Full Text for CTM Book Review 6-6 (Text)

man immet tnieber batan erinnett tnh:b: 53ut~ers lRefotmation iit niC!)t im moranll gep1ant, fonbern-. aus bem lBcblitfnill bes (H)tiftenf)er5ens ~etbotgetnaC!)fen, ball fcine I5linbe red)t leoenbig erfannt ljat unb nun ®etniji~eit feinet metgeoung unb l5eligfeit fuc!)t; fie unt.etfc!)eibet fief) fc!)on babutc!) bon bet calbinifc!)en, bie im motans oei 53ampen" lid)t gep1ant, bonn hem ®enfer lRat botge{egt unb ben ®enfcr lBlirgern aufge~ 3tnungen tnutbe, balJcr nic!)t fotnof)1 bas .\'dcH het ein3e1nen l5ede 015 bielme~t bas. ®emeintoo!J1 im ~{uge !Jat. - !!Bie man bies bei ben l5c!)tiftm bes meteins flit .. lReformationsgefd)id)t.e gelllof)nt ift, ;0 ift and) biefes .\'deft bas ~rgebng fotgfiiltiger nnb f(eijiiget ~tbeit; bie1 ift aUf tnmig l5eiten fUts 3ufammengefatt. }.limn man auef) nic!)t alles untetfd)reiot - fann man bei einem f)iftotifd)en !!Bed iibetf)anpt ertnarten, baji jeber aus ben feftite~enben statfac!)en biejelben 15d)1iiffe aief)elt. muji? -, io etfrcut boel} fait iibetall bas gefunbe, fd)arfe UrtcH hes merfafferll,. Book Review. - .\Jitetatut. 475· 3. !S. iioer ben !Suuernfdecr, 16.46 ff., ober llJenn erUart llJitb, llJie .l.Jut~er~ ffied)t~ fertigungsleljre bie ~ud)t bes I{lapfttums geftiitst 1)at: "SDie I{ltoUamation bes aIIgemeinen I{ltieftertums ... ift b i e gtof:le tefotmatotifclje meftciungstat gewefen. SDa jlc aus .l.Jut~ets fficcljtfettigunGs~e~te folgte, mag man biefe bas teformatotifd)e irunbament nennen .. " SDet erfte Ut~eoet bet ~bl11erfung bes uUen .(lwungs" iod)es ift unb orcibt et. ~rs !Seftciet fd)uf et bie .Retme unaaljL!Jam ~iiglicf)= fettenj oljne iljn waten fie nicf)t." irreind), .\Jutljets .l.Jeljte ljat I{ltOf . .Riiljlet gat· oft nid)t ted)t etfaf:lt, fa a.!S. llJenn ct bon .l.Jutljets !Jted)tfettigungsleljte fagt, e.- ~abe ben "etljifd)en !sIicfpunft nie aus ben ~ugen betloten. 0etabeaud)' bci bet ffiecl)tfettigung bot 00tt nid)t. @ott, bet iibet ffiaum unb .(leU ~t~abene, lJoIIsog im ffiecljtfettigungsfptud; gleicljiam eine i6cljau: et fal) ben @mcljtsumad)enben als @etcd)ten, fptaclj geted)t, IneH et getecljt mad)en llJitb, fcf)aute im toljen ~at" mot61od bas boIIenbete .RunfHlled/l. SDas ift fatI)o1tfd), nid)t futljetifcf). .Rii~fet metft basauclj llJoljlj et fagt, .\Jutljet ljabe bem fitcf)Iid)en i6d)ema ben ·~otOt neu eingefteIIt. "SDott atbeitete ·et llJie. bet i6Habe um m!erno~n, miiljfam I{loften: um I{loften, nut €in llJenig butd) .(lufcljuf:l bon ooen gefiltbett - es wat €in ~b= bienen cinet i6d)ufbj ~tct llJitUe fd)affensftolj ein irteict, bem aIIet i6d)ulbbtuif- beljoben llJat unb bet nun einfad) laufen mu!lte, fo luie bet gute maum fetne irtii(1)te ljetbototingen mul\." ~bet bas ift nid)t .l.Jutljcts .l.Jeljtej fiit .l.Jutljet fommt in bet ffiecljtfettigung bas stun bes @I1iubigen gat nid)t in !Settad)t, fon" bern nut bas, llJas ffljriftus getan ljat. @etabe bas llJat .\3ut~ets .\3eljte, toas .Rilljlet fpatet aIS tin ~JUf:lbetft1inbniS bet !Sauern batftent, baf:l "bie ffiecf)tfettigung' bes i6iinbers aus @naben mecljanijlert [?] llJutbe, llJenn jle aus ciner innetm UmllJanblung sum auf:lmn ffiicljtfptud) llJurbe ftaft bet mesaljlung bet i6cljulb· butd) ffljtiftus/l. SDas llJat btelme~t bas ~ilibetftanbniS bet !Saltern: "ff~tifMl bet ~tliifet llJurbe 3um ©cbel bet !Seftciung bon aIIetlei llJe!tlicljen 91iiten ge~ ftempelt./1 - .Bum metitan'oniS bet' llJeltllJeitell m!hfungen bet ffiefotmation ift bies ©eft cin llJetiboIIet meHtag. st lj e o. © 0 ~ e t. History of the Lutheran Church in America. By Dr. J. L. Neve. Pre- paxed for third edition by Willard D. Allbeck. 