Full Text for CTM Miscellanea 6-7 (Text)
.
alBO dug er die Bchafe unterwe\5e, wle
aie rechte ChrIsten BOllen oem. sondem
auch daneben den Woelfen wehr., dea.
aie die Schafe nlcht angreifen und mit
falacher Lehre verfuehren und I rrtnm ein-
fuehren. - Luther.
Es ist kein Ding, daa die Leute mehr
bel der Klrche behaelt denn die gute
Predigt. - Apolo(Tie, Arl.!4.
If the t rumpet give an uncertain BOUDd,
wbo shall prepare himaelf to the hettie f
1 Cor. 4. s.
Published for the
Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States
CONCORDIA PUBLISHING H01J'SE, St. Louis, Mo.
532 Miscellanea.
Miscellanea.
The Common Service and the "Kyrie."
It is one of the strangest phenomena in the history of liturgics that
the beautiful order of service for the morning worship, properly called
the Holy Communion, is so frequently abbreviated and mutilated. In spite
of the fact that the service was explained in a series of articles in the
Lutheran Witness a few decades and again a few years ago, and in spite
of the fact that we have detailed cxplanations of the sequence and the
significance of the several parts which make up this beautiful unit of art
(the book by Cooper and othel's, The Oornrnon Se'l'vioe, also Kretzmann,
Ohristian A1·t), a gOOf) many pastors persist in foisting inferior con-
glomerations upon their people. One of the greatest sufferers in the
several sections of the service is the Kyrie, which some liturgists continue
to regard as a cry for forgiveness. But a glance at various passages of
the Bible will show that the cry is used chiefiy as a plea for help in the
sufferings which are the consequence of sin, not primarily as a cry for
grace. See Matt. 9,27; 15,22; Mark 10,47.48; Luke 18,39; Matt. 17,15;
Luke 16,24; 17,13. The idea of the Kyrie is that the believer, having re-
ceived the assurance of the forgivencss of his sins, becomes importunate
and also begs the I,ord to alleviate or eliminate the sufferings which are the
result of sin. If the wide-spread divergence in the use of home-made orders
of service continues, a later age will have reason to apply the name "period
of liturgical confusion" to our present age. P. E. K.
The Easter Sequence "Victimae Paschali."
This beautiful sequence (Kehrein, Sequentiae Latinae, 81; Wacker-
nagel, Das deutsohe Ki1'ohenlied, I, 130; CONCORDIA THEOL. MONTHLY,
II, 265), concerning whose authorship Julian still cxprcssed doubts, has
again been ascribed to Wipo the Burgundian (first half of the eleventh
century). In an article in the Ame"iaan Ohuroh MvntMy fen April, 1935,
William P. Sears, Jr., of New York University, definitely makes this state-
ment: Wipo was a contemporary of such poets as Fulbert of Chartres,
St. Peter Damian, and St, Anselm. "'fhe Viotimae Pasohali," writes
Mr. Sears, "is rhythmic rather than metrical in form. It is dramatic in
character and, in the early days, was connected with the Easter dramas
that were performed in the Church as part of the worship of the joyous
season and as early as the thirteenth century became a portion of the
Officium SepuZcri." Luther made this sequence the b3,sis of one of his
beautiful hymns, "Oh1-ist lag in Todesbanden." P. E. K.
Records of the Busy Pastor.
From a recent conference paper, which stressed the need of keeping
careful and faithful records, especially in the case of pastors of large
parishes, we select the following items as being worthy of study.
A faithful, conscientious pastor should have-
1. A complete register of all families and of all individual members
of his parish,
Miscellanea. 533
2. An exact register of communicants, which at one glance will show
the frequency of communions and the participation of the individual.
3. A complete register of souls, which should certainly include all bap-
tized members of the parish and may also have a special section devoted
to children attending the Sunday-school who are not yet baptized, also to
mission prospects with whom work is being done.
4. Lists of all the members of the Sunday-school, of the parish-school,.
of the Saturday-school, of the summer-school, etc.
5. Lists of the membership of all organizations under the auspices of
the congregation.
6. A record of all visits, whether these were pastoral visits, sick-calls,.
or mission-calls.
7. A register of all sermons and addresses, with text, time, and other
notes.
8. A record of all official acts performed in his capacity as pastor (bap-
tisms, confirmations, marriages, funerals, etc.).
In addition, many pastors have found it advisable and valuable to
keep a record of the rcttendance at all services, of all activities which
take plrcce under the auspices of the various church organizations and
which properly come under his supervision, also a file for the summaries
of all meetings that are held Ullder the auspices of the congregation. This
can be done with a fair degree of ease if the secretaries of all societies
are furnished with large cards prepared for that purpose and are in-
structed to send in the gist of the transactions within a day or two after
meetings are held (the various young people's societies, guilds, ladies' aids,
men's clubs, etc.). Since the p'1stor will not be present at all the meetings
and yet carries the final rcspnnsibility, an arrangement of this type has
proved very valuable. P. E. K.
The Swan Song of the "Theological Magazine."
