Full Text for CTM Miscellanea 5-12 (Text)

(ttnurnr~ia ijJqrnlngiral !lnutqly Continuing LEHRE UND WEHRE MAGAZIN FUER Ev.-LuTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol. V December, 1934 No. 12 CONTENTS Die Umstimmung Gottes im Versoehnungswel'k Christi. Page J. T. Mueller ..••••.•••••• 897 The Church Reform of Henry VIII a Product of the Re- naissance. Theo. Hoyer ..••••.•••••••••••••••••••••• 907 Jerusalem. P. E. Kreumann ••••.•..••.•••..•..•••.••.•.• 922 Del' Schriftgrund fuel' die Lehre von del' satisfactio vicaria. P. E. Kretzmann •••••••••.• 929 Practical Suggestions for Conducting Bible Classes. P. E. Kretzmann ••••••••.•.• 932 Dispositionen ueber die altkirchliche Evangelienreihe ...... 935 Miscellanea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 951 Theological Observer. - Kirchlich-Zeitgeschichtliches. . . .. 957 Book Review. - Literatur ............................ 969 Ein Predlger mU!18 nleht .U.1n 1Dei cigenen @eluon erfjaIten: bel' f e i berf! ud)±' 952 Miscellanea. Sf'anon 15. 1:50 dner fagt, eiJ fei nidj± nadj bee &)(1;r:rn a::~tifti feIoft~ eigener CSinfe~ung, ba\3 bet ~emge il3d:rue in .oem il3timat iioer bie gan5e Stitdje 'fJef±iinbige 91adjforger ~aoe, ober ber tiimifdje il3apft fei nidjt haft giittridjen ffi:edj±0 bet 91adjfolget \l3"e±ri in eoenbiefem il3timat: ber jei betffudjt. ~Qlum 16. 1:50 einer fagt, bet tiimifdje il3apft ~aoe nut baiJ 2imt bet g{uffidj± obet .2dtung, nidjt aoet hie boile unb ~iidjfte @ellJart ber ~uri?k bUtton iioer bie ganDe ~irdje ober biefe fetne @ellJllrt fei leine regeImii\3ige nnb unmtitelliare iioer aUe unb jegIidje Sfirdjen: ber fei berffudji:. ~anon 17. 1:50 dner fag±, eine unao~iingige firdjlidje @ellJaIi, llJie foldje nadj bet 2eljte bet fa±~onfdjen ,l'\'itdje berfellien bDn a::~riftUiJ erieirt llJorben ift, unb eine oberfte biirgerIidje @ellJaa 'fOnnen nidj± in ber }ffiert nebeneinanber oefte~en, fo ba\3 bie ffi:edjte oeiber gellJaljri 'oreilien: ber fei bcrffudjt. ' ~anon 18. 1:50 dner fagt, bie @ellJart, tueIdje aur ffi:egietung beiJ liiirger~ fidjen I:5taateiJ notiuenbig if±, fei nidjt bon @ott ober berfellien jei man nadj @ottee feIlif±eigenem @efete feine ltn±ertuetfung fdjulDig oher hieferoe llJiber~ ftrcite ber natUtfidjen g;rei~eit bee ilJlenfdjen: bet fei berfludjt. S\'anon 19. 1:50 einer jagt, aUe (\llJifdjen ben ilJlenfdjen liefte~enben ffi:edjte Ieite±en fidj bon bem pontif djen I:5taat ao ober eiJ oefte~c feine 2iuroritiit aufJer ber bon jenem mitge±eiIten: b'Ct f ei berffudj±. stanon 20. 1:50 dner fagt, in bem @efe1,?e beiJ politifdjen I:5taate£l ober in ber offentridjen ilJleinung ber lVcenfdjen fei Die olierfte @ellJiffen£ll1Drm fUt iirrentridje unb foatare ,vanbIungen ober auf biele &)anbfungen erftrecfen jidj bie 2iu0fpriidje ber ~itdje nidjt, burdj llJeIclje fie iilier '@5rIauliteiJ unb nn~ erIau'lJ±e£l fid) iiullert, ober e£l tuerbc diua£l haft lJiirgerIidjen ffi:edj±e£l er~ laulit, llJ·a£l fraft gottHdjen ober firdjHdjen ffi:edj±eiJ ltnet:faulJt ift: ber jei b erfIltdj±. ~al1Dn 21. 1:50 einer iagt, bie @efete bet Sfirdje ~aoen feine l.iinbenbe Shaft, aUBer fofern ftc burclj bie ~anftion ber oiirgerIidjen @lellJaIt oe~ ftiitigt llJerben, oDer hiefer l.iiirgetfidjen @e!l.1aft fte~e eiJ haft iljrer ooer~ i±en W utorUM alt, in l:5adjen ber ffieligiolt llr±eif unh (1;ntf djeiDUl1\J au geoen: bet f ei berfrudj±. "Remove Not the Old Landmarks!" We children of the New 'restamellt are children of liberty, and no church-body has ever stressed this fact more strongly than our own Synod. Yet liberty may degenerate neither into license nor into a lack of consideration for that fundamental rquirement of order which is the very basis of this universe. The word of the apostle "Let all things be done decently and in order," 1 COl'. 14, 40, should be heeded by us to-day as it was in the days of the first Corinthian congregation. The strange assertion of indepenclence which is evident in externals all about us is making every effort to remove some of the landmarks with which we haye been familial' for decades and centuries, which our fathers introduced or retained for good reasons. It is strange, to say the least, that many congregations are now yielding to the trend of the times and dismissing that part of the congregation which is not diTectly concerned with tho Lord's Supper, In the .cipostolic Church and for several cen- Miscellanea. 