Full Text for CTM Theological Observer 6-3 (Text)
as entitled to serious conside-ra,tion unless unity of
doctrine precedes it. We- a,re not a,t one with the Council in its demand for
Theological Observer. - .Rit.d)lid).,seitgefd)id)t1id)es. 221
legislative enactments, to bring about Bocial changes which nave not first
been a,dopted by the individuals of the na,tion. While Lutherans dread war
for the same rea,sons and with the same fervor tha,t grip, the minds and
hea,rts of all citizens, we a.re not prepard to demand the weakening of
defensive a,rmament by our Government, the interruption of cha-pla-incies,
nor the substitution by us of an a,ppeal of interna,tionalism for the tradi-
tiona.! na,tiona.Iism of the United Sta,tes. We' can only receive respectfully
the C'ouncil's declarations in this' field." What is more serious than the
ma,tters the Lutheran points to is the indifference in doctrine which chara,c·
terizes the Council and positive errors which at times are a,dvoca,ted by it,
for instance, in its "Address to the Churches," drawn up at the last conven-
tion by a- committee of which a professor of the U. L. C. was a, member,
an a,ddress, by the way, which is commended both by the reporter of the
Lutheran and by its editor. This paragraph from it is submitted by the
reporter: "Our deepest resources, a,fter all, are in a, vital co=union with
God as Christ has revealed Him to UB'. Only as we dwell deep in the
spiritual verities of life, shall we ha,ve the poise, or lay hold of the reserves
of strength, we need to stand unshaken in difficult days. We fa,ce a- crisis
in character as well as in economics, - indeed, a deeper crisis. Is not this
the real hea;rt of our age's need and trouble? Too many people are trying
to get along without any vital, sustaining sense of God. In the first cen-
tury St. Paul, by definite moral and spiritual counsels, su=oned Chris-
tians to endure' a great moral and spiritual crisis. In the world of the
twentieth century the Church must continue this a,postolic task. We must
call people through prayer, through worship, through medita,tion on the
Scriptures, through the Sacraments, through confession and humility, and
a sincere seeking of the inner light, to be reconciled to God. Then shall
the peace of God enter into lives now frantically seeking superficial plea,-
aures and excitement or beset by sin and fea;r and inner conflicts." Tha,t
may be stirring language, but wha,t of its theology? "We must call people
through praye'r, through worship, tmough meditation on the S'criptures,
through the Samaments, through confession and humility and a, sincere
seeking of the inner light, to be reconciled to God.'" Is it possible that
a, Lutheran theologian ga,ve his endorsement to !>uch a sentence? He mus,t
know that there is only one way of being reconciled to God, and here six
of them a;re enumera,ted.. Wha,t i!> left of the sola· fide principle of the
Scriptures? If being reconciled to God means tha,t one experience!> a sort
of emotional thrill and resolves to become a, better man, we have nothing
to salV. But if it means that a poor sinner a,ccepts the forgiveness of sins
ea;rned for him by a divine Savior, the sentence quoted involves a, woeful
depa;rture from wha,t is most vital in Christianity. A.
Thel President of the A. L. C. on Union with Missouri. - For the
information 0.£ our clergy we reprint the following paragra,phs from the
"President's Report," submitted by Dr. C. C. Hein, president of the A. L. C.,
a,t its recent m~eting in Wa.verly,. Iowa: - '
"Will we ever come to an a,greement with the Missouri Synod? The
Chicago Theses,. which weTe adopted by representa,tives of the Missouri
Synod, the Wisconsin Synod, and the synods of Buffalo, Iowa, and Ohio,
after most thorough delibera,tions of more than a decade" were> re>j~cted by
the Missouri Synod in 192,9'. The committee advised to reject them 'since
222 Theological Observer. - SHrd)1id)~Seitgefd)td)tlid)eil.
all chapters and a number of paragraphs are inadequate; a.t times the~
do no·t touch upon the points of controvers~; a,t times the~ are so phrased
tha,t both parties can find in them their own opinion; at times they
incline, more to the position of our opponents than to our own. Your
committee considers it a hopeless undertaking to make these theses un-
objectionable from the view of pure doctrine. It would be better to
discard them as a failure." The results of ten years, of work were de-
cla,red nil.
