Lutheran Pastor

THE LUTHERAN PASTOR BY G. H. GERBERDING, D. D., PROFESSOR OF PRACTICAL THEOLOGY IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE EVAN GELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, CHICAGO, ILL., AUTHOR OF N e w T e s t a m e n t “ ״ , T h e W a y o f S a l v a t io n i n t h e L u t h e r a n C h u r c h» . E t c ״ , C o n v e r s io n s SIXTH EDITION. PHILADELPHIA, PA.: LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY. [Co p y r ig h t , 1902, b y G. H . G e r b e r d l n g .] DEDICATION, TO A HOLY MINISTRY, ORTHODOX AS CHEMNITZ, CALOVIUS, GERHARD, AND KRAUTH ; SPIRITUAL AND CONSECRATED AS ARNDT, SPENER, AND ZINZENDORF ; ACTIVE IN THE MASTER’S SERVICE AS FRANCKE, MUHLEN BERG, OBERLIN, AND PASSAVANT, THIS BOOK. IS HOPEFULLY DEDICATED. PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. A SECOND edition of this work has been called for more speedily than we expected. For this we are grateful. It shows that there was a need for such a work, and that this need has been met. The book has been received with far greater favor, in all parts of our Church, than we had dared to hope. While there have been differences of opinion on certain points—which was to be expected— there have been no serious criticisms. This new edition is not a revision, but a reprint. In only two places has the text been corrected. On page 7 of the Introduction we have added a foot note, because the blunt statement of the text was liable to be misunderstood. On page 78 we had unwittingly and wrongly placed the German Iowa Synod among the adherents to the Transference Theory of the Call. This has been corrected. The Alphabetical Index has been thoroughly re vised and made about one-third larger. Every proper name and every work consulted are now in dexed, and thus a full bibliography of books and authors cited can be gleaned from the Index. (3) 4 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. Otherwise the corrections have been mainly typo graphical. We might also remark that we have been frequently asked why the margins are so wide. The answer is that the wide margins are intended for pencil notes, remarks, and criticisms by the readers. The free use of the pencil makes any book improve with age. One hundred marginal headings have been added. We repeat the hope and prayer of the Introduc tion of the first edition as we send forth the second. C h i c a g o S e m i n a r y , E a s t e r , 1903. INTRODUCTION S i n c e that excellent little manual, “ The Evan gelical Pastor,” by the Rev. E. T. Horn, D. D., has been out of print, we have no work in the English language on Pastoral Theology, from a Lutheran standpoint. The author of these pages had felt the need of such a work long before “ The Evangelical Pastor ” appeared. Even after its appearance there was still a need of another work. Hundreds of questions Need of such a book. arise in a pastor’s work which are not answered in that little book. And doubtless many more will arise that are not answered in this book. In fact, no book can ever answer all the varied and perplex ing questions that will arise in the life of an earnest pastor. Pastoral theology is not an exact science. It can never furnish a complete, ready-made, codified col lection of rules and regulations for the solution of every difficulty and the settlement of every case that the pastor may meet. It can only lay down general principles and give general counsels. It can help the intelligent and earnest pastor to attain (5) 6 INTRODUCTION. to that pastoral Klugheit, that sanctified common sense, that will enable him to solve particular diffi culties on the basis of right principles. The object of a pastoral theology is to enable men to be true pastors. They cannot learn it all from books. Neither can they afford to ignore the help of good books. Let them master the basic principles, learn from the experience of others, and then, especially, from their own experience, how to apply them. Right conduct and action should always grow from right principles. Now, the fundamental principles of Lutheran faith and theology are different from those of the Reformed churches. There is a difference in Why not rely on Reformed doctrine. Because of this there must of necessity w orks? be a difference in spirit, which will manifest itself in a difference in life. While the Reformed Chris tian, like the Lutheran Christian, believes in the necessity and efficacy of divine grace for salvation, the latter has views and convictions different from the former as to the means and methods through which that grace works. This must necessarily affect his whole administration of these means. The Lutheran pastor looks upon his people from a stand point that differs from that of his Reformed neighbor. To the former all the baptized children are in the kingdom, subjects of divine grace, sons and daugh ters of God. It is his office, not to convert them, INTRODUCTION. 7 but to have them fostered and fed, as the lambs of Christ’s flock. He instructs, catechises, and con firms these children of God. They are his Beicht- kin der. And when, unhappily, some do go astray, he has something to appeal to and to build on in seeking to bring them back home again. A ll this, and other points of difference that might be men tioned, put an entirely different aspect on the whole work of the Lutheran pastor from the work of his Reformed neighbor. The Lutheran pastor, there fore, cannot be either a unionist or a revivalist. His principles forbid it. * While this book is written for the Lutheran pastor, it is especially for the American Lutheran. N eed of an Am erican Conditions and circumstances here are so different Lutheran Pastoral from those in Europe that our work must be essen T heology· tially different also. We are a free Church in a free State. We are surrounded by churches, denominations, sects, cults, and heresies without number, all as free and as favored by the State as ourselves. We cannot, therefore, get all our pas toral theology from our fellow-Lutherans across the seas. While the Germans and Scandinavians have * We do not believe in a union with those who, while profess ing union, repudiate our faith and proselytize our people. We long, hope, and pray for the union for which Christ prayed and Paul pleaded. We repudiate false revivals, but pray and labor for true revivals. (See Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church, Chapters XXIII.-XXVIII.) 8 INTRODUCTION. produced a rich and rare literature on every possible phase of pastoral work, and while we can and should diligently avail ourselves of these rich treasures, we cannot learn from them how to do successful church work at home. During a service of over twenty years in the active ministry, in widely varied localities and among widely different peoples, we have been con fronted with nearly every problem that the pastor is likely to meet in his work. Again and again we have been perplexed, and knew not whither to turn W hy this book was written. for counsel. We have tried to write such a book as would have helped us in our difficulties, and pre vented some of the mistakes we made. During the eight years that we have been teach ing practical theology we have also keenly felt the need of a book that covers the whole ground of pastoral theology. The questions from the students, which we always encourage, and the discussions in the lecture room, have brought out many of the hints, suggestions, and counsels contained in this work. It embodies the answers to the most impor tant questions asked by our students. We cannot expect that all that we have written will please every reader or critic. In a science For the critic. where so much is left to individual judgment and counsel, it is but natural that opinions will differ. We believe that we have builded on the foundations INTRODUCTION. 9 of the Divine Word and the confessions of our Church. Judgments may and will vary as to the application of principles to particular cases. We trust that those who will differ from us here and there will bear this in mind. The book is the result of years of experience and study, and of four summers of actual preparation and writing. We have, as will readily appear, Sources drawn from many sources, from the Early Church, from German and English, Lutheran, Reformed and even Roman Catholic writers, from the living and from the dead. We are indebted to the Rev. William J. Einck, of Anderson, Ind., for assistance in proof reading, and to the Rev. J. R. E. Hunt, of Engle wood, Chicago, for assistance in preparing the index. The doctrinal chapters on the Call may appear too controversial, tedious, and dry. We hope that no one will judge the whole book by these early chapters. Read the rest before you pass judgment. We send forth this labor of love with the hope and prayer that it may help to give our dear Church such a ministry as will, under God, make her, as she ought to be, the leader of the hosts of the Lord in our land ; and also that it may give our students for the ministry such a conception of the holy office and its holy service that they may enter upon it with clear conceptions of its nature, its duties, its responsibilities, and its glory.

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