THE SPRINGFIELDER December 1971 Volume 35, Number 3 The Relationship Between Liturgics And Dogmatics \ o t i~i:~? i ;in hc Illore ctetrimcntril to understanding theolog~ t i1,trt co~l>iilcrirt~ its ctivisiorts ;\?; absolute. The so-ca'lled divisions r i-t t 1 I. si li! ~te!liiiti~.s, historical, and practical are rc;ill~ ;~rtifiii.il clii-isio~ls. Iea~.in!< the student with the il~~pression :I~rtt 'i ~1iffr.l.cllt I,i1711 of \\.ark i3 going on in each department. The \\ol-l, rjt' ;!I: tflc iI~1)3rti~>~llt~ is csscntiall~ the same. Far one reason i:r .ii!:ttlltr. tl~r stutlcnts clo not SLY th; relationships that should xis st in .! tl1t.olo:ic.d cl~rriculum. Hc thinks he is being forced down .i cf~,iirnt,t for .t'l~solutuI! no sood rc'ison. Some time near or after ;r,!iIi~,,tir,~>. tllc light gcncrafl~ clatns. Hc reads a book or hears a Ittc.tu!.c :in(! I;~lict,cs that all of ;I sudden the healas ha1.c. opened LI~: for I: ill;. I 1 L.I.! thing that it ;ih j>rcs~'~it~d and read before had no iilc.,rilinx. Tliii \\ritcr or thc. Iccturcr is the true ttcadcmic messiah ~IIIO flits brougtit the Jight out of darkness. This Iccturc is meager Ltttt.nlpt to >tlo\\ rou that no\\ )ou can begin to think of rhealogy ,I\ ;L ~~li~qx)?itv \\-'IIOIC rather than individualistic parts whose 0111)- rr.l,itiu~~sl>ij> tt) tach other is some t!.pe of religious \-ocabu1ar)-. Our t;t>k is to >how the relationship bet\\-ecn lit~ir~ics and cl~yrn~ttics. \\-c r1ffc.r the foIlo\ving statement to csplain this relation- . . ip-irrss fmrrl th litargicnl life of tlrr chtrrch mrd ilcigtrrirti~,, fijlr7.; if5 tlItir~zatcs ftrlfill~rrerrt irr thc litz~rgiccrl life of t?zp c,kltrc 11. I-c t's reword this sentence. Liturgics provides thc basis for rlogm;itics ;tnci it3 goal. \\.c go from liturgics through cdogmatics and hack tu liturgics. TIlc cj~~rstion \~hicI~ 11oiv prese~lts itself is \vh\. S~OUIC~ liturgics hit) c such .t significant and important role in the dogmatical task of rhc church. Litursics is nothing c.1~~ than confession. Here u-e must <,.i~-t. ;I definition of confcssion. Corlfessio~l is the rcsponsc. of the ~~c'oplv of Gtxt to Gd's yrcat acts in Jesus Christ. It is al\~ays insti- gated h\ thc Hol! Spirit. This definition of confession is very much Iilicx tht. clcfinitioi~ of liturgics. Liturgics Infans the work of the people. 111 Christian theology, litrrrgics mcans the work of the church in praising or confessing God. - Ihc fint confession or liturg), if \ou \\ill, \\as th'jt of Peter sho rcslio~lded to the request of Jesus concerning His person, that Jews \t as the Christ, the Son of the living God. liturgies, whether it hc thc bluc-backed Lutheran Hymnal or the red-backed \\'orship Fupplcnlc'nt arc nothing else than a repetition of this confession. But it should not be understood that what 51-c call systematic theology and liturgics arc identical. Systematics is purely an aca- demic science. it docs not tell vou how to teach, preach, make calls, or contluct church services. hiost courses in practical theology are concerned 11-ith the theory of "doing." They are more interested in the conlnl~inication of certain information or tcc.1 III~>, r 11:t!i the\. arc with thc illfor~lintio~~ or fcclil~gs tli~'~~~~t.l\~'s. I i:(~rqi~.\ occ,ill>ies a halfiva!. position. It is concenlcd \\ it11 li(i\\ thing\ ;Irc iioi?c. Such questions as IIIUS~C, c1111rch ;ITC~I~~C'C.