953 turies thereafter it was regarded as a special mark of communicant mem- bership to remain for the celebration of the Eucharist. The mere hearers and even the catechumens were dismissed after the Service of the Word, and the deacons and the subdeacons as well as the deaconesses were obliged to pass through the fLssembled congregation to enforce the rule about attendance at the Holy Supper. At the present time we are care- ful not to ascribe to the Holy Communion in itself a greater measurc of power as a means of grace than the preaching of the Word; for it is only by and from the Word that the Eucharist receives its power. Never- theless it ought to be considered a great privilege even to be present at the celebration of the Lorcl's Supper and to meditate on the grefLtness of the mystery which is before our eyes, in that the very body and blood of our blessed Savior are given and received in, with, and under the con- secrated bread and wine. It would therefore be a pity if the custom of leaving the house of God before the celebration of the Eucharist should gain ground. }lore serious is the growing indifference and negligence concerning the use of registration, or announcement, before the celebration of the Holy Communion. It is bad enough if the pastor of a large congregation barely has time to say more than a few words to those who wish to par- take of the Lord's Supper. It is still more strange if the habit of an- nouncing over the telephone is permitted to become established. A step farther down is that of simply having those persons who desire to come place their names in a registration book in the vestibule, or narthex, of the church-building. And strangest of all is the custom, now in use wher- ever close communion is not observed, of inviting all those present who are Lutherans to come forward and fellowship with the congregation in the Holy Supper. It is well to remember what our Lutheran Confessions say of the necessity of first examining those who wish to partake of the Eucharist. (Sce A~tgustana, TTigL, 384.) Another landmark that is being removed is that of the speoial con- fessional servioe and even of confession itself as a preparation for the Lord's Supper. It is true that this special service and this particular liturgical act is not commanded in the Word of God; but there wa.s a good reason for Luther's insistence on private confession before partaking of the Lord's Supper, and the entire tenor of our Confessions indicates the importance which was placed upon this special preparation for attendance at the Eu- charist. To discard this custom means a serious loss to our Church; and this shoulclnot be taken lightly. (Cp. Hom. Mag., 1905, Vol. 29; Report of Cenh-al Illinois Dish-ict, 1924.) Aud finally we arc constrained to refer once more to the growing ten· dency to abbreviate the length of time used in the training of candidates for communicant membership in our Chui"eh, both adults and children. (Cp. The Religion of the Child, 82. 129.) In nine cases out of ten it is not sufficient to give a lecture course of six to ten talks on the Christian religion and then to admit adults to membership in the congregation. And in approximately the same number of cases it is utterly inadequate to have catechumen classes for children on Saturday morning only. The sug- gestion formerly made by Synod was a minimum of 100 hours of in- 954 Miscellanea. struction for confirmands, and the conscientious pastor knows that he needs all of this time if he would do justice to his task. If the pastor cannot have the children every morning from September till Palm Sunday, he should take at least three mornings a week for this work. And where children are involved who have not had the advantage of regular pari8h- school training, there ought to be at least one year of preliminary instruc- tion for the prospective candidates for the catechumen class, in the 80- called training-class. To be satisfied with less than this jeopardizes the entire future of our Church. Yi·deant consltles! P. E. K. Christmas - December 25. From time to time one runs across the statement that the date of Christmas, December 25, as fixed by Pope Liberius in 354, is not accept- able, chiefly because it would have been impossible for sheep to be grazing out in the meadows of Bethlehem