(!tnnrnrbiu
m4tnlngital :!In11tlJly
Continuing
LEHRE UND WEHRE
MA~ZIN FUER Ev.-LuTH. HOMILETIK
THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY
Vol. X February, 1939 No.2
CONTENTS
Page
The Means of Grace. F. E. Mayer __________________________________ 81
Wie die rechte Stellung zur Heiligen Schrift die Amtstaetigkeit
des Pastors bestimmt. F. Plotenhauer 90
Sermon Study on 2 Tim. 4:5-8. Th. Laetsch _ 96
The Institutional Missionary and the Divine Service
E. A. DuemHng ___________ 111
Predigtentwuerfe fuer die Evangelien der Thomasius-
Perikopenreihe _____________ _ _ ____________ HO
Miscellanea __ . ______________ _ ---------------~
Theological Observer. - Kirchlich-Zeitgeschichtliches ______ 142
Book Review. - Literatur _________ 153
JIlIn Predller muss n1cht allein toei-
den. also dass er die Schafe unter-
weise. wte ale rechte Chrtsten Bollen
rein. sondern 8Uch daneben den Woel-
fen toeht'm. dass ale die Schafe n1cht
angreifen und mit falscher Lehre ver-
fuehren und Irrtum einfuehren.
Luthet'.
Es 1st kein Ding. lias die Leute
mehr bel der Klrche behaelt denn
die gute Predigt. - Apologte. An.. 24.
If the trumpet give an uncertain
sound who shall prepare hlm.self to
the battle? -1 COf'. 14. I.
Published for the
BY. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States
CONCORDIA PUBLISHING BOUSE, St. Louis, Mo.
ABcmv
Have We the Original Text of the Holy Scriptures? 105
few words of Christian triumph, Christian assurance, looking up
to the Lord, the righteous Judge, with all those who are loving His
epiphany and awaiting their crowning. Lord, give me a death
like this!" (Lenski, Commentary, p. 868 f.)
Our text is in line with the standard Epistle, which speaks of
the Gospel ministry, and with the Gospel, which points out John
the Baptist as an example of faithfulness. One may speak on
Paul's Exhortation to Faithfulness in the Ministry. The apostle
points out what faithfulness implies, his own example, the glorious
crown. - Fulfil the Ministry. In spite of afflictions, in emulation
of Paul's example, in view of the epiphany. - Endure Afjiictions.
That is part of your calling (sober-mindedness will tell you that,
in doing your work of preaching Christ and fulfilling your ministry,
you must look for afflictions); you have fellow-sufferers; there
is for you a glorious crown. - What May a Congregation Expect
of Its Pastor? That he fulfil his ministry, suffer afflictions, be
ready to depart in view of the glory which he preaches to others.-
Pastor ancZ Congregation Looking for the Epiphany. Willingly
doing their full duty, 5-7; ready to endure affliction, 5,6; con-
fidently looking for the crown of glory. - While here a pastor
writes to a pastor, he himself includes all Christians in v. 8. Hence
we may generalize the exhortation and show Paul as an Example
of True Christianity. In his sober-mindedness, his perseverance
to the end, his confident expectation of everlasting glory. - In the
introduction briefly picture the past, present, and future of the
unbeliever. Theme: The Past, Present, and Future of a Child of
God in the Light of the Gospel. The past is a record of victories
won. The present is a time of sober-minded fulfilment of duty.
The future holds for him a glorious consummation of their hope.
TH. LAETSCH
--------~~-~--------
Have .. _ the _.:dginal Text of the F ___ y SCl~r _J.res?
This question, as our readers will remember, was adverted to
in the December, 1938, issue of this journal in an article which
discussed the position of the U. L. C. A. with respect to the inspira-
tion of the Scriptures. Prominent theologians of the U. L. C. A.,
in speaking of the question whether the original text of the Bible
must be held to be without error in every detail, have made the
statement that the original text of our holy writings is non-existent
and that hence insistence on the belief that this text was inerrant
10G Have We the Original Text of the Holy Scriptures?
is not justified)) The force of the argument advanced here
against the teaching that the original text of our Bible is inerrant
can be easily felt. If the original text has not been preserved,
what is the use of debating whether it was truly and fully in-
spired or not? It might seem that in such a case the whole subject
is merely of academic interest and without practical importance.
