CONTENTS Foreword Xiii Introduction: Roots of Theological
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The Doctrine of the Church and Its Ministry According to the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of the Usa
THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND ITS MINISTRY ACCORDING TO THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNOD OF THE USA by KARL EDWIN KUENZEL Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY In the subject SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: PROFESSOR ERASMUS VAN NIEKERK November 2006 ii Summary Nothing has influenced and affected the Lutheran Church in the U.S.A. in the past century more than the doctrine of the Church and its Ministry. When the first Norwegian immigrants entered the U.S. in the middle of the 19th century, there were not enough Lutheran pastors to minister to the spiritual needs of the people. Some of these immigrants resorted to a practice that had been used in Norway, that of using lay-preachers. This created problems because of a lack of proper theological training. The result was the teaching of false doctrine. Some thought more highly of the lay-preachers than they did of the ordained clergy. Consequently clergy were often viewed with a discerning eye and even despised. This was one of the earliest struggles within the Norwegian Synod. Further controversies involved whether the local congregation is the only form in which the church exists. Another facet of the controversy involves whether or not the ministry includes only the pastoral office; whether or not only ordained clergy do the ministry; whether teachers in the Lutheran schools are involved in the ministry; and whether or not any Christian can participate in the public ministry. Is a missionary, who serves on behalf of the entire church body, a pastor? If only the local congregation can call a pastor, then a missionary cannot be a pastor because he serves the entire church body in establishing new congregations. -
C. John Weborg, “Seeking an Interpretive Discrimen in The
Seeking an Interpretive Discrimen in the Evangelical Covenant Church C. JOHN WEBORG he intent of this paper, voiced from the perspective of a theo- logian in the Covenant Church, is to focus on early Mission TFriends in the context of their history, especially as to how theological formation was taking place. Their Lutheran worship, bib- lical and catechetical instruction, and engagement with Pietism and Revivalism both clarified and, at the same time, made the formation of an interpretive discrimen a complex process. A discrimen, borrow- ing from David Kelsey, is a “configuration of criteria that are in some way organically related,” whereas a norm “is assumed to be absolute or by its very nature to exclude the acceptance of other theological norms.”1 The first part of this configuration of criteria lies in the Lutheran heritage of the Mission Friends. THE MISSION FRIENDS LIVED WITH A LUTHERAN MENTALITY BUT NOT A LUTHERAN METHODOLOGY By mentality I mean appeals to something like an ecclesiastical family identity, a body of writings used at various levels of authority to authorize, defend, explain, or exposit an idea or action, and to use words that nested in a specific tradition. The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories dates the word “mentality” to the seventeenth century and notes its meaning as a “mental process.”2 The Mission Friends were not biblicistic, despite Waldenström’s question “Where is it written?” While seeking to be biblical, they employed a range of sources for their thought processes, none more valuable than Luther. This mentality worked itself out in the following three ways. -
JOHANN AUGUST ERNESTI: the ROLE of HISTORY in BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION John H. Sailhamer* I. Introduction
JETS 44/2 (June 2001) 193–206 JOHANN AUGUST ERNESTI: THE ROLE OF HISTORY IN BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION john h. sailhamer* i. introduction This article will address the question regarding the role of history in Bib- lical interpretation. It will do so within the context of an evangelical view of Scripture. By this I mean a view that holds the Bible to be the inspired locus of divine revelation. There are, of course, other approaches to Scripture and hermeneutics. There are probably also other definitions of the evangelical view of Scripture; but I think the view I have described is the classical view that is rooted in classical orthodoxy and the Reformation creeds. My primary interest in the subject of this article is and has been in the hermeneutics of the OT. The literature and historical situation of the com- position of the OT and the NT are different enough to caution against a fac- ile application of the same hermeneutical principles to both. Nevertheless, I believe that the same principles do apply to both, but each in terms of its own specific issues and questions. In this article I will approach the question of the role of history in Bib- lical interpretation from the point of view of the history of interpretation. I have elsewhere given a lengthy theoretical discussion of the issue.1 There I argued that history, and especially the discipline of philology (the study of ancient texts), should play a central role in our understanding about the Biblical texts. Who was the author? When was a book written? Why was it written? What is the lexical meaning of its individual words? History also plays a central role in the apologetic task of defending the historical verac- ity of the Biblical record. -
