<1tnurnrbtu aJ4rnlngtral :tInut1Jly CODtiDaiDg LEHRE UNO WEHRE MAGAZIN FUER Ev.-LUTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLy-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol. IV September, 1933 No.9 CONTENTS Biblical Ethics Concerning Young People. P. E. Kretzmann Wie muss Gottes Wort gepredigt werden, damit Glaube entatehe in den Herzen der Zuhoerer? F. Pieper •.•••• Objective lustification. Th. Engelder ••..•.••.••..•..•••• Das Verhaeltnis der gratia universalis zur Gnadenwahl. P. E. Kretzmann •..••••••• Propositions Concerning the Election of Grace. Page 841 653 v 684 676 P. E. Kret2mann •• . • • • • • •• 682 Die Hauptschriften Luthers in chronologischer Reihenfolge 685 Dispositionen ueber die altkirchliche Epistelreihe ........ 686 lliscellanea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. 692 Theological Observer. - Kirchlich ·Zeitgeschichtliches . . .. 696 Book Review. - Literatnr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 713 Ein Prediger mUBB niOOt alleln tDeidM, alao u.. er die Bchate unterwellle, wie oie rechte 0brI&ten lOlleD aeiD, lOodem aum daoeben den Woelfen weArm, dua lie die Bchate Dicht usreIfen lIOd mit talscber Lehre nrtuehren IIOd Irrtum em· fuehren. - Luther. Es ilit kein D~. du die Leate mehr bel der Kirche behaelt deDD die pte Predigt. - Apolol1ie. Ar'. t~. If the t rumpet gift In UDCertain IOUDd, Ivho shall prepare himaelf to the battle, 1 Oor'~J8. Published for the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States CONCOlmIA. :PUBLISHING HOUSE, St. Louis, lito. 692 Miscellanea. Miscellanea. Concerning Sunday-School Literature. / Just how serious the situation is with regard to modernistic Sunday- school literature appears from a short article contributed to the Moody Bible Institute Monthly for May, 1933. We quote from this article: "When parents send their children to Sunday-school, they have a right to expect that they will be taught the Bible. But, alas! this is not often the case these days. Recently our ten-year· old daughter brought home a pupil's book entitled Hero Stories and Being Heroic, accompanied by a parents' guide. My child was to study for that quarter secular charac- ters, or 'heroes,' such as Booker T. Washington, Clara Barton, Dr. Walter Reed, Samuel Morse, etc., and last of all the 'hero of heroes,' the 'boy Jesus.' There are 365 names in the Holy Scriptures emphasizing our Lord's deity, and there is something sacrilegious and repellant about that word 'hero' as applied to Him. 'l'he Scriptures do not hold up Christ as an example [except 1 Pet. 2, 21. - ED.] ; for men are neither saved nor sanctified by an ex ample (Rom. 15, 3 ) . Let us turn to 1 Pet. 1, 18--23, which assures us we ar e redeemed 'with the precious blood of Ghris t as of a Lamb without blemish a nd without spot.' From the above list one would think that the children were studying in the public school r ather than a so·called Bible- school; for only meager portions of unrelated Scripture are selected, 98 per cent. of the time being devoted to music, nature study, good citizenship, hero-worship of mere man; in fact, everything else but the Bible. . .. The responsibility of those who teach is that of making known the Holy Rcrip- tures, and that work cannot begin too soon. It is not final work, but it is fnndamental. It cannot compel faith, but it can constrain it. . .. The greatest tragedy of the hour is that in so many cases, even on the part of those who are supposed to be doing Christian work, this most dynamic work of all is being largely neglected or done in such a manner as not to produce results. . . . How do yOU?' church and your teachers measure np? Are we furnishing onr boys and girls 'comprehensive, consecutive, and com- plete Bible instruction' 7" - This outcry of an outraged mother is not only another testimonial for onr Christian parish-schools, but also a strong argument for the splendid Sunday-school literature published by our Synod. It is encouraging to know that this is now being published in quantit ies second only to the International Series. P. E . K . • h y The Omission of the Hallelujah during the Lenten Season. That the Hallel1bjah or Allelui(t of the Christian liturgy was taken / ! over from that of the Jewish Church is a well-known fact. Equally well .Q • / / known is the meaning of the word according to the Hebrew hallelu, "praise ~ ye," and Jah, the abbreviated form of the name Jahweh, the Lord, or God, , of the covenant, the expression thus meaning simply: "Praise ye the Lord." /' Its liturgical significance from ancient times agrees with its exact mean- ing, for it is always an acclamation of joy. Vigouroux writes in his Diotionnaire de la Bible: "It soon became a sort of formula for rejoiCing, and it was sung as a chant of joy on feast-days. The streets of Jerusalem Miscellanea. 