiaUets f orgt. (Jortje1;lung foiQt.) '1), I;)', Jl' ret 11l a n 11. , . ~ The Theme of the Sermon. The theme of the ser1110n is a proposition, or a statement, ex- pressed in a few words. Yet Phelps, in his book of well-nigh six hundred pages, The Theory of Preaching, devotes eighty-two pages (pp.282-36'1) to a discussion of the proposition, or the theme, of the sermon: its definition, necessity, substance, and form. Why? Be- cause of the importance of the sermon theme. The theme is the sermon in nuce o· the sermon is the theme unfolded, or developed. The essence of a good theme is its specificness,· a good theme must have an individuality all its OWll. Therefore the sermonizer must not only find the main thought of his sermon text, that is, the thought which pervades the entire text and which is not merely a secondary thought of some part of the text, but he must also find what his sermon text says specifically about its main thought, thereby distinguishing itself from other texts which treat the same su1ject- matter. Judging from this viewpoint, many sermon themes, also those \ of printed sermons and printed outlines, are homiletic ally defective; they are more or less colorless statements prefixed to the sermon- subjects, but not themes. How does the sermonizer arrive at the theme? By a thorough study and understanding of the sermon text. A lack of a thorough study and understanding of the text is the reason why many 8er- 356 The Theme of the Sermon. monizers fail to find the real theme of their text and of their sermon and why many sermons are poor in content. It ought to go without saying that we leave out of consideration the preacher who does not do his own sermon work, but instead copies verbatim the ready-made material of other men, either entirely or to a large part, and then recites it, or cven reads it, to his congregation. Such dishonesty is unworthy of a minister of the Gospel. In his brochure Sieben Ge- heimnisse der P'redigthmst, Alexander Loewentraut tells us that the " preacher who does his own mining and minting has discovered one J of the secrets of successful sermonizing. Loewentraut says: "Ein viertes Geheimnis fuel' eine wirksame Predigtkunst ist naemlich das Konzept del' Predigt, und zwar das eigene, das heisst, die eigene Aus- arbeitung> desselben. . .. Wie viele Prediger mag es wohl geben, deren Predigten eigene Arbeiten sind, selbst gewonnen und durch- dacht, eigenhaendig und vollstaendig niedergesehrieben? . .. Leider greifen viele infolge mangelhaftel' homiletischer Vorbildung frueh- zeitig, zumal durch die N aehe des naechsten Predigttel'mins ge- zwungen, zu fremden Predigten, oder sie lassen, durch den scheinba1' guten Rat, nach J\i[ustern zu "l'lwii;en, bewogen, allmaehlich nach und verlassen sich immer mehr auf eine zuvveilen nul' notduerftige Durch- arbeitung odel' mehr odeI' weniger gemme Aneignung fremder Pre- digten, ja ganzer Predigtjahrgaenge, eine Arbeit, die obendrein zu- meist in den letzten Tagen oder gar am letzten Tage der W oche, oft noch nach andern Arbciten, erledigt wird. . .. Dass man unter solchen Umstaenden keine wirksame Predigt am Sonntage el'warten darf, liegt auf del' Hand .. '. 1m Interesse seiner Predigtm'beit gute fremde Predigten zu lesen, ueberhaupt Predigtlektuere zu treiben, ist nichts weniger als verboten; vielmehr gilt auch hier die Mahnung des Apostels: 'Pruefet alJes und das Gute behaltet!' 1 Thess. 5,21. Gute fremde Predigten sind zu studieren! NUT sind die gedruekten Predigten, wenigstens die meisten, nicht dazu verfasst und heraus- gegeben worden, gleichsam geistige Hypotheken fuel' geistesarme Geistliche zu werden; sie 8011en vielmehr zur Erbauung ihrer Leser die11 en. Es ist daher ein schmaehlicher Missbrauch, den man mit gedruckten Predigten treiht, wenn man sie zu Surrogaten eigener Predigtgedanken erniedrigt." In these days of Vielgeschaeftig7(eit and many distractions it needs to be said with special emphasis that the making of a good sermon olltline and the writing of a good sermon requires that sufficient time aIld labor be given to the task; that is the price that must be paid. "Von der Stirne heiss rinnen muss del' Schweiss, soil das Werle den Meister Zoben; doch der Segen kommt von oben." Let me in a practieal way demonstrate how the theme is to be found. Let us take 1 Tim. 2, J-7 as our text. After praying for divine enlightenment and the Lord's blessing' upon his entire effort The Theme of the Serlllon. 