Full Text for CTM Book Review 9-10 (Text)

788 Book Review - <;?itcratur Book Review - £it.eratltr ;tljeofogijdjci.l jffiijrtetliudj ilum meuen ;teitamcnt. ;jn meroinbung mit \)ier~ unbftinf3ig bie ~rebigt if)r [cHges {lief errdcf)e. '!:las gefd;ie~t 3. ~., wenn ber ~tebiger ben :te~t nid)t flat unb bcutliel) anslegt, fo ban bie .Bu~orer bas @efagte nid)t leid)t faffcn unb bef)aften fiinnen. ;'lur Haren :DarfteUung bienen a6er aud) ctfiiuternbe ~eif\Jicfe, toie toit bas an ben @leicf)nifjen unfets .lJeilanbes, biefes Iltonen 9J1uftet\JtebigerS, fe~en fiinnen. 9J1it bicfcn ~otbemerfungen em\Jfef)ien toir nun bas uns aUr ~ef\Jrcd;ung Dorliegenbe ~ud) mit feinen 2,000 2Eeif\Jie!cn flir bie d)rifUid)e ~tebigt obet fur ben ffie!igion~untettid)t in bet 6cf)ufe. :;Sn [einet ~orrebe fagt bet 9lcu~earbeiter: ,,:Diefe lJ1euf)etausgabe bes ,~gtiftficf)en 2Eeifpie1fcf)ates' bon t\'t. 2Eaun mOcl)te tn if)ten 2,000 91ummetn nid)t ,iebem ettoas btingen', fonbern bas ,.\lid)t bet 'lieit' in feinen taufenbfiiftigen Illullftrai)lungen ins .Ileben f)inein 3eigen. . .. :Dall ~ud) bringt toof)i aud) ~eif\Jiefe ,3ut Illnfnu\Jfung', a6et toeitaus ber gtiiflte :tei! miid;te in bie 3entraien Illnliegen bet cl)tiftlid)en metfiinbigung f)ineinflif)ren. :Desl)aib ift bet 2Eeteid) bes 3toeiten unb btitten IllttiteHl ausflil)tiid;et bef)anbelt, unb bie meiften 2Eeif\Jie1e ftammen bon foid)en, benen [~riftU!l 3Ut .Ilebensque[e getoorben ift. . .. 'lieiter mocf)te biefes ~ud) ein \JtaUifd)er ~eittag fein, bie 910t ber ~etfunbigung 3U betHeinern. :Das &'dau\Jtfttid bet ~etfiinbigung ift unb bleibt - gan3 befonbets f}cute, ba [l)tiftus im 9J1ittei\Junft ber ~useinanbet' fetung ftef)t - bie \Jojltibe ~e3eugung bet ~otfcf)aft :;S~fu [f}tifti, unb 3lVa, nicl)t nut gebanUid), [onbern bor aUem butd) @Ieid)niffe unb ~tlebniffe anfdJau, fid) unb betftiinbfid) batgeboten, genau toie es :;S~fus aud) gemad)t f)at. t\'tit etn @efdJledJt, bas butcf) foid) gtofle ~tIebniffe f)inburd)gef}t toie bas f}eutige, ift, toie iel) giaube, nut bas 3eugniS bon ~l)riftus, 'oem 60l)n bes iebenbigen @ottes, unb bas ~efenntng 3U biefem ~f)tiftus [tad genug 3Ut toitffamen Illnttoott fur 6ud;enbe unb lJ1id;tfud)mbe. :Durd) bas {leugnis bon bem, toas jle gef)iitt unb Book Review- ~itcl'atur 797 gcfeI)cn 1)aben, lonnten bie ;Slinger einft bie m.\clt liberlllil1ben. :Dieien !illeg bcr' jud)te biefes Q3ud; nad)3u\]el)r11, folneit cs mir mogfid) war. :Datum Metet es ~lc!e ®lcid)nlfic, .3C1!gniifc uno Q3cfenlltlliffe, hie aUe Den (£T)ot ,Cl:t ift unfer ~eben' bie1ftimmig rrtonen laffen OUS bem 9JhmDc l!lcrgongener, fomelt if)r !illort noe!) f)ente ®ef)or rnDel, bor aUem aber bon 9JCclljd)en bcr (\legenlvort." ~(us bet grollen iSammlung jei f)iet nUl" tin Q3dipief obgcbrucft, bas 3U' gleiclf flir ben Cl:l)oraltrr bes Q3ucl)es bC3eid)ltCnD ift: ".\l e i n en\} ric hen! 8n ~riilat ,ltaplf in 5tuttgart fam cines SLags ein Qlaucrsmaml bom ~anh unD !logtc il)m, Dall rr feine inHere mulJe finDen liinm, oolno!)l cr Dod) io bie! (\Jutes tuc. 50 l)abe er bOl" einigen 9J10naten angefongen, fIatt fiinf '+lfmnig in bet Rire!)e immel' fiinf3ig 'Pfennig 311 oHern, fJabe eilm onnen j}amifie cillm l)aUJen (timer smoft, ciner anbern einClt Imagen llOll S';;>o{J, ciner britten rin l)albcs 'Sd)mein gefdJenft, uno jet! hinge er f)unbett smat! fiir bie 9JUijion. .\la1J1f bdcl;r!c i1)n, ball er mit jolclJer !illerhlered)tigfcit niemaIS 311m \Yrieben {ommen l1JerOe, Dall biefmel)r ber !illeg 3um @nabenftlll)f ®otte~ lllt~ bnrd) ba~ mfut (£(Jriftl limitet fei, htr3, ball Die ebungcliid)e ~ojung (ei ,~!llS 0lnabcn, o1ttcl) Dcn (\l!ullbcn'." (5. 696.) s:!tuclf jolcl)e, bie HUl' in et1gTijd)er 5+1tacf)c +l1"CDi\]cn, biil'ftrn mol)! nad) biefcm Q311d)e greifen. ;:So ~'d. G:. \} r i t Statistical Year-Book of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States for the Year 1937. Concordia Publishing House. 248 pages, 6X9. Price, net, $1.00. The Statistical Year-book of our Synod for the year 1937 deserves more than the usual announcement. In the first place, the name of a new statistician appears. The former statistician, the Rev. Ernst Eckhardt, was called to his heavenly reward on Jan. 24, 1938. He had already prepared considerable material for the new volume. To his memory the present YeaT-book is dedicated. His picture has been given a prominent place in the book, and in the foreword the Rev. Samuel Michael, who has since been elected the official synodical statistician, pays the following tr.ibute to his predecessor: "Pastor Eckhardt may well be called a master statistician. In him there was found a rare combination of sound theological knowledge, an intimate acquaintance with historical facts, with figures and dates, a keen gift of observation, a retentive memory, a highly developed skill of judgment and evaluation, of recording and indexing (displayed especially in his opus