693 are pictured to us as vibrant with the cry of "llleluia. In the Apoca- lypse the saints give glory to God in heaven by singing Alleluia." In his Dictionnaire a!archeologie chretienne et de liturgie the noted French litur- giologist Cabrol writes: "Alleluia is used in its exact Hebrew sense, as a triumphant exclamation and as :1 chant." In the Roman Church the Hallelu.jah is omitted from the liturgy from the Vespers of Septuagesima eve until the Vespers of the Great Sabbath, or the Holy Saturday. In the explanation which Dam Gueranger gives in his mOllumental work The Litul'gical Year he states: "Our holy mother the Church knows how necessary it is for her to rouse our hearts from their lethargy and give them an active tendency toward the things of God. . . . She takes the song of heaven away from us: she forbids our further utter- ing that AUelj(.ia which is so deHr to us, as giving us a fellowship with the choirs of angels, who are forever repeating it. . .. It is not a mere word nor a profane, unmeaning melody; it is the song that recalls the land we are banished from, it is the sweet sigh of the soul longing to be home." In accordance with this extravagant appreciation of the Hallel~!jah one can well understand WIly its omission becomes a matter of such deep sentiment with the Roman Catholies, so thiLt its return on the eve 01 Easter is hailed with exultant chants, Just after the Epistle on Holy SRturday the organ peals forth, and priest and choir alternately chant the A.lle!uia three times, eaell time on a higher note, after which it is formally reintroduced into the liturgy. Although the Lutheran Church also regards the period from Septua- gesima t{) Ash Wednesday as the pre-Lenten scason, it does not drop the A.lte/ida until the actual heginning of Lent, as a mark of respect to Him whosc suffering and death is so prominently featured during this season. It is not necessary to drop the Hallelujah on the Sundays during Lent, for these are not properly considered as a part of Lent, although the regular les80ns sometimes refer to the Lord's Passion. The return of the Halle- lujah on Easter Day is properly emphasized in connection with the Introit of the day. This is sufficient for all liturgical purposes of the Lutheran Church. P. E. K. Birds of Jerusalem and Vicinit)T. In an article in the April, 1933, number of The A:ttk R. W. Shep- \ /' pard discusses some birds of Jerusalem and vicinity which came under his observation during an extended stay. Of the forty-three species which he describes many come under the general heading of the "fowls of the air," spoken of by the Savior in Matt. 6,26. On the other hand, quite a few may be identified as birds spoken of even in Bible times by their specific names. AltllOugh Ps. 84,3 may refer to various kinds of small birds (Lev. 14, 14: Ps. 102,7), there can be little doubt that Matt. 10, 29. 31 and Luke 12,6.7 speak of the common hOU8c-SJXL1'row, of which not only the city of Jeru- salem, but every small town or village or other human habitation has its full quota. We cannot be quite as sure of the "swallow" spoken of in Ps, 84, 3, although the description and the context in J er. 8,7; Is. 38, 14; Provo 26, 2 would seem to indicate that the oriental 8wallow might be the migrant or possibly the European chimney-swallow (Tob. 2, 11 ), while the 694 Miscellanea. red-rumped 8wallow has a characteristic chirp. The word "raven," used as a generic term in the Bible (for example, Job 38,41; Ps. 147, 9; Provo 30, 17), may refer either to the Syrian rook or to the hooded arow. It is difficult to settle the identity of the "owls" mentioned in the Bible, though a distinction is made between the great owl, the little owl, and the horned owl (cp. Lev. 11, 17; Deut. 14, 16; Is. 34, 11, also v. 15, with Lev. 11, 18 [cpo v.IG] and Deut. 14, 16, tinshemeth). According to lvir. Sheppard's article the little owl of Scripture may well be either the southern little owl, which is not uncommon in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, or the short-eared owl, which is numerous on the exposed hillsides. As for eagles and vultures the context in a number of passages would permit the supposition that we are dealing with the golden eagle or possibly the imperial eagle (Ezek. 17,3; Micah 1, 16), while in other passages it is more likely that the griffin- vulture or the Egyptian vulture is meant (Prov. 30, 17b; Matt. 24, 28). The "dove" of the Bible may be one of various wild pigeons found in cul- tivated parts of the Holy Land. The "stork," so frequently mentioned in the Bible, is the white stork, which visits the Jordan Valley as well as the Judean hills. Of value for the understanding of 1 Sam. 26, 20 is the fact that the red-legged ahu,ku1' pU'rtridge is to be found everywhere over the mountains north and east of Jerusalem, being especially abulillant on the grassy hms overlooking the Jordan Valley ar ' .. , Dead Sea. P.E.K. "Raised - Rose." \Vhen avowed enemies of the Savior, such as the ancient Ariana and the present Modernists, deny