"In the Janua,ry, 1933,. is·sue of the CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY
a series of doctrinal statements is submitted upon whose adoption the
recognition of other Lutheran bodies on the part of the Missouri S~od
is made dependent. In conclusdon the editor states : 'A few other questions
which will ha,ve to be discussed and settled according to the Word of 1 years and was known a,s the oldest minister in the
United States. For a while he served the American Church in Paris. The
establishment of schools and colleges for the Negroes wa.s, given much atten-
tion by him. Being a Congl"egationalist, he served fol' years as. correspond-
ing secretary of thH American Missiona.ry Associa.tion of that Church.-
The Bishop of Copenhagen, Rt. Re,v. Ostenfeld, Prima.te of the, Danish Lu-
theran Sta.te Church, died on October 24, 1934. His successor is Bishop
Hans F'ulsag-Damgaarcl. The deceased IHaclel' was an author of note, his
books dealing chiefly with practical issues. - At the head of the Lutheran
Church in Russ.ia" as, the successor of Bishop Theodore MHyer, wlm died
April 28, 1934, Dr. C. Arthur Malmgren is serving as bishop. It is interest-
ing to read in Dr. Morehead's rema.rks a,bout him in thH News Bulletin of
the Na.tional Lutheran Council that after he had been called to the pasto-
ra,te of St. AIm's Evangelica,1 Lutheran Church in St. PHtersburg in 1891,
he" during the fin~t twenty· five years of service in tha.t position, taught
religion in the upper grades of St. Ann's Pa,roohial School and cooperated
230 Theological Observer. - .Ritd)Iid):8eitgefd)id}tIid)e~.
in many institutions of mercy of the St. Petersburg congregations and the
Church in Russda in general. - December 18, 1934, Dr. Frederick Lynch
died, who from 1914 to 1926 was secretary of the Church Peace Union and
for twenty years served as editor of Ohristian Work. A.
A Correction. - We are reliably informed that the editorial from the
Living Ohuroh describing a service conducted by the St. James Society in
St. Luke's Church, New York, and reprinted in our January issue (p. 69) ,
contains several wrong statements. The service was not held on a Sunday,
but on a Thursday. We might add, to avoid misunderstanding, that the
consent of the congregation for the holding of the service had been obtained.
The statement that an Anglo-Catholic would have "recognized with amaze-
ment a service surprisingly like the solemn Mass that he would have ex-
pected at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin," is described as not correct
by brethren who participated in this service. Fairness demands that we
should not withhold this information from our readers. A.
II. ,l,u5111Ull.
'l)ie t~etlrtlgifdje .\1t1djfdjule in ~etfin<.8e~renbtlrf. noer me tljeologifdje
.\)odjfdjule unferer Qjriiber in ~eu±fdjlanb, in§oefonbere iioer bie ~roeit
be§ lffiin±erfemef±er§, f djreio± melior lffiillfomm in ber ,,{yreiftrdje": "lffiir
ljalien, lnie im borigen ®emef±er, aeljn ®±uben±en, Mn benen einer ficlj
auniidjft auf bie ~iifung in ber fjeoriiifcljen ®lJraclje boroereitet unb ein
anberer, ber nidj± unferer {yreifirclje angefjort, an ben !l5orIefungen teiI~
nimm±, um unfere £efjre unb fircljJiclje ®teUung fennenaulernen. ~er !l5or~
Iefung§plan iff nicljt toefentriclj beriinber±. ~n ber ®Iauoen§Iefjre toirb in
Nefem ®emef±er bie £efjre bon ®oU, bom IDeenfdjen unb feinem {YaU unb
bon ber llSerfon unfer§ .\)®un ~®fu @:fjrifH oefjanbeIt, in ber Sfirdjen~
gefcljidj±e bie meformation§aeit. Wu§ bem WIten 5tef±amen± toerben au§~
getoiifjIte llSfalmen gelefen unb erHiirt, au§ bem ~euen 5teftament ber Q3rief
llSauIi an bie ®pfjefer, ber ia gana oefonber§ bon ber .\)errIicljfeit unb bem
meiclj±um ber Sfirclje @:fjrifti fjanbeIt. ~ie®inlei±ung in ba§ meue 5tef±a~
men± toirb for±gefet±, in ber iioer bie ®ntf±efjung ber einaelnen Qjiicljer be§
~euen 5tef±amen±§, ifjre merfaffer, ifjren .\)aup±htfjart ufto. gefjanbeH lnirb.