by night. However, the celebrations which have been held on the meadows of the city of Jesus' birth during the last years show that this contention is not tenable. Further material giving information on this subject is contained in a little volume by Cecilia Margaret Rudin, entitled Stories of Hymns We Love. In speaking of the specific occasion which caused Phillips Brooks to write his beautiful an- them "0 Little Town of Bethlehem," a part of one of his letters is quoted: "We rode out of town [Bethlehem] to the field where, they say, the shep- herds saw the star. As we passed, the shepherds were still 'keeping watch over their fiocks' or 'leading them home to fold,' just as they had that night so long ago when the angels came to tell them of Jesus' birth." 'fhis was in December, 1865. P. E. K. ~tf)ltogru~f)ifdje IYorfdjuugen iu !ill eft ufrifu. ~ie 2a~r ber 2fnt~rolJowgen, bie e~didjerl1J'eife 3ugelien, bat fid) lid bielen lJrimitiben moUerraffen ber @Iaulie an einen einaigen @ott ober lDenigften§ an dnen SJaUlJtgott er~aIten ~at, me~rt tidj, ~n "lY0rfdjungen unb lYorlfdjritte" bom 10. @5elJtemlier 1934 lieridjtet Dr. ffialpl) @illier iilier einen 91egerftamm fiiblidj bon ben 91imlialiergen in 2ffrifa, bon bem er unter anberm lieridjtet: ,,~tuffalIenb ift bor allem bie fdjarfe 2fligren3ung ber f djroeren bon ben 1eidjten merfe~rungen wiber bie olierfte @ottljeit. 2u ben erfteren werben Morb, ::t.otfdjIag, ~rufle~nung gegen ba§ @5tamrnesoberljaupt, SDieliftaljI an offentridjem @iigenium, faIfdjcr @iib, metrug unb @~ebrudj geredjnet; 3ur 3weiten @t11pjJe giiljrt man StorjJerbede!;?ungen, lio§~afte mefdjiibigungen fremben @igentums, mige, lTIerIellmbung unb ~iebftii~Ie, fofem fie an bern mefii;? eingeIncr beriibt roerben unb fcine er~eliIidje @5djiibigung bes mefto~" Ienen aur \SoIge lj ali en. "fficdjt gefjJrodjen jotrb ilon ben SJiiuptringen bes @5iammes tm 91amen bes olierften @oties. iilier bas )ffiefen biefer @ottljeit, bie ~jan oocr ~an (in llJOrtridjer iiberfetung ,)Der @5tra~lenbe', ,~er 2eudjtenbe') genannt lDirb, madjen lidj bie @ingcliornen ungemein fIar ausgepriigte morfteHungen, bie bon afJergIiiulJifdjem meiroerf boHrommen frei ]inb. 91adj after .Srrabition, bie munblidj iilierlieferl ltrirb, ~errfdjt ~ian foroolj1 tilier bie IDlenfdjen al§ Miscellanea. 955 audj fiber alIe gu±en unb bof en @eifter. @Sr wo~nt auf3er~afb ber @Srbe unD f±eigt jeben W(orgen aUf ben @J±tal.)fen ber @Jonne au i~r nicber; abenD£l fe~rt er aUf Demfellien )!Bege au il.)r iluder. "Bu '@Sfjren ~ian£l werDen in ~rof±anben, Die nadj ber ~ngabe meinet @ell1al.)t£lmannc.r Durdj fef±f±el.)enbe @efete geregert finD, tituelle 5l:'anse llcr~ anftarteJ:, bie bon ~Rabdjen im I.ltrter ilhlifdjcn fedj£l unb ShlOIf ;;sal.)ren au£l~ gefilfjrt hlctben. @S£l beftel.)en eigene ®cl.)ufen, in benen biefe 5l:'anscrinnen in f±renger I.ltbgef cl.)ieDenl.)eit bon het llmhleIt ifjte l.ltu§biIbung erfafjten. ~ie 5l:'anac finhen aUf einem frei£lrUl1Den jj3lat (9Cadjal.)mung ber ®eftart ber ®onne) ftatt, bcginnen Ul1l bie j))(iitag.6ftunbe unb enben Dei ®onnenun±cr~ gang. Bu bem erften 5l:'eU be.6 ~efte£l fjaDen bie @Singebornen feinen Bu~ tritt; erf± hlaqtenb De.6 ilhleiten 5teile.6 bfufen Bufdjauet anhlefcnD fein. mi£l bor e±hla amanaig ;;Saqren ruurbe inmiiten be.6 5l:'anaj,lfate.6 ein @Jdjei±er~ ~al1fen au.6 ben @J±ammen bon 9caDelj,lafmen etridj±e± unD au meginn Det ~eietficl.)fcit in mranb gefe~±. ~eu±e ift Diefer mraucl.) in ~ergeffenqeit ge~ raten. D'b barin dne ~erf[adjung De£l S1'ur±e£l au feqen ift, lonnie ntdjt ermitteIt hlerben. U jj3. @S. S1'. The Birthplace of Patrick. The following information is taken from a recent investigation in a subject which has bothered church historians for many years. We offer just the conclusions of the writer (A 1nerwa, Vol. L, 568) : - "St. Patrick's birthplace therefore is in some part of Britain which corresponds to the Roman d01ni rather than to militiae. Can we identify Bonavem Taberniae? We can with a high degree of probability. Muirchu gives us a valuable hint. He says: 'IVe have ascertained repeatedly that this town is unquestionably Ventre.' He adds, moreover, as we have seen, that it was ha1ld proc1Jl a maTi nostTo >' that is, it was near the Irish Channel. "Now, we have to look in the southwestern part of England for Ventre, a place which would have villas and the