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Vol. 40, No. 1 (March 2000) LSQXL, 1 1 Lutheran Foreword In this issue of the Quarterly we are pleased to share with our readers the 1999 annual Reformation Lectures, de- livered on October 28-29 in Mankato, Minnesota. These lec- Synod tures were sponsored jointly by Bethany Lutheran College and Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary. This was the thirty-sec- ond in the series of annual Reformation Lectures which began in 1967. The format of the Reformation Lectures has always been Quarterly that of a free conference and thus participation in these lectures is outside the framework of fellowship. The views of the presenters ISBN 0360-9685 do not necessarily represent the position of the Quarterly. This year there were three presenters. The first lecture CONTENTS was given by Dr. Charles Arand of St. Louis, Missouri. He re- ceived his S.T.M. and Th.D. degrees at Concordia Seminary, St. The 32nd Annual Reformation Lectures Louis, where he was called in 1989. Here he currently serves as Three Lectures on Eschatology Chairman of the Department of Systematic Theology and Asso- ciate Vice-President of Academic Affairs. In addition to numer- Lecture One: ous articles on topics relating to the Lutheran Confessions, he The Eschatological World of the Lutheran . 5 authored Testing the Boundaries: Windows into Lutheran Iden- Confessions tity (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1995) and trans- Charles P. Arand lated the Apology of the Augsburg Confession for the new edition of the Book of Concord due from Fortress Press in early 2000. Lecture Two: This past summer he finished volume one of a projected two- Longing for Heaven While Living with Hitler: . 33 volume commentary from Concordia Publishing House on A Look at Calvin’s Eschatology and Its Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms. The first volume is entitled Meaning for Christians in Evil Times That I May Be His Own: An Overview of Luther’s Catechisms. Stephen W. Minnema The second presenter was Dr. Stephen Minnema of Mankato, Minnesota. He received a Master of Divinity de- Lecture Three: gree from the Harvard Divinity School in 1976. Since that American Lutheran Views on Eschatology and . 48 time he has served as pastor of churches in Houston, Minne- How They Related to the American Protestants sota; Waunakee, Wisconsin; Wheeling, Illinois; and Mankato, John M. Brenner Minnesota. In 1990 he completed the Doctor of Ministry degree at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. Volume 40, No. 1 March 2000 2 LSQXL, 1 LSQXL, 1 3 Professor John Brenner of Mequon, Wisconsin, was the third presenter. Since 1991 he has taught church history, the Contents Augsburg Confession, and education at Wisconsin Lutheran Semi- nary, and is currently the dean of students. He has studied at The 32nd Annual Reformation Lectures Saginaw Valley State University, the University of Wisconsin-Mil- Three Lectures on Eschatology waukee, and is finishing his Ph.D. program in Historical Theology at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He edited Prof. Lecture One: John P. Meyer’s Studies in the Augsburg Confession and is the The Eschatological World of the Lutheran . 5 author of Not by My Own Thinking or Choosing: A Study of Confessions Conversion in the People’s Bible Teachings series by Northwest- Charles P. Arand ern Publishing House. The topic of the lectures was “Eschatology: The End Lecture Two: Times.” The first lecture presented by Dr. Charles Arand, Longing for Heaven While Living with Hitler: . 33 was entitled “Luther and the Confessors on Eschatology.” A Look at Calvin’s Eschatology and Its Here the eschatological thinking of the Lutheran confessors Meaning for Christians in Evil Times was discussed. The second presenter, Dr. Stephen Minnema, Stephen W. Minnema explained “Calvin’s Views on Eschatology.” This presenta- tion pointed to Calvin’s eschatology and its meaning for Chris- Lecture Three: tians in evil times. The final lecture, “American Lutheran American Lutheran Views on Eschatology and . 48 Views on Eschatology,” was presented by Prof. John Brenner. How They Related to the American Protestants This lecturer gave an excellent summary of American John M. Brenner Lutheran views on eschatology and how they relate to Ameri- can Protestantism. 