~en iirteren ®±uben±en inirb in ber Si'a±ecljeiH unb in ber llSaftoraItfjeologie
Wnfeitung aur {yiifjrung be§ praftifcljen Wm±e§ gegeoen, unb ber £efjrgang
fUr fircljIiclje ~ugenbpj1ege bien± eoenfa@ bief em ,Broecf. ~m £efjrgang
fiir engIif clje ®praclje toerben bie ®±uben±en eingefUfjr± in ba§ redj±e £ef en
ber engIifcljl~fircljIicljen £itera±ur, toie fie namen±riclj in ben Si'reifen unferer
amerifanifcljen ®Iauoen§oriiber erfcljein±, unb bie morIefungen iioer bie
®efcljicljie ber neueren llSfjtIofojJIjie, bie P. Dr. Sfodj fjiift, bienen baau, bie
®tuben±en oefann± au madjen mit ben geiftigen ®±romungen ber neueren
,Bei±, bon benen ia auclj bie neuere 5tfjeologie f±ad oeeinj1uf3± iff. ®o fjalien
unfere ®±uben±en ein grof3e§ unb mannigfaclje§ Wroeit§geoie±, aUf bem fie
ficlj oe±ii±igen fonnen unb foUen, bamit ba§, toa§ ifjnen in ben !l5orlefungen
geoo±en I1JIirb, audj lnirfliclj bon ofeilienbem muten fUr fie unb Ne ganae
Sfirclje fei. {yiir ifjr IeioIiclje§ lffioljlergefjen ift audj geforg±. ®ie feIof±
bertoaIten im ®intJerf±iinbni§ mit ber {YafuItiit unb bem !l5ertoaI±ung§rat
ba§ Q3efoftigung§toefen. Qji§ aUf e in en toofjnen lnieber aUe ljier in ber
Wnf±an. " ~. 5t. IDe.
Theological Observer. - oRitd)1id)'3eitgefd)id)tIid)es. 231
~eteinigung£l6eftre6ungen lutijerifdjer iJreifirdjen in 'l)eutfdjlanb. &~
bem ~ericljt iiber ben ~farrfonbent ber ~annoberfcljen @bA3utlj. i}reifirclje,
beriiffentHclj± in bem ~Iat± "Un±er bem Sfreua", bringt menor jilliIIfomm
in ber "i}reifirclje" bie folgenbe IDCit±eiIung: ,,~efanntriclj tuaren bon ber
@5~nobe in ~lecfmar @5uperintenbent ~ii±tcljer unb P. @erljolb beauftragt
morben, aUl ~ertreter unferer Sfirclje an ben fommenben ~erljanbIungen
teifauneljmen. ~eibe ljaben nun am 4. ~uIi [1934] dner :ltagung in ~affeI
Iieigetuoljnt, an ber auf3erbem bie @b.~Butlj. Sfirclje &npreuf3en~, bie @5eIIi~
ftiinbige @b.~Butlj. .I1irclje in ~effen unb bie ~ermann~burg~~amburger
@b.~Butlj. i}rcifirclje beteiIigt lnaren. SDort ift e~ au einem greifIiaren @v
gebni~ nicljt gefommen; ein folclje~ lnar auclj nicljt au ertuarten unl> fann
flir bie niicljfte 8ufllnfJ: nicljt erljofft tuerben. jilloljI finb bereit~ bon atuet
@5eiten ~orfcljliige 3u einem 8ufammenfcljluf3 ber lutljerifcljen Sfircljen ge"
macljt morben, bie im ~onbent naclj dnem meferat bon P. @erljolb Iiefprocljen
tuurben. SDoclj elje e~ au einer tuirUicljen ~ercinigung fommen fann, miiffen
naclj unferer cinmiitigen &nficljt bie berfcljiebenen i}reifircljen cine einljeit"
Iiclje @5tellung 3U ben ficlj rutljerifclj nennenben Banbe~fircljen unb ber biefe
umfaffenben meiclj~firclje getuinnen. SDie~ ift aber lllieber nicljt miigficlj,
folange nicljt bie ie~igen fircljIicljen jillirten 3u einem enbgiirtigen \?l:bfcljluf)
gelangt finb. i}iir un~ in ~annober ift am micljiigften bie ~eiIung be~
miffe~, ber leiber innetljaIIi ber i}teifitclje eingetreten unb bi~ljer nut ±eiI~
mcife befeitigt ift. ~ierbei tuirb e~ mefentIiclj fein, iDie e~ ficlj mit ber
~ermann~burget IDCiffion meitergeftaItet. @~ ift nicljt au~gefcljloffen, baf3
bie fcljmietige IDCiffion~frage burclj' bic gefamtfircljIiclje @n±lllicflung iljre
Biifung finbet. II
~ier3u fcljrei6± ffieftor jilliIIfomm: ,,\?l:uclj mir finb ber IDCeinung, baf3
cine lllirfIiclje ~ereinigung ber ht±ljerifcljen i}reifircljen in SDeu±fcljlanb nur
miigIiclj ift, menn bie berf cljiebenen 1Sreifircljen 3Ubor aUf @runb be~ jillorte~
@ot±e~ 3U ciner einljcitricljen ~eurteiIung ber ficlj lutljerifclj nennenben
Banbe~fircljen unb ber ffieiclj£iIirclje, au bet biefe ia aIle geljiiren mollen,
gefommen finb. SDaf3 bie~ bi~ljer nicljt bet i}aIl lnat, ift ia ein ~auptgtllnb
bafiit, baf3 bie bon un~ fcljon feU ~aljten etftrebte @inigung atuifcljen ben
anbern 1Steifitcljen unb un~ bi~ljet nicljt iluftanbe gefommen ift. )ffienn
man aber bamit marl en mill, biS bie ie~igen fircljIicljen jillirren in ben
~on~fircljen au einem enbgiirtigen &bfcljfuf3 gefommen fein tuerben, bann
fann e~ noclj lange bauern. @erabe bie gegen11liirtigen .I1amNe um bie
SDeutfclje @bangeIifclje Sfirclj'e ljaben boclj beutriclj genug geaeigt unb aeigen e£l.