357 the sermonizer should carefully read the text in the vernacular. But Scripture should not be studied in a piecemeal fashion, and therefore also the context, the immediate and, if need be, the remote context, should be read. The original Greek text should be carefully studied. A t this time the sermonizer should make no real c:fiort to find the parts and the theme of his text; these should rather press themselves in upon him as the result of his meditation on the text. As the sermonizer works through the text, he will find that in the very first two verses there is an exhortation to prayer, in fact, to pra,Yer "for all men," "for kings and for all that are in authority" being especially mentioned. The reason why we should pray for our rulers, whatever the form of government may be, is given in the words "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." IVith the word ofj" the apostle links up his exhortation to prayer with the thought expressed in v.18 of the previous chapter. The pm'pose of the charge committed to Timothy is the salvation of all men, and therefore, in public worship and otherwise, prayer should be made for all; "for," as the apostle says, "this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our SaviOl', who will have all men to be s;wpd and to come unto the knowledge of the truth," vv. 3. 4. That the rae is missing in v.3 in some manuscripts does not change the sense. The rae in v. 5 at once indicates that the thought which follows is linked with the preceding one, to wit, that prayer should be made for the salvation of all men; for there is only one God, who earnestly desires the salvation of all His created human beings and offers His grace to them through the one :iilIcdiator, Christ J csus, "who gave Himself a ransom for all," v. 6, which fact is to be testified ;;;CIlCa" EMole;, in due time, each generation rcceiving the testimony in its own timc, Paul himself, v.7, having been caned as a preachel' and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles for that purpose. In vv. 2 b-7 the r-easons for inte1"CeSsory prayer are given, and at the same time the content of such a prayer is indleated. That it is a correct exegesis of the text to say that through01d the apostle has the subject of prayer in mind is clearly learned from Vo 8, where the apostle still speaks of prayer, s~'lYing: "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." In this verse the apostle shows that in public worship, men (here the word &"'7C is used, not av{}ew:rr;oc;, as in vv. 1. 4. 5), not women, v. 9 ff., ~hould offer the prayers. 'N e here ,11so have an in- stance which shows how llecessary it is that the preacher should be able to read and understand the original Greek text. In the English translation the word "men" in the expressions that "jlrayers be made for all men," that God "will havc all men to be saved," and that "men pray everywhere" on the face appears to have the same meaning; yet the Greek, as we have seen, uses different words to bring out the 358 The Theme of the Sermon. ;) different and the real meaning. Luther's translation emphasizes this difference, for he uses the words Menschen in vv. 1. 4. 5 and Maenner in v. 8. In the American Revised Version the distinction is made by prefixing the article "the" to men in v.8, which article the King J ames Version omits. At this juncture of the study of the text, or even while verse for verse is being studied, the parallel passages or Scripture references should be looked up and the most pertinent ones later inserted in the outline and used in the sermon. My purpose has not been to give a thorough exposition of the text or a complete sermon study, but merely to point out the guiding lines, showing the sermonizer how to arrive at the parts of his sermon and at the theme. R.etracing his steps after a careful study of the text, the sermonizer will find that the text contains such important thoughts as these: God would have us lead a quiet and peaceable life in this world; God will have all men to be saved; Ohrist Jesus is the only Mediator between God and men; Ohrist gave Himself a ransom for all. These are important facts; but none of them can be made the theme of the sermon, for none of them expresses the unit-thought of the entire seven verses of the sermon text,' they are secondary to the main thought of the text, which is an exhortation to prayer. But while prayer is the main thought, covering all the verses of th,e text, we must for the formulation of the theme look for some distinctive statement in this text in reference to prayer, something which distinguishes this text from other texts that also speak of prayer,' for instance, John 16, 23 speaks of prayer in the name of Jesus,' Matt. 21, 22, of the prayer of faith,' Matt. 6, 5-8, of prayer offered up in true sincerity,' Luke 11, 5-13, of persistent prayer; Matt. 6, 9-13, of the model prayer; J as. 5, 14 of prayer for the sick; Matt. 9,38, of prayer f01' worke1's in the Lorcfs vineyard,' J