magnum, Homiletisches ReatLexikon nebst Index Rent'ln), an indefatigable desire to work and serve, a spirit of humility, and, above all, a childlike faith in his Savior and an ardent love for his Church. Blessed be his memory! His works do follow him, also in our YeaT-book, which under his faithful and able management has developed into an extensive and indispensable source of information on the work of our dear Missouri Lutheran Synod." In the second place, the YeaT-book for 1937 contains historical and statistical material covering the period of our Synod from 1847 to 1937 prepared by the late statistician. This material is both interesting and valuable not only because we are at this time celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Saxon immigration but because our Synod is also approaching the 100th anniversary of its organization. 798 Book Review - £litet'atut Do you desire statistical information concerning any congregation of our Synod, the total figures for each District or for the entire Synod, or a comparison of the figures of today with those of former years? Do you desire to know how many missions we have and what they have cost us, or when English work was begun in our Synod, or what the present status is in reference to the language that is used in our services, or how many students we have in our colleges and where they come from? Would you like to have some statistical information in reference to our Concordia Publishing House or our many charitable institutions or other religious bodies in the United States? To all oE these and many more questions you will find an answer in the Year-book. The task of our synodical statistician is not an easy one. His work requires special natural ability and untiring consecrated labor on his part and the full cooperation on the part of those who are asked to supply the necessary information. May the Lord grant His blessing also to the labors of our new statistician, the Rev. Samuel Michael! Finally, let us remember that the value of our statistical reports consists not in the increased figures which are presented from year to year but in the assurance that such increases are being made on the basis of sound doctrine and practise in accordance with the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions, giving all glory therefore not to ourselves but to our God. JOHN H. C. FRITZ Studies in the Liturgy. By the Rev. Frederick R. Webber. Ashby Print- ing Company, Erie, Pa. 1938. 231 pages, including index. Price, $3.50. Order from the author, 14210 Idarose Ave., N. E., Cleve- land, O. The author has made a real contribution to the liturgiological litera- ture of the Lutheran Church with this work. Only the service of Holy Communion is discussed, as the title implies, the choir offices and occa- sional services being reserved for later treatment. Two points are driven home decisively: (1) the adiaphoristic character of rite and ceremony and (2) the historic character of the Lutheran service. Free of pedantic footnotes and learned lapses into Latin and specifically disclaiming both pretensions at completeness and the desire to advocate anything at all, the book brings together an astonishing mass of material which to the average reader in our circles will be both new and helpful. Not the least of the author's charm consists in the easy informality with which he can intercalate a paragraph on the insidious technique of Modernism into a discussion of the Trinitarian ending of the collect or the story of the humble prelate of Truro into the chapter on "The Sermon." The eighteen pages of collects for modern needs will be found useful by many pastors. The practical observations provide a fairly complete directory of ceremonial of the moderate sort. Ritualists and "high-churchmen" will be disappointed. There is room for dissent of course. Thus page 21 gives the im- pression that the Vidi aquam is a traditional part of the Lutheran con- fessional service. The rubrics of the Missouri Synod Common Service do not allow the substitution of the "General Confession" for the "Lesser Confession" at celebrations of the Holy Communion (p.22 and note). Book Review - 53iteratut 799 One is inclined to doubt the statement on p. 96 that "in Lutheran lands, facing the altar during this [the Nicene] Creed and kneeling at the words expressive of our Lord's state of humiliation, seems to have been gen- erally practised." A better translation of Tantum ergo than that on p. 157 might have been found. The inclusion of Palmarum in the list of Sunday names derived from introits at the head of page 216 is an obvious oversight. The first moderately complete discussion of its subject in American Lutheran circles, Studies in the Liturgy is bound to be an influential book. It deserves the place that it will undoubtedly receive in pastors' libraries. A. C. PIEPKORN Slennen luit ~