From the final issue of the 'l'heologiaal Magazine of the EvangeUcal
Synod of North America we glean the following statements. In an article
entitled Der Be7cenntnispl1,'ag1'l1ph der neuen KiTche, by Dr. G. Fr. Schuetze,
we are told: "Wir nehmen nicht den Standpunkt eines Flacius oder Ams-
dod ein, sondern vielmehr clen MelanehthullB. . .. Wt!nn wir die histori-
schen Bekenntnisse der veiden Kirchen als Lehrgrundlage anerkennen und
annehmen, so hat das ja einen gewissen negativen, begrenzenden Wert,
indem es aIle antirefnrmatorischen und ultrareformatorischen Lehren aus-
schliesst. Abel' wir geraten aus del' Scylla in die Charybdis, da sich viele
del' historischen Bekenntnisse kontradiktorisch gegenueberstehen. . .. Rine
Verpfiiehtung auf aile historischen Bekenntnisse ist ohne-sit venia vC1-bo
- theologische Akrobatenkunststueckchen unmoeglich. Zudem wolle man
bedenken, dass viele del' Bekenntnisse eben we iter nichts sind als histo-
,.ische Dokumente·, die abel' heute keine p1"ak(;ische Bedeutung mehr haben.
. . . Unsere Zeit ist, wenn man so sagen dad, bekenntnismuede." Here
surely are many self-accusations. In the editorials we find the following
statements: "We believe in Bible criticism, in progressive revelation, in
new viewpoints, and in the union of kindred denominations and the liberal
interpretation of their confessions. . .. The Lutherans of the stricter type
534 Miscellanea.
still believe in the literal inspiration of the Bible. Everything that is in
the Old or ~ ew Testament (sic!) is to be understood just as it reads.
Jonah was actually in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,
and the prophet spent that time in prayer and meditation. Joshua said
in the sight of Israel, 'Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon,
in the valley of Ajalon!' .And the sun hasted not to go down about a whole
day. To understand this as a literal, bare faet strains belief, but the Lu-
therans take reason captive and let faith triumph. Such an attitude in
the twentieth century is doubtless a handicap in a number of ways. Still
an uncompromising spirit has its great compensations, and the Lutherans
have grown and prospered beyond anything that either the Evangelicals
or the Reformed can boast of. Nevertheless, for us it is impossible to apply
the methods of criticism to all other literature and traditions and refuse
to do it in the case of the Bible. . .. In our childhood - perhaps much
later - we read the story of the temptation (Gen. 3) and took it in a literal
sense. It was a real serpent and a real apple [? J-tree. We wondered how
a serpent could speak; but then we were used to animals speakhlg from
the fables of the child world." There is much more of the same kind. And
we wonder how a man who still desires to be known as a Bible theologian
can write thus. P. E. K.
Stammt her imenfdj bon einem affcniifjnHdjclt (S)efdjij~f ao?
:;'5n "i)'otfcfjungen unb 5'ottfcfjtitte" bom 1. mUito 1936 fcfjtdOt ~tof.
Dr. llna!; m5eften~ofet~metIin: "llneine in ben letten bietaefjn :;'5.a~ten an~
gefterrten betgleicfjenb~motp~ologifcfjen Untetfucfjungen bet l1.1icfjtigften SfotjJet~
gegenben bet m5iroeItiete, oefonbet£l bet @5iiugetiete, unb be£l llnenfcfjen, bie
ielj foeoen mit ber Untetfucfjung lioer bie 5'ormfJUbung bon @e~irn unb
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U 0 ft a m m u n g b e £l IDe e n f cfj e n b 0 m U f fen oeigeoracfjt. :;'5m @egen~
fat tlU biefet ~eorie ~aoe icfj tleigen fiinnen, bat bet IDeenfcfj in ber IDee~r~
aa~l fetner forperIicfjen IDeerfmale, 3. m . .5anb, i)'ut, )Beaen, m5irlieIfi+ltf~,
@ScfjilbeI, @e~irnanlage unb cinigm inneren Organen, primitib geoIieben ift
un!) in geraber, eigener Binie auf ben aHgemeinen @runb±\JjJu£l ber @5iiuge~
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liHbfamen @e~irnfotm. . .. Uuf @runb feine£l @5ptacfj~ unb- SDenfbermogen£l
unb m5erfaeuggeoraucfj£l unb bet bamU aufammen~iingenben @5cfjiipfung ber
Shtrtur ... un±erfcljcibet et ficfj grunbfiitIicfj bon aUen 5tieren, fo bat man
ifjm cine ® 0 nbc r f I a f f e: WI en f cfj, 3ubiUigen t11ltt. Uucfj au£l ber
mei~e b'er ~rimaten ift er au en±fernen; er ift getDiff ermaten ba£l U llnb 0
ber @5iiugeHerl1.1elt." m5it otaucfjen cine berartige meftiitigung nicgt, um
bie m5a~r~eit ber @5cfjtift ilU oetDeifen - unb bet ~etfaffet gIaubt nicfjt au
ben oibIifcfjen @5cfjopfung£loericfjt -, aoer e£l ift in±erefjant, 3ll erfa~ren,
bat cine nlicfj±erne llnterfucfjung gIeicfjfam aUt meftiitigung be£l @5cfjopfltng£l~
oericgt£l bienen mul3. ~. @i. Sl!.