399 pages, 5X7:!4. The Lutheran LiteraJ'y Boa,rd, Burlington, Iowa,. Price, $2.25. Order from Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. Dr. Neve is professor of theology in the U. L. C. semina.ry a,t Spring- field, O. His History of the Lutheran Ohurch in America was published in' 1904. For this third edition a, number of scholars from various Lutheran bodies contributed manu8{!ripts or material; the history has everywhere been brought down to date. A bibliography has been added, of which the author sa,ys that it is faJ' from complete'. But since most bibliographies, are a waste of ink and pa.per, we shall have no quarrel with the author on that account. We regret, however, that the valuable a,ppendix of the· second edition,. which contained an e,xact reprint of important confessional documents" has been elimina,ted. Proba.bly the publisher thought he waE'< furnishing enough for the price of $2:.25 and stDpped one page short nf 400. This histo'ry tells the story of Lutheranism in America from its be- ginning, traces the origin of the first general bodies,. the great contro- versies, the Norwegian, Augustana" and Danish synods, and the recent merger of gene'ra.l bodies. Judgments on men and events tsstify to the author's wide reading aJld moreover axe generally such a.El every conserva- tive Lutheran will subscribe to. Referring to loyalty to the Confessions of 476 Book Review. - ~itetatut. the Church, Dr. Neve says: "From this viewpoint we measure success and faUure" (p. 69). He regrets the "general confessional confusion" that re- sulted from Muehlenberg's practise of pulpit-fellowship witll the Reformed (p. 84). Regarding the Wisconsin Synod he says: "From a. 'mild and concilia,tory' a,ttitude the Lutheranism of this synod developed into· one of uncompromising fidelity to the Lutheran Confessions!' (p. 226). He quotes with approval Dr. Mann's judgment: The beginning of Lutheran synodical life was "such a, beginning as circumstances permitted. But whosoever will at this time refuse to unite with the change for the better which has taken place or oppose the recovered self-respect of Lutheranism, its God- given individnality, he is guilty indeed" (p. 9'7). He never faUs to praise such progress in "doctrinal precision" as he is aNe to trace in the history of the General Synod. No one will say tha,t this, history is a partisan document. We might have expected more fulsome recognition of General Synod leaders than is accorded, for ins,tance, to C. P. Krauth. On the other hand, a.dequate cognizance is taken of the achievements of men also in the Wisconsin and Missouri synods. For the first time in a general history do we find such full credit given to our Synod for the progress in all Lu- theran bodies toward a sounder confessiona.lism (pp. 99. 95. US. 186) . The author is acquainted with the controversy rega,rding the trial of Rev. Stephan (p. li9). There is a pa,ragmph on the work of the Intersynodical Conferences, also of the committees tha,t worked until 1929. Concerning the Chicago Theses we have the notation: "The agreement on the article of predestination was brought about by Dr. George Fritschel, who, accept- ing Dr. Stoeckhardt's exegesis of the Epistle to the Romans [Ephesians], succeeded in convincing others that Stoeckhardt ha.d the correct Biblical view" (p. 241). "The Missourian position is recognized with much emphasis in the Chicago '1'heses" (p. 218). We would not say, however, that "because of Missouri's refusa.I to recognize the theses Ohio withdrew from further negotiations" (p. 241). The break-up of these negotia,tions cannut be told in a, brief sentence. Here, a.s. elsewhere in reading the book, it occurred to us how much history there is that must ever remain un- written. No historian, we believe, will ever