Faith of Christ’ in Nineteenth-Century Pauline Scholarship
The Journal of Theological Studies, NS, Vol. 66, Pt 1, April 2015 ‘EXEGETICAL AMNESIA’ AND PISSIS VQISSOT: THE ‘FAITH OF CHRIST’ IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY PAULINE SCHOLARSHIP BENJAMIN SCHLIESSER University of Zurich [email protected] Abstract Contemporary scholarship holds, almost unanimously, that Johannes Haußleiter was the first to suggest that Paul’s expression p0sti" Vristou~ should be interpreted as the ‘faith(fulness) of Christ’. His article of 1891 is said to have initiated the ongoing debate, now more current than ever. Such an assessment of the controversy’s origins, however, cannot be main- tained. Beginning already in the 1820s a surprisingly rich and nuanced discussion of the ambivalent Pauline phrase can be seen. Then, a number of scholars from rather different theological camps already con- sidered and favoured the subjective genitive. The present study seeks to recover the semantic, grammatical, syntactical, and theological aspects put forward in this past (and ‘lost’) exegetical literature. Such retrospection, while not weighing the pros and cons for the subjective or the objective interpretation, helps put into perspective the arguments and responses in the present debate. Then and now, scholars’ contextualization of their readings is in keeping with their respective diverse theological and philo- sophical frames of reference. I. INTRODUCTION One of the most recent and most comprehensive contributions to the study of Paul’s theology is Richard Longenecker’s Introducing Romans.1 Under the heading ‘Major Interpretive Approaches Prominent Today’ he deals with ‘The P0sti" Ihsou* ~ Vristou~ Theme’, arguing that this is ‘an issue that must be faced My thanks are due to Jordash KiYak both for his valuable comments and for improving the English style of this essay. -
500Th Anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation
500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LUTHERAN REFORMATION L LU ICA TH EL ER G A N N A S V Y E N E O H D T LUTHERAN SYNOD QUARTERLY VOLUME 57 • NUMBERS 2 & 3 JUNE & SEPTEMBER 2017 The journal of Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary ISSN: 0360-9685 LUTHERAN SYNOD QUARTERLY VOLUME 57 • NUMBERS 2 & 3 JUNE & SEPTEMBER 2017 The journal of Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary LUTHERAN SYNOD QUARTERLY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF........................................................... Gaylin R. Schmeling BOOK REVIEW EDITOR ......................................................... Michael K. Smith LAYOUT EDITOR ................................................................. Daniel J. Hartwig PRINTER ......................................................... Books of the Way of the Lord The Lutheran Synod Quarterly (ISSN: 0360-9685) is edited by the faculty of Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary 6 Browns Court Mankato, Minnesota 56001 The Lutheran Synod Quarterly is a continuation of the Clergy Bulletin (1941–1960). The purpose of the Lutheran Synod Quarterly, as was the purpose of the Clergy Bulletin, is to provide a testimony of the theological position of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod and also to promote the academic growth of her clergy roster by providing scholarly articles, rooted in the inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures and the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Lutheran Synod Quarterly is published in March and December with a combined June and September issue. Subscription rates are $25.00 U.S. per year for domestic subscriptions and $35.00 U.S. per year for international subscriptions. All subscriptions and editorial correspondence should be sent to the following address: Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary Attn: Lutheran Synod Quarterly 6 Browns Ct Mankato MN 56001 Back issues of the Lutheran Synod Quarterly from the past two years are available at a cost of $10.00 per issue. -
Concordia Theological Quarterly
Concordia Theological Quarterly Volume 80:1–2 January/April 2016 Table of Contents The Sacraments and Vocation in Luther’s Lectures on Genesis Paul Gregory Alms ............................................................................... 3 Luther and the Heavy Laden: Luther’s Sermons on Matthew 11:25–30 as Liberation from Christ-Centered Legalism M. Hopson Boutot .............................................................................. 21 Luther’s Oratio, Meditatio, and Tentatio as the Shape of Pastoral Care for Pastors John T. Pless ........................................................................................ 37 All Theology Is Christology: An Axiom in Search of Acceptance David P. Scaer ..................................................................................... 49 Reflections on the Ministry of Elijah Walter A. Maier III ............................................................................. 63 The Spirit-Christological Configuration of the Public Ministry Roberto E. Bustamante ....................................................................... 81 The Dichotomy of Judaism and Hellenism Revisited: Roots and Reception of the Gospel Daniel Johansson .............................................................................. 101 The Contribution of the Lutheran Theologian Johann Salomo Semler to the Historical Criticism of the New Testament Boris Paschke .................................................................................... 113 Theological Observer ................................................................................... -