~L~TC, \a:.ioui l~li!si~,~l ;!ri.cing~- ments of the place of \\.orship, thc Sarmcliti; c~i' the clt,l~q\ :trc all 'how' things, Liturgics has thcorc'tical 3iilc. tcl it in 'iifdition to the practical. It asks questions conccrlling the 11~(\1-11 cc~tltcnt of hymns and liturgics. Thc word contelit of Ji\inlls ant1 lit~~rgics arc. virtuallv iden tical with confcssiont;. In fact I;LI I rffc.1- t ])is ~L;I~CIIICI~ t. The hj;,lrnrl is itself a co~lfessiarr of fnitll to ~l-lii~t (;ijil Iili, tllr~lt' irl Tesus Christ rrfld t71e I1j~ilzlrcrl ural 71t c,o~rsi~lct-c~E tile ~lo~,~rr!ti(.i tc.it- bwk of the people. Lct's study the hrst propo3ition : tlie 11 i3 itself a confession of Faith. hymnal consists of two parts: thc jit~tt.gi~'s ,111~1 t ~IC It\ 11111s. ,A liturgy rnay be defined as a framc\vork for- C'!~ri>tial~ 11 111.\1li 1). III;~I?C necessarv bv the assem bled 1.i tuqics .il-c. tilticlg for private sndiiriduals and private ~vorsliip, hut arc1 not t~cc.c?s;trv. They art. ncccssary in a11 cases of corporate \vorsliil,. T11c I.C;I~OI~ .for this is that God is a Gd of 0rdc.r ancl not collfusion. In ill\- p1-i\-atc prayer lifc, I can ramble at \vJ~] from onc thoit~ht to ;lnothcr. I11 public worship, this is not permitted. Thc~. trictl it at C:arintIi ancl uttcr confusion \vas the result. Thcrc js also no si1c.h thing as ;L non- Iiturgical church or pastor. Tl~c claim to hcing ~iol~-litur~i~:~l onl! rncans that the mode of procedure is different from iuncl:iv to Suncla! and that this mode of procedure is genenlllv a surprise rc; tl~c pcoplc. and sonietilnes even a surprise to the l~nst6r.~llc sup~oscd claim to being liturgical only Incans that an jndividuiil follo~\-s ill1 olclcr form of \\-orship. But the distinction in the reall\- forlnnl scnsc is not \.~lirl. Since liturg! is the expression of the cclrlx)rntc cc>i~~rrg;rtion it qualifies as confcssion. Uonfcssiol~ is not ;i jlrivntc m:\ttcr, but confessiorl is a statelncnt of the corporate group spoken in somc~hing which approaches some kind of harmony. In the earl!- church tllcrc \\ere cliff'crcnt 1it~r~i:lc.h :mcl cotifc's- sions in different congregations, but tach col~gregatioti had at lcast onc sct form. Bv studying the epistles 11-c c,iin c1ctc.c t c.cr-tai11 con- fessional and litkgicnl forms. The snmc hitsic facts ncxrc conft.ssct1 by thosc congregations in ~ornmunioi~ with St. Paul, hilt tlic. 111ocTc of cspressio~l \\-as discrent in each congrt.g;ition. The basic f'tcts of confessiol~ mat- bc considcrecl the follo\~-in~: God is the Father, Jesus is Lord 6r Christ, Jesus rosc from the dcilrl, Jcsus shall return to judge the 11-orld. '4s congregations came in contact with cach other, thcv began to assimilate cach other's liturgics and thcrc' was a tendencj- to uniformity in certain sectors of tllc church. This was donc not bccause liturgies Ilad to be the same. but 1-rlrious congrc- gations \~antcct to cririch their \vorship with forlns that othcrs were using. 3lernbers nIso ~iiavecl from onc congl-cgation to another anct brought older ideas with them. Conlmon liturgy ~iiadc transferring easier. Hotvever, liturgies were in no wav rigid. and identical 11-ord- jngr of liturg. rvcrc not demanded for church fellowship. The rigld distinction between liturgy? h!.nlns r~nd cc-3 F.25 ., c r? rC26 - - r;"W 5 p;-g 7 3 Crr.Z. LiC - - - '< r ~-5 ' PC0 ./ L-.I CY '/ q c r. - L L - d *- vy s23 ? - 02 2-2 i=' Lq g - 2 ;;'d != rg 2 r. So,5~ $ g-c 7 FSE 4 dd < *, Y Z.%Z, zr. K.= dqoc 3 rg " in *cQ tz c Y, -3 CU r$ 'C: c= -. : p;s I. -s"k s 4 ZTd 0 =;.=: 2 COT -2 tj n 5'- 7 -0- 9.C: r ".%* $7 P L. !? - - a C r '/ C c - 3 r - - - -- - c e 7 d T - d ,+> r. - 'V. -. rl - 3 +. - - J 9; '7 'I? r. c 5 t? 2 a C. 