the deity of Christ, according Him at best only a form of divinity which is hardly above that of any ordinary human being, their denial makes little impression npon the believing Christian, since their position immediately brings out thc defense mechanism of the believer. But the position taken by modern subtle subordinationism is much more dangerous, since most of its proponents are in many respects staunch defenders of the truth. Their attitude is undoubtedly, consciously or unconsciously, influenced by the false exposition of Phil. 2, 5 Jr. given by kenoticists of various kinds. That Christ's state of humiliation did not consist in His not possessing, but in His not using constantly, the divine attributes communicated to His human nature at the time of His incarna- tion has somehow not penetrated into their theological consciousness, and for that reason they persist in their views of subordinationism. One of their chief difficulties seems to be with regard to the resurrec- tion of Jesus Christ from the dead. For does not Holy Writ time and again state that "God raised up Jesus, our Lord, from tho dead," that He "was raised again for our justification"? Rom. 4, 24. 25. This statement is quite definite, and it can be multiplied many times; for there are more than thirty passages in the New Testament containing statements like the above, as any comprehensive concordance will show. But over against these passages we have even more declarations (al- most forty) which refer to the resurrection of Jesus as of an act of His own free will and power, an act not indeed of His human nature, but of His divine-human person. The most notable of these passages is found in John 10, 15. 17. 18: "1 lay down My life for the sheep. ... Therefore Miscellanea. 695 doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command- ment have I received of My Father." Here the majesty of the omnipotent Son of God is speaking, and His words permit of no misunderstanding. They are as powerful as those which He spoke at the beginning of His public ministry, at the time of the first purging of the Temple: "Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up," John 2,19. But in ad- dition we find the word "rise" ("rose," "risen") used time and again, both by Christ and by the holy apostles, especially in the great Resurrec- tion Chapter, 1 Cor. 15,4.12, and in more than thirty other passages, which the Bible·class leader may do well to list some time in a topic discussion on the resurrection of our Lord. lt simply g'oes to show once more that Scripture does not contradict itself, but that there was complete har- mony between the will of the Father and of the Son, just as there was full cooperation between the work of the Father and the Son in effecting the reconciliation of the world. It is a topic which cannot be studied too carefully or presented too emphatically. P. E. K. The Rubrics of the Marriage Cer~mony. ~ < It is somewhat unfortunate that our Agenda, or Service BGok, is not as complete in its ritual directions as it might be. As a result some pas- tors are at a loss what they ought to advise or insist upon with regard, e. g., tD the solemnization of holy matrimony. Yet some of the ancicnt rubrics concerning this sacred act contain some most interesting and, to some extent, enlightening information. According to the ancient use of Salisbury the publication of banns on three successive Sundays was required, "the object being to guard against clandestine or unlawful unions." This object is in a measure at- tained by the license system as in use in this country, but it is a pity that the congregation no longer has the opportunity to show its direct interest in the marriages performed in its midst as according to the former custom. In some of the older service books a fourth publication of banns was included in the marriage ceremony proper, the beginning of this sec- tion reading: "If any of you can show just cause or impediment," etc. Assuming that our churches for the most part recognize the validity of the betrothal or engagement, one may expect the espoused persons to approach the chancel according to the ancient rubrics: vit' a dewtris mulieris et mulie1' a sinistris viri (the man on the woman's right and the woman on the man's left), the rule being that this order is reversed in returning from the aJtar, the woman then walking on her husband's right side. This rule the ancient Ohurch connected with the Marriage Psalm of Solomon: "Upon Thy right hand did stand the queen in a vesture of gold," Ps. 45, 10. lt is interesting to note that according to ancient English usage the given names only were used in the marriage ceremony. Even now the rubrics prescribe that only the baptismal name should be employed, which means the given name commonly used, with the family name, but not the full complement of names given in Holy Baptism and repeated, as a rule, at the rite of confirmation. P. E. K.