Correspondent for the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung, Which Had Been Launched on 1 July 1827 by August Tholuck, Ludwig Von Gerlach and Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg
CHAPTER SEVEN THE 185 7 CONFERENCE IN BERLIN lt was not Karl Steinkopf, but Eduard Kuntze who played the most important role in establishing a branch of the Evangelical Alliance in Germany. He had been a curate at the Savoy Church in London for three years. While in London he had also worked as the English correspondent for the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung, which had been launched on 1 July 1827 by August Tholuck, Ludwig von Gerlach and Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg. 1 He met his wife in London and studied the work of Sunday schools in the English capital. Like evangelicals in England Kuntze was not content just preaching the gospel. T ogether the Kuntzes founded a hospital for the elderly who required permanent nursing care. Moreover, they established the Marthahqf, a training institute running on the Kaiserswerth model that Pastor Fliedner of Kaiserswerth visited on 16 November 1856, three days before its official opening. He spontaneously decided to send a deaconess to help Kuntze start the work in Berlin. 2 Kuntze helped to link up believers with one another. At the founding conference of the Evangelical Alliance Kuntze read out letters addressed to the gather ing from groups of German evangelicals and pastoral conferences in Königsberg, Danzig, Tecklenburg, Lübeck and Berlin as well as a personal word of encouragement from Dr Friedrich Wilhelm Krummacher, who had been mercilessly lampooned by Engels in the German press. 3 From the founding of the Alliance Kuntze had been involved in building bridges between denominations inside Germany as well as across national boundaries. The main reasons for the lack of progress made by Kuntze and the Baptist Gottfried Lebmann to set up a German Evangelical Alliance were partly to do with the persistent denaminational rivalries, partly 1 L. -
Thomas Bach on the Spirituality of the German Awakening
David Crowner, Gerald Christianson, eds.. The Spirituality of the German Awakening. Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2003. xii + 440 pp. $39.95, cloth, ISBN 978-0-8091-0549-6. Reviewed by Thomas Bach Published on H-German (November, 2004) David Crowner and Gerald Christianson have The introduction provides an overview of the compiled an interesting and useful anthology ded‐ Awakening's antecedents and its intellectual, po‐ icated to the nineteenth-century German Awaken‐ litical, and economic contexts. Crowner and Chris‐ ing. Specialists in nineteenth-century Germany tianson argue that eighteenth-century Pietism laid will fnd little in the text that is new and they the basis for the Awakening. They also contend would prefer, no doubt, to work with the original that the Enlightenment helped shape the Awaken‐ texts. However, an instructor who requires stu‐ ing but insist that it was more than "simply a reac‐ dents to produce research essays will fnd this vol‐ tion to the Enlightenment" (p. 13). The body of the ume a welcome addition to his or her university's work consists of extensive new translations, pro‐ library. This text provides easy access to the ideas vided by the editors, of texts that "illuminate the and institutions that formed the core of German tradition in which the" four men worked and Awakening. Their claims that the Awakening's were chosen out of a "variety of genres" and can outstanding characteristic was the "impulse to "be regarded as characteristic because they serve the needy of society" and that an important gained widespread fame." The editors did not se‐ connecting thread for those involved in the Awak‐ lect texts because of their "documentary or schol‐ ening was the desire to respond to the "human arly interest"; instead, they based their selection needs brought about by the Industrial Revolution" on the texts' "value in bringing to life the spirit of provide a nice concise definition of the Awaken‐ the authors and the vitality of their heritage" (pp. -
In Defense of Orthodoxy: Lessing Between Spinoza and Maimonides
In Defense of Orthodoxy: Lessing between Spinoza and Maimonides Daniel Edward Watling Glen Allen, Virginia B. A. English & Comparative Literature, University of Virginia, 2012 A Thesis presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Religious Studies University of Virginia August, 2014 Watling 1 Table of Contents Introduction 2 1777 Beyträge zur Litteratur und Geschichte and Maimonides in Early Modern Europe 7 The 1777 Edition of The Education of the Human Race (§§1-53) 9 Lessing’s Counter-Propositions and A Rejoinder 42 The 1780 Edition of The Education of the Human Race 62 The Reciprocally Negative Influence of Revelation and Reason 81 Lessing’s Progeny 84 Karl Barth: The Bible Is Not Religion 87 Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Rejoinder and Quietism 89 Leo Strauss: Esotericism and Revelation 98 Conclusion: Nathan, or Lessing? 113 Watling 2 Introduction In the years following his appointment to become head librarian at the Herzog August Library at Wolfenbüttel, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing increasingly devoted his time to the library’s large collection of Patristic texts. Gotthold’s correspondence with Karl Lessing reveals a profound disagreement between brothers. Early in 1774, Karl declared that he “could not understand how his enlightened brother Gotthold could have gone back to studying theology instead of writing plays.”1 After it became clear to Karl and Gotthold’s circle in Berlin that he meant to defend Lutheran Orthodoxy at the expense of enlightened theology, Karl wrote to Gotthold, this time concerned that his brother had altogether abandoned the cause of enlightened Christianity. -