immer noclj auf~ neue, baf3 auclj bie Iieften unter ben beutfcljen ebangeIifcljen
moH~fircljen midIiclje ~efenn±ni£ifh:cljen im @5inne be£i Iutljerifcljen ~efenn±"
niffe~ m'C1:ler flnb noclj fein 111oIlen. SDenn ba~, ma~ ba~ \?l:ug~burger )5e~
fenntni~ aUl uncrIiif3Iiclj filr bie 11laljre @inigfeit bet SHrclje forbert, bai3
namIiclj ,eintriicljiigIiclj naclj rcinem Q3erftanb ba~ @bangeIium geprebigi
unb bie ljeiIigen ®aframen±e Iaut be~ @bangeIii gereiclj± merben', mollen fie
aile n i clj ±. SDa~ milrbe ia bebeu±en, baf3 recljte ebangeHfclje Beljr" unb
~ircljenauclj± eingefilljrt unb geilb± miirbe. SDabon tum man aber auclj in
ben fogenann±en ruHJetifcljen 2anbe£ifircljen niclji§ miffen, fonbern auclj bort
ljan man feft an ber ,Beljrfreiljei±' unb an ben IDCaffenfommunionen. SDarum
tuare e~ bieImeljr ba~ ricljtige, baf3 an ber @inigung ber Iu±ljerif cljen i}rei~
fircljen 3unacljft Dljne miic!ficljt aUf bie ~erljaItniff e in ben Banbe~fircljen:
mit ailem @rnft gearIieitet tuiirbe. @ine in ber jillaljrljeit fef±gegriinbete
232 Theological Observer. - ~itd)Hd)~3eitgefd)id)md)ell.
mereinigung ber ebangeIifdHut~erifdjen iYreifirdjen, fUr !.lie roir fteti$ ein~
getrcten finb unl> nadj ber roir uni$ ~ersndj fe~nen, l1.1iirbe gerabe iett ein
groj3er liSegen f ein uni:> i:>enen, Me mit @:rnft eine ~efenn±ni!;lIirdje itlOIlen,
eine :Buffudjt liieten in ben jffiirten unferet :itage." :;So :it. IDe.
~aglt1tg bei\l ~rbeiti\llllti\lfdjltffe~ lIe~ 21ttijerifdien !fieItfllntJeng. '!ler
~rlieiti\laUi3fdjufJ bei3 2u±~erifdjen jffiertfonbenti$ iagie bom 13. liii3 sum
20. mobemlier ll .. :;s. in IDeiindjen. @egenroarlig roaren aIle merlre±er: I{5tiifei3
D. IDeore~eaD, 9(etu g)orf; meftor D. ~oe, IDeinnefoia; '!lomprojJft D.l{5e~rffon,
@oienliurg; D. :;Siirgenfen, SfojJenljagen; 2anbei3liifdjof D. IDeara~ren!;l, ,l2an~
nOber; 2anbei3liifdjof D. IDeeifer. '!let Wrliei±i;laU!;lfdjuj3 iritt jiiljrfidj aufam~
men, ll)ii~renb ber 2uiljerifdje jffieIifonbeni, "ber olierfte mat bei3 2u±ljer~
tumi3, in bem Wligeorbnete ber lutljetifdjen srirdje ber ganacn !fieri berlreien
finh" (fo !.lie ,,~. @:. 2. sr. "), aIle fedji3 :;Saljre iagi. '!ler 2uiljerifdje jffieIt~
fonbent Mrb feine niidjf±e IiSltung, l11ie in IDeiindj;en liefdjloffen IDUrbe, in
biefem :;Saljr in l{5arg abljaIten. Unb l1lai3 tuill er? ~ie ,,~. @:. 2. S'e.", bie
l10n i~m ur±eif±: ,,@:i$ fteljen im gansen adj±aig IDeilIionen lutljerifdje