trappings of Roman urhan life. Ventre is most likely 'Venta' (Silurum), the modern Caerwent, not far distant from the estuary of the Severn, Mud proouL a ma1'i nost'ro. "The 'Excavations of Cam'went' (1907-1912) in ArcheoLogica, Vols. 61, 62, and 63, make very intersting reading. The foundation of Venta is placed as early as a period between 80 and 85 .A. D. It had a Curia (and hence decurwns) from at least the third century. It had guilds of trades- men, a forum, and a basilica. There are evidences of central heating, a stone amphitheater (the only one yet excavated in Britain), while one of the private houses shows all the appurtenances of the bath, such as would be found in the Imperial City. In other words, Roman ciyiliza- tion had deeply impregnated the private and public life of Venta. It is no wonder, then, that Dr. Helena COllCalJ1l0n and Dr. Eoin MacNeill have selected Caerwent as the birthplace of the .Apostle of the Irish. "In any case modern discoveries have established two truths: 1) The popular tradition in favor of Dumbarton must yield to scientific evidence; and 2) if Caerwent is not the birthplace of St. Patrick, it was in some part of Romanized Britaiu, near the Irish Channel, that the saint was born." P.E.K. 956 Miscellanea. As to the Choice of Bibles. In response to several inquiries concerning the New Ana~ytioa~ In- dexed Bibk (Dickson Bible) we are obliged to state that unfortunately the new and copyrighted edition of 1931 does not contain the corrections which were suggested by Dr. Theo. Graebner (The Pastor as Student and Literary Workel", 50) and by Dr. VV. Arndt (review in this magazine, Vol. III, p. 233 f.). While the Bible-text is that of the Authorized Ver- sion, the helps are not undenominational or non-sectarian, as the pub- lishers state on a special blurb; the book is not tree t'/'Orn denorninationa~ theological coloring, but is, in many instances, pointedly sectarian. Even the "Statement of Doctrines of the Lutheran Church," which is given to Lutheran purchasers of the book, does not eliminate the objectionable fea- tures. As long as the company refuses to make the corrections which woulel make this Bible edition undenominational, that is, unobjectionable from the standpoint of Biblical Christianity, this Bible oannot receive an unrest1"icted recomrnendation frorn any Lutheran theologian. We take exception to the following doctrinal misstatements and in- adequacies: - The Apostles' Creed omits the words "descended into hell." Of Baptism the text says: "It syrnbolizes regeneration." Faith is represented merely as "an assent to the truth of revelation and an entire trust and confidence in God's character and Christ's teach- ings, with an unreserved surrender of the will." Of the fall of man the text says: "Whether this account be taken as literal Or as figuruct'ive and allegorical," etc. The Baptism of thc Holy Ghost is spoken of as "an operation distinct from, subsequent and additional to, regeneration." Under the topic peacemakers the word is useel entirely of antagonism to war and Luke 2,14 is quoted as supporting the exposition. Under the hea,ding Sabbath it is stateel that "the Christian Sabbath takes the place of the Jewish." The definition of the Lord's Supper is typically inadequate, as is that of Sacrament. The index contains other inadequate and false statements, as when it assigns the Syriac or Peshito (sio!) Version (sic!) to the close of the first century, when it state>! that the Vulgate of Jerome was condemned as in- accurate by the Council of Trent, when Matt. 16, 18 and Mark 14, 25 are referred to under the heading "millennium," and when the article "Jeru- salem" fails to bring its history up to date. In the Bible proper there are similar inadequacies, especially in the chronology. The Dssher dates are discarcled, at least in part, and yet the editors failed to make use of the conclusions based upon the Gallio In- scription and have ignored entirely the investigations of Albright, Duncan, Garstang, and Marston, not to speak of Kyle. In short, from the stand- point of accurate and adequate scholarship the Dickson Bible is a dis- appointment. It would be far better to use a good Bible dictionary with one of our Concordia Bibles than to purchase such an expensive Bible as the Dickson and run the risk of wrong or misleading information. P.E.K.