tell the true' story of the Nor- wegian union of 1917 as those of us know it who were in the midst of the preliminaries. The experiences of T. E. Schmauk in connection with the Merger of 1918 likewise, it is safe to say, will never be spread on the records. Dr. Neve gives from his own experience some impressions of the inter synodical conference held at Milwaukee some thirty years ago. He quotes statements then made by leaders of both sides, but does not cor- rectly illtmpret our view of the problem in predestina,tion a.s being a, "mys- tery in God Himself," our position being that it is a logical mystery; and he fails somewhat in sta,ting what Ohio-Iowa, meant with "psycho- logical mystery." 8ince we a.re finding fault, we should say that, while the a,uthor is striving to be quite impartial aa between the Missouri Synod and her opponents in this controversy, he hesitates to say that it was in- deed a. conflict between the soundly Lutheran and erroneous views (p. 4 b) . We have a. number of other question-ma,rks. For instance, why not men- tion unionism in explaining the loss of the early Swedish (p.2,7) and of German (p. 68) congregations? Why not mention the doctrine of the ministry in characterizing the earlier Buffalo Synod doctrine? Eielsen's BQQk Review. - ~iteratur. 4:77 SynQd was never called "Hauge's" Synod (p. 297). Dr. Pieper's Z-ur Eini· gung is the German Qriginal Qf Oonversion and Election, the latter being a translatiQn made by the present reviewer. The missiQnaries Qf Loehe were not SaxQns (p. 184), but Bavuians. The judgment pronounced Qn Seiss's chiliasm (p.162) is too gentle. At this point we must remark with soome surprise upon the excessive amQunt oof space given to the Synodical CQnference contrQversies. Excepting the eady disCllBsiQns Qf confessiQn· alism, Qne has the impressiQn as if the U. L. C. antecedents had been Qne glad song. NQthing a,bQut the VooluminQUS and highly acrimQniQus debate which raged fool' years in the Lutheran Observer, the L'Utheran World, and the Lutheran rega,rding the merits Qf the altered and unaltered Augsburg CQnfessiQn. (PrQfessor Neve, might ha,ve gQtten on his campus SQme first· hand recQllectiQns o,f one whO' pa.rticipa,ted in this contrQversy.) Reading this history, nO' one, could guess that there ha,s been until very recently a strong party in the General Synod which accepts not the Lutheran, but the Reformed view regarding the Sacrament Qf the Altar. ScO'res of ar- ticles and books were written Qn this subject, and the waves Qf dissensiO'n went high. Even if the Synodical Conference quarrels had nQt been given So' much spa,ce, these QmissiQns would be' noted by a, critical reader. The importance of C. P. Krauth really demands a cross-reference too page 77 Qn page 171. In the biographical nQtes we missed J Qhn Ylvisaker Qf the ~ Qr- wegian Synod and Carl SwensQn among the Swedes. TH. GRAEBNER. Modern Discoveries which Help Us too Believe. By George McOready P1"ice, M. A. Fleming H. ReveU Co., New YQrk. 209 pages, 5% X 8. Price, $1.50. Order through CQncordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO'. The author Qf this book, professor at Walla 'Walla Oollege in the State of Washington, has written So' many useful works in the field of Christian apologetics that the present volume hardly requires an introduction. Such works of his as The Geologica.l-Ages Hoax,' A Histor,y of Some Scientific Blunders j The Predioa.ment of Evolution j The Pha.ntom of Organio Evo- lutionj Q. E. D., or New Light on the Doctrine ot Oreation,' God's Two Books, and many others of similar title and trend have accomplished sO' much good in rescuing especially students at godless universities and col- leges from