er. 29, 7, of prayer for one's city and country,' 1 John 5,14.15, of prayer ac- c01'ding to the will of God,' Matt. 4, 10, of prayer to the true God,' etc. What does the text 1 Tim. 2,1-7 say of prayer in distinction from these other texts?" It is an exhortation to intercessory prayer. The word "intercessory," however, not being readily understood by all in a mixed church audience, had better not be used in the theme. Besides, v.1 tells us that prayer in its various for1n8 of content (supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks) should be made for all men. Again, we find that the text contains not only an exhortation to prayer for all men, but says why such prayer should l be made. The theme may therefore be formulated to read as follows: . Why God Asks Us to Pray for All Men. 1) He does so for our own sake, vv. 1. 2, (c£. Jer. 29, 7); 2) He does so for the sake of others, vv.3-7 (God desires the salvation of all men). In the introduction to the sermon it may be said that every Ohristian prays and that he The Theme of the Sermon. 359 quite self-evidently in his prayers speaks of his own needs and of his own blessings, but (this is the transitional thought) that God also asks Ohristians to pray for othel's, for all men. In the text just treated the specific thought which gives to the text it peculiar physiognomy and to the theme its color is quite ap- parent. It is not always so apparent in all texts; the preacher must diligently search for it. It may be just one word or one phrase that needs to be added to show up the peculiar physiognomy of a certain text; but that word or phrase must be found. Two more example" shall be given. 2 O(n' 1 :1-7 speaks of comfort in trials and triblda- lions. Oomfort main thought; but many texts in the Bible speak to us of comfort. The specific thought in the text is given by the words of v. 4: "who comforteth us in all our tribulations that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves aTe comfoTted of God." The refrain_ to this distinctive thought of the text is found in vv. 6 and 7: "It is for your consolation and salvation," "so shall ye be also of the con- solation." A theme like this would be suitable for the above text: Goel W M!ldlIal'e Us Cwmfart OtheTS in Theil' TToubles the C om- foTt whM"ewith TY e OLi'l'selves aTe Comforted of Goel. This theme being somewhat long, we might shorten it by saying: the Comf01·t wheTewith We Me Comforted of Goel We Should Oomfort Others. Such a theme has color; it is not general, it is specific. - 1 ,J olm 4.- 7-12 speaks of love, That is its ma.in thought; but that is too general. The tcxt tells us that \Ve are to love one alIOULc)',' but there are other texts that also tcll us that. This particular text gives us the Teasons why we must love one another. Therefore a theme like this would be specific: Why Mt!st We Love One Another? Now the preacher knows exactly what he is to pl'each, and the hearer knows exactly what he is to learn, In the pambles the teTtium compa.n:dionis determines the theme, and of course the treatment, of the entire text, The New Testament miracle texts teach that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, that, be- lieving, we might have life thl'(mgh His name, John 20, 31. The sermonizer must find the specific truth which the llliracle teaches in connection with this fact. The themc in its specific character 1'estricts tile thought, bu~ gl'eatly incTeases the se rmon material. Those preachers who are satisfied to treat a general subject are following the path of least resistance. But they will soon have nothing more to say on that subject; their sermons will be general and vague and will soon grow stale both to themselves and to their hearers. The specificncss of the theme, which is found by digging down into the text, gives colm' t·) the sermon; it gives to sermons that val'iety which is necessary to hold the interest and the attention of a congregation before which \\ 360 The Theme of the Sermon. a preacher is called upon to preach Sunday after Sunday, month after month, and year after year; it makes sermonizing a real pleasure to the preacher and the hearing of sermons a real joy to his congrega- tion; above all, the congregation will derive much spiritual benefit from such sermons, increasing in spiritual knowledge and in godli- ness, and such preaching will redound to the greater glory of God and the greater glory of Him "who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." The treatment given to 1 Tim. 2, 1-7, the text which we used as an example, is that of the ancdytic sermon method. Suffice it to say that, when the synthetic method is used, the sermonizer must also first work analytically; the main thought of the text must be in his syn- thetic theme, the theme must be specific to the text, the sermon must be textual. A synthetic treatment of 2 001'. 