Enter Your Title Here in All Capital Letters
―STRENGTHENING THE FAITH OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD‖: PIETISM, PRINT, AND PRAYER IN THE MAKING OF A WORLD EVANGELICAL HERO, GEORGE MÜLLER OF BRISTOL (1805-1898) by DARIN DUANE LENZ B.A., California State University, Bakersfield, 1997 M.A., Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, 2000 M.A., Villanova University, 2003 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2010 Abstract George Müller of Bristol (1805-1898) was widely celebrated in the nineteenth century as the founder of the Ashley Down Orphan Homes in Bristol, England. He was a German immigrant to Great Britain who was at the vanguard of evangelical philanthropic care of children. The object of his charitable work, orphans, influenced the establishment of Christian orphanages in Great Britain, North America, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. However, what brought Müller widespread public acclaim was his assertion that he supported his orphan homes solely by relying on faith and prayer. According to Müller, he prayed to God for the material needs of the orphans and he believed, in faith, that those needs were supplied by God, without resort to direct solicitation, through donations given to him. He employed his method as a means to strengthen the faith of his fellow Christians and published an ongoing chronicle of his answered prayers that served as evidence. Müller‘s method of financial support brought him to the forefront of public debate in the nineteenth century about the efficacy of prayer and the supernatural claims of Christianity. -
The Kingdom of God, the Highest Good Herman Bavinck Translated by Nelson D
TBR 2 (2011): 133–170 The Kingdom of God, The Highest Good Herman Bavinck Translated by Nelson D. Kloosterman * INTRODUCTION [28] Amid all the distress surrounding the discipline of theology today, it is undoubtedly a heartening phenomenon that the science identified as Ethics seems to be enjoying an unheralded resurgence of interest, compared to former times. This does not mean, of course, that everything in this discipline is flourishing. Not all of the causes to which Ethics is indebted for this resurgence are heartwarming. The way in which people try to dislodge the firm foundations of this discipline, or seek to caricature and deny its eternal principles, is far from encouraging. But that people are curious about the moral life and attempt to clarify its nature, principle, and essence, do provide reasons for rejoicing and gratitude, I think. Formerly, the discipline of Ethics received sparse attention, consisting mostly of explaining the doctrines of virtues and duties. Simply knowing what kind of persons we must be is inadequate, *The following essay is a lecture that Bavinck delivered to the Student Corps of the Theological School in Kampen—Fides Quaerit Intellectum—on 3 February 1881. The lecture was originally serialized in De Vrije Kerk: Vereeniging van Christelijke Gereformeerde Stemmen 7 (April–August 1881): 4:185–92; 5:224– 34; 6:271–77; 7:305–14; 8:353–60. These articles were republished as a single essay in the collection of Bavinck essays prepared by his brother, C.B. Bavinck, Kennis en Leven (Kampen: Kok, 1922), 28–56. The pagination from Kennis en Leven is provided in brackets: [ ]. -
Calvin's Middle Years (1536-1541)
WRS Journal 16:1 (February 2009), 4-10. CALVIN’S MIDDLE YEARS (1536-1541) Laurie A. P. Copeland* Early Genevan Ministry After the fiery French evangelist Guillaume Farel implored John Calvin to stay in Geneva, Calvin agreed to surrender his pursuit of a life as a contented scholar and remain to assist Farel to reform the city in accordance to the will of God. Sixteenth century Geneva was a middle class city with a small number of wealthy merchants. Surrounding Geneva were cliffs near the sea, forming walls of protection from enemy attacks. A city of refuge for many French and Italian believers, Geneva later became the city of the esteemed Swiss watch, through the ideals of John Calvin (at the time he outlawed jewelry, resulting in increased watch sales and improved technology). Although relying on the support of Berne, a Swiss Protestant city, French-speaking Geneva was an independent city-state near the borders of France, Switzerland, and Italy. Governing Geneva were several city councils (magistrates). British author T. L. Parker notes that on May 26, 1536, “Geneva had become by constitution an evangelical city.”1 Consequently, Geneva’s City Council banned the Roman Catholic mass and swept its churches of relics, including the sparkle and glitter. Accordingly, Calvin at twenty-seven began his work in September 1536 with the position of “Professor of Sacred Letters.”2 Parker states, “This may mean he preached without performing any other parochial duties or that he gave expository lectures on the Bible.”3 Not yet ordained into the ministry, Calvin received high praise for his inspiring sermons while preaching the Pauline Epistles.4 Elected pastor in November 1537, Calvin was working full time in the Genevan church Saint Pierre, a former Gothic-Roman Catholic Church divested of its icons, while retaining the stained glass windows.