the confusion of atheistic evolution that he deserves the thanks of all earnest men and women in our country. The reader cannot support every statement which Professor Price makes; yet the study of his books is always refreshing, stimulating, and instructive. His is the rare art Qf expressing great thoughts in simple wQrds and of arraying his arguments so effectively that they convince. Modern Discoveries is a catechism, a book consisting Qf questions and answers on many matters pertaining too the godless philosophy and science of our irreligious age. It contains seven- teeR chapters, Qf which we shall mention a few titles: "Creation the Only Reasonable Theory"; "Cleaning Up the Anthropoids"; "Atoms, Electrons, and God" ; "Modern Lessons frQm Ancient Rocks" ; "Philosophy and Science." We hope that alsO' this new volume will find many interested readers. In the preface Professor Price writes: "This book is written ta convince friends and enemies alike that there are great numbers of ob- jective facts which are on the side of the old·time Christian beliefs. 478 Book Review. - lJiterntur. 'Modern Christianity has nothing to fear and everything to gain by gath- 'ering to herself all those scientific facts which we are accustomed to re- ,gard as the special characteristics of the knowledge of our day. And as she realizes the meaning of the present situation, it is certain that the Christian Church must inevitably return to the complete acceptance of both the record of a universal deluge and of the literal creation back of the Deluge ruin. And having accepted both these vital ideas, she will find that all the other outstanding problems in the field of science and religion will be solved almost automatically." J. T. MUELLER. The Yoke, Made Easy. By Rev. Alfred Doerffier. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. 119 pages, 5% X 7 %. Price, 75 cts. Pa,sto,r DoerfI:ler in this book offers "medita,tions and prayers for the ;sick, convalescents, and invalids who arB seeking comfort, encouragement, hope, and peace in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Great Physician of Souls :and Savior of all mankind." In one of his meditations Pastor Doerffier ;says : "In the days of trouble and sickness, as we seaTch our hearts more seriously than in the da,ys of health, let U8 in faith look up to Jesus Christ .and find in Him hope and certainty. Believing in Him gives us the blessed assurance that, though we have sinned, we are' saved,. that we are heirs of llternal life. We a.re a,t peace with God even a,s we bea,r the burdens of life and endure grea,t suffering and pain in our siclmess and affiiction. Kno,wing that we a.re the dear children of our heavenly Fa,ther enables us -to bear pa,tiently the trials of the day." To each medita,tion II; suitable prayer is added. On the last pages of the book the author offers morning .and evening prayers and table'praiYerEl,. also daily Bible-readings for shut-ins. What appeals to us in this book is that the author, having been in the pa,stora,te for many yea,rs, speaks as one who from prRcticaI ex- perience knows wha,t divine comfort Cllristian people noed in their afflic- tions; and this comfort Pastor Doerffier gives from the Scriptures, in a, very simple and understandable English. This, book is a, companion volume to a simila,r book by the same author, The Burden Made Light. Although written prima,rily for the sick and afflicted, others ma,y also -derive much benefit from the reading and studying of these pleasing little volumes. J. H. C. FRITZ. :Eighteen Meditations on the Life of Joseph. By the Rev. G. Ohr. Barth. Published by the Lutheran Radio Committee in grateful recognition of the services rendered by our first radio director. 