Accordingly, the alleged non-existence of the original text of the
Scriptures has often been pointed to by foes of the doctrine of
verbal inspiration, although of late it has not been dwelt on as
much as a number of years ago. A recent writer, not without
a touch of frivolity, puts the argument into these words: "No one
can attack a non-existent fortification. The autographs [of the
Bible] are nowhere; no man living can prove what was in them,
and no man dead has left us any record of what they were like
when he read them. The people who condemn philosophy for its
assumptions assume that the original autographs were absolutely
in accord with eternal truth, to the last jot and tittle. The foes of
evolution, because they call it a guess, guess that infinite perfec-
tion dwelt in the lost autographs from Alpha to Omega. To ques-
tion what they say, to deny anything so self-evident as the propo-
sition that our Bible originally existed in complete and flawless
accord with all truth, is to proclaim oneself hopelessly lost in
hardness of heart and contumacy of mind. What could be more
fair? - To admit the need of perfect autographs is to sunender
the whole claim of infallibility. All we have is our existing Bible.
If it needed to be inenant, why did God allow it to become errant
after having gone to the trouble of getting it all miraculously
written out without error? If our salvation depends upon implicit
obedience to an infallible revelation, what does God mean by
letting the record get conupt?"2)
To begin with, let us inquire whether the position is really
tenable that, if the original text has been lost, it cannot make much
difference to us whether this text was inerrant or not. A little
1) The U. L. C. A. Commission on Lutheran Relationships, in its re-
port to the recent convention of its Church, said: "The disagreement
relates furthermore to a matter of theological interpretation, which, in
addition, applies only to a non-existent original text of the Scriptures."
Dr. Knubel, President of the U. L. C. A., in his opening sermon at this
convention, said: "The crucial difference developed in recent discussions
rests in the matter of the verbal inspiration of an original text of the
Scriptures (which, of course, does not exist)," etc. Cf. C. T. M., Decem-
ber, 1938, pp. 918, 921.
2) Do Fundamentalists Play Fair? By William Mentzel Forrest,
1926, p. 55 f. We are quoting from the first edition. Somewhere we read
that the book was revised and that important changes were introduced.
Let us hope that the passage cited is among those that were altered
for the better. II, I :'!lI;i .;1,1I
Have We the Original Text of the Holy Scriptures? 107
reflection must show that such a view is untenable. The celebrated
Epistle to Diognetus, written by an unknown author in the second
century of our era and listed among the writings of the Apostolic
Fathers, came down to modern times in one manuscript only.
This manuscript was kept in the library of Strassburg, and in 1870,
when this library burned down, it was destroyed. Fortunately the
manuscript had been copied several times before its destruction.3)
Everybody can see how important the nature of this now non-
existent manuscript was and how much depended on whether or
not it actually contained the precise words of the author. If it
was a faithful reproduction of the original, the copies which we
now have give us the words of that early Christian writer; if not,
then the faithfulness of our modern copyists has at best merely
reproduced a faulty transcription and has perpetuated scribal
errors. Similarly, if the original manuscripts of the holy writers
were inerrant, then it was at least possible for scribes to transmit
an inerrant message to posterity. If the original was not inerrant,
no amount of faithfulness on the part of the copyists could give it
this quality. If the original writings were (and not merely con-
tained) the Word of God, then the copies transmit to us the Word
of God in the degree in which they are faithful to the original.
If the original manuscripts were not, but merely contained, the
Word of God, accuracy of transcription did not avail to render
that divine which was not divine. Yes, a great deal depends on the
nature of the original.
It is usual in discussions of this nature to begin with saying
that the autographs of the holy writers no longer are known to
exist. This, of course, all who have made a study of the subject
have to admit. The original manuscripts of the New Testament,
to speak of them in particular, probably consisted of papyrus
sheets,4) which were fragile and, when handled much, would
quickly become defective. The hope has been expressed that per-
haps, since the last hundred years have brought us many interest-
ing, valuable finds, some archeologist, digging in the sands of Egypt,
will happen upon an autograph of one of our New Testament
books.5) But since the days of that arch-deceiver Constantine
3) Cf. The Apostolic Fathers. With an English translation by Kir-
sopp Lake. Vol. II, p.349. In the Loeb Classical Library, 1917.
4) We know this positively concerning 2 John. Cr. 2 John 12:
<}to. XUQ'tou %