4 LSQXL, 1 LSQXL, 1 5 Lecture One: The Eschatological World of the Lutheran Confessions by Charles P. Arand The 32nd Annual Reformation Lectures The topic that you have chosen for your Reformation Lectures is most timely. Over the past thirty years, our evan- gelical friends have fostered nearly limitless speculation on Three Lectures on the apocalyptic signs of the Last Times from Hal Lindsay’s Late Great Planet Earth to the bestselling book by Tim Eschatology Lahaye, Left Behind. The eve of a New Millennium can’t help but fuel further preoccupation with the topic. These op- Dr. Charles P. Arand, portunities to reflect on the last times also highlight a defi- Dr. Stephen W. Minnema, ciency in the eschatological outlook of many people. I bring and this up because the last two decades have been periods of Prof. John M. Brenner unprecedented prosperity. I recently read that America has now produced the first mass upper-middle class in the his- Bethany Lutheran College tory of recorded civilization. Unlike periods of war, depres- S. C. Ylvisaker Fine Arts Center sion, epidemic, or famine, there does not appear be a press- Mankato, Minnesota ing need on the part of most Americans to hope for a better life in the world to come. After all, we have an awfully good October 28 and 29, 1999 life in this world here and now. Indeed, one could argue that Americans no longer live with a view to the past or the fu- Looking toward the 21st Century ture, we simply live in the constantly vanishing present tense. The past does not exist. The future is now. Vertical and Linear Eschatology1 Before delving into our topic, it might be helpful to distinguish between the doctrine of the Last Things and the theme of eschatology. The doctrine of the Last Things entails a study of those events that the Bible describes as happening 6 LSQXL, 1 LSQXL, 1 7 when God brings the current age to a close. It focuses on Circus cartoons or movies such as Ghost and Ghost Dad). topics like Christ’s return, the final judgment, signs of the Linear eschatology by contrast is future oriented. It impending end, the resurrection of the body and the like. As looks to the last times, more specifically, the consummation such, the topic stands as one locus among the various articles of the cosmos, the end of the world as we know it and the of the Christian faith. Eschatology, by contrast, expresses an creation of a new age. It picks up the themes of Christ’s Sec- outlook or perspective on life that is “forward looking and ond Coming, the final judgment, and the resurrection of the forward moving.”2 Eschatology has to do with “living in the body. Unlike vertical eschatology with its emphasis on the present in light of a known past and a hoped for future.”3 individual, future eschatology generally focuses on the church Viewed in this way, eschatology is a perspective or outlook as a community (whether it be the nation of Israel in the OT that permeates and suffuses the whole of Christian procla- or the body of Christ in the NT). It includes the travails and mation.4 The knowledge of Christ’s death and resurrection battles that the church must endure prior to the final judg- (rooted in the past) paves the way for our hope on the Last ment. Again, unlike the spiritualized dimensions of vertical Day. The Christian hope regarding the Last Things in turn eschatology, linear eschatology focuses much attention on shapes the way in which we view our present life. Two types the resurrection of the body and not just the translation of the of eschatological outlooks will be considered here. Both are soul into heaven. On the down side, it often tends to foster biblical and confessional, but both have also been shaped at intense speculations on predicting the exact time it will oc- times by external influences, the one by Platonic dualism, cur (everyone of which for the past two thousand years has the other by Jewish apocalypticism. been proven wrong). It also often gets carried away with at- The first is a vertical eschatology. It is so called be- tempts to pin down the signs of the impending return of Christ cause the future hope is spoken of as a place that lies above by identifying the fantastical monsters and demonic beasts or beyond this world rather than a hope for a new creation that seek to overthrow God. that lies in the future. One may see it reflected in the way Both of these eschatologies find support in the Bibli- people talk about the death of their loved ones as “passing cal texts. Neither one is necessarily in conflict with the other. away” or “going to be with Jesus.” Countless numbers of If anything, they are mutually dependent upon one another. children pray every night, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I Nevertheless, as is often the case, one of these tends to eclipse pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, the other in terms of capturing our attention. Generally, I I pray the Lord my soul to take.” Any judgment that occurs would argue that what little eschatology Americans possess involves an appearance at St. Peter’s gate. Vertical might best be characterized as a vertical (or present oriented) Eschatology can be distorted into an individualized and spiri- eschatology rather than a linear (future oriented) eschatology.
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