34 pages, 6 X 9. (Copy sent to all who submit their request to the Lutheran Radio Committee, c. o. Concordia College, Milwaukee, Wis.) The mere announcement of the publication of these meditations and of the kind offer of the Milwaukee Lutheran Radio Committee will nn- doubtedly bring many requests for the booklet. The meditations here offered were broadcast over WTMJ from the ehapel of Concordia College :and were received most gratefully by a large radio audience. Pastor (then President) Barth delivered these fine Scriptural meditations in con- nection with the chapel exercises at the college, and both form and con- -tent have this purpose in mind. They are intended primarily for young people in the various circumstances of life, but will prove most beneficial -for private study as well as for home devotions. P. E. KRETZMANN. Book Review. - £itetatut. 479 'The Old Testament as It Concerns Women. By Marie Welles Clapp. The Methodist Book Concern. 128 pages, 41f:, X 7. Price, 50 cts. This is a thoroughly modernistic book, showing the extent to which Liberalism has permeated the Methodist Episcopal Church, whose Com- mittee on Curriculum of the Board of Education has approved of this book .as a text-book. Two quotations may suffice to show the spirit in which the book is written. On page 76 we read: "Early Hebrew women enjoyed most of the privileges that men did in the Jehovah cult. Gradually many of these were taken from them. In modern society many a responsibility and privilege is denied a woman because of popular prejudice." On page 80: "Job's answer to his wife 'Don't talk like a fool' and his quotation of a pious phrase about being resigned seem so realistic that they might be modern. We are not told in the poem what was the fate of Job's wife! . .. In the postlude, where mention is made of the returned wealth, of gifts of money ;and rings, of the seven sons and of the three daughters, who were more ·beautiful than any women in the land, there is no word of Job's wife. We may suspect that she died of nervous prostration, brought on by the shock -of loss, or that her bitterness and sarcasm alienated her from Job and another shared the renewed fortune, the glory of ten children and the life for a hundred and forty years, with grandchildren to four generations blessing his day." THEo. LAETSCH. :Proof-Texts to Dean Fritz's "Pastoral Theology." 91 pages, 7 X 10. Mimeographed by Concordia Seminary Stationery Co. Price, 80 cts., postpaid. Concordia Seminary Stationery Co. has mimeographed the Bible- passages to the Pastoral Theology of Dr. J. H. C. Fritz. Having these passages in so convenient a form materially adds to the usefulness of the 'book and will save hours of work in looking up and copying out these passages, which really prove that the principles outlined in the book are .based on Scripture in every instance. Order directly from Concordia Semi- nary Stationery, 801 De Mun Ave., St. Louis, Mo. - We are informed that the Stationery Co. has also gotten out mimeographed copies of the Bible- passages in Dr. Mueller's Ohristian Dogmatios, pages 1-240. 92 pages. Price, 80 cts., postpaid. THEO. LAETSCH. ~11tt~farenber fiir el.1nngefifdje @ciftndje. 1935. ~n 9lad,lfolge bon ~09. 6d,lnei. bet fottgefti9ti bon !p a u r % t 0 fd,l f e. 62. ~a9tgang. met lag 0:. ~et· telSmann, @titet~lo9. 258 6eiten 41f:, X 81f:" in 13,einwanb mit ffitiden. unb S\)ecteltite1 geliunben. !ptei~: RM. 1.80. s\)iefet mmtsfafcnbet, ben uns hie l15erlagsliud,l9anblung aUia9tlid,l 3ugc9en Hillt, ift 3wat 3unacf)ft flit beutfd)e merf)aHnijfe eingetid,ltet. ~t ift abet ]0 De, quem unb in9altreid), ball wit iDlt lieftanbig 3ut ~anb 9alien. 