'A s d 4 - 4 Y. 4 - c: 2: .. C A rx2 5 rv rr 0 5 3 2 2 L23 w g 2 5. r, -. 5. 2r r: c , % 6: T - ffi '(r yC '(I g> This is not only the task of t11c Jit~~rgic.;~l cspcrt5. It rciill~. t)tslongs to thosc who spccializc ill s!.stcn~atic tIi~oli)~\-, csj>c:c.i.ill\ i!~ tllu ilrcn of confessions. TIlc Jiturg!. (ancl lct's takc ~ind conhi:!cr the: ~),!qc. 5 ;rnrI 15 versions) arc magnificent do:paticiil st:!tc.liic.ll ts i)f i',:il I). Son~t* poplc get carried mvay with thc music anr? most arc, l)o~.cA i\ it11 it. But the heart cf tllc n~iitter is still thc worils. Tllcs (,lori;~ ill 1.scelsis teachcs such things that Jesus is God with thc \\orif,, "0 I OI-d. tlic onlj7-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. 0 Lord God. I-;t11111 of (10~1. 5017 OC thc Fathcr." Here is n lilore thnn adequate. chpt-~~ssio~l o t I rinitarian thcology that does rllorc than justice to the t?lcolog\ ot' 5t. jtrhn ant1 St. PauI it1 thcir Sen. Tcstanlcnt ~vritings. 'Fhc 7311 r:iac io~iccri~ing thc taking a\vq of thc bin of tl~c ~rnrld, \i-liicl1 IS :115o fout~cl in rhc -+gnus Dei, confesses the 1-icarious ;ltoncnlc.nt of jlcsuh. 7-hc set fornls of thc Sfass: thc Jiv1.i~. thc Gloria in Ihcclsis, tllc. C.~.c'ccl, tIlc .+gnus Dri, and thc Sanctus arc the highcht c.~l~~-c!,.ions of Tri~ii- tarian and Christological faith th~lt t hc churcli Ira c\ cr- kno\\ n. It is through thcsc parts of the. liturg!. that our pcoplc ~.~,cc,i~ c thc so-called basics. Thc hymns serve to brontlcn orit thc pcopIc's tl~eolo~\. 5inc.c half of our church vcar fronl Advcnt in llecc~n~bc~r to I'talltc-cmt. sonrc- timc in \Inv and j'unc, ccntcrs spccificall!. in thc. life of tllc Christ. the hjmns suggested for tlicsc sc.asons arc spccihc:iII?. (.Ilristologicnl. Actvent hy~nns arc strong on cschatolog?.. Such C'hristn~as h!.mns as "A Great ant1 >light)- il'ondcr" (76), ".\I1 PraIsc to thc lltcrnnl \\'ord" (80) and cspecialI\- "Sa] ior of the Xi~t ions C'oli~c." (9 5) enlphasizc and teach incarktional thcolog!,, using s~lrsf~ ~Io~n~~iti~nl .. - terms as "Son", "\Yard"> and "bcconling flesh. Plic I_cntcri II\-JII~ ".-I Lalnb Gocs Cncon~plaininp Forth. thc Guilt of .\I1 licnrin:" tcachcs the ~iniversal atoncmcnt of Christ for sin. r\ ~~,~r~~nthc.tic~tl clcmc~nt could be added here. Hvn:ns from the earliest c.cbn turics of thc churd~ and from the ~eformition rcfcct the highc>st tlcgrcc. of tloctrinnl dc.1-elopincnt. ;imhrt~s~, Luthcr. Orisen, Johil of I),tlil;~\cu\ 2nd others \i.erc also great theologians in thcir tinlc.. Thc$\. j\cr-c :li\,;lrc that the best 11-av to teach dogmatics or doc-tl-inc to tLe pc.oplc was through thc hvnins. I \\-auld wen cndeaor to sa,. that Inore can h done through .hplnns than through sermons; and the li t~~rgical life of the church in some centuries and generations \\.as thc ch~irch's only salvation. 3lany pastors do not study clogmatics as an indi\.idu:~l clisr~ij)linc after they graduate, but because of the necc'ssitv of your office you \rill alirays be engqed in worship. Thcre is no iuch thing as ;I non- liturgical pastor. There are sloppy pastors, hr~t not non-11 turgicaI ones. You can use thc liturgies as an effcctii.~ \\-a\- of Icncling your people to know and to respond to the grcnt rrorh of God in C:hrist. At worst it can be a crutch and a compc~lsation for thosc ~vho arc intellectuallr lazy to do this task through preaching.. In many cases the 1iturgieS do implicitly what rye should hc dolng deli be rat el^. On this account, rye repeat, the liturgies of the churcll haw been Gr salvation and will continue to be so.