1, 3-7 (referred to before) would suggest this theme: The Spiritual Harm We Chris- tians Do to Others when We 1I1urmur under the Trials and AlJIictions of This Life. 1) We set a bad example to others; 2) We do not and canlIot comfort others as indeed we ought to do. vV11ile these thoughts are not cXjJ"i'cssed in the text in so many words, they are implied; we have found tllem by way of deduction,' the truths they express are eontained in the text and ean be proved from the text. (See article on "Sermon Methods," OONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY, Vol. II, p. 364 if.) The theme should be a statement. A statement, however, need not be expressed in a complete grammatical sentence. Such a theme as The Prayer of Faith, Prayer in the Name of Jesus, is the statement of a fact. The theme may be in the form of a declarative sentence, an interrogation, an exclamation, or a mere phrase. The theme should always be clearly stated; words not readily understood or ambiguous should not be used. The theme should not be too long; just enough words should be used to bring out clearly the meaning. Since tho theme is a very important part of the sermon, - its ul1it- thought, del' rate Fdden, de}' sich durch clas Ganze hinduTchzieht,- the theme should not only be announced, but the announcement should be made with such an approach (by a cautionary preface and a signifi- cant pause) and in such a manner (speaking slowly, distinctly, loudly) that every person in the audience will get the theme. When the preacher has finished preaching, the heaTer ought to be able to give a definite, clear-cut answer to the question, What did the preacher say? A preacher will do well to put this question to his class of catechumens on Monday. If the majority of the children can give no answer to this question or only a very incomplete one or even give an incorrect answer, the preacher should not scold the children for their inattention, but rather blame himself, go 110me and go down on his knees and ask God to forgive him and promise that with the Lord's help he will do better next Sunday. SDiSllo\itionen libet bie alHitdJ1idJe ~lli\telteif)e. 361 Have I thoroughly studied my text, and do I understand it? Have I found its most important thoughts, and have I coordinated them? Does my theme cover these thoughts, and is it specific to this particular text? Do my divisions, or parts, divide the theme? What is my fundam entum dividendi? Do the subdivisions offer sufficient material for development? How about the logical arrangement ~ Have I added the text references and the parallel passages? What about the applications? Have I a good introduction, one that really leads up to the theme? How about the conclusion? What will be the final total impression which - not I, but - the sermon will make upon the hearers? These are questions which the sermonizer should ask himself after he has finished his outline and before he writes his sermon. God has given us the themes for our sermons in the Bible, His Word. We should diligently search for them. How could we preachers otherwise say with Paul: "I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men; for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God"? Acts 20, 26. 27. J OH N H . O. FRITZ. ~i£ll'ufitionen fiber bie altfirdjIidje G:l'ifterrei~ e. ,s:ltbifate. 1 ~etr. 2, 11-20. Ohurch publicity ltJirb gegenltJiirtig fiad un±er uns lietont. Unb mit !l'l:eclj±. s\)ie S'rirclje 0:f)rif±i barf ifjr .2icljt niclj± un±er einen eicljeffeI f e~en . eiie mUB aile ifjr au @eoo±e ftefjenben IDCiHeI georaucljen, bas (fbangeHum an ben j))cann au oringen, 15. lB . .\)ausliefuclje, 5trattate, fircljIiclje 2eitfcljrif±en unb lBiicljer, 5tagespreffe, !l'l:abio ufltJ. s\)ie liefte !l'l:effame fur baB (fbangeIium ift unb OIeilit abel' bel' gottf eIige ~anbeI bel' 0:fjriiten. ~o bief er fefjrt, ltJerben aile anbern IDCiHe! ltJenig niiten. S\)aB ltJirb jeboclj oft bergefien. S\)arum fj eu±e: SJai 1:Ier n)riftrhf)e Wanhel Don her alfergroiten )Beheutung fill' hie ~hti3li reitnng 1:Iei3 Cfb ltngefiumi3 ift. 1. ~eiI bie eicljmiifjungen bel' ~eIt baburclj alB merfeumbungen geliranbmarft ltJerben; 2. ltJeiI unlerm 2eugniB baburclj )}(acljbrucf beu Ii e fj en ltJ i r b. L a. s\)ie ~ert berfcljmiifjt unb berurieiIt bie 0:fjriften afs ftlieItii±er, m.12, als fonberliares, eingeliilbetes, fjoffiiriiges, feine 9)Citmenfcljen fjaifenbes moff, bas aus 5toren unb .\)eucljlern iJufammengefett fei unb nul' 2ltJietracljt in bel' ~eIt anricljte. eio ltJar es au ~etri 2ei±; f 0 ift es fjeu±e noclj. (lBeifpieIe.)