9lid)t nut gilit et ba~ oRalenbatium mit titd)lid,len @ebenftagen an, nid,lt nut ift bet \Raum fUt moti3en ]e9t' fd,lon unb liequem cingetid)tet, ionbem liei iebem %age wetben aud,l fitd,llidJc unb ftaatlid,le @cbenftage ertDiiDnt, unb untet biefen @ebenftagen fteDt ein fut3e~ tteffenbes Wort. Wit fd,lIagen gan. 3ufalHg ben 18. ~Jlat3 aUf unb refen ba ba~ Wort bon bem origineUen, geiftboUen %geo1ogen 0:. m. m.lHctens: lI~ebe~ j81att bet j8iDel ttagt bie itoetfcl)tift: Wleine @ebanten finb nid,lt eute @ei:>an!en. ~ie alletmeiften oRommentare bagegen bie: Unim @ebanfen mtijfen -@ottes @ebanten fein./I )3. iY ti t' li tin get. 480 Book Review. - mtetutut. COillcordia Historical Institute Quarterly. Official Organ of the Con- cordia Historical Institute. Vol. VII, October, 1934. We take great pleasure in reminding our readers once more of this little publication of the only historical organization in our midst. It is trying to preserve for posterity some of the records of the past. The seven volumes which are now coming to an end have brought a wealth of such information, much of which was rescued from oblivion in just the nick of time. The above-mentioned number offers a record from an old church-book kept by Pastor G. H. Loeber of Altenburg, Mo., Pastor F. Lochner's report on his first contacts with the Saxons, excerpts from three interesting documents regarding the early history of the two Con- cordia seminaries (which also show that history tends to repeat itself),. an account of the development of English Lutheran church activities in the Ozarks, an outline of the history of the Texas District, and a report, on the birth record of W. C. Berkkenmeyer. All of this is not only inter- esting in itself, but very valuable in tracing the hand of God in the work of our Church. P. E. KRETZMANN. @ingegllngene £itCflltur. ,3eitfdJrift flir fIJftematifdJ'c ~rJetlro!lie. 8;)erauggegeoen bon [. 6 tan g e, ~. ~ It!) au 5, sZL .It ii bet Ie, ®. sm e !) tun g. [. iSetteBmann, (\JUtetsIOf)., 12. ~a9tgang, 3. 1Btertelia!)tsgeft. 165 6eUen. - [.6tange: "lJ1atUrlicf)e :tl)eo~ logie"; m. ®rUnet: ,,(\;!;iften3begtiff unb ®nabe"; lit. iSting: ,,®Iaube unb smetfe";, \litetatut. £ut!)ertum. 8;)etausgcgeoen bou ~. is e t g b 0 It, 6. 6 cf) ii f fer, 8;). sm e i f e t unb aubetn. ~etcI)ert, XleiNig. ~leue tyofge bet "lJ1eueu .ITite!)1ie!)en {leitfd;tift". 46. ~a!)tgang. 8;)eft 2. 32 6eiten. - ~. iSetgbort: ,,~et neue 6taat uub bie neue ~itd;e, bom ~us{aub !)et gef e!)en"; lit. Xluttcrjo!)ann: ,,(\;inig,c 6ate' Ubet bie iSebeutuug bes titcl)1id;cu ~mtes nae!) bem ~ug§6utgife!)en 18denntni3 unb bet ~1Jo{ogie (SZittifeI 5 unb 14) 1/; fJ. 6d)omerus: "ffia11b6emethtngcn"; ::so iSetgbolt: {leUf d)tiften~ u11b iSiicf)etlietie!)t. ~ijeu!l)!lic bet: QicgenlUart. 8;)erausgegelien bon sm. (\; i cf) t D b t, ®. 8;) e i 11 3 e f m a 11 11, lID. b 0 11 Xl ii to C 11 i e!) unb anbem. ~eie!)ert, XleiNig. 29. ~a!)rgang. 8;)eft 2. 31 (Seiten. - 8;). 6affe: ,,~1euete Xlitctatut tiliet £~ircf)eu" gefdJie!)te", III. IV (\lut!)etfotfcf)ung; lItefotmation; ~toteftanWlmuil; ~at!)oH3ilk mus; .ltonfeffionSfunbe; Unfete {leU). NOTICE TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS. In order to render satisfactory service, we must have our current mailing-list correct. The expense of maintaining this list has been materially increased, Under present regula- tions we are subject to a "fine" on all parcels mailed to an incorrect address, inasmuch as we must pay 2 cents for every notification sent by the postmaster on a parcel or periodical which is undeliverable